Dear Pre-AP/AP Students and Parents,
Grand Prairie ISD is so pleased that you have selected a Pre-AP/AP English Language Arts course for the fall semester of the 2009-2010 academic year. As you know, these classes are quite rigorous. Students are more likely to experience success on the AP exam if they have deeply studied as many College Board authors as possible. For this reason and because we like to keep our students challenged over the summer months, Grand Prairie ISD has elected to require summer reading from Grades 6-12. We would like to encourage you to read the selections along with your children and have some family discussions about great literature.
We would also like to encourage you to purchase a book for your child if at all possible. There are some wonderful sources to find inexpensive copies of the novels such as half.com, alibris.com, Amazon.Com. and Half-Price Books. The advantage to owning a text is that the student can take notes in the book which will prove important upon return to class.
The following is the AP Summer Reading List for GPISD for 2009:
6th – Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
7th – The Pearl by John Steinbeck
8th – The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
English I – 1984 by George Orwell
English II – Their Eyes are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston & To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
English III – The Crucible by Arthur Miller & On Writing by Stephen King
English IV – Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbard Kingsolver, & How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster
The Grand Prairie Vertical Alignment Team also decided to have a common assignment when your students return to class in the fall. Students will be required to annotate their texts and keep a dialectical journal during their reading. Their Language Arts teacher can provide them with more specifics on exactly what needs to be done. Students will bring their annotations and their journals to class upon return in the fall and use them on an essay question they will receive upon their return. This essay question will function as a Timed Writing to be done in class. Sixth graders will have a slightly different assignment that will be given to them by their teacher/Advanced Academic Specialist since they are new to the Pre-AP experience.
It is imperative that your child completes their summer reading. Expectations in these classes are high. Students will be held accountable for their reading. Grand Prairie ISD wishes your child a summer of great reading. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Grand Prairie ISD AP Vertical Alignment Team &
Kathy McGinn
Secondary ELA Facilitator