Incoming Seventh Grade

Dear incoming Seventh 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 Seventh 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

The Skin I’m In

by Sharon G. Flake

Summary:

Maleeka Madison is a strong student who has had enough of being teased about her "too black" skin and handmade clothes. When she starts 7th grade, she decides to adopt a sassier attitude and a tougher circle of friends. The last thing she expects is to get "messed up" with another "freak," but that's exactly what happens. After a new teacher, whose face is disfigured from a skin disease, enters her life, will Maleeka be able to learn to love the skin she's in?

Activity:

Write a chapter summary on a post it and attach it to the end of the chapter.

English

Essentials and Standard

Amal Unbound

By: Aisha Saeedi

Summary:

A Pakistani girl dreams of an education, however, she must learn to persevere through unexpected circumstances. She is forced into indentured servitude to pay off her family’s debt. Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to create change in her community, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.

Activity (Essentials, Standard, and Honors):

Students will create a storyboard. See assignment description below. Storyboard assignment

Students will identify grammar in context. Amal Unbound: Grammar

MDPLS Overdrive ebooks and audiobook

Honors

English

The Call of the Wild

By Jack London

Summary:

The novel’s central character is a dog named Buck, a domesticated dog living at a ranch in the Santa Clara valley of California during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush- a period when strong sled dogs were in high demand. Stolen from his home and sold into the brutal existence of an Alaskan sled dog, he reverts to atavistic traits. Buck is forced to adjust to, and survive, cruel treatments and fight to dominate other dogs in a harsh climate. Eventually he sheds the veneer of civilization, relying on primordial instincts and lessons he learns, to emerge as a leader in the wild. Students will write 10 journal entries - one paragraph each - from Buck’s perspective, covering the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. Illustrate any five of them.

Activity:

Students will write 10 journal entries - one paragraph each - from Buck’s perspective, covering the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. Illustrate any five of them.

MDPLS Overdrive ebooks and audiobook