Mrs. Ruland's United States History Class
Note to my incoming 9th Grade US History G/T Students
Hi, I am very excited about this coming year. We will work together to develop some of the research and writing skills that you will need in the Advanced Placement courses that you have committed to take.
Over the course of the year, we will be doing a variety of projects and inquiry exercises. I will also be asking you to report on battles, Supreme Court cases, American novels, and historical essays. Most of this I will be explaining to you in August, but I want to give you an option to do one item in advance.
Attached is my instruction for the 2 assignments dealing with novels in American History. By the 2nd week of school, you will be required to select a novel from those listed. Most of them are in the Howard County Library; I also own many of them. Your selection will have to be on a first served, no duplicates basis. Since you are receiving this now before you are in my classroom, you may email your selection to me at mruland@comcast.net. Do not assume that you are assigned your first choice. I will reply to all messages telling you if the book is free and therefore assigned to you, or if you need to make another selection.
Next year will probably be rather busy for you. It might be a good idea to read your book this summer. But if you do read the book this summer, be sure to take some notes so that you can complete the 2 assignments. Next year, you will be giving a report to the class when we reach the time period of the novel. You will also submit a written report at the same time. This report will not be a standard book report, but will be a discussion of the history involved in the book. Sometimes novels are accurate, and sometimes they are not. When they are not, there are generally reasons.
I would suggest that you take some time this summer to decide which books you would be interested in working with next year. Yes, I did use the plural. Remember, there are no duplicates, so I would suggest that you have a couple of alternates. Select a book that interests you and that you would like to read.
I would also encourage you to check out my webpage. There is a lot of good resources for you there, and you will be using it next year. It can be accessed at http://home.comcast.net/~mruland/.
And now for the final part of your assignment. This is a 10 point assignment which will be your first grade in 1st quarter. Take a picture of yourself (possibly with your chosen book), and give it to me along with a brief note telling me about your summer and your reading NO LATER THAN (NLT) September 10 .
Enjoy!!!
You may check the following page to see the current availabiltiy status
of the books on the historical fiction list:
http://home.comcast.net/~mruland/USHist/CourseInfo/novel-stu.htm
Last updated July 3, 2007
© Marcella Ruland 1998-2008, All rights reserved
