5/16/2014
As your future IB Language A: Language and Literature and IB: History of Americas
teachers, we would like to welcome you to the IB family at Maynard H. Jackson High School.
We are excited to have you in our program.
In order to prepare for the rigor and responsibilities of next year, we are providing a list of
materials required for our classes and a detailed account of your summer assignment. This
summer assignment will be due by August 8, 2014 and will be graded by both teachers. They
may be submitted to keelerjacksonhs@gmail.com and maynardjackson429@gmail.com prior
to the due date.

MAYNARD H JACKSON HIGH SCHOOL
Dear Students and Parents,
801 Glenwood Ave SE, Atlanta, GA 30316
5/16/2014
Material Requirements for IB Language A: Language and Literature
1. Three-inch binder with pockets
404-802-5200
Please feel free to browse our websites—http://www.msjkeler.com and
www.maynardjackson429.wix.com/USHistory for rubrics and other information related to
your coursework.

2. Dividers for the binder
3. College-ruled paper (approximately 1000-sheets)
4. Flash-drive or jump-drive
5. One ream of white copy paper
6. A gmail account
7. A 12-pack of colored pencils
8. One box of tissues
9. Pens and Pencils
Material Requirements for IB: History of Americas
1. Three-inch or five-inch binder with pockets
1. Eight dividers for the binder
2. College-ruled paper (approximately 1000-sheets)
3. Pens and Pencils
Please see the following pages for your summer reading assignment.
Thank You,
J. Keeler and J. Murray
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5/16/2014
IB: History of Americas and IB Language A: Language and Literature
Read the following text and complete 5 dialectical journal entries for each chapter. This
assignment should be typed.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: Harper
Perennial, 2005. ISBN: 9780060838652
Dialectical Journals
The term “Dialectic” means “the art or practice of arriving at the truth by using conversation involving
question and answer.” Think of your dialectical journal as a series of conversations with the text being read.
Use your journal to incorporate your personal responses to the texts, your ideas about the themes we cover
and our class discussions. You will find that it is a useful way to process what you’re reading, prepare
yourself for group discussion, and gather textual evidence for analysis assignments.
Procedure
1. Divide your paper into three vertical sections (as illustrated below)
2. In the left column, record passages from your reading that you feel are important or
stand-out. If you have a particulary lengthy passage, use ellipses.
3. In the middle column, record the page number from which you pulled the quote.
4. In the right column, write a response to the passage and preface it with one of the
following codes:
a. (Q) Question: ask something about the passage. These should be level 2 or level
3 questions, not questions that can be easily answered with a dictionary or
Wikipedia.
b. (C) Connect: make a connection to your life, the world, other texts or
information you know.
c. (P) Predict: anticipate what will occur based on the passage recorded
d. (CL) Clarify: answer earlier questions to confirm or disaffirm a prediction
e. (R) Reflect: think deeply about what the passage really means in a broader
sense. What conclusions can you draw about the world, human nature, or just
the way things work?
f. (E) Evaluate: make judgements about what the authors are trying to say
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5/16/2014
Sample Dialectical Journal Entry
Passages from the text-- Must
quote at least 5 per chapter.
Make sure to number them.
1.
"The yellow marks in my
college textbooks...did not help
me very much.”
2. "Annotations do make me read
a lot slower and I wish I didn't
have to do them. It is so much
harder to fake read if you have
to annotate like we have to do
now.
So now I actually read,
because it's too hard to fake
annotate"
Pg#
82/1
87/2
EACH Passage you Quote must relate to one of the
following codes above. Make sure to use a
Variety. Using the same codes for most or all of
your entries will result in a lower score.
(C) I can relate since I often used to highlight what I thought
was important and then end up with most of the page
highlighted.
(C) It is harder to fake annotate--it almost takes more time. (R)
People are prone to find the easy way to do something. Since
there's really no easy way to annotate--fake or real--it makes
sense to really read and think about the texts. (Q) Is it really
harder to fake read if you have to annotate? Or does it just
take longer?
Choosing a Passage from the Text
Look for quotes that seem significant, powerful, thought-provoking, puzzling, or surprising.
For example, you might record:
 Passages that remind you of something you have noticed before or aspects of
yourself
 Passages that help you realize something you have not prior to reading
 Examples of patterns: recurring images, ideas, colors, symbols, or motifs
 Events that are surprising or confusing
 Passages that illustrate a particular character or setting
Responding to a Text
You can respond in any manner, as long as your response is specific, detailed, and insightful.
Responses should
 Raise questions about the world, belief systems, value systems, governments, etc
 Give personal reactions to the text
 Discuss how the author presents ideas.
 Make connections among people, events, information, places, or things in the
world, history, or literature
 Analyze the relationship of a passage to the whole “story”
Sample sentence starters:
 I really do not understand this because…
 I really like/dislike this idea because…
 This X reminds me of ….
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5/16/2014
Dialectical Journal Rubric
Critical Reader (detailed, elaborate responses)—90-100:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Extra effort is evident.
You include more than the minimal number of entries.
Your quotes are relevant, important, thought provoking, and representative of the themes of the text.
You can “read between the lines” of the text (inference).
You consider meaning of the text in a universal sense.
You create new meaning through connections with your own experiences or other texts.
You carry on a dialogue with the writer. You question, agree, disagree, appreciate, and object.
Sentences are grammatically correct with correct spelling and punctuation.
Connected Reader (detailed responses)—80-89:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A solid effort is evident.
You include an adequate number of legible entries.
Your quotes are relevant and connect to the themes of the text.
Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis.
You construct a thoughtful interpretation of the text.
You show some ability to make meaning of what you read.
You create some new meaning through connections with your own experiences and the text.
You explain the general significance.
You raise interesting questions.
You explain why you agree or disagree with the text.
Thoughtful Reader (somewhat detailed responses)—75-79:
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
You include an insufficient number of entries.
Sentences are mostly correct with a few careless spelling and grammatical errors.
You selected quotes that may be interesting to you, but that don’t necessarily connect to the themes of the
text.
Entries exhibit insight and thoughtful analysis at times.
You make connections, but explain with little detail.
You rarely make new meaning from the reading.
You ask simple questions of the text.
You may agree or disagree, but don’t support your views.
Literal Reader (simple, factual responses)—70-74:
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•
•
•
•
•
You include few entries.
Entries exhibit limited insight or none at all.
You accept the text literally.
You are reluctant to create meaning from the text.
You make few connections which lack detail.
You are sometimes confused by unclear or difficult sections of the text.
Limited Reader (perfunctory responses)—below 70:
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•
•
•
•
•
You include very few entries.
Very little effort is evident.
You find the text confusing, but make no attempt to figure it out.
You create little or no meaning from the text.
You make an occasional connection to the text, and the ideas lack development.
Sentences contain numerous grammatical and spelling errors.
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