Incoming Eighth Grade

Dear incoming Eighth Grade Students,

We hope this letter finds you well. This year’s summer reading assignment requires you to read two novels and complete an assignment that has been prepared by your teachers. The assignment is mandatory and must be completed before the start of the new school year.

We strongly encourage you to take this assignment seriously and dedicate ample time to completing it.

We hope you have a wonderful summer and enjoy your time off. If you have any questions about the summer reading assignment, please do not hesitate to contact the middle school office.

Sincerely,

Your Eighth Grade Teachers

The Cushman School wishes you a summer full of stories and special moments!

Read from our elibrary all summer long! Learn about SORA here and how you can access your account.

Advisory

Unfriended

by Rachel Vail

Summary:

In middle school, nothing is more important than friendship.When Truly is invited to sit at the Popular Table with the group she has dreamed of joining, she can hardly believe her luck. But all is not as it seems with her new friends.

Activity:

Write a chapter summary on a Post It and attach it to the end of each chapter.

English

Essentials and Standard

A Long Walk to Water

by Linda Sue Park

Summary:

A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

Activity:

Students will complete a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Three of the activities from the board must be completed. See the attached document for the assignment description and choice board.

Student TicTacToe

Students will complete a grammar in context activity .

Grammar in context

MDPLS Overdrive eBook and audiobook

English

Honors

The Pearl

by John Steinbeck

Summary:

The Pearl is a parable about a Mexican Indian pearl diver named Kino who finds a valuable pearl and is transformed by the evil it attracts. Kino sees the pearl as his opportunity for a better life.

Activity