Summer Reading 2016 Suffield Middle School “Children and teenagers need to read during the summer months to maintain current reading levels. Reading just 4-5 books during the summer can prevent a decline in a student’s fall reading scores.” ~James Kim, Harvard University

All SMS students are encouraged to read many books this summer. There is a strong correlation between reading regularly for pleasure (any reading . . . really ANY reading, as long as it’s a habit) and academic success, including building vocabulary, developing an understanding of sentence structure, and increasing stamina for reading harder texts. It is also clear that the more you read, the better you write.

So this summer, don’t stop READING! This summer you will have lots of choices for summer reading . . . What will you read? You can choose any book. ANY book. We want you to read what you are interested in this summer . . . to explore careers and people and places you’ve wondered about . . . reading is a great adventure.

Once you are done, write a literary letter (see below) for summer reading credit in your English class this fall. ~or~ Get out your phone or webcam and create a 5-minute video in which you, or a team of no more than 3 of you, conduct a book talk in which you reflect upon the book as you would in the letter. And we might have mentioned this, but you do not have to stop at just one book . . . we think you should read many books. The volume of your reading impacts SAT scores, future academic success, and most importantly, the development of empathy and understanding for people in situations unlike your own. Reading is good for the soul. Don’t think of it as homework . . . think of it a building a reading life that is as individual as you are. In 1945, the average American student between the ages of six and fourteen had a written vocabulary of 25,000 words. Today, that vocabulary has shrunk to about 10,000 words. ~ Ralph Fletcher, What a Writer Needs Wide reading is the single best way to improve your vocabulary. ~ Nagy and Anderson 1984

Responding to reading: Write a 1-page letter (see back) and bring it with you on the first day of school. Your reading letter will be factored positively into your quarter 1 grade in English. You will have the opportunity to revise before final submission. Letter Guidelines: Letters About Literature is a reading and writing contest sponsored by the Library of Congress for students in grades 4-12. Students are asked to read a book, poem or speech and write to that author (living or dead) about how the book affected them personally. Letters are judged on state and national levels. Tens of thousands of students from across the country enter Letters About Literature every year. For more information visit: http://www.read.gov/letters/. High school student letters should be no less than 600 words and no more than 1500 words. Information on the content of the letter is on the back of this page.

2016 Entry Guidelines Contest theme: Write a personal letter to an author whose work (either fiction or nonfiction) changed your view of the world or yourself.

How to Enter First: Determine your competition level. LAL welcomes entries from all readers—reluctant as well as enthusiastic—on three levels of competition. Entrants must be at least 9 years old and fall into one of the following categories: Level 1 – Grades 4-6

Level 2 – Grades 7-8

Level 3 – Grades 9-12

Second: Select and reflect! Select a fiction or nonfiction book you have read and about which you have strong feelings. Explore those feelings and why you reacted the way you did during or after reading the author’s work. Consider these questions when writing your letter: What did the book show you about your world that you never noticed before? What did you realize about yourself as a result of reading this book? Why was this book meaningful to you? How do you know this author’s work influenced you?

Third: Write a persuasive letter stating your opinion and supporting that opinion with specific details. A letter is less formal than an essay or research paper. Write honestly and in your own voice, as if you were having a conversation with the author. Those are the best letters to read and the most fun to write! Keep in mind these two tips: Correspond, don’t compliment! Your letter should inform rather than flatter the author. All FAN letters will be eliminated! Do not summarize the book’s plot! The author wrote the book and knows what happened. What the author doesn’t know is how the book affected you and why it did so. Only YOU can explain that unique relationship you experienced while reading the book.

Fourth: Submit your letter and the required entry coupon by the deadline (to be announced September 12).

Local, State and National Awards LAL awards prizes on both the state and national levels. Suffield will award a Kindle to one participant to be drawn randomly. Each participating state center has its own panel of judges who select the top essayists in the state. State Winners will receive a cash award and advance to the national level judging. A panel of national judges for the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select one National Winner per competition level to receive a $1000 cash award. The judges will also select one National Honor winner per competition level to receive a $200 cash award.