Rising Sixth Grade Students

Over the summer, students are required to read at least two books. These should include one fiction book and one nonfiction book from the sixth grade reading list.

You will need a 5” x 8” index card to record your response to each book that you read.

Fiction Book

You will draw a picture of a scene from the book on the blank side of the card. It must show something that happened in the story. The picture should be colored with colored pencils. The entire card should be colored in. It should be neat and show effort. Write a “Why I chose this picture” statement under the picture.

The lined side of the card will contain the following information:

Line 1: (Top line of card) Name Date

Line 2: Book Title Author

List 3 characters with a brief description.

Description of setting: place described in detail (time period included).

Summary of the story: Information must be written in complete sentences. Only include important details. It all must fit on the card – no extra paper.

Non Fiction Book

You will draw a picture of the subject you read about on the blank side of the card (example: animal, sport, etc.). The picture should be colored with colored pencils. The entire card should be colored. It should be neat and show effort. Under the picture, write a “Why I chose this picture” statement.

The lined side of the card will contain the following information:

Top line of card Name Date

Book Title Author

Five pieces of information you learned from the book.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

This information must be written in complete sentences and provide a good explanation of your topic. Two sentences for each may be necessary to make it complete.

Grades

The Fiction and Non Fiction cards will be your fist Language Arts grades for the year. They will be graded using the attached rubrics.

6th Grade Summer Reading List

Fiction

Balliet, Blue. CHASING VERMEER. Petra and Calder find themselves in the center of an international art scandal.

They are drawn into this mystery, clue by clue, and must use their powers of intuition and problem solving

and their knowledge of Jan Vermeer, the Dutch painter.

Bunting, Eve. SOMEONE IS HIDING ON ALCATRAZ ISLAND. Danny Sullivan has to get away from a gang who is

threatening him after he reports one of them to the police; but just when he thinks he's escaped from them on a

boat to Alcatraz Island, he is horrified to find that they have followed him and have him trapped.

Clements, Andrew. THE LANDRY NEWS. Cara seems headed for trouble with her teacher, Mr. Larson, when she

prints an editorial criticizing his teaching. But instead Cara and Mr. Larson find themselves joined in the fight of

their lives against the principal and the school board.

Coville, Bruce. ALIENS ATE MY HOMEWORK. Rod Albright is enlisted for a secret mission by two aliens who

convince him that intergalactic peace is in danger.

Fox, Paula. WESTERN WIND. Twelve-year-old Elizabeth is angry about spending the summer in Maine with her

grandmother, but nothing can prepare her for what is to come.

Hahn, Mary Downing. STEPPING ON THE CRACKS. Eleven-year-old Margaret gets a new view of the school

bully when she finds him hiding his brother, an Army deserter.

Kassam, Lou. A HAUNTING IN WILLIAMSBURG. Jayne is spending the summer with her aunt in

Williamsburg, VA. She is in for a summer that she will remember forever, a summer that includes ghosts,

graveyards, and Mr. Cool.

Konigsburg, E. L. THE VIEW FROM SATURDAY. Four hilariously different students develop a special

friendship and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth

grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.

Krulik, Nancy. CAN YOU GET AN F IN LUNCH? After spending the night studying the Joyce Kilmer

Middle School Handbook, Jenny McAfee feels totally prepared to start sixth grade. But Jenny has another

reason to feel confident. She'll have her best friend, Addie Wilson, right there by her side. When Jenny

and Addie meet at their lockers the next morning, Jenny finds out that Addie has other plans--and they

don't include her. Could Addie really be ditching her for The Pops--the coolest seventh graders in the school?

Myers, Walter Dean. ME, MOP, AND THE MOONDANCE KID. TJ and his younger brother, Moondance, are

involved with the Mop's relentless attempts to become adopted and to take the championship from their

baseball rivals, the obnoxious Eagles.

Nixon, Joan Lowery. SEARCH FOR SHADOWMAN. When 12-year-old Andy Thomas is given an assignment

to research his family history, he is not thrilled. He starts asking questions about his ancestors and discovers

that there is a secret that no one will talk about.

Park, Barbara. SKINNYBONES. Alex's sense of humor helps him to get along with the school braggart,

make the most of his limited athletic ability and small size, and cope with life.

Roberts, Willo Davis. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Three cousins unwittingly become involved in a mystery

when they pick up a piece of paper that holds the key to a dastardly crime.

Robinson, Barbara. THE BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER. The six horrible Herdmans cause mayhem throughout

the school year.

Spinelli, Jerry. MANIAC MAGEE. Maniac Magee can outrun dogs, hit a home run off the best pitcher in the

neighborhood, tie a knot no one can undo. "Kid's gotta be a maniac," is what the folks in Two Mills say.

It's also the story of how this boy, Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, confronts racism in a small town, tries to

find a home where there is none and attempts to soothe tensions between rival factions on the tough side of town.

Taylor, K. C. ANY POSSIBLE OUTCOME: A BOOK OF URBAN TALES. The seven stories in this book focus on

real-life situations confronting inner city teens. Topics range from life in gangs to drugs, teenage bullying, and

life in dysfunctional families.

Thomas, Jane Resh. THE PRINCESS IN THE PIGPEN. Elizabeth, a duke's daughter, who is sick with fever, travels

through time from Elizabethan England to a farm in modern Iowa, where she has difficulty convincing anyone of

the truth of her story.

Non Fiction

Armstrong, Jennifer. PHOTO BY BRADY. Matthew Brady mortgaged his thriving business to fund, train, and

equip a stable of photographers to document Union troops in Virginia and the East. The bloody battles and the

daily grind of the Union Army are vividly evoked in both words and photos.