Summer assignments

White Hill Middle School: no assignments for the summer

Drake High School:

AP Literature (Seniors)

Choose two books to read, one from either: Jane Eyre or Great Expectation, and also one from either: Grapes of Wrath or Great Gatsby.

• Keep a reading log for your two novels; give your personal responses and thoughts as you're reading.
• Write a one-page response about each book.
• Write a one-page research paper on your author.

Read the first five chapters of Discovery of Poetry by Frances Mayes.

• Take a page of notes on each chapter.
• Choose five poems and copy them out; explain why you like the poem and what strikes you about it.

Write a college application essay, either in response to one of the standard UC prompts or a specific prompt. Bring for editing.

AP Language and Composition

Read Let the Great World Spin, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and watch Man on Wire. Take notes.

Choose a major event in your life or major historical events that have happened during your life. Write about the event in five paragraphs, using specific writing techniques. In three of the paragraphs, fictionalize the account.

The specific writing techniques you can choose from:

• Use description
• Use examples
• Use structure or function analysis
• Use process analysis
• Use cause and effect
• Use classification
• Use comparison and contrast
• Use an analogy
• Use a definition
• Choose a sentence from either novel and use it as the first sentence

AP US History

Read Chapters 2-4 of the textbook and take notes. There will be a test the second week.

Read the first two chapters of A People's History of the United States and answer the questions about the chapters in one-two pages per chapter.

AP Spanish

Read the first four chapters of La Ciudad de las Bestias and answer the questions on the workbook given out in June. The answers and notes will count for 25% of the first grading period.

AP Art

Create a process/sketchbook/journal over the summer to be handed in the first day. The journal must include:

• People, places, things
• Observational drawings
• Non-observational drawings
• Black and white media
• Color media
• Written reflection, notes, and thoughts

ROCK Summer Project

Sophomores and Freshman in ROCK must create a summer engagement project that demonstrates how you engaged your brain over the summer in a creative and innovative way.

An example: Beatrice, while working her summer job at the bicycle store, suggested to her bosses that they reuse their parts by donating them to TripsForKids in San Rafael. She built a customized rickshaw to transport the bike parts without adding any pollution to the atmosphere. She convinced her friends to help her make a well-edited five minute documentary video about the project.

Freshman and Mobius/Gallileo

Read either: The Book Thief or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Write a response to the book that discusses

• Whether or not you liked the book
• The plot and story
• The setting
• The characters and characterizations
• The style and elements the author uses
• The theme