This website has everything you need for your summer reading assignment and more!
Step 1: By May 23, 2008
We need to know that you accessed this assignment. Register now with Turnitin.com. See details below. If you don’t register on time, you’ll be hearing from us!
New Students: If you have just registered (in July or August), get started and we will adjust due dates on an individual basis when school starts.
Step 2: Get Your Book
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
MLA Handbook for Writer’s of Research Papers
Help us purchase supplies for the class by purchasing your books at Barnes and Noble within the coupon dates. (See bottom of this page.) We thank you.
Like to read? We suggest that you may also enjoy Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card. The coupon can also be used for this as well.
Step 3: Let's Begin
Once registered, read through all of the information.
It’s important to know what you are asked to show from your reading before you start to do so.
It’s also important that you estimate how much time you will need to complete the assignment so that you can plan accordingly along with your other summer activities.
In the Future
Questions or problems about the assignment? e-mail Mrs. Moline at lmoline@pvschools.net.
Questions or problems with turnitin.com? e-mail Mrs. Leto at mleto@pvschools.net.
Step 4: Register on Turnitin.com
Click on “New User” at the top right corner and register as a student user.
The class ID is 2279009 and the password is rattlers.
Double check to make sure you correctly typed your email address. You need a valid email address. If you do not have an email account of your own, take the time to create one. *See below.
Your password will need letters and numbers. Choose a password that you can remember.
When prompted to choose a secret question, choose either your mother’s maiden name or your father’s middle name because this information will not change.
Once you have completed the registration process, click on “end the wizard and log in.”
That’s all you must do at this time. Now we know you are ready to go.
If you have tried to set up an account and have problems, you may email Mrs. Leto at mleto@pvschools.net. Type “Turnitin question” on the subject line of your email.
*You can create an email account for free at http://www.yahoo.com/ or http://www.hotmail.com/ Turnitin.com allows the teacher (Mrs. Moline or Mrs. Leto) to email you directly. We may do so throughout the summer and occasionally throughout the school year. You can use a parent’s email acc ount if you also have access to it.
For those of you concerned about privacy, Turnitin is a secure site. Paradise Valley Unified School District pays a subscription fee for these services. Colleges and universities around the country also use Turnitin as a plagiarism prevention tool. You will not receive email solicitations from this site or their “business partners.”
The Summer Reading and Writing Assignment
This year’s summer book is Ender’s Game, a science-fiction novel by Orson Scott Card. It is a “hard-to-put-down” book jammed packed with wonderful things to think about and discuss—which brings us to the discussion forum. The writing assignment that accompanies your reading will be done through a discussion forum on Turnitin.com.
The discussion forum has two purposes: the first, of course, is to discuss the novel. The second is to give you an opportunity to communicate with your fellow classmates and meet new friends. Your first posting will be a thumbnail sketch of yourself. This needs to be completed before any posting about the novel.
First Posting: Your Thumbnail Sketch
Log onto turnitin.com.
Freshmen 08-09 is the class in which you are now enrolled. Click on it to enter the class.
Once you are in the class click on the “discussion” icon on your “class home” menu bar.
Click on “My Thumbnail Sketch” and post your 4-sentence thumbnail sketch.
Sentence 1: Your name and the name of your 8th-grade school or equivalent
Sentence 2: Your hobbies and/or outside interests
Sentence 3: Something you’re good at or proud of
Sentence 4: Your biggest concern about starting high school
Six Novel Postings
You will post after every three chapters. DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE NOVEL. Here’s how it goes. See checklist on the next page for the questions and see the rubric for grading details.
There are 15 chapters, so you will post five times while reading.
Three of the five times you will reply to someone who has already posted. You must reply to someone who is not from your school. This will require that you read the thumbnail sketches before you pick the person to whom you will reply. You may not respond to the same person more than once. You may not reply to a reply.
Two of the five times you will post an initial response to allow someone to reply to you.
One of these initial responses will discuss how the chapter block question applies to the novel.
One of these initial responses will give your opinion about the chapter block question.
Prepare your posting before you log on.
Type your reply or initial response into a word document first. See grading rubric for guidance.
Save all postings. You will print and hand them in after school starts. See details below.
Copy and paste your posting or initial response into the proper place in the discussion forum.
To end your assignment, you will post an initial sixth response to the reflection question for a total of 6 postings.
Use the checklist on the following page to help you.
This checklist will be completed and attached to your postings when you hand them in.
You will also hand in the rubric for the teacher to use when grading.
If you have questions or problems about the assignment, you may email me at lmoline@pschools.net. Type “Summer Reading Question” on the subject line of your email.
Posting on Turnitin.com
Log onto turnitin.com.
Freshmen 08-09 is the class in which you are now enrolled. Click on it to enter the class.
Once you are in the class click on the “DISCUSSION” icon on your “CLASS HOME” menu bar.
Click on the correct chapter block and either reply to someone’s initial response and post your own initial response.
These chapter blocks close periodically depending on the number of responses, but they will be reset and reopened. If you want to see if you received a reply to one of your initial responses, check often or it may have been closed.
If you have tried to post a comment and have problems, you may email me at mleto@pvschools.net. Type “Turnitin question” on the subject line of your email.
Turning in Your Assignment
You will be able to hand in your assignment throughout the first three weeks of school. DO NOT bring it on the first day. (If you are a newly registered student, we will adjust your due date.) We will address any final questions when school starts. You will then be given the directions about presentation for handing in your assignment.
This is not an assignment to ignore. We will be using Ender’s Game as the basis of many examples for our studies throughout the first semester.
Get Your Supplies Early for Next Year
A) You will need a regular 1”-ring binder and one set of five dividers.
B) At least one 70-page spiral notebook – the cheap kind.
C) We do require other supplies that we highly recommend you purchase early in the summer. Every year those who wait until school starts have problems finding them because everyone is trying to do the same. You will need these the first week. Take advantage of the offer from Barnes & Noble and Office Max at Desert Ridge for these items:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition. If you have an older edition at home, it is outdated. You need the silver one. This is a must for high-school survival!
A small binder that holds 5 1/2” x 8” paper. You do not need paper for it. The 1” ring-size is best. See the Office Max Opportunity below.
Two sets of dividers for the small notebook. These may be purchased from us for approximately $3 when school starts. They are also very difficult to find.
General note about supplies: Each teacher will have a supply list and want a separate binder. Don’t buy one big binder for all classes. That won’t work.
OPPORTUNITY FROM THE OFFICE MAX AT DESERT RIDGE: The small notebooks are a problem to find when school starts because no store stocks enough for the 200 NCHS Honors English students. Office Max at Desert Ridge has graciously offered to pull the stock from all over the valley to accommodate us. This availability will be in effect during the same time as the Barnes and Noble coupon. So do one-stop shopping. Get all your necessary hard-to-get items easily. They will be on display in the front of the store. At checkout, give them Max Perks number 1074-95746 to help us earn even more supplies for the classroom.
Here are the TWO pages you will NEED TO PRINT:
Click here for the Directions and Checklist for the Summer Reading Assignment
Click here for the Grading Rubric for the Summer Reading Assignment
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North Canyon 9th Grade Honors High School
Required Summer Reading Order Form
North Canyon will receive a percentage of the proceeds from your books purchased at Barnes & Noble between these dates only. Those who purchase their books during this time will also be eligible to win a $25.00 gift card. Drawing will take place on June 13th. You need not be present to win. Now would be a terrific time to purchase your “fun” books too :+)
Please bring this form with you to Barnes & Noble* between May 24th & June 6th, 2008.
Ender’s Game ISBN# 0812550706 $ 6.99
Ender’s Shadow ISBN# 0812575717 $ 7.99 - optional
MLA Handbook ISBN# 0873529863 $17.50
Name _________________________ Phone Number ____________________ (for gift card entry)
*Valid ony at Desert Ridge, Kierland and Arrowhead locations. ID# 261800
Click here for the single page printable version of this coupon.
Click Here to View Mrs. Moline's home page
Click Here to View Mrs. Leto's home page
Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: You are about to leave the Summer Reading web page and the Paradise Valley School District server.~ The PVUSD has no responsibility for the content beyond this point.~ The Internet is a highly volatile place and pages change suddenly and rapidly. Because we believe that everyone has the right to exercise personal freedoms, we make no attempt to control or even monitor another person's values or tastes.~ It is not unusual to find information or images that are objectionable.~ Proceed at your own risk.