Summer Reading Assignment Overview and Links: 2026-2027

Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology

 

Overview

The Summer Reading Assignment is designed to encourage reading through contemporary young adult literature within set guidelines. Students will be able to choose books that interest them and allow their perspectives on the reading to shine through.

The written work serves as a diagnostic tool for the English teachers to gauge strengths and weaknesses in the students’ critical reading, critical thinking, and writing. This will allow them to plan lessons according to the needs of the students. Once the teachers have gone over these key concepts in the first few weeks of school, each student will have a chance to revise the response.

Below is a list of teachers and the courses that they teach. If you have any questions at any time, please do not hesitate to reach out to your upcoming English teacher or any of the teachers in the English Department. *Note: With it being the summer, the teacher may take longer to respond. To help with answering questions, please include Mrs. Blankenship on your email as well.

 

 

Instructions

• Books chosen for the Summer Reading Assignment must be listed on the required Summer Reading Book Options List. Both Honors and CP students will select one book from this list. The dual-credit ENG 101 students are the only ones who have an assigned text; they will not need to select any other book. If a parent and/or student has any objections to the books on this list, please contact a member of the English Department, so a suitable replacement can be discussed and approved. 
• Once the student has read the text, the student will complete one of the Project Options. 
• Written responses must be typed in MLA format. This also includes correctly citing any textual evidence you use from your book. You can access this website for guidance on how to set this up.
• Students need to submit their projects by placing them in the basket outside their assigned English teacher’s door (any written or digital projects or parts must be submitted to the Summer Reading Submission Form) no later than 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 30th. A letter grade will be deducted from the assignment for each day it is late. To make the submission process as seamless as possible, please do the following:
  • If you create this in Google Docs and share it via your Google Drive:
    • Please title your work with English Course, Summer Reading, and your name. (ex: English 3 Honors Summer Reading Toby Flenderson). 
    • Please make sure that your Google Doc privacy settings allow for the teacher to access the document. 
• Plagiarism, use of AI, or cheating in ANY way will not be tolerated and will result in a zero for the assignment.

 

Scoring

The students’ work will be scored using the Project Analysis Rubric for all CP and Honors classes and the Essay Analysis Rubric for English 101. This allows each English teacher to assess the students' strongest skills and what skills the students will need some help with improving.

 

Looking for a Link?

• Summer Reading Book Options List
• Project Options
• Citation website
• Summer Reading Submission Form
• Project Analysis Rubric for CP and Honors classes
• Essay Analysis Rubric for English 101