Richard's Corner of the World

Student Insight

2007-07-09T18:32:00.000-04:00

Thank you to both Brooke and to Erin for their comments on the summer reading blog. I appreciate your contribution to the interactive learning of CEA students.

Earn Extra Points on Your Grade!

2007-07-01T08:51:00.000-04:00

In an effort to encourage enhanced communication, I'll work with the Language Arts teachers to add points to your summer reading assignment grades based on your relevant entries. Points will be given for reviews of books, analysis of characters or plots, comparison of book to other books that you have read and creative writings based on your thoughts and opinions triggered by the books.

You should be completing your second book now to be on schedule.

Richard

Summer Reading List - High School

2007-06-26T15:32:00.000-04:00

Chrysalis Experiential Academy
Summer Reading List 2007 for Grades 9 - 12

Each student id to read a total of five (5) books during the summer of 2007.

9th grade (read 3)

Something Wicked This Way Comes
Bradbury, Ray

Cannery Row
Steinbeck, John

The Andromeda Strain
Crichton, Michael

Choose 2 more from the following list:

The Pearl
Steinbeck, John

The Pigman
Zindel, Paul

The Hound of the Baskervilles
Doyle, Sir Srthur Conan

Billy Budd
Melville, Herman

The Caves of Steel
Asimov, Isaac

Animal Farm
Orwell, George

The Lost Horizon
Hilton, James

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith,

The Day of the Jackal
Forsyth,

Of Mice & Men
Steinbeck, John

10th grade (read 3)

Things Fall Apart
Achebe, Chinua

The Dragonbone Chair
Williams

Fahrenheit 451
Bradbury, Ray

Choose 2 more from the following list:

The Life of Pi
Martel, Yann

Angela's Ashes
McCourt, Frank

The Lovely Bones
Sebold, Alice

Mythology
Hamilton, Edith

Windtalkers
Collins, Max Allen

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Angelou, Maya

Cold Sassy Tree
Burns,

A Separate Peace
Knowles, Ralph

The Killer Angels
Shaara

The Chosen
Potok

The Eye of the Elephant
Owens & Owens

11th Grade (read 3)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Twain, Mark

Brave New World
Huxley, Aldous

Awakening
Chopin, Kate

Choose 2 more from the following list:

For Whom The Bell Tolls
Hemingway, Ernest

Invisible Man
Ellison, Ralph

On The Road
Kerouac, Jack

The Scarlet Letter
Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Ragtime
Doctorow, E.L.

The Water is Wide
Conroy, Pat

Raisin in the Sun
Hansbury

The Secret Life of Bees
Kidd, Susan

The Grapes of Wrath
Steinbeck, John

The Joy Luck Club
Tan, Amy

All the King's Men
Warren

The Winter of our Discontent
Steinbeck, John

12th Grade (read 3)

Grendel
Gardner, John

1984
Orwell, George

Their Eyes Were Watching God
Hurston, Zora Neale

Choose 2 more from the following list:

A Doll House
Ibsen

Picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde

The Glass Menagerie
Williams

Winterdance
Paulsen, Gary

The Screwtape Letters
Lewis, C.S.

Madame Bovary
Flaubert

My Name is Asher Lev
Potok, Haim

Lord Jim
Conrad, Joseph

Pledge Form

2007-06-26T15:29:00.000-04:00

10 Mansell Court East, Suite 500, Roswell, GA 30076
770 649-7077 FAX 678 942-1056

SUMMER READING LIST PLEDGE 2007

FOR THREE OF THE REQUIRED BOOKS YOU READ, PLEASE FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING AND BRING WITH YOU THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, AUGUST 14, 2007:

YOUR NAME: ____________________________ GRADE (07-08) ____________

TITLE OF BOOK: __________________________________________________

AUTHOR: _________________________________________________________

TITLE OF BOOK: __________________________________________________

AUTHOR: _________________________________________________________

TITLE OF BOOK: __________________________________________________

AUTHOR: _________________________________________________________

I pledge that I read thoroughly the 3 required books listed for my grade level on the Summer Reading List, 2007. I am ready for class activities on these books.

_________________________________________ __________________
Student Signature Date

Summer Reading Lists - Middle School

2007-06-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

The following reading list has been established for the Chrysalis Experiential Academy middle school students. The reporting process is outlined in my previous blog. The books noted in red are first priority reading. The books listed in black are the secondary book selections. Please contribute comments regarding the books that you are reading during the summer. Other student will enjoy you insights about the book as much as the content of the book itself.

Grade Level Book Title Author

4th

Dear Mr. Henshaw Beverly Clearly
The Indian in the Cupboard Lynne Reid Banks
The Trumpet Swan EB White
Fudge-a-Mania Judy Blume
Going Someplace Special Patricia McKissack
I Dreamed I was a Ballerina Anna Pavlova
Soup and Me Richard newton Peck
Stuart Little E.B. White
The Christmas Rat Avi
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins-Barbara Kerley
The Other Dog Madeleine L'Engle
Town Mouse, Country Mouse

5th

How Angel Peterson Got His Name Gary Paulsen
No More Dead Dogs Gordon Korman
Number the Stars Lois Lowry
The Good Dog Avi
P.C. Hawke Mysteries (Series) Paul Zindel
Everything on a Waffle Polly Horvath
Loser Jerry Spinelli
Shiloh Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Stuart Little EB White
Surviving Applewhites Stephanie Tolan
The Best of Times Greg Tang
The Grapes of Math Greg Tang
Twelve Travelers, Twenty Horses Harriet Gillem Robinet

6 th

Number the Stars Lois Lowry
A Single Shard Linda Park
Chrispin; The Cross of Lead Avi
Out of the Dust Karen Hesse
Shakespears Stealer
Skeleton Man Joseph Bruchac
A Wrinkle in Time Madeline L'Engle
Anne of Green Gables L.M.Montgomery
Black Beauty Anna Sewell
Coraline Neil Gaiman
Lemony Snicket series
My side of the Mountain

Peer Mediation: Agreeing on Solutions Robert Wandberg
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred D. Taylor
Sarah, Plain and Tall Patricia MacLachlan
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S.Lewis
The Yearling Marjorie Rawlings
Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls

7th

Farewell to Manzanar Leanne Wakatsuki
Tom Sawyer Mark Twain
African American Women Scientists and Inventors Otha Richard Sullivan
Benjamin Bannerker: Astronomer and Mathematician Laura Litwin
Brian's Winter Gary Paulsen
Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
Dragonwings Lawrence Yep
Great Inventions series from Heinemann: Computers Heinemann
Great Inventions series from Heinemann: Medicine Heinemann
Great Inventions series from Heinemann: Science Heinemann
Hannah, Divided Adele Griffin
Hatchet Gary Paulsen
Myst, The Book of Atrus Rand Miller, Robyn Miller
Numbering All the Bones Ann Rinaldi
Science at the Edge series: Alternative Energy Sources
Science at the Edge series: Artificial Intelligence
Science at the Edge series: Global Warming
Science Projects About Kitchen Chemistry Robert Gaidner
Sounder William H Armstrong
Swimming Upstream Kristine O'Connell
Tex S.E. Hinton
The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lottery Rose Irene Hunt
The Man Who Was Poe Avi
The Rifle Gary Paulsen
Treasure Island Stevenson
Trouble Don’t Last Shelley Pearsall
Watership Down Adams
The Miracle Worker Gibson

8th

Night Elie Wiesel
Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemmingway
The Children's Homer
The Giver Lois Lowry
The Outsiders S.E. Hinton
The Red Pony John Steinbeck
1984 George Orwell
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne
Call of the Wild Jack London
Chaser Chaim Potok
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert L. Stevenson
Dracula Brahm Stoker
Drowning Anna Sue Mayfield
Fantastic Voyage Isaac Asimov
Gathering Blue Lois Lowry
Harry Potter series JK Rowling
Human Genome Project Kevin Boon
Lord of the Flies William Golding
Medical Ethics: Life and Death Issues Karen Judson
Nothing But the Truth Avi
Peace Child Richardson
Robinson Crusoe Defoe
Shakespeare: His Life and His Works Michael Rosen
Soldiers Heart Gary Paulsen
Tell-Tale Heart Edgar A Poe
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman Ernet Gaines
The Cay Theodore Taylor
The Diary of Anne Frank Goodrich and Hackett
The Good Earth Buck
The History of Counting Denise Schmandt-Besserat
The Pearl John Steinbeck
The Secret Garden Frances Burnett
The Time Machine H.G. Wells
The Wind in the Willows Jules Verne
The Wizard of Oz Frank Baum
The Yearling Rawlings
Yo Julia Alverez

Summer Reading 2007

2007-06-22T13:47:00.000-04:00

We have selected several books at every grade level for Chrysalis Experiential Academy students. Our goal is to encourage reading, not only for the summer, but as a lifetime endeavor. In an effort to enhance you engagement and your interest, I have created this summer blog. It has been established to encourage every reader to share their comments about their summer selections.

The required reading at the middle school level is designed to set them as priority reading. You have great flexibility; however, you may replace them with any other book on the grade level list or on any list at a grade level higher than the one you are entering in the 2007-8 academic year. To add additional flexibility to the summer reading program, we are more than willing to accept selections that you want to read that are not on the summer reading list. If you desire to read a book not on the summer list, please feel free to email me for prior approval at richbecker@msn.com.

The reporting process is open to allow for the greatest level of creativity. You only have to sign a pledge form that you have completed the reading of three (3) of the books on the summer reading list and/or seperately approved books. You are encouraged to report on the other two (2) books in any way you choose. We do not want to give you specific guideline because it has the potential to limit you freedom of creative expression.

High school students are strongly encouraged to restrict themselves to the required and secondary books set at each grade level. The primary reason for this is to give you a foundation essential to meet the demands of the curriculum and to prepare you for the initial assignments in grades 9-12.

We understand that some flexibility is necessary to assure that we make every attempt to meet the interest and learning needs of our students; therefore, the option of alternative selections is available for high school students. If you would like to take advantage of this option, please e-mail Arlene for book approval at arotter@chrysalisexp.org.

The reporting process is the same for high school students as it is for our middle school students.

I shall post the reading list for your convenience and the pledge sheet in my next bog. (How am I doing? This is the first time I have blogged. Thanks to Megan for bringing me into or should I say dragging me into the modern world of technology.)