Summer Reading
English Department Summer Reading Policy Statement
Summer reading serves a number of purposes. First, summer reading is diagnostic. It provides teachers a means of assessing students’ critical thinking, reading comprehension, and writing skills. Next, summer reading is academic. It keeps students academically engaged over the summer, and it sets a tone for the level of rigor students should expect in any English class in the coming year. Last, and perhaps most important, summer reading is communal. It provides students a vehicle for cultural literacy, choice, and personal growth and independence of thought.
Students enrolled in each English course will read a book-length text, a novel or a play. Students will also read two shorter texts, usually poems, essays, or short stories, that pair with the lengthier text thematically. Together, the three texts will be used to guide English instruction within the first several weeks of class as both students and teachers work to answer the first unit’s essential question. Students enrolled in Advanced Placement courses may be asked to read additional works or lengthier works.
English Department Alternate Selection Policy:
During the school year should a parent wish for his or her child not to read a chosen literary selection, he or she should contact the child’s English teacher prior to the beginning of the unit of study for an appropriate alternative text designated by the English department.
Obtaining Texts and More Information:
Some of these texts can be located online, and all of the shorter, accompanying works will be available as a PDF through a OneDrive folder in the drop down tabs sorted by grade level below. However, by in large, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain a copy of the longer work (novel or play). Students should check the MLK website throughout the summer for updates and more information from their teachers as well.