Woodstream Christian Academy Summer Reading 2014

School of Logic English Department School of Logic Summer Reading

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School of Logic Summer Reading Selections Rising 7th Grade Summer Reading Selection: The Second Mrs. Giaconda, E.L. Konigsburg Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson, Ben Carson, M.D. with Cecil Murphey

Rising 8th Grade Summer Reading Selection: The Second Mrs. Giaconda, E.L. Konigsburg Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson, Ben Carson, M.D. with Cecil Murphey

The Summer Reading will require each student to create a scrapbook or portfolio. This should be a fun and engaging way to display visually and express through writing what has been learned from the required readings. Let your professional creativity shine! The pages that follow will tell you what to include in your scrapbook or portfolio. Don’t forget to give your project a captivating yet relevant title. The Summer Reading Scrapbook will not only be graded, but it will also be placed on display for the month of September. So represent yourself, your family, and most importantly the Lord well. I look forward to seeing your final project.

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SUMMER READING ACTIVITIES FOR THE SECOND MRS. GIACONDA BY E.L. KONIGSBURG PART I: PREPARATION FOR THE SUMMER READING 1. Create a section in your Summer Reading Scrapbook entitled The Second Mrs. Giaconda by E.L. Konigsburg 2. Internet Search for the Summer Reading Scrapbook. a. Find a picture of E.L. Konigsburg that will become part of your scrapbook. Provide a short caption for the picture. b. Find a map of Italy and place an “x” on the city of Milan. This is the primary setting for The Second Mrs. Giaconda. This, too, will become part of your scrapbook. Provide a short caption for the map. c. Find a picture of Leonardo da Vinci to place in your scrapbook. Be sure to create a caption for the picture. d. Do an Internet search and find three paintings by Leonardo da Vinci to include in your scrapbook. Your captions for each picture should include the title of the art work. 3. In the Summer Reading packet, an article about Leonardo da Vinci has been provided. Read the article and take notes. Then write a one-paragraph summary that answers the following question: Who is Leonardo da Vinci and what is his contribution to the art world? Your paragraph will also be placed in your portfolio. PART II: READING THE SECOND MRS. GIACONDA - FOCUSING MY READING 1. Take a moment to look at the questions below prior to reading The Second Mrs. Giaconda. The questions will give your reading focus. a. Why do you think E.L. Konigsburg chose to write the historical novel The Second Mrs. Giaconda? b. Which character undergoes the most change from the beginning of the story until the end? What causes this change? What does this reveal about the character? c. Which character in the historical novel do you consider to be the most heroic? Why? d. Which character in the historical novel do you consider to be the most cowardly? Why? e. What do the main characters in the novel need or want? School of Logic Summer Reading

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PART III: READING THE SECOND MRS. GIACONDA – MY RESPONSES AND FEELINGS 1. As you read, write down your reactions, thoughts, and feeling to the novel. Were you surprised? Why? Did the book have a different ending than you expected? Why? What was confusing? Do not be afraid to write down any questions that may arise as you read. Include one of your honest responses in your scrapbook. 2. Complete the Character Analysis Chart and place it in your Summer Reading Scrapbook. PART III: AFTER THE READING If you had an opportunity to interview on the characters in the novel, who would it be? You are going to interview a character from The Second Mrs. Giaconda. Write five questions that will give the character the opportunity to discuss his/her thoughts and feelings about his/her role in the story. You will answer those questions from the perspective of the character you selected. Make sure you place this question and answer interview in your Summer Reading Scrapbook.

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GIFTED HANDS: THE STORY OF BEN CARSON BY BEN CARSON, M.D. PART I: PREPARATION FOR SUMMER READING Although we are each fearfully and wonderfully made, God has created each of us with a unique purpose. What is His purpose for your life? Why is it important that we know His purpose for our lives. As you read Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson, a former New York Times bestseller, you will find God’s purpose for Dr. Ben Carson’s life. What is His purpose for your life? 1. Create a second section in your Summer Reading Scrapbook entitled Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson by Ben Carson, M.D. PART II: READING GIFTED HANDS: THE STORY OF BEN CARSON 1. Take a moment to read the questions below before you start reading Gifted Hands: The Story of Ben Carson. The questions will help guide your reading. a. Why do you think Dr. Ben Carson wanted to tell his story? b. How does Dr. Carson change from the beginning of his story until the end? c. What is it that Dr. Carson wants or need? d. What were the “keys” to Dr. Carson’s success? 2. Provide answers to the questions above in your Summer Reading Scrapbook. 3. As you read, write down your reactions, thoughts, and feeling to the autobiography. Some guiding questions are: a. Were you surprised? Why? b. Did the book have a different ending than you expected? Why? c. As you read each chapter of the book, how do you feel? Why do you feel that way? d. What was confusing? Do not be afraid to write down any questions that may arise as you read. Include one of your honest responses in your scrapbook. PART III: AFTER THE READING What if we had the chance to have Dr. Carson come to our school and speak? How would his presence make a difference in the lives of our students? Now you will have the opportunity to write a letter to Dr. Carson asking him to come to our school for a visit. Your goal is to create such a great letter that Dr. Carson would come to Woodstream Christian Academy. After you write your letter, you will record yourself asking Dr. Carson to come and visit the Academy. You will include your letter in Summer School of Logic Summer Reading

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Reading Scrapbook and you will send your video letter to [email protected] by the first day of school. I am looking forward to the final product!! Enjoy your summer of reading and writing! Please do not wait until the last weeks of summer vacation to begin your assigned summer readings. Do a little each week so the process will not be so overwhelming! We look forward to seeing your Summer Reading Scrapbook masterpiece!

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CHARACTER ANALYSIS CHART Literary Work

_________________________________________________________________

CHARACTER SELECTED

School of Logic Summer Reading

WHAT DOES THE CHARACTER NEED OR WANT?

PASSAGE THAT SHOWS THE CHARACTER’S NEEDS OR WANTS

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Article 1

References

Leonardo da Vinci. (2011). Hutchinson's Biography Database, 1.

Leonardo da Vinci Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. One of the greatest figures of the Italian Renaissance, he was active in Florence, Milan, and, from 1516, France. As state engineer and court painter to the Duke of Milan, he painted the Last Supper mural (c. 1495; Sta Maria delle Grazie, Milan), and on his return to Florence painted the Mona Lisa (c. 1503–05; Louvre, Paris). His notebooks and drawings show an immensely inventive and inquiring mind, studying aspects of the natural and scientific world from anatomy and botany to aerodynamics and hydraulics. Milan Leonardo left Florence for Milan in c. 1482, offering his services to Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, primarily as a military and naval engineer, as a sculptor next, and as a painter incidentally. As a military engineer he was responsible for the construction of assault machines, pontoons, a steam cannon, and a tortoise‐shaped assault tank. For a castle in Milan he created a forced‐air central heating system and also a water‐pumping mechanism. Leonardo's inventions ranged from complex cranes to pulley systems, lathes, drilling machines, a paddlewheel boat, flying machines, and an underwater breathing apparatus. Soon after his arrival, however, he painted Ludovico's mistress, Cecilia Gallerani (the Lady with an Ermine, Kraków, Czartoryski Collection), and, in partnership with Ambrogio da Predis in 1483, an altarpiece to which Leonardo contributed the central panel, The Virgin of the Rocks. (The existence of two versions, one in the Louvre, Paris, and one in the National Gallery, London, may be explained by the revision of the altarpiece in 1506 after a long period of haggling, when presumably a first version of the panel was sent to France and the other was finally accepted by the confraternity of the Immaculate Conception.) Other undertakings were the bronze equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, of which only the model was completed, and the world‐famous fresco of the Last Supper in the refectory of Sta Maria delle Grazie. This painting, in which he used an experimental oil medium, suffered from the damp wall on which it was painted. Venice, Rome, and Florence Having left Milan to return to Florence in 1499, the following year Leonardo traveled to Venice, where he may have met the Italian painter Giorgione, who was greatly impressed by his treatment of light and shade. Leonardo developed the use of both chiaroscuro (the contrast of light and shadow) and also sfumato (the subtle graduation of colors and tones), both techniques helping to extend the emotional depth and complexity of painting. School of Logic Summer Reading

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After mapping the country and planning canals and harbors for Caesar Borgia in Rome, in 1503 Leonardo was commissioned by the Signory of Florence to produce a battle scene on the walls of the Council Hall. Michelangelo was commissioned the same time for a similar work. After working on the Battle of Anghiari for two years, Leonardo left the work unfinished, and an experimental technique again destroyed what he had done. Over the same time, Leonardo also worked on the portrait of Mona Lisa (La Gioconda; Louvre), the wife of wealthy merchant Francesco Zanobi del Giocondo. The mysterious smiling picture depicted all the subtle elusiveness of expression that Leonardo loved. Later years In 1506 Leonardo returned to Milan (now under French domination) as the city's engineer and architect, moved on to Rome in 1513 for three years, and then accepted Francis I's invitation to France. He spent his last years in the small castle of Cloux near the royal residence of Amboise on the Loire. His last painting was the St. John the Baptist (c. 1514–15), now in the Louvre. Early life: Florence Leonardo was the son of Ser Piero da Vinci, a lawyer from Florence, and his mother, Catarina, was of humble birth and unmarried. The child was brought up in his father's household and showed unusual gifts from his earliest years, youthful pursuits being music, modeling, and drawing. His father placed him in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio, where he was the fellow pupil of Botticelli, Perugino, and Lorenzo di Credi. It is probable that he painted the kneeling angel in Verrocchio's Baptism (Uffizi), in which according to legend the master recognized the pupil's superiority. He was enrolled in the painters' guild in Florence in 1472, and Lorenzo the Magnificent took him under his protection in 1477. First works Before 1481 he devoted himself to projects and studies in architecture, hydraulics, mechanics, engineering, astronomy, geology, and anatomy. To this period belong the Virgin and Child (Munich), viewed with doubt by some authorities but containing many Leonardesque details; the portrait of Ginevra de Benci (Liechtenstein Collection); and the unfinished Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi). Research in science and art His voluminous notebooks and diagrammatic drawings, of which the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, England, contains the greatest collection, show a profound research into general scientific laws demonstrable by observation and experiment. In applied science he had all the equipment of a great inventor, anticipating the airplane, the armored vehicle, and the submarine. On the subject of architecture and town planning he had a modern attitude toward acoustics, light, and space, and conceived of two‐level highways. His notes for a treatise on painting and his remarks on the observation of accidental effects in nature are still stimulating to artists. Superb examples of his powers as a draftsman, apart from his scientific and anatomical studies, are his drawings of horses and warriors for the Battle of Anghiari, his silverpoint bust of a warrior (British Museum, London), and his self‐portrait in sanguine (Turin), while his cartoon for the Virgin and St. Anne (Royal Academy, London) is a monochrome masterpiece.

Hutchinson's Biography Database © Research Machines plc 2011. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines. All Rights Reserved.

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Works Referenced Gallagher, Kelly. Reading Reasons. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers, 2003. print. Gallagher, Kelly. Teaching Adolescent Writers. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers, 2006. print.

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