â¢ ParkBulletinCover - The Park School

More documents

Recommendations

Info

$Kindergarten Summer Math Calendar - The Park School$

S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G GRADE IX: PASSAGE ANALYSIS Reading requirements for ninth graders are more traditional and are designed to push adolescents into adult literature. In the summer before their ninth grade year, every student reads The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and Latin students read Virgil’s Aeneid (in translation!), which is supplied for them by Latin teacher Greg Grote. In addition to tying into the ninth grade English curriculum, which examines the style and structure of the memoir, The Book Thief, a multi-award winning book that is set in Nazi Germany and narrated by Death, also has direct links to the social studies curriculum. The ninth grade course, which is based on the materials and methods of Facing History and Ourselves, uses the rise of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust as a springboard to confront the origins and persistence of anti-democratic ideas and events in Europe. For their first assignment in the fall, ninth graders are asked to write a passage analysis about The Book Thief. A “passage analysis” is a paragraph that focuses on a passage extrapolated from a text. It is a close examination! The passage usually has a good deal of importance when looked at on its own and can shed light on the text as a whole, as well. Some tips: 1. Convey immediately why you chose your passage and make this a creative and energetic sentence. 2. Use compelling phrases and words right from the passage in your paragraph. 3. Type out your passage and them skip some lines and write your analysis. This way you can keep looking at it closely as you write! 4. Think of this as a paragraph that digs down deep and presents this passage under a microscope. You are the expert! I find reading in the summer much easier than during the school year. There is a lot more free time to sit down in the sun and read in the summer because there is much less work and pressure. Summer is a great opportunity to read some amazing books. —Emily Hoyt (Grade IX) R E A D I N G L I S T S (continued) GRADE VIII Summer Reading Choices: One historical novel from this list and one book from any source (including this list, which features popular favorites, classics, and books that will enliven and extend your school studies.) A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly (Historical Fiction) For Grades VIII and IX Mattie has a talent for writing and has won a scholarship to Barnard, but her ambition conflicts with loyalty to family and courtship with the boy next door. Mattie’s African-American friend, Weaver, has similar ambitions and faces different challenges. Their story is interwoven with a celebrated murder case of 1906. Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliffe (Historical Fiction) For Grades VII, VIII, and IX Roman Centurion Marcus Flavius Aquila tries to solve the mystery of the disappearance in Britain of his father and the Ninth Legion Hispana, last heard from near Hadrian’s Wall. Aquila also hopes to locate the Ninth Legion’s military standard, the missing Eagle, and return it safely to Rome. My Mother the Cheerleader by Robert Sharenow (Historical Fiction) For Grades VIII and IX Every morning Louise’s mother dresses up and goes to stand with a group of neighborhood women known as the Cheerleaders, who taunt sixyear old Ruby Bridges as she enters the elementary school. Louise never questions the situation in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans until a likable New Yorker with radical views becomes a boarder in their house. Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine (Historical Fiction) For Grades VI, VII, and VIII Ling, the only daughter of two doctors, leads a happy and comfortable life in the city of Wuhan until the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in 1972. The family is forced to share their apartment with an official of the Communist Party, food and supplies become scarce, and worse hardships follow. The Snows by Sharelle Byars Moranville (Historical Fiction) For Grades VII, VIII, and IX In each of these four interwoven stories, a member of the Snow family of Jefferson, Iowa, makes a pivotal decision at the age of sixteen. The events take place over four generations, spanning the Great Depression, the World War II and Vietnam War eras, and a time close to the present. 28 The Park Bulletin | Fall 2009
S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G The Informed Teacher Reading List 2008–09 The White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson A Universal History of the Destruction of Books: from Ancient Sumer to Modern Iraq by Fernando Báez What It Is by Lynda Barry 2666 by Roberto Bolaño The Year We Disappeared: a Father-Daughter Memoir by Cylin Busby The Taste of Sweet: Our Complicated Love Affair with our Favorite Treats by Joanne Chen The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust The Forever War by Dexter Filkins The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America by Donna Foote In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past by Henry Louis Gates The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession n the Amazon by David Grann Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire by Joe Jackson Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham Twilight by Stephenie Meyer A Mercy by Toni Morrison The Life of the Skies by Jonathan Rosen Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff American Wife: A Novel by Curtis Sittenfeld Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson by Tricia Tunstall Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt How Fiction Works by James Wood The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski Teachers’ Summer Reading “W hat do you read” That’s what Christian Porter’s colleague, Alison Webster (English and social studies 2001–2006) asked a few years ago. Christian and the other librarians were busily preparing summer reading lists for students when Alison planted the seed about adult reading. She said, “Christian, you should read for you,” he explained. “I started thinking about what all the teachers would like to read.” As a librarian, Christian has to read what’s just been published, what’s getting a lot of buzz, and know what’s on the back list in order to put the new books into context. In November, the National Book Award winners are announced, along with the Pulitzer, and the Booker Prize. “I tracked every single list I could find,” Christian says. The same books would keep coming up— appearing on multiple lists —and Christian began narrowing them down. “Every year,” he says, “there are about 50-75 books that are being talked about. I know that Park’s library can’t purchase that many, so I try to pick the best in poetry, biography, fiction, and non-fiction for our collection.” His selections are based on the titles that make multiple lists as well as ones that relate to the curriculum. “I know second graders study Colonial America, so we ordered this fabulous graphic adaptation of the Constitution.” Before the faculty left for the summer, the library hosted its third annual “Informed Teacher” event. This year, Christian put together a slide show that featured a variety of the 36 titles chosen for 2008–09. After scanning book covers, Christian asked a few colleagues to help with the presentation. Alison Connolly, who worked with deaf students before teaching math at Park, read and signed an excerpt from Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg. Likewise, Brian Cassie, who now teaches science to students in Grades I-III, has led dozens of Audubon trips to far flung places in search of birds. He was the perfect pick to read from The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann. “Now, people come to me during the year with recommendations,” Christian says. “They look forward to the presentation— I’m so glad that I’ve been able to do something for my colleagues. I know this is a tradition that can go on without me.” The Park Bulletin | Fall 2009 29
Page 1 and 2: The Park School Fall Bulletin 2009
Page 3 and 4: The Park School Fall Bulletin 2009
Page 5 and 6: High Stakes P robability theory cam
Page 7 and 8: “So, even though I’m not a Park
Page 9 and 10: Jonathan Kraft (Park ’79) went to
Page 11 and 12: Each year, an alumnus/a with six ye
Page 13 and 14: Allegra Borak I’ll take a strong
Page 15 and 16: Andrea Galligan I will take the com
Page 17 and 18: Sophie Moss I will take with me mem
Page 19 and 20: Lily Steig I will take a strong sen
Page 21 and 22: Class of 1984—25th Reunion Top (L
Page 23 and 24: The Park School Class of 1984 Twent
Page 25 and 26: P A R K S C H O O L C L A S S O F 1
Page 27 and 28: S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G GRADE V
Page 29: S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G Reading
Page 33 and 34: S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G Alice P
Page 35 and 36: S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G War and
Page 37 and 38: S U M M E R 3 R E A D I N G What ha
Page 39 and 40: A lifelong public servant, Mike Del
Page 41 and 42: 1979 Classmates Nadia Belash McKay
Page 43 and 44: 1982 Class Representative: Allison
Page 45 and 46: 1994 Class Representatives: Alan Be
Page 47 and 48: COMMUNITY SERVICE EVENT AT GAINING
Page 49 and 50: NEXT SCHOOLS FOR GRADE VIII CLASS O
Page 51 and 52: We are assembling a farewell album

â¢ ParkBulletinCover - The Park School

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?

â¢ ParkBulletinCover - The Park School