AP Summer Assignments

2025-2026 AP language and Composition Summer Assignment

Mrs. R   ⥌    rlriefler@marcellusschools.org  ⥌   Class Code: zudi6uok

Introduction

Welcome to AP English Language and Composition.  In this class, we will focus on developing our analytical reading and writing skills as part of your journey to becoming thoughtful, contributing global citizens.  

My thoughts on summer work have evolved over the last seven years I have taught this class. When I first took over the course, the thought was that summer work should “set the tone” for the class. But the only tone I want to set now is that reading matters; words have power, and the more you read, the better you write. Reading and writing can be joyful, rewarding experiences. I hope you will immerse yourself in reading texts (print, audio, television, and film) that encourage you to think deeply throughout the summer. I’d like you to keep your mind active, and there is no better way to do that than to read and write a bit!

Part I: Reading

Susan Barber, co-contributor of Much Ado About Teaching, curated a list of books she considers the Top 25 Contemporary Novels for AP. Select one of the titles from her list below.

As you read your selected book over the summer, create two {2} pages of notes on the text.  How you organize those two {2} pages is up to you. While these directions are vague and undefined, what I am looking for is how you engage with a text and determine what information is noteworthy.  I am empowering you to do what you feel is right.  You have the freedom to collect notes and organize them in your own style.  So, create two interesting pages of notes about your reading experience. When there are few to no rules, the possibilities are endless.  Make your pages AWESOME!

Part II: Write a Letter To Me

Write me a friendly letter, correctly formatted.  In it, please introduce yourself to me and share your thoughts about the book you read over the summer.  I would also like you to read these essays/excerpts on writing: “The Greatest Nature Essay Ever” by Brian Doyle (2008), “What Writing Is” an excerpt from On Writing (2000) by Stephen King, and “The Perfect Essay” by John Kaag (2014). As you read, consider these texts' messages about reading and writing.  Then, when you write your letter introducing yourself to me, include references to at least ONE {1} of these essays.  How does it relate to the way you approach reading and writing? How did it inform your thinking? How does it align with who you are as a reader and writer?

Your letter should be a reflection of who you are as a person.  Let your personality shine through. Your summer assignment is DUE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2025.

Susan Barber’s Top 25 Contemporary Novels for AP:

All the Light We Cannot See – Doerr 
Behold the Dreamers – Mbue 
Exit West – Hamid 
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Foer 
The Goldfinch – Tartt 
Homegoing – Gyasi 
In the Time of the Butterflies – Alvarez 
Kindred - Octavia Butler 
The Leavers – Ko 
Little Bee – Cleeve 
The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois - Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 
Mudbound – Jordan 
The Namesake – Lahiri 
The Nix – Hill 
Pachinko - Lee Min-jin 
The Poisonwood Bible – Kingsolver 
A Prayer for Owen Meany – Irving
Purple Hibiscus – Adichie 
Salvage the Bones – Ward 
The Secret History – Tartt 
Sing, Unburied, Sing – Ward 
Southernmost – House 
There, There – Orange 
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Hosseini 
White Teeth – Smith 

Since AP English Language and Composition primarily focuses on nonfiction works.  So perhaps you would want to consider one of the following:

Becoming – Obama (highly recommend audio version that M Obama reads) 
The Best We Could Do - Thi Bui 
Between the World and Me – Coates 
Born a Crime – Noah (highly recommend audio version that Noah reads) 
Educated – Westover 
Just Mercy – Stevenson 
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg – Carmon and Knizhnik 
They Can’t Kill Us Til They Kill Us – Abdurraqib 
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row – Hinton 
21st Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - Berendt
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Skloot
The Devil in the White City - Larson 
The Glass Castle - Walls
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - King

Adapted from Susan Barber (Much Ado About Teaching, 2022) and Gina Kortuem (Lit and More, 2023)

2025-2026 AP English Literature Summer Assignment

Mrs. M   ⥌    smancuso@marcellusschools.org

Introduction

Your summer assignment is a chance for you to read a variety of texts, explore ideas, and write in response to what you are reading and thinking. The assignment has three parts and all work is due at the end of the first week of school. 

I have linked to all the texts that are available online, but in some cases you may need to go to your local library to get a copy of a novel. In many cases, I have included extra links if you are fascinated by what you read and are interested in exploring more. 

As Voltaire said, “Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too.” Enjoy the privilege of reading great texts. Enjoy the writing process. In short, have a great summer! 

Part I: Write a Letter to Me

Assignment

I would like for you to write a letter to me about you. Start by introducing yourself to me and telling me a little bit about yourself. Then I would like you to write about your relationship with reading. Share an honest assessment of the role that it plays in your life. Think about how you would conceptualize and categorize the impact reading has had on you. I value honesty over flattery. If reading is not your thing, say it. If you love it, then let me know. I don’t care so much which side you take. More important than what you choose is the truth of your reflection. I want to read about why you feel the way that you do. I want to get to know you as a reader. Your letter does not need to be longer than a typed page.

Why it is important

This is the first step in me getting to know you as a reader. What’s more important than that?

Part II: Reading a Novel

Assignment

Read any novel of your choosing on the National Book Award List  or the list of Pulitzer Prize  winners for fiction from the past 20 years. You can click on the titles to learn a bit more about each book. It is worth your time. There are so many great books on these two lists to choose from and I want you to pick a book that you will enjoy. 

Then create 2 pages of notes about your book. How you organize those two pages is up to you. I know that this is vague and undefined, but look at it another way. I am empowering you to do what you feel is right. You have the freedom to do what you want. You can create whatever you want. All I’m asking you to do is create two interesting pages of notes about your reading experience. When there are little to no rules, the possibilities are endless. It is up to you to make it awesome! 
Why it is important -- A mature thinker chooses and develops his or her own criteria in order to evaluate the quality of texts. I respect your ability to make connections to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras, literary noticings, and personal experiences and when you have control over how you do that, you often exceed my expectations. So do it. 

Part III: Reading Poetry

Assignment

Poetry Foundation features a Poem of the Day each day from a diverse list of present and past poems. Choose two poems from any dates over the summer and create notes for each. The notes should focus on an analysis of each poem. Look for parts that are interrelated. Find the individual aspects of the poem that give it meaning. 

Why it is important

Thoughtful readers write to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately by selecting apt and specific evidence, organizing the evidence into broader ideas, and conveying the impact of its meaning.

This assignment will be due the last Friday of the first week of school.

*Adapted from Brian Sztabnik ‘Much Ado About Teaching’

2025-2026 AP Biology Summer Assignment

Mrs. Lockwood   ⥌    klockwood@marcellusschools.org

Introduction

Welcome to AP Biology!

You have chosen to take on a rigorous course in which you will learn a considerable amount about how life functions on many levels, from global relationships between ecosystems down to a molecular perspective. 

Depending on when you took Living Environment, now called Biology, it may have been awhile since you have focused on biology topics. To help you revive your memory of biology, you will complete a summer assignment. The purpose of this assignment is to help you remember, or relearn, key vocabulary terms and concepts that you learned in LE that we will be building off of in AP Biology. By doing this before our course begins you will be better prepared as we move through our units.  More information on the assignment can be found below, but first take a look at some of the information about AP Biology:

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Course Description:

AP Biology is a rigorous and demanding course, which is the equivalent of an introductory college biology course. Content will be covered in more depth and greater expectations will be placed on interpretation and analysis of information than previous biology courses. In addition, statistical analysis of data and modeling of concepts will be expected. A significant amount of studying must be completed at home to allow time for discussion, labs, and inquiry during class time. There will be a large emphasis on scientific thinking and analytical thinking.  The AP Biology curriculum encompasses 8 units, with Essential Knowledge and Process Skills that support each one. 

AP Exam College Credit:

Colleges vary in what score they will accept for credit.  Generally, a student needs to score at least a 4 for credit.  You could be awarded up to 8 college credits! This is equivalent to two 4-credit college courses and has more potential credits than any other single college course we offer. You can look up specific colleges at apstudent.collegeboard.org  Be ready for a challenge!

AP Exam Date:

TBD in May 2026. Cost will be about $95 and will be due at a later date.

Material Requirements

(in case you’d like to purchase them before the school year begins):

• Course Textbook: Mader AP Biology: Twelfth Edition (given in class)
• Folder or small 3 Ring Binder with loose leaf paper
• Blue/black pens, pencils, colored pencils, highlighters
• Earbuds that work with your Chromebook
• Graph Ruled Composition Notebook  (example)
• Pack of 8 tabbed binder dividers (we will be writing all over these so please choose a paper option - not plastic)

Assignments

All assignments must be completed on or before the indicated due dates.  Failure to do so will result in your removal from the course. Your first task is to join the AP Biology Summer Assignment Google Classroom where you will submit your work. Click here to join

Assignment #1: Letter of Introduction

Must be completed by August 1
Write a brief letter of introduction to me. Include the following information: Are you a junior or senior? What other science courses have you taken (and include your grades).  Why you are taking AP Biology and what are your expectations regarding the course (amount of study time, difficulty of content, lab experiences, etc…)?  What activities you are involved in during the school year and which other AP or college level  courses are you taking this year?  A description of something important to you (your family, friends, art, music, etc.) What are your plans for after high school thus far?  Anything interesting about yourself you would like to share with me (hobbies, family, jobs, cool experiences you’ve had, etc.)

Assignment #2:  Vocabulary & Basic Biology Concept Review

Quiz will be given during the first weeks of school
To help you revisit the vocabulary and concepts from Living Environment/Biology that will be the basis for our learning in AP Biology, you will work through this packet to help refresh your memory. You may work with other students or use online videos and resources to help you complete the information. You do not need to submit your packet, instead it is suggested to study your packet for a quiz that will be given during the first weeks of school. Everything on the list was taught in your Living Environment/Biology course and you should be familiar with. This is designed to help bring these terms and concepts back into the active part of your brain. This will also help you to complete assignment #3.

Assignment #3:  Vocabulary Scavenger Hunt 

Must be submitted on the first day of class
To help you revisit the vocabulary and concepts from Living Environment/Biology that will be the basis for our learning in AP Biology, you will find and photograph or video 20 of the following biology terms. I suggest completing 5 items per week during the summer to spread the work out.  You should create a unique way to present your “collection”. You can do this in a number of different ways: Google Slides, an infographic, a video montage, or by creating an actual photo album, etc. 

For each science term, complete the following:                               

• A recent photograph/video. ORIGINAL PHOTOS ONLY: You cannot use an image from any publication or the internet. You must have taken the photograph yourself and need to prove that by either being visible in the photos/videos OR you can make a card with your name (or some students use their license or school ID) that is visible in each photo/video. 
• A description to go with the object that explains why it fits the listed term. You must have a different photo/video for each term.
• Helpful Hints:
  • Specimens may be used for only one item/word.
  • Research what the term means/in what organisms it can be found, and then go out and find one.
  • Never touch unfamiliar plants or animals with exposed fingers. Avoid touching the organisms but if you must, use gloves and/or forceps. Remember, we don't want to deplete the environment. Don’t kill organisms. Organisms should be photographed in their natural habitat.
  • Some places to begin: Rosamond Gifford Zoo, Marcellus Park, Baltimore Woods, your neighborhood, the supermarket, etc.
  • You may work with other students in the class to complete this project, but each student must turn in his or her own project with a unique set of terms chosen. 

Terms to Choose From
Ethical Decision	Hypothesis	Chromosome or Gene
Organelle	Homeostasis	Biotic vs. Abiotic
Autotroph vs Heterotroph	Photosynthesis	Cellular Respiration
Decomposer	Carrying Capacity	Mutation
Tradeoff	Diffusion	Receptor Molecule
Protein/Amino Acid	Synthesis	Genetic Engineering/GMOs
Enzyme	Mitosis vs Meiosis	Biodiversity
Food Chain	Pioneer Organism (lichen)	pH
Nucleic Acids	Negative Human Impact on Earth	Limiting Factors on a Population Size

Please remember that I am only an email away if you need any assistance (I will try to always respond within a week).  I look forward to beginning our adventure together in September!  Enjoy your summer!

Mrs. Lockwood