I am married and have two children, Sarah and Luke. Sarah loves reading and plays volleyball, but she probably loves her phone more than anything.  Luke participates in scouting, loves board games, and plays baseball.

I live in fear of snakes and that George R.R. Martin won't finish the Game of Thrones series before he dies. 

I promise I’ll change my picture as soon as the new faculty pictures come in.  In the meantime, enjoy a candid snapshot of me on the steps outside the church of St. Etienne du Mont in Paris. 

I began my teaching journey in 2002.  Starting in 2008 I joined the English department at THS.  I've taught all grades of English and all ability levels:  from 9th to 12th grade and from self-contained classes to Pre-AP.  

Thompson High School Summer Reading Program                                                                                      Summer 2019

This is a broad overview of the summer reading requirements for Thompson High School.

Please refer to the school website for summer reading details and individual teachers’ notes.

Parents, please be aware of your student’s choice of books. Not all books are appropriate for all students!

English 9

During the first weeks of school, your teacher will offer a choice of projects related to the book, the author, and/or content.

• Ghost, Jason Reynolds

Honors English 9

• Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of THE ILIAD, Rosemary Sutcliff AND choose one of the following books:
• Ghost, Jason Reynolds
• City of Thieves, David Benioff
• Graveyard Book,  Neil Gaiman

*Honors English 9 students will complete a Major Work Data Card for both novels.

*The MWDC template can be found on all English 9 teachers’  THS webpages.

English 10

Read at least one book of your choice over the summer.  This book may be any fiction or nonfiction book that interests you and is age- and classroom-appropriate  During the first weeks of school, you will bring in the physical book to share, and your teacher will offer a choice of projects related to the book, the author, and/or content.

Teacher Suggestions:

Sophomores and Other Oxymorons, David Lubar

• Turtles All the Way Down, John Green

• Monster,  Walter Dean Myers

• Feed,  M.T. Anderson

• Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor

• Everything  All At Once, Katrina Leno

Honors English 10

• Warriors Don’t Cry AND choose one of the books from the above list

• Honors English 10 students will complete a Major Work Data Card for both novels.

*The MWDC template can be found on all English 10 teachers’ THS webpages.

English 11

Read at least one book of your choice over the summer.  This book may be any fiction or nonfiction book that interests you and is age- and classroom-appropriate  During the first weeks of school, you will bring in the physical book to share, and your teacher will offer  a choice of projects related to the book, the author, and/or content.

Advanced English 11

IN ADDITION to the above, students entering Advanced English 11 will also need to read A Separate Peace  by John Knowles.

Students will complete a dialectical journal for this novel. Guidelines and a sample of a dialectical journal entry are on Crystal Lamar’s THS Webpage. Students need to be ready to submit this assignment when they return to school.

AP English 11, Language and Composition                      Crystal Lamar, e-mail: Crystal.Lamar@acsboe.org
                                                                                                      Angela Glover, e-mail: Angela.Glover@acsboe.org
                                                                                                      Erin Taliaferro, email:  Erin.Taliaferro@acsboe.org

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer                                              A Separate Peace by John Knowles
ISBN-10: 0385486804                                                             ISBN-10: 0743253973

ISBN-13: 978-0385486804                                                     ISBN-13: 978-0743253970

Students taking AP Language will read the two above works, and complete extension activities for each.

• For Into the Wild, students will complete the response questions as they read.

• For A Separate Peace, students will complete ten entries in a dialectical journal.

*Questions, directions, and a sample of a dialectical journal entry are on Crystal Lamar’s THS webpage. Students need to be ready to submit this assignment when they return to school.

English 12

Read at least one book of your choice over the summer.  This book may be any fiction or nonfiction book that interests you and is age- and classroom-appropriate  During the first weeks of school, you will bring in the physical book to share, and your teacher will offer  a choice of projects related to the book, the author, and/or content.

Advanced English 12

IN ADDITION to the above, students entering Honors English 12 will also need to read The Kite Runner* by Khaled Hosseini.

An assessment will be given on The Kite Runner during the first week of school. When you pick up your course schedule this summer, please refer to your teacher’s webpage for specific expectations.

*If you have concerns about the content of this book, please contact Zandra Morris for an alternate selection.

zandra.morris@acsboe.org

AP English 12, Literature and Composition                     

Renee Brown, renee.brown@acsboe.org     or Heath LaGrone, heath.lagrone@acsboe.org

Please select one work from each category below. As you read, complete a dialectical journal for each work.  Please locate the journal documents on Renee Brown’s THS Webpage. These documents are due August 9th.   

Works Written Prior to 1900                                       Works Written After 1900

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, 1847                         Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 1952

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens,1861                     A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by J. Joyce, 1916

Crime and Punishment by F. Dostoevsky, 1866                  Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, 1961

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, 1847                                 Beloved by Toni Morrison, 1987

King Lear by W. Shakespeare, 1606                                  Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, 1977

Moby Dick by Herman Melville,1851                                  Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, 1949                    

Othello by W. Shakespeare, 1603                                      The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams,1945

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, 1899                                 The Color Purple by Alice Walker, 1982

Billy Budd by Herman Melville, 1891 (published later)           Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison,1977

*This is a lengthy assignment, so it should not be completed at the last minute. Please complete one major work per month.

If you have any questions about selections or assignments, please contact Michele Bargman at michele.bargman@acsboe.org.

Happy Reading!