What's On Your Child's Summer Reading List?

[CourtasanSatine]

Never had a list during HS but my English teacher suggested a book that would become a film during the summer (I fell in love with film during HS)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

What do these schools do about new kids coming in from elsewhere? If there's any follow-up on the assignments, then the new kids won't get to participate. Or is there no follow-up?

I moved to a new school the summer before my Senior year. When we went to register, I was given the summer reading list. I was given leniancy and didn't have to have it all completed by the 1st day of school. I had a few extra weeks to finish it since school had been out for a month (or more) by the time we arrived and had an opportunity to register.

 

[Kimi313]

DD is going to be a sophmore next year and her reading this summer is:

1) Cold Sassy Tree
2) The Hobbit

Not a big Harry Potter fan or Lord of the Rings fan so I'm thinking the Hobbit is not going to be fun for her.

 

[goofy's friends]

Hey thanks for the B&N idea--I made a copy and know my kids will enjoy. Westinghouse Game was one of my favorites, too. I wish our school did this, but no required reading here.

 

[chris1gill]

Bridge to Terabithia is an excellent book. I still remember reading that book back in 4th grade.

Jenn, don't tell that to my son... he read that book last year in fourth grade, and it bored him to TEARS LOL.... he definitely doesn't consider it to be one of his favorites

SThronds, glad to hear about the Westing Game, I'll pass on the suggestion to DS...

 

[Cindy B]

My daughter going into 4th grade has to pick one of the following and do a project about it... (six differenct projects to choose from: written and creative piece)

Stone Fox--we have this one at home, so she doing this one
Frindle
2 books from Cynthia Rylant --one Van Gogh Cafe


My now 6th grade has a middle school list.

He needs to choose one of the following

Devils Aritmetic -he chose that one
Esperanza Rising
What do Fish have to do with anything?
Bodies from the Bog

He doesn't need to do a report, one will be assigned. I used to work at a middle school, and yes it will be assigned and graded within the Language Arts class.

 

[disneygals]

You all are going to think I'm nuts for this, but I really needed to find a good incentive to get DD to read! The school didn't give her a reading list, but I'm going to come up with one for her. This child HATES reading, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her into it.Anyway, I'm going to pay her $10 for every longer chapter book she reads and $5 for the shorter ones. I figure I'll probably owe her $15 by the end of summer. I'll keep track by having her give me a little summary at the end of each chapter. She needs the practice anyway.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures! Can I suggest NOT having her do a summary? I think that schools take the fun out of reading, because of the tests at the end. I read constantly, but hated being in an e-mail book club, because I had to concentrate too much on details, etc for future discussion.

My middle dd is going into 7th Honors ELA and for the 1st time had an assigned book with note-taking etc. She was ready to drop out, she just couldn't handle having homework hanging over her head. I finally convinced her to stay in the program by helping her with the book. We finished on Mon, school's out today, and all's well.

 

[Cindy B]

Well, we bought the first 28 of the Magic Treehouse series' books... DD (going into grade 3) is reading two per day, so she's read ten of them already! They've only been out a week! She has to write short little summaries on six of the books... After this I guess she will go into the Lemony Snickett series? She only has to keep track of the books, she doesn't need specific books... just the six summaries...

DS (going into grade 6) needs at least three books... One is "Bloomability", one is "There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom" & then one additional of the following:

Hatchet
The Music of Dolphins
The Westing Game
Ghost Horses
Treasure Island
Double Identity

DS has actual book reports due on the three books & he's a terrible procrastinator when it comes to book reports!

Westing Game is a great book. I was reading it to a 4th grade class here. It used to be classroom reading in 6th and or 7th grade here. (depended on the teacher). Treasure Island was also a 7th grade book. Hatchet was a 6th grade book.

If its a boy, he might enjoy Hatchet. Treasure Island was a tough read even for the enriched readers.

 

[froglady]

My daughter will be in 8th grade and she has to read The OUtsiders.

DS (also rising 8th) has to read the book AND watch the movie. Then he has a worksheet to fill out comparing the two. (There was a second choice, also)

I think since so many students started watching the movies rather than reading the books, they started making them do both.

He also has to read "The Shakespeare Stealer" which he read two years ago.

He's reading "Harriet Tubman" (mandatory) and "Across 5 Aprils" for US History....there were other choices.

 

[Marseeya]

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures! Can I suggest NOT having her do a summary? I think that schools take the fun out of reading, because of the tests at the end. I read constantly, but hated being in an e-mail book club, because I had to concentrate too much on details, etc for future discussion.

My middle dd is going into 7th Honors ELA and for the 1st time had an assigned book with note-taking etc. She was ready to drop out, she just couldn't handle having homework hanging over her head. I finally convinced her to stay in the program by helping her with the book. We finished on Mon, school's out today, and all's well.

My son had to do that in middle school as well, with the note taking after each chapter. It was torture for him, but that was when we discovered he had a learning disability in written expression.

Anyway, it's not a formal summary that we're doing -- we're just going to have a one-on-one discussion of each chapter so that I know she's not cheating. She did her first chapter last night, and I found that she didn't absorb a word she read, so I was able to help her through it and it made the book a lot more interesting for her.

 

[clutter]

We have no reading list, but the county library runs a reading program to read 15 books this summer. That's a bit tough for dd, rising 4th grader, who likes longer books. So she's throwing in a few mid-length non-fiction books.

I was really happy to see one of our favorites on the library list - The Penderwicks. If anyone's looking for some fun summer reading, it's a blast!

 

[motherhen17404]

My DS does not have a school reading list, but we require that he reads this summer. But that is not a chore for him. The chore is trying to find books for him to read. He is going into 10th grade and his reading level is so high that it is hard to find books that interest him, but also don't have a lot of inappropriate subject matter. Not that we are prudes but there are some things I would rather he read about when his is a little older. He has read all the Lord of the Rings books, all of Harry Potter, all of Clive Cussler's books. I tried to get him to read Tom Clancy books, but he said they were boring, meaning they were too easy. He is working on some Terry Pratchett and Piers Anthony books. If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them on!

Oh, and I do agree with what 1 poster said about schools taking the fun out of reading by having tests after every book. DS had a great 6th grade teacher who understood that and he would sit down with every kid and would discuss the books they had read. He would grade them on that discussion and he said he got a better understanding of which kids were having problems reading and which kids were ready for more advanced books.