Dear Parents and Students, Good readers possess lifelong survival skills. Mission C.I.S.D. actively promotes all activities that support our mission to help our students Learn to Read and Read to Learn throughout the calendar year. Summer Reading, a very important component of the pro-gram, gives students an opportunity to practice school-learned literacy skills while reading at a time and place of their own choosing. Regardless of your grade level, please keep the following in mind: Reading alone, or listening to someone else model good reading leads to improvements

in reading and writing skills (word knowledge, spelling, reading comprehension, etc.). We recommend that students set aside at least a half hour every day to read a variety of print media - newspapers, magazines, and so forth – in addition to fiction or nonfic-tion books. Yes, reading aloud to someone is a very valuable experience for the reader and the listener, especially when it gives the listener vocabulary and ideas previously not experienced. Again, we recommend students read at least 30 minutes a day.

Summer reading is an integral part of every Pre-AP and AP English class at MCISD; it offers an opportunity for enrichment and is a vital component of the academic experience for Pre-AP and AP/Dual students, thinkers, and future college students. Reading and interacting with literature during the summer enables students to be prepared for the first day of Pre-AP and AP English. All Pre-AP and AP/Dual English students are expected to READ during the sum-mer. Included in the 2014 Summer Reading Brochure are suggested books by grade level; students should read at least two of the suggested books. In addition, summer reading is a requirement for all Mission CISD 9th-12th grade Pre-AP and AP/Dual English classes. Having something to start discussing immediately gets the class off to a quick, smooth start and is great preparation for the rest of the school year. The assigned novels are provided by the district. Students are expected to turn in the required assignments on the first day of class; reading of the required novel is assessed during the first few weeks of school. Summer reading better enables students to be successful in rigorous Pre-AP and AP/Dual courses. Ideally, reading experiences will be shared with others this summer and during the next school year whenever possible. To self-check your reading comprehension, refer to the suggestions included in the summer reading assignments. The Assignment: Read and be prepared to talk or to write about what you have read and complete the corresponding assignments.

Students should read at least two of the novels on the suggested Summer Reading list.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman Phantom Tollbooth by Jules Pfeiffer The Giver by Lois Lowry Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli Number the Stars by Lois Lowry Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Prince Caspin: The Return to Narnia The Voyage of the Dawn Treder The Silver Chair The Horse and His Boy The Magician’s Nephew The Last Battle

Holes by Lois Sacher Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Where the Lilies Bloom by Vera Cleaver, Bill Cleaver Shades of Gray by Carolyn Reeder The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn Hatchet by Gary Paulsen The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Tangerine by Richard Bloor The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Cay by Theodore Taylor The Chosen by Chaim Potok Ironman by Chris Crutcher Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter Flags of Our Fathers by Conrad Richter House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Call of the Wild by Jack London

To prepare for participation in the high school Pre-AP/AP/Dual English program for the coming year, Pre-AP/AP/Dual English students will be required to read ONE assigned book which will be thoroughly discussed dur-ing the first 6-weeks of the 2014-2015 school year. In order to be successful, students must read the book and complete the assignments prior to the first day of school.

To be successful on the AP exams in English III and English IV, a

variety of books must be read, so in addition to the required reading, students are encouraged to read at least two additional books from the Suggested Reading List based upon grade level.

Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Parrot in the Oven by Victor Martinez

Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene The Lost Boy by David Pelzer

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

True Colors by Kristin Hannah

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin Hiroshima by John Hersey Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer Rain of Gold by Victor Villasenor Tequila Worm by Viola Canales The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver The Chosen by Chaim Potok The Graveyard Book by Neil Galman Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

A Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writ-ings of Martin Luther King, Jr.

All Over But the Shoutin' by Rick Bragg

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard

Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

They Called Them Greasers by Arnoldo de Leon

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

What are People For? by Wendell Berry

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel

by James Washington (ed.)

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zorah Neale Hurston

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

MacBeth by William Shakespeare

cont.

For more information, contact your child’s English teacher or

Dr. Sharon Roberts, Coordinator for Advanced Academic Services

at 956-323-5506 or Chris Villarreal,

Coordinator for Language Arts at 956-323-5579.