Marks Education’s Summer Reading & Writing Intensive Program
Looking to improve your critical reading and writing skills? The Reading and Writing Program is a tailored approach to help you stay current during the summer months.
Marks Education is excited to announce the return of its popular Summer Reading & Writing packages! These packages offer an excellent opportunity for students to maintain and build their reading and writing skills over the summer. Packages include twelve 50-minute interactive, discussion-based tutoring sessions. The Reading and Writing Packages are open to students entering 7th grade and above. We ask that each student submit a writing sample prior to the commencement of the program so that we can assess their needs. Tutors offer a free 30-minute initial consult during which they will discuss program expectations and student needs. Options for the packages include the following, but our packages are always tailored to the needs of individual students and can be adjusted as required:
1. Non-fiction Reading and Writing Package
This program is ideal for any student – whether a rising high-schooler or a soon to be AP Language & Composition student – looking for guided practice writing about non-fiction. Students can expect to:
- Read strong examples of nonfiction, from classic speeches to modern essays, as the launching point for expository writing assignments
- Write formal responses to nonfiction reading assignments
- Learn strategies for outlining essays and crafting effective thesis statements
- Master composition skills matching their grade level, from summarization and paraphrasing to argumentation, and rhetorical analysis
- Effectively interpret, analyze, and integrate quotations from original texts and supporting sources
- Learn how to vary sentence structure, construct logical paragraphs, and develop ambitious essays
- Become a persuasive, sophisticated writer!
Past Works Used:
- Toni Morrison, “Strangers”
- William Faulkner, “Banquet Speech”
- Virginia Woolf, “Thoughts on Peace in an Air Raid”
- Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, “Decolonizing the Mind”
- Michael Chabon, “Kids’ Stuff”
- Walter Kirn, “Lost in the Meritocracy”
- Zadie Smith, “Generation Why?”
- Frederick Douglass, “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?”
- The New York Times Philosophy column The Stone. The column includes essays on contemporary topics.
2. Literature Reading and Writing Package
This program is geared towards students who wish to practice writing about fiction. For most students, literary analysis is the most common writing task they perform in English class in middle and high school. In this program, students can expect to:
- Read short stories tailored to their needs and interests (a student can also select a short novel if they wish) and practice identifying literary elements such as metaphors, imagery, personification, allusions, etc.
- Practice brainstorming ideas in response to a writing prompt
- Learn to craft effective thesis statements and topic sentences as well as develop essay outlines
- Effectively choose and analyze textual evidence to support arguments and incorporate such evidence into a body paragraph
- Practice tying evidence back to thesis statements
Past Works Used:
Short Stories:
- E.M. Forster, “The Machine Stops”
- Ray Bradbury, “A Sound of Thunder”
- Guy de Maupassant, “The Necklace”
- Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron”
- Ray Bradbury, “All Summer in a Day”
- Toni Cade Bambara, “Raymond’s Run”
Novels:
- William Golding, Lord of the Flies
- George Orwell, Animal Farm
- Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street
- Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
3. Summer Reading Support Program
This program is best for students who are looking for assistance with school assigned summer reading projects for the upcoming academic year. Students will share their assigned summer reading in advance so that the tutor has time to read along with them.
- Tutors will assist students in developing a schedule for completing reading assignments.
- During tutoring sessions, students and their tutor will discuss plot, character development, symbolism, and thematic elements of novels. Tutors will also offer instruction and feedback on any related writing assignments.