FAQ & Special Needs

Summer Reading FAQ’s:

Each student is required to read one summer reading novel for their English course and complete one entire worksheet for social studies course.  

Students Retaking a Course

If a student is retaking a course, they must read and take the assessment based on the summer reading novel for that course.  For example, if a student is taking both English 10 (retaking) and English 11 (for the first time) during the same academic year, that student needs to take both the 10th and 11th grade assessments. The same applies for social studies courses through completion of mulitiple worksheets.

Students Not Enrolled in a Course

If a student is not enrolled for the upcoming school year in a social studies or English course, they do not have to complete the summer reading assignment for a course that they will not have.

Transfer Students

Students who transfer to the Palisades School District on or before August 1 must read the assigned summer reading novels for their grade level.  All students who transfer to the Palisades School District on or after August 2 are not required to complete the summer reading assignments.

AP Students

If a student is enrolled in an AP course, he or she must read the books required for that AP course.  However, if a student is also taking an additional English or social studies course, they must also complete the summer reading expectation for that associated course.

Dropping AP

If a student was registered for AP, but drops the course in favor of taking a level one course, the student is required to read the summer reading novel or complete the assignment associated with their current course.

What can I do to prepare for the summer reading assessment?

It is best to read the books over the summer and take notes about characters, plot and setting. Link here for a note-taking document that students can use.  The note-taking document is a public Google Doc and is not editable.  Students need to make a copy of the file to edit this document.  Before the test, they should review this document. If they read a book before late July/August, they should go also back and reread for some of the finer details. It is important that students read the entire book since the assessment will ask questions about all parts of the book. Movies about the book, online summaries, and online quizzes are helpful as a way to review the material, but these resources should not take the place of reading the entire book and most teachers design assessments to ensure that students have not replaced the book with a movie.  Students indicated on surveys that they believed that a loss of knowledge due to the distance of time between completion of the novel and the assessment occurred and impacted their grade.  Therefore, using the note-taking document is highly advised.

Will the grade count?

Yes, whether or not you have the class first or second semester, your teacher will record your grade and it will be part of your final grade for that course.

What if I am absent on the day the assessments are given?

You can either make arrangements to take your assessment with your teacher or during the scheduled make-up session.

 What if I didn’t read any of the novels?

All students are required to complete a summer reading assessment for English class and hand in the social studies assignment.  It is in every student’s best interest to complete their summer reading assignments. If you get a zero for the assignment, it will lower your overall grade.