Calendar 2008=9 - The School District of Philadelphia

JulySumMER PROGRAMSThe break from regular school activities should be atime when meaningful learning can continue inorder to prepare students for graduation or for thereturn to school in the fall.Over the summer, The School District ofPhiladelphia offers an array of learningoptions both for remediation andfor enrichment.RemediationThere are classes for:• Twelfth graders who need one or two credits tograduate;• Students in grades 1 through 11 who have failedone or more core subjects.These offerings enable students who completethem to progress to the next grade with theirclassmates in the fall, or, in the case of twelfthgraders, to move on to post-secondaryopportunities that await them.EnrichmentThere are enrichment classes for regular students,such as art and music camps and Advanced Placement(AP) courses, as well as enrichment offeringsfor English Language Learners (ELLs).All of these options provide students with a way toexpand their talents and to pass the summer daysin constructive and enjoyable knowledge-basedactivities.BOOK OF THE MONTH for JulyElementary (K-2): Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman.Grace loves to read stories and act them out. When her classdecides to stage a production of Peter Pan, other children sayshe can’t be Peter - because she’s a girl and because she’sblack. However, Ma and Nana say she can do anything shesets her mind on, and Grace proves that they are right. Thisbook is good for discussing self-image and promotingimagination.Elementary (3-5): If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parksby Faith Ringgold.The bus’s perspective is used to recount the biography of RosaParks, the African American woman and civil rights workerwhose refusal to give up her seat on a bus led to a boycottthat lasted for more than a year in Montgomery. Alabama.Teacher support with explanation and background may beneeded when using this text.Middle School (6-8): Passager by Jane Yolen.Yolen writes three books about Merlin, the wizard of KingArthur’s court, when he is young. PASSAGER is followed byHOBBY (1996) and MERLIN (1997).High School (9-12): The Mayor of Casterbridge by ThomasHardy.Michael Henchard, an unemployed farmhand, gets drunk andsells his wife and baby daughter. Years later when he is theMayor of Casterbridge, his past returns to haunt him, and hereverts to old behaviors.Aieasha Chambers, Olney Elementary School, 200326