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Summer Reading: All Students Grades 9-12

With a focus on developing our graduates as leaders, critical thinkers, and lifelong learners, Central Catholic’s summer reading program is centered on both developing a deeper engagement with literature and providing a centering moment for our students to develop a common understanding of the world around them.

Thus, all students are required to read two books this summer:

One book of choice, provided it is a good-faith effort to find something that the reader will actually enjoy, that fits who they are as a person, that they feel comfortable sharing, and that they haven't read before. Students will be assessed on their book of choice during the first two weeks of school in their English classes.

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan. We recommend the young adult version, but students can opt to read the original text. This book will be integrated into Social Studies and Theology curriculum and assessment during the first month of school.

The book, The Lemon Tree, was selected because of its connection to current events and in an effort to create a greater understanding of the complexities of the Middle East.

What is The Lemon Tree About?

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East is a biography and memoir written by Sandy Tolan and published in 2006. Against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli War’s 50th anniversary, American journalist Sandy Tolan travels to the Middle East to research his assignment. Through the biography, Tolan aims to highlight how two families on opposite sides of the conflict—the al-Khairis and the Eshkenazis—are connected on a level that transcends both faith and human fallibility.

Summer Requirements

Incoming AP Literature students will read one choice book AND also read We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

Incoming Honors English II students will read one choice book AND also read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (either the original version or the young readers' adaptation).

Incoming Honors English III students will read one choice book AND also read the first seven chapters of The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede.

Instructions:
Obtain Required Textbook: Give Me Liberty! An American History (AP Sixth Edition) by Eric Foner
Publisher: W.W. Norton and Company
ISBN-13: 9780393697018
ISBN-10: 0393697010

  1. Read Chapters 1 and 2 of Give Me Liberty! An American History
  2. Create a map of the different Indigenous regions of pre-colonial America (Southwest, Southeast, Northeast, and Plains). You may use the provided template, or you can create your own. You can do a digital map, or a physical map. Be as creative as you like. For each region, you must address (in separate bullet points or a paragraph):
    • Geography of the region
    • Political Structure: political institutions, systems of governance, leadership roles, and the exercise of power within societies.
    • Economic Systems: How do societies produce, distribute, and consume goods and services? Do they have agriculture, trade, industry, commerce, labor systems, and monetary systems?
    • Religion: Religion refers to the beliefs, rituals, practices, and institutions that shape spiritual and moral values within societies.
    • Social Structure: Social structure involves the study of the organization of society, including social hierarchies, class divisions, kinship systems, gender roles, and patterns of social interaction.
    • What are the individual tribes in this region? Note that due to colonization, many tribes have been relocated from their original homes. Please list the original tribes that made that region home and give their name in English and their own language.
  3. Create a map of colonial regions (Spanish/French/English). You may use the provided template, or you can create your own. You can do a digital map, or a physical map. Be as creative as you like. For each region, you must address (in separate bullet points or a paragraph):
    • PIES (political, intellectual, economic, social/religion)
      • P: Political: Political institutions, systems of governance, power dynamics, conflicts, diplomacy, revolutions, and the actions of political leaders and governments.
        • The Pueblo Revolt
      • I: Intellectual: Ideas, beliefs, ideologies, philosophies, and intellectual movements over time. It explores how intellectual thought shapes societies, cultures, and historical events.
        • Example: Las Casas, the Black Legend
      • E: Economic: Economic systems, structures, and trends. It analyzes factors such as trade, commerce, industry, technology, labor, wealth distribution, and economic policies.
        • Encomienda, French fur trade
      • S: Social: Everyday lives, experiences, behaviors, customs, social relations, and cultural practices of ordinary people in the past. It examines issues such as family life, gender roles, class relations, ethnicity, religion, education, and social movements.
        • Spanish colonial hierarchies
  4. Answer the following question in 2-3 paragraphs:
    • Evaluate the extent to which the Columbian Exchange affected the development of Colonial America and Euro-Indigenous relations. Be sure to address:
      • Social-political hierarchies
      • Intercontinental Trade

Summer work for ConTeam: 

  1. Read the chapters on the Preamble & Article I (pages 10-61) in The Words We Live By by Linda Monk. Mr. Stuckart and Ms. Abbott have copies to loan out if you need one.

  2. Make sure to buy a copy of the We the People high school/level 3 textbook via the Center for Civic Education (www.civiced.org/we-the-people/textbooks/high-school).

  3. We will also have several OPTIONAL gatherings for the team (courthouses tour, opportunities to meet coaches, etc.).


 

Summer Assignments for Math

Required: Students who are entering the following classes need to complete a summer review on Khan Academy. Please follow the link to your class and complete the required sections in Khan Academy prior to the first day of school.
ACCELERATED GEOMETRY / ACCELERATED ALGEBRA II
ALGEBRA II
GEOMETRY
HONORS ALGEBRA II
HONORS PRE-CALCULUS