The Ursuline School
Social Studies
Summer Reading - 10th Grade
GLOBAL HISTORY 2
Read: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Assignment: Select five events from Ishmael’s experiences that impacted you. Prepare a
PowerPoint presentation for class
1) Identifying each event
2) Describing why each event impacted you
GLOBAL HISTORY 2 HONORS
Read: A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah
Directions: While reading, prepare the following
discussion questions for the first week of class. Use examples and details from the book.
1) Ishmael’s culture and values are very different from Western culture and values.
*Identify the word “Western”
*Identify three cultural practices and the meaning of each *Can
these practices be compared to any Western practice?
2) Violence is a major theme of the story as Ishmael experienced different types of violence.
*What did Ishmael and the other boys do when they were not on missions?
*What movies did they like to watch? Why?
*What does this tell us about their childhood, what and how they were taught, and their
personalities?
*What did Ishmael’s experiences teach you about the consequences of war and violence?
*Give two examples each of physical violence and psychological violence found in the book.
3) Ishmael reflected on how a rebel soldier had interrogated an old man, “Before the war a young
man wouldn’t have dared to talk to anyone older in such a rude manner. We grew up in a culture
that demanded good behavior from everyone, and especially from the young” (p. 33).
*How has war changed Ishmael’s culture?
*How has war affected the childhood of many children, both boys and girls, from Ishmael’s
village and around the world?
4) Ishmael’s time at the Benin Home was a time of rehabilitation and redemption.
*Why was music such an important part of Ishmael’s rehabilitation?
*What kinds of music did Ishmael like? Why did he connect with these types of music? What is it
about music that mattered to him?
*How did Esther guide Ishmael and help him rehabilitate?
5) Ishmael writes “This was one of the consequences of the civil war. People stopped trusting
each other, and every stranger became an enemy” (p. 36)
*How does civil war not only change places but people?
*How has civil war changed Ishmael and his friends?
6) Ishmael’s experiences in New York City differed drastically from both his experiences at home
and his images of New York.
*How did Ishmael’s experiences in NYC differ from what he had pictured?
*What did Ishmael like most about New York? What didn’t he like?
*Why was Ishmael visiting New York in the first place?
*What is Ishmael doing now to help child soldiers?
ADVANCED PLACEMENT EUROPEAN HISTORY
(Mr. Bratt: brattc@ursulinenewrochelle.org)
Preface: Welcome to college...sort of. Advanced Placement courses are collegelevel courses, or at least they should be. As such, they are more challenging than
standard secondary school courses, and not just because there is more content to
cover; in fact, the amount of content is not what distinguishes an AP course as a
college level course. Not by a long shot.
What makes an AP course college level is how it makes you think; think critically,
think creatively, think historically...basically, to think at all, and to think for
yourself. Anybody can cram facts and figures, but not everyone can understand
what they mean, how they work and why they matter. It’s about making
connections and achieving mastery of the material.
Instructions: This summer you will read two essays and one book; the two essays
are about the idea of Europe, and the book is about why “the West” is a special,
dominant civilization. When you read, read deeply, thoughtfully and critically.
Think about what you are reading, reflect. You will write a response to each of the
three readings. When you write, write clearly, concisely, and creatively. Think
about what you are writing; reflect.
The readings are challenging. Don’t let that
intimidate you! It takes time and practice to get used to it, but you will get used to
it, I assure you. Moreover, your writings must mirror the advanced level of the
readings, but NOT the advanced length of the readings. Therefore, each response
to the two essays may be no more than 500 words. The response to the book may
be no more than 1,000 words. Choose the words carefully; make each thought
count.
Below are the prompts which you will respond to. The prompts are meant to gently
guide your response, but feel free to take your reflections in a number of
directions. Don’t just give a dull recap of the readings; analyze, connect, question,
reflect. Make sure you tell me what YOU think about the readings.
Europe: Conceptualizing a Continent
Catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/2001025960.pdf
(cut and paste the above into a Google search; then click on the first result that
pops up; then open the Adobe file; then read pages 5-26 only)
ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR, WHAT IS EUROPE? WHAT DO YOU THINK? (500)
What is a European?
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/13/magazine/what-is-a- european.html
(click on the above link; then read pages 1-9 only)
ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR, WHAT IS A EUROPEAN? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
(500)
Civilization: The West and the Rest, Niall Ferguson
ACCORDING TO THE AUTHOR, HOW DID THE WEST ACHIEVE GLOBAL
PREDOMINANCE? WHAT ARE ITS PROSPECTS FOR MAINTAINING THAT
PREDOMINANCE IN THIS AND FUTURE CENTURIES? WHAT DO YOU THINK?
(1,000 WORDS OR LESS)
Postscript: Your three, typed and terrific responses (remember, the two essay
responses @ 500 words or less, the book response @ 1,000 words or less) are due
in class the Monday after Labor Day, 2014. If you have any questions, you may
email me. Since it is summertime, I may not get back to you right away, but I will
get back to you. Good luck and, really, have fun!
The Ursuline School
Social Studies
Summer Reading – 11th Grade
ADVANCED PLACEMENT US HISTORY
Read: The first four (4) chapters (Volume I) of The American Pageant (can be
picked up from front office or Room 22).
Assignment: *For each chapter, you must take notes.
*Listed below are 4 different styles of note-taking, try them all (each chapter,
therefore, will be told in a different style).
*After completing this assignment: write a short explanation (on a separate sheet
of paper) of which style you found the most helpful and which you found the least
helpful and why.
*Here are the various styles of note-taking: Outline Form –
Bullet Form –
Thematic Essay (a summary) –
Flow Chart Model (using arrows or lines)
Keep in mind: These chapter notes are going to be used for your review later so try
to keep them shorter rather than longer. (Try for no more than 2-3 pages which is
4-6 sides).
For this assignment, the notes may be handwritten OR typed.
The Ursuline School
Social Studies
Summer Reading – 12th Grade
ADVANCED PLACEMENT MACROECONOMICS
Read: Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelan
Assignment (Part 1): Economics has been nicknamed “the dismal science because
it often portends gloom and doom in the human condition. However, since
economics is a science, albeit a social science, it can not only be used to explain
why people, businesses, and governments make the decisions they do, but can also
be used to predict how decisions made today impact the future.”
Naked Economics will help you learn to think like an economist by revealing basic
principles and terminology that will be used throughout our AP Macroeconomics
course.
As you read the book, you will need to do two tasks for each of the 12 chapters.
1. Summarize each chapter…by writing a brief explanation – in your own words of
the major economic principles that are explained in each chapter; (1/2 page only)
2. Write a reflection of or reaction to each chapter…by expressing what you
learned, what surprised you, what made you laugh, what you don’t fully
understand or believe, or any other response (1-2 paragraphs)
Assignment (Part 2): The second part of your summer assignment will be to
begin collecting at least one article or political cartoon per week on an economic
topic in the news and write a reflection on it. The reflection should not be more
than ½ page in length. It is not very difficult to find an economics article. There is
always an economics story on the front page of major daily newspapers.
The articles/political cartoons can be from: (1) a newspaper (print or online) such
as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal; (2)a magazine (Time,
Newsweek, The Economist, etc); (3) some other reputable source (e.g. blog). You
need to have a total of eight articles/political cartoons by the end of the summer.
*The Economics Notebook that you start maintaining over the summer will also be
used during the school year for gathering weekly articles. I recommend that you
use a binder (1” – 2”) with five dividers (one for summer and one for each quarter)
so that you can keep your assignments together and turn them in for a homework
grade during each quarter.
*Initially, your reflections will simply be summaries of the articles or cartoons that
you read along with your personal thoughts about each article/cartoon. As the year
progresses, you will begin to respond to articles from an economist’s perspective
using the terminology and graphs that you will learn in AP Macro. However, you
will also learn some economic terms and principles while reading Naked
Economics, and you may wish to start responding to the articles like an economist
after learning from the book.
*Both assignments are due the first day of class in September.