Grade 6 2017
Dear Parents, During the summer months, it is crucial that children continue to read daily to sustain their academic skills. The importance of summer reading cannot be overemphasized. Educational researchers note that some children s reading levels dropped as much as two grades when students did not read regularly over the summer months. It is really simple: the more students read, the better readers they become. Though only two books are required for summer reading, we hope that your child reads many more. Your support is a critical part of the Summer Reading Program. All incoming grade 6-8 students are required to read at least ONE book from the given required book list and ONE book from the suggested author list. Students are required to complete one of the listed assignments for each book read. In the fall, ELA teachers will review student s progress and students will earn a quiz grade reflective of the effort that students have put into the summer work. Reading packets will be due to student s ELA teacher by September 1, 2017. Students who complete this packet to the best of their ability and pass them in on time will be awarded raffle tickets toward prizes. If the packet is not turned on time, the expectation will be that the student will stay after school for support during the week of September 4 th. The final day that the packet will be accepted will be Friday, September 8, 2017 and the most a student can earn is an 80%. If you do run into any difficulties, please do not hesitate to let us know by contacting jvezina@winchendonk12.org Have an enjoyable summer and happy reading! Sincerely, The English Language Arts Department
Dear Sixth Grade Reader: Next September you will be entering middle school as a sixth grader. Reading is one of the most important activities you can do this summer to prepare for sixth grade. These selections offer a rich world of reading experiences with a variety of authors that will strengthen your reading skills and broaden your understanding of literary styles. Enjoy! Here is what you need to do: 1. Read one book from the required book list 2. Read one book from the suggested author list 3. Complete one square on the Assignment page for each book you read. You cannot use the same square twice. 4. Pass in your completed work to your ELA teacher by September 1, 2017!
Required Book List Stargirl- Jerry Spinelli (Fiction) From the moment Stargirl makes her appearance at Mica High the students are immediately captivated by her quirky personality at first. Her unique personality has her beloved by her peers until they turn on her for being different. The Westing Game- Ellen Raskin (Mystery) When an eccentric millionaire named Sam Westing suddenly dies, sixteen very unlikely people are gathered together for the reading of the will that leads them on the adventure of a lifetime. One mystery leads to another, forcing the sixteen guests to use their thinking skills, stay on high alert, and solve the mystery of Mr. Westing s death. 39 Clues- Choose any book from the series! The books chronicle the adventures of two siblings, Amy and Dan Cahill, who discover that their family, the Cahills, has been the most influential family in history. (Fiction) Maze Runner-James Dashner (Fantacy/Sci. Fiction) When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He s surrounded by strangers boys whose memories are also gone. Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It s the only way out and no one s ever made it through alive. Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying. Remember. Survive. Run Things Not Seen-Andrew Clements (Fantacy/Sci. Fiction) Bobby Phillips is an average fifteen-year-old boy. Until the morning he wakes up and can't see himself in the mirror. Not blind, not dreaming. Bobby is just plain invisible... Wonder-R.J. Palacio (Realistic Fiction) August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don't get stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he's being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all? Number the Stars-Lois Lowry (Historical Fiction) Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life. How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous- Georgia Bragg, Kevin O'Malley (Non-fiction) Over the course of history men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. How They Croaked relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost.
Suggested Author List Avi Natalie Babbit Andrew Clements Suzanne Collins James Dashner Langston Hughes Cornelia Funke C.S. Lewis Mike Lupica Wendy Mass Scott O Dell Katherine Paterson Gary Paulsen J.K.Rowling Cynthia Rylant Louis Sachar Gary Soto Jerry Spinelli Lawrence Yep Jane Yolen You can access the MMS Summer Reading Information at: http://winchendonmms.ss5.sharpschool.com/
Summer Reading Assignments Complete one square for each book you read. You cannot use the same square twice. For example, if you complete square 5 for the first book you read, you must choose a different square for your second book! Pass in your completed work to your ELA teacher by September 1, 2017! 1. Write a review of your book for Amazon.com. Give 2 opinions about it and cite examples using quotations from the book to support why you think it is an interesting book or not. Include whether you would recommend it to a friend and say why or why not. 6. Create a WANTED poster for a character in the book. Include a picture, a written physical description, the crime committed and whom to call with information. 2. Pretend you are a talk show host and 1 character from the book will be a guest on your show. Create a transcript of the interview which includes an introduction of the character to the audience and 5 why or how questions that you, the host, would ask the character. Then, answer each question in the character s voice. 7. Create a soundtrack for the book. What 5 songs would you choose? Give an explanation for why you chose each song and how it connects to the events or characters in the book. Include the title, artist and lyrics for each song. 3. Write a proposal to have the book you ve read made into a movie. Include which actors will play the main characters in the movie and why, and the location where the movie will be filmed and why. Create the movie poster for the book. It should include elements from a real movie poster such as a slogan, the actors and the rating. 8. Design a final exam for the book. The exam must contain 5 true or false questions, 10 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions and 1 open response or essay question. Include an answer key. 4. Choose a character from the book and create a scrapbook page showing how the character s experiences relate to the theme of the book. Use pictures, words, and/or your own drawings and put them together on one piece of paper. You must also include at least two quotations from the book that relate to the theme. On the back, write a brief explanation (one paragraph) of how some of the mementos on your scrapbook relate to the theme. 9. In a short essay, identify a problem that a character in your book had to face. What was the problem and how did the character solve it? If you were that character, explain what would you have done differently and why. 5. After reading a non-fiction book, become a teacher. Prepare a lesson that will teach something you learned from the book. It could be a how-to lesson or one on content. Plan carefully to present all necessary information in a logical order. You don t want to confuse your students! 10. Create a short book trailer that portrays the theme of the book. You can use online websites such as Animoto.com, Pixton.com or use a movie-making program on your computer. Make sure your trailer includes pictures and words and clearly shows the theme of the book. 11. In a short essay, compare and contrast yourself with one of the characters in the book. Explain 3 similarities and 3 differences you have with that character. 12. On a poster, draw 4 objects or symbols to represent the book. Explain what each object or symbol represents and explain how the symbol is important to the book. 13. Pretend you could put yourself in the book. Write a short essay explaining where would you put yourself and why? How would you being there change the story? 14. Imagine you are the author of the book. In a short essay, describe what happens to a character years before or years after the story takes place. 15. Create a timeline of 10 events for the book, including an illustration and a caption for each event.