Reading Roundup: A Collection of Articles

Hello, scholars! I hope your Summer has started out well.  It has been pretty busy for me, because I'm working hard to prepare for next year's students.  I'm still in the process of writing back to each of your stories, so don't forget to check your email.  I should be finished by this weekend.

Here is a collection of interesting articles from The New York Times and Time Magazine this week.  Enjoy!:

A fascinating article about Beyoncé.  SURFBORT.

These are the world's oldest pants,  Gross.

Does handwriting really matter?  Apparently it does.

Two high school girls wrote an article about teenage depression.  Powerful.

Seven Good Reasons to Give Back

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” Muhammad Ali

Article below by Leanne Beattie

According to the Giving USA Foundation, charitable giving in the United States reached an estimated $295 billion in 2006—a new record. The record-setting donations included $1.9 billion from Warren Buffett, paid as the first installment of his 20-year pledge of more than $30 billion to four different foundations. But you don’t have to be rich to make a difference. Millions of ordinary Americans—people who you pass on the street every day--also gave to charity, for the sake of making the world a better place, one dollar at a time.

Whether you donate money or time, giving back is beneficial--and not just for the recipients. Research has shown that the old adage, “it’s better to give than to receive” is true after all.

A Gallup survey on volunteering in the U.S.A. found that 52% of volunteers do it because they like doing something useful and helping others. Another 38% said they enjoy doing volunteer work and feeling good about themselves.

Besides feeling good about yourself for doing something for others, giving back is also good for your physical health. In a Canadian study, 85% of Ontario volunteers rated their health as "good," compared to 79% of non-volunteers. Only 2% of volunteers reported "poor" health, one-third the amount of non-volunteers who reported the same health status.

Still other studies have shown a relationship between volunteering and increased self- esteem, with volunteers reporting both greater personal empowerment and better health. Doing for others may stimulate the release of endorphins, which has been linked to improved nervous and immune system functions, too.

The Story of Your 8th Grade Year

Scholars, today's assignment is to write the story of your 8th grade year.  Below are two examples of students' stories.

The Day I Returned 

By Emily B.

Lake Forest, IL

Fifty-three missed calls. I looked at my phone for the first time in two weeks. The hairs on my neck rose when my mother peered cautiously from the passenger seat of my father's car. I strained to read message after message of friends' questions and concerns, not daring to look at her. With a delicate sigh, she turned to focus on the street and watch the yellow lines flash by. 

The nervous clearing of her throat started as it always did when she felt like an inadequate parent. No words were spoken as we rounded the corner and pulled up in front of the school. The once-friendly ivory doors now glared at me with uninviting intent. My father cut the engine. This was it. My signal to open the car door and step back into a world I felt I did not know anymore. 

“No one knows anything,” my father reassured me. I nodded and reluctantly opened the door without a word. He warned me not to reveal the truth to anyone. With each step, my knees became weaker. I reached for the door handle, ignoring the red marks on my hand from clenching my spiral notebook. With a heave, the door swung open and I stepped into the setting of my teenage personality, though I had not exactly returned with eagerness to my old high school life. 

I ducked by the attendance office and climbed the three flights of stairs to my locker. As my shaking fingers twisted the combination, I looked at the clock. The tension in my neck began to build as I saw that class ended in less than five minutes. 

I opened the rusty, green metal door and stared at my books. They were exactly as I had left them, piled in the same slouching manner. I reached for my U.S. history text and placed it in my arm with the spiral. 

The moment I shut my locker, students began to flood out of their classes. I let out a breath, stared intently at the floor, and began walking toward history. Without warning, the hall became silent. I glanced up to find most of the student body staring at me, critiquing my every move. 

Saying "Bye, Felicia!" to Summer Learning Loss

Welcome, scholars! As you wrap-up your 8th grade year and set academic goals for high school, it's time to start thinking about what you can do between now and August to prepare yourselves.

Summer learning loss is a serious issue that students of all ages face.  Summer learning loss, sometimes called the 'the Summer Slide',  refers to the loss of academic skills and reading levels that students experience by not reading or using their brains in the summertime.  Research has found that students can lose several months of reading and math skills simply by not reading or practicing their skills every once in a while during the summer.  You just spent several months becoming better readers and improving your skills, so why would you let that be taken away from you?

Luckily, there are many easy ways to avoid Summer learning loss.  The most important thing you can do to avoid it is read.  You can read absolutely anything to maintain your reading skills!  Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, graphic novels, short stories, newspaper articles, blogs, etc. It doesn't matter what you read.  The important thing is just that you read something.

This summer I'll post short stories, poems, and interesting informational texts to this blog each week. If you'd like, you can just read the texts, but I'll also include questions to answer if you'd like to keep up with more of your language arts skills.  You can post your answers in the comments section, or just keep them to yourself.  This is for you, so use it however you'd like.  Use this blog as your weapon against Summer learning loss.

There are also links in the sidebar under Useful Resources that can help you find more texts to read and even practice your math and science skills.

Summer is for resting, relaxing, having fun and spending time with family and friends, but let's be real, it would not be difficult to read something once a week.  This could be the first step that you take toward reaching your high school goals.  In a few months, you'll be thankful that you did it.
















So, what do we say to Summer learning loss?