Robbinsville Public Schools
8th Grade Summer Reading
2014
Studies show that children who read over the summer maintain reading development and score higher on
reading assessments when they return to school in the fall. Summer reading also helps to bridge the gap from
one year to the next and allows teachers an opportunity to hit the ground running in the beginning of the year
knowing that students have had some exposure to the content. This summer we are asking students to read at
least one book from the attached reading list for ELA, Science and Social Studies (for a total of three books).
Students should come to school in September prepared to participate in group discussions and class assignments
centered on their reading. This assignment will count for a grade.
Teenagers and Reading
Perhaps the teenagers in your family were once avid readers but now hardly ever open a book, or perhaps they
never liked reading in the first place.
As an adult, you know that reading is important and you obviously want to make sure that the teenagers in your
life grow into adulthood with all the skills they need to succeed.
In this article, RIF suggests how parents can help teenagers decide for themselves that reading is important to
their lives.
Ways to encourage teens to read...
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Set an example. Let teens see you reading for pleasure.
Furnish your home with a variety of reading materials. Leave books, magazines, and newspapers
around. Check to see what disappears for a clue to what interests your teenager.
Give teens an opportunity to choose their own books. When you and your teen are out together,
browse in a bookstore or library. Go your separate ways and make your own selections. A bookstore gift
certificate is a nice way of saying, "You choose."
Build on your teen's interests. Look for books and articles that feature their favorite sports teams, rock
stars, hobbies, or television shows. Give a gift subscription to a special interest magazine.
View pleasure reading as a value in itself. Almost anything your youngsters read—including the
Sunday comics—helps build reading skills.
Read some books written for teens. Young adult novels can give you valuable insights into the
concerns and pressures felt by teenagers. You may find that these books provide a neutral ground on
which to talk about sensitive subjects.
Make reading aloud a natural part of family life. Share an article you clipped from the paper, a poem,
a letter, or a random page from an encyclopedia—without turning it into a lesson.
Acknowledge your teen's mature interests. Look for ways to acknowledge the emerging adult in your
teens by suggesting some adult reading you think they can handle.
Keep the big picture in mind. For all sorts of reasons, some teenagers go through periods without
showing much interest in reading. Don't panic! Time, and a few tips from this article, may help rekindle
their interest.
Source: Reading is Fundamental
8th Grade Required Reading List
This summer we are asking students to read at least one book for ELA, Science, and Social Studies (for a total
of three books). Students should come to school in September prepared to participate in group discussions and
class assignments centered on their reading. This assignment will count for a grade.
English Language Arts
Science
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
Skinny by Donna Cooner
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Feed by M. T. Anderson
Mad Dog 100: The Greatest Sports Arguments of
All Time by Christopher Russo
6. Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah
2.
3.
4.
5.
A Short History of Nearly Everything (Adult) by
Bill Bryson (At a minimum, students need to read
Part V: Life Itself and Part VI: The Road to Us)
Chew on This: Everything You Don’t Want to
know About Fast Food by Eric Schlosser and
Charles Wilson
The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story by
Richard Preston
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great
Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose
Social Studies
Math (optional)
1. Lorenzo's Secret Mission by Guzman, Lila
2. Five 4ths of July by Pat Hughes
3. Soldier's Secret: The Story of Deborah Sampson
by Sheila Solomon Klass
4. 1776 by David McCullogh
5. Countdown to Independence: A Revolution of
Ideas in England and Her American Colonies:
1760-1776 by Natalie Bober
6. The Real Revolution: The Global Story of
American Independence by Marc Aronson
7. The American Revolutionaries: A History in Their
Own Words 1750-1800 by Milton Meltzer
8. Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
1.
My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles by
Martin Gardner
2. The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by
Hans Magnus Enzenberger.
3. Hot X: Algebra Exposed by Danika McKellar
4. Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra by
Wendy Lichtman
5. Crimes and Mathdemeanors by Leith Hathout
“…children who do not read in the summer lose two to three months of reading development while kids who do
read tend to gain a month of reading proficiency. This creates a three to four month gap every year. Every two
or three years the kids who don’t read in the summer fall a year behind the kids who do.”
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, faculty member Richard Allington, who conducted a three-year study
showing a significantly higher level of reading achievement in students who read over the summer.