PREPARING FOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH (2013-04-09 22:30:21)

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING LITERACY SKILLS

If you would like to improve your reading and writing skills before high school begins, the summer is a perfect opportunity. Consider these suggestions. If you are willing to commit to them (or even some of them), you will certainly enter 9th grade English in a stronger position.
READING
Quite simply, the more you read, the better reader you become.
Therefore:
Set aside 30 minutes each day to read a book that is on your level (or slightly above)
? Select a quiet spot that is free of distractions (that means no phone, no iPOD, no FB, no nothing ? ).
? Feel free to listen to a recorded version while you follow along in the text.
? Each time you finish a chapter, pause. Pretend that there is a small child next to you and s/he wants to know what just happened. Your job is to explain it simply and clearly.
? Each time you finish about 50 pages, pause again. This time, explain the changes in the main character(s). Be sure to use specific examples and sharp adjectives.
? After you complete about 100-150 pages, ask yourself if you can identify the author’s purpose. What did s/he want the reader to think about? Is there a message – a theme – that is coming through? Remember that themes are expressed in complete sentences – they are NOT one word!
? Check out this great website for all kinds of reading suggestions: http://www.greenwichschools.org/page.cfm?p=4007
Also, find a newspaper, either a print or online version.
? If reading is a bit difficult for you, try USA Today, The Princeton Packet or The Star Ledger.
? If you are comfortable with more challenging text, try The New York Times.
? Select an article that interests you (not your mom or your dad – YOU).
? Read the first two paragraphs. Pause and explain (aloud, preferably) the purpose of the article and any information you’ve learned so far. If necessary, reread those paragraphs.
? Finish the article unless it’s too long. Then see if you can recall 6-8 important facts.
? Now answer this question: What was the writer’s purpose (what did s/he want the reader to know or think about)?
? Find one or two sentences that you think are really well written. Read them aloud. What makes them so interesting? (Answer aloud.)
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WRITING
Writing isn’t easy. In fact, it can be pretty challenging. That’s ok, because the more you do it, the better you become.
Therefore:
GET A NOTEBOOK WITH LINED PAPER OR SET UP A WORD DOCUMENT. You can easily build a journal on your computer.
? Almost every day, write for 10-15 minutes. You can write about your baseball game, your day at the beach, your opinion about the presidential campaign, the newspaper article or book chapter you just read…anything.
? (You can also continue to write about the subject you chose for the multi-genre project – or choose another subject altogether.)
? While you write, pay attention to your capitalization, punctuation and spelling. High school REALLY cares about these things!
? Try to use the sharpest words you know. If you could have written the entry two years ago, chastise yourself (look it up!) and revise. Write like an 8th-grade graduate.
? Two or three times a week, select a significant quote from your book or newspaper article. Record it in your journal and explain its meaning. Can you relate it to something else in literature or film? To something in history or current events? Push yourself.
? Try to write 35 entries this summer. You can do it! (You’re out of school for 77 days!)
VOCABULARY BUILDING
Select 15-25 words to learn well this summer.
? Notice that I said “to learn well” – learning some words WELL is much better than learning lots of words and forgetting them.
? Check out this website if you need suggestions: http://www.vocabulary.com/lists/79298
? Choose words that look familiar to you.
? Select no more than 5 per week. Write them, type them, pronounce them, use them in sentences with your parents, write them some more, use them some more.
? Each time you learn new words, make sure you continue to review your old ones.
? Consider creating an attractive vocabulary notebook – paper or online.


Sound like a lot of work? If you do everything that I recommend here, you will be working for one hour per day. You can split that hour in half or in thirds. If you really can’t bear to give up that much of your 1,704 hours of the summer, then do some of my suggestions.
If you schedule the time into your day, you will get it done and you will SUCCEED. Put yourself ahead of the curve – you’ll be very glad in September!