7th Grade Parent Letter & Packet - Commack Union Free School ...

Anthony Davidson
Principal
Vanderbilt Parkway
Commack, New York 11725
Commack Middle School
an International Baccalaureate World School
a United States Blue Ribbon School of Excellence
Frank J. Agovino
Assistant Principal
Patricia McKeever
Assistant Principal
Paul Schmelter
Telephone: 631-858-3500
Fax: 631-493-0469 Assistant Principal
Dear Parents of Students Moving into the 7 th Grade,
June 2013
We hope you are looking forward to a relaxing, rejuvenating, enjoyable summer! We hope too that, over the course of the
summer, your children, our students, will engage in activities that invite their intellectual curiosity and sustain their interest in learning.
Towards that end and to support the NYS Common Core Learning Standards, the Commack schools have developed a summer reading
program for all students entering grades 6-8.
For the last three years, students at the Middle School have been given more opportunities to read independently with the help
of their RLA, English, A.I.S. and E.L.O teachers. Students have learned how to choose appropriate books to read for pleasure, how to set
and adjust personal reading goals, how to abandon a book when they lose interest in reading it, and how to reflect on books they’ve
finished reading.
We’d like your child to have the choices that every student at the Middle School enjoys and so, this year, we are continuing the
summer reading project that allows all students entering 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grades to choose a book that’s “just right” for them. If your child
is having difficulties choosing a book, please refer to the links provided for suggested titles. Since your child will be choosing an
independent reading book, it is your responsibility to obtain that selection on your own.
Your child will receive a note-taking assignment to track their understanding of the novel as they read. This packet (the
completed note-taking assignment) must be returned to your child’s 7 th grade English teacher by Friday, September 13, 2013. We
are asking parents to help their children keep the materials together over the summer.
In our continuing efforts to encourage our students to become life-long readers, we encourage your child to read additional
books chosen from the resources available on the Commack School District website or from their “someday list.” We also suggest that
you visit the website www.readwritethink.org/beyondtheclassroom/summer for booklists, book review podcasts, and videos to help
make the most of summer reading. As in the past, the staff in our local libraries and bookstores can offer you additional suggestions for
books for our summer reading program.
If you have questions about the Middle School reading program requirements, please see the Summer Reading link on the
Commack School District website, or call Ms. Theresa Donohue, English Coordinator, at 858-3541, before June 28. Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Anthony Davidson
Principal
Theresa Donohue
English Coordinator
Suggested Links to Find a Summer Reading Book-
Amazon’s Top Picks for Summer Reading
http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/ref=pe_245230_29726470_pe_stripe/?node=5298576011
Association for American Librarian Service to Children Summer Reading List grades 6-8
http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/SummerReadingList_6-8_Color.pdf
Association for American Librarian Service to Children- Newberry Award Winners 1922-Present
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberymedal
The American Library Association- Comprehensive listing of award winning books
http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/browse/bpma?showfilter=no
The Lexile Framework for Reading
http://www.lexile.com/

COMMACK MIDDLE SCHOOL
Grade 7 English
2013
Directions:
1. Please complete one of the two sets of notes as follows:
▫ If you read a work of fiction, complete the Notes: fiction page.
▫ If you read a work of non-fiction, complete the Notes: Non-Fiction page.
2. Return your notes, the book and your writing sample to your teacher on
Friday, September 13, 2013.
HAPPY READING!

Name: ______________________________________
Teacher: _____________________________________
Date: ____________________
Period: __________________
Notes: fiction
Directions: Use the following outline to help you take notes on your summer reading book. Since
these are your notes, you need not write in complete sentences; however, you may want to include
page numbers next to your information so you can refer back to the information at a later date.
Title: ___________________________________________________________________
Author: __________________________________________________________________
Setting:
• What is the setting (time and place) of the book?
• How does this setting influence the plot of the story?
Main Characters:
• Who are the main characters?
• What important information would you like to remember about these characters or topics?
Point of View:

Who is telling the story? Is this a first-person, third-person, or omniscient narration?

Name: ______________________________________
Teacher: _____________________________________
Date: ____________________
Periods: __________________
Conflict (a struggle between opposing forces or a problem):
• What is the main conflict?
• Who is involved?
• How is the conflict resolved?
Theme/s (an underlying lesson about life or human nature that the writer is trying to pass on to
the reader. In folktales, this is called “the moral of the story.”)
• What is/are the theme/s of this story? What “lesson/s” do you think the writer was
trying to share with you?
Your Opinion about the Book:
• What did you like about the book? dislike?
• In your opinion, what type of student would like to read this book? Why?
• Would you read another novel by this author? Why or why not?
• Would you read another book on this subject or a related subject?

Name: ______________________________________
Teacher: _____________________________________
Date: ____________________
Periods: __________________
Notes: Non-Fiction
Title: ____________________________________________________________________
Author: __________________________________________________________________
Topic: (Who or what is the book about?)
Write 4-5 facts you’ve learned about the topic below.
What is the central idea you learned from this book? Or, what did you realize or discover from
reading this book?