Small Town, Big Opportunities

1. The Orange Public Library -Don't limit your summer reading to just the required novel. Go Tuesday night for Teen Night. Our own Ms. Roddy will be conducting book talks over the 2014 Teen's Top Ten Nominees. I may even pop in a night or two.

2. The Stark Museum of Art - The museum has an impressive collection of Western and American Indian art, as well as Rare Books and Manuscripts and Decorative Arts.

3. Shangri-La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center - Explore nature in the heart of Orange. Take a tour of the gardens, take an outpost tour, and enjoy the outdoors.

Free YA Audiobooks by SYNC

SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for young adults. From May 15- August 13, SYNC gives away two complete audiobook downloads a week – a current young adult title along with a thematically paired classic or required summer reading title. Sign up for email and text alerts and be first to know when new titles are available to download at www.audiobooksync.com.

Listen to sample audio here: http://goo.gl/8fZHa2

Summer Reading 2014

Congratulations! You have chosen to challenge yourself next year by taking AP English Language and Composition, or AP English III. I look forward to having you in my class.  It will be an exciting, fun-filled year. This summer, to keep your mind sharp and to give us a head start on August 25, you will read and annotate The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Make sure the version you purchase or borrow has “The Custom House” introduction. It is free for download on many e-readers and it is also available online at http://www.bartleby.com/83/.

Read and annotate, including “The Custom House” introduction. See the Reading Strategies and Annotation Guidelines documents for more information. Your annotations will not be graded, however, we will spend the first few weeks of school discussing and working with the novel. Not completing the summer reading could hinder your participation, and therefore can affect your grade for the first grading period.

If you are not familiar with annotation strategies, this article is a great resource: Beyond the Yellow Highlighter. Cornell Notes, Dialectal Journals, and Sticky Notes, are all strategies you can use if you cannot write in the book. If you are not familiar with annotating and do not know where to start, use the study guide as a guideline. This is not required and you will not turn it in.

The Scarlet Letter can be a challenging text. There are several resources online such as SparkNotes, Poetry RapGenius, and Schmoop, just to name a few. I have also set up a backchannel on Today's Meet where you can post questions and comments about the novel.  Please use your first name and last initial, and as always, be school appropriate. I will check in at least once a week this summer (unless I'm on vacation but I will post regarding long absences) however, I encourage you to discuss the novel together as a class and help each other. Together we are better!

Please email me at melanieclaybar@lcmcisd.org if you have any questions that you do not feel comfortable posting on Today's Meet.

Have a great summer - read, rest, relax, and get ready!