Ramsey High School

Summer Reading 2021

The Ramsey Public School District is dedicated to encouraging young people to see reading as a meaningful way to better understand the world. In these particularly trying times, we feel that reading now, more than ever, is an essential outlet for our young people, as it provides a medium to grow creativity, critical thinking, communication, empathy, reflection, and the essential literacy skills that they will need in the future. We also have received feedback which indicated that choice and developing a personal connection are essential to finding the right book. In essence, self-directed reading produces deeper engagement.

With this in mind, we look to continue to promote a lifelong love of reading that works alongside our curriculum. Our goal is to find the kinds of literature which draw upon what students feel is both important and enjoyable; therefore, this summer students will be able to read any book, fiction or nonfiction, which they feel would be both engaging and appropriate for a high school audience. Although the minimum is one, we hope that students will read more. This must be completed by September 2, 2021; during this week, students will need to be prepared to present why they feel the book they selected will motivate young people to read, which will count as their mandatory assignment. As they read, we encourage them to use the skills and strategies they have learned this year to be active readers. From our research, we have found that overly assessing reading can take away from the joy of reading; however, students who would like to dig deeper into the process may complete a non-mandatory reflective journal. This will serve as an extra credit assignment.

We understand that accessing paper books may be difficult at this time. Listed below are a few resources that offer free e-texts and audio books. In addition, we will be working with the Ramsey Public Library to offer as many diverse print texts as we can when it is possible. We also have a list of student generated recommendations for this year, many of which are available both digitally and in print. We encourage you to read as a family, draw upon common interests, and have conversations that create deep and lasting connections with literature. We also very highly recommend that you preview any book to ensure it is appropriate for you and your family. One resource to help with this is Common Sense Media.

Honors / AP students will have a separate mandatory reading assignment, which can also be viewed below. Any Honors / AP student should feel free to read a choice book and complete the extra assignment, however, it is not mandatory.

We wish you a healthy and happy summer.

If you have any questions about the summer reading, or if you are having trouble finding a book, please feel free to contact Carmen Lacherza, English Language Arts Supervisor, at clacherza@ramsey.k12.nj.us.

Honors and Advanced Placement Assignments

English I Honors

English II Honors

English III Advanced Placement

English IV Advanced Placement

Summer Reading Resources

Ramsey Free Public Library Summer Reading Program

The Ramsey Free Public Library is running its Summer Reading program beginning on June 22nd and lasting 9 weeks through August 21st. Kids, teens and adults can all participate in reading challenges with weekly raffle prizes and grand prizes at the end of the program! The library is also offering dozens of virtual events, performances and classes for all ages throughout the summer. Finally, the library has robust virtual collections that students can access for free to get eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital comics and more. When the library has a partial reopening, hopefully in the near future, we will be providing curbside pickup for items. This will give students access to all of our physical books and materials as well as inter-library loan from other BCCLS libraries.

Click here to register for a public library card

Ramsey High School Library

Sora App

Hoopla

Audible Stories

11th Annual New York Times Summer Reading Contest

Summer Reading recommendations

Below are few of the works that Ramsey High School students loved this year. Please don't feel limited by this list. We encourage you and your family to preview any book to be sure it is appropriate.