TO: DHS Honors English Students and Parents
FROM: DHS English Department
RE: SUMMER READING for Honors English classes – 2009
The English Department is excited to promote the reading of The Glass Castle by Jeanette
Walls as Dartmouth High School’s “One School, One Book” initiative. We have undertaken this and
other initiatives as part of our Small Learning Communities Grant. With this particular initiative, we
underscore the possibilities brought about by the whole high school community’s reading of the same book
and discussing its themes and philosophy during the coming school year.
A second initiative of the Small Learning Communities Grant has been an examination of rigor
and relevance within the high school curriculum. With this challenge in mind, English teachers are
requiring those students enrolled in Honors English classes to read one additional title over the summer
months. We would love for their parents to read the same book and perhaps engage in discussion about the
topics that this second book, which is curriculum-oriented, introduces.
We ask students to read and enjoy the following titles, to mark up these books which they will
own, and to note questions / ideas they have on the material. If students return to school to find that their
English classes are scheduled for second semester, they may need to go back to reexamine their reading
during the winter holiday vacation, but they will still have the opportunity to discuss their books with
classmates and teachers—all year long!
HONORS ENGLISH SUMMER 2009 READING LIST
English 9 Honors:
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“Set in a small Southern town during the Depression, the novel follows three
years in the life of 8-year-old Scout, her brother, Jem, and their father, lawyer Atticus
Finch—three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man. The
unconditioned and unconditional wisdom of children is shown to be superior in this tough
and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.”
All Grade 9 Honors English students are responsible for completing the following
“Responding to the text” project:
As a way of showing our involvement in the topics of this book, compile a journal / book that
includes a variety of responses.
Responses may include the following:
~ A reflection on a particular section that you have read with page
number(s)
~ A prediction of what will happen when there is something of importance
left up in the air with page number(s)
~ Poems to reflect not just the plot, but beyond - your reactions / feelings
the impact on the world
~ A line or passage that grabbed your attention because of what it says and
what it means - with an explanation as to WHY you chose it with
page number(s)
~ Diary entries where you assume the persona of one of the characters
~ Letters from one character to another - even if they didn’t really KNOW
each other
~ Letters from a future time between characters
~ Illustrations / collages that represent a specific scene or event with your
reason for choosing the scene with page number(s)
~ 10 quotes from a variety of characters that you consider to be good
advice for any time with page number(s)
--Grade 9 Honors continued on back
--Grades 10-12 Honors on back--
Grade 9 continued:
Journals should have the following qualities / characteristics:
1. At least 10 substantive typed, one page entries
2. A Table of Contents
3. A cover
4. Demonstrate original, thoughtful work
5. Demonstrate the depth of your understanding of the novel
6. No more than 2 entries of the same kind
7. The final product should show attention to the details / neatness, etc.
8. Must demonstrate evidence of reading the whole book
DUE DATE FOR 1st SEMESTER AND 2nd SEMESTER ENGLISH 9 HONORS STUDENTS:
Tuesday, September 8, 2009, all first and second semester Grade 9 Honors students should
deliver their journals to their English teacher.
English 10 Honors:
Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail
“Henry David Thoreau refuses to pay taxes and protests the Mexican War . . .
a drama as relevant as tomorrow’s headlines.”
All Grade 10 Honors English students should research information on Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Henry David Thoreau, and Transcendentalism before reading this play. The play leads directly into the
mid -1800s themes and reading of the Grade 10 Honors American Literature classes.
Students should also be aware that the play is making a statement about the Vietnam War which
was taking place at the time of its writing. The stage directions allow for the audience to learn about
Thoreau’s past life through the use of flashbacks on the night he is imprisoned.
Students will be tested on their reading of the play on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 for first
semester students and in January for second semester students.
English 11 Honors:
All Grade 11 Honors English students are asked to read one novel from the 2007-2009 New York
Times Best Seller Lists or the 2007-2009 NEIBA (New England Independent Booksellers Association)
Lists.
All 11 Honors students must email their book choice for teacher approval by August 1. Last
names starting with A-M write Ms Fifield at afifield@dartmouthps.org and those starting with N-Z
write Mr. Caron at jcaron@dartmouthps.org.
Early in each semester, first and third quarters, English 11 Honors students will be asked to create
projects using this summer reading.
Grade 12 Honors:
Zusak, Marcus, The Book Thief
“Set during World War II in Germany . . . this is an unforgettable story about the ability
of books to feed the soul . . . the kind of book that can be life-changing, because
[it] . . . offers a believable, hard-won hope.”
Students will take a short reading test on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 for first semester and in
January for second semester students. Students will be asked to create a project based on the novel.