6th Grade

Summer Homework Packet

2015

2015 Summer Reading Activities Students entering 6th grade for the 2015-2016 school year.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION Your summer reading assignment must be completed in full over the summer and must be turned in on the first day of school, Monday, August 31st, 2015. ASSIGNMENT DETAILS Select two activities, one for each book you read, from the list below. You may complete the same assignment for each book, if you like but you must read TWO DIFFERENT BOOKS. Written parts of activities may be neatly handwritten or typed. Visual parts of the activities are graded on thoughtfulness, completeness, and neatness, not on your artistic ability. Each activity will count as one homework and one classwork grade. The best work will be displayed at school so that other students can learn about the books you read. Set the goal of having your work on the board! 7 ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS

1.) Journal/blog – Write 3 journal entries or blog posts from the perspective of a character in the book. One journal entry should be from before the book begins or from early in the book. The second entry should be from right before or right after a major event (perhaps the climax) of the book. The final entry should be about the character’s thoughts at the end of the book. Each entry should be at least one page in length.

2.) Prequel – Write a prequel to your book. A prequel is the story that happens before the first

chapter. Select one or more characters and write the backstory that explains what happened leading up to the beginning of the book. Your prequel should imitate the author’s writing style. The prequel should be 3-4 pages long.

3.) Epilogue – Write an epilogue for your book. An epilogue tells the story of what happens after the last chapter of the book. You may choose to write about what happens immediately after the end of the book, or several years later. Your epilogue should imitate the author’s writing style. The epilogue should be 3-4 pages long.

4.) Comic Strip – Select your favorite scene from the book. Create a detailed comic strip of the

scene, conveying the setting and the most exciting aspects of the action and the character. You may paraphrase some of the narration and dialogue, but try to quote as much of the important narration and dialogue as possible. When drawing the characters, be sure to label the important parts of the character’s physical attributes, emotions, behavior, and possessions. Include at least 20 frames (boxes).

5.) Interview – Write an imaginary interview between yourself and a character in the book. The character you select does not have to be the main character, but should be an interesting character. Write the interview like a script, including the questions you ask or say as well as the responses of the character. The interview should be 3-4 pages long.

6.) Commercial – Make a commercial for the book. You may create this in PowerPoint or you

may be creative (film the commercial, or draw it out and write about it.) Your commercial should include information about the plot, the author, major characters, and important themes. Be sure not to give away the ending! If the commercial is in PowerPoint, it should be at least 10 slides in length. If the commercial is filmed, it should be between 1 and 2 minutes. Otherwise, the work should be 3-4 pages in length.

7.) Script – Select a favorite scene from the book and turn it into a script for a film or television

version. Your script must convey the setting and action through stage directions. You may paraphrase some of the narration and dialogue, but try to quote as much of the important narration and dialogue as possible. Make sure you convey the most interesting and important parts of the scene. The script should be 3-4 pages in length.

If you have any questions or concerns about your summer reading assignment, please contact us by email at gentile@gugcs.org or by phone at 301-806-6401. Enjoy your summer and see you in the fall! Best, Mr. Gentile

Summer Assignment Rubric

Score : _______/10

Content Rating Completion 0

Assignment is not complete

1 Assignments are 1-2 pages and address one of the prompts.

2 Assignments are 3-4 pages and addresses two of the prompts.

Quality and Effectiveness of Responses

0 Assignments are of low quality; unclear if the student read the book carefully.

3 Assignments are of medium quality; it’s clear that some parts of the text were read carefully; some points show thoughtful consideration of the text, but others are vague or nonspecific.

5 Assignments are of high quality; it’s clear the book was read and the assignments show thoughtful consideration of the text.

Professionalism & Neatness

0 Summer Assignments are not neat, are disorganized, and does not appear professional.

1 Summer Assignments are mostly neat, somewhat organized, and somewhat professional.

2 Summer Assignments are neat, organized, and professional.

Promptness 0 Assignment is not handed in on time

1 Assignment is handed in on time

Comments: _________________________________________________________

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Rising 6th Grade Summer Independent Reading List 2015: Choose any TWO or more!

If you’re having trouble finding a book, see your local pubic librarian!

Realistic Fiction: Teen Drama

Andrea Beaty. Cicada Summer. Lily lets people think she is brain-damaged from an accident, but the truth is that she chooses never to speak or to show how smart she is. A new girl arrives in town and tries to trick Lily into revealing her secret..

Sharon Creech. Walk Two Moons. Thirteen-year-old Salamanca’s mother has disappeared. Salamanca and her grandparents try to find her. By drawing strength from her Native American ancestry, she is able to face the truth about her mother.

Frances O’Roark Dowell. The Kind of Friends We Used to Be (or other novels by her). Kate and Marylin, friends since preschool, draw further apart as Marylin becomes involved in student government and cheerleading, while Kate wants to play guitar and write songs, and both develop unlikely friendships with other girls and boys.

Louise Fitzhugh. Harriet the Spy (or its sequel, The Long Secret, or other novels by her). Harriet notices things other people don’t, and she sneaks around her neighborhood writing down she secrets she observes. Her spying is fun and interesting, but sometimes she sees and hears things she isn’t supposed to.

Sharon Flake. Money Hungry (or other novels by her) Raspberry Hill and her mom want to move to a safer neighborhood, but Raspberry’s stinginess and efforts to save money start to interfere with her friendships.

Jack Gantos. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key (or any other book in the Joey Pigza series)

Gary Schmidt. First Boy. Cooper Jewett never knew his real parents. His grandparents, who raised him, have both passed away. Now, Cooper has no one, not even a dog, to keep him company. All he wants is to keep their New Hampshire dairy farm going. All of a sudden, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen. Someone is trying to sabotage the farm, and a challenger to the incumbent president is pressuring Cooper to campaign with him. Who exactly is Cooper Jewett, and what does the government want with him? A timely read, because there will be a Presidential election this fall!

Zilpha Keatley Snyder. The Egypt Game (or other novels by her). Melanie Ross and April Hall both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard, Melanie and April decide it’s the perfect spot for the Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians, and they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code. Everyone thinks it’s just a game until strange things start happening. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?

Rebecca Stead. When You Reach Me. Shortly after 6th grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part ways, she begins to receive mysterious notes which accurately predict the future.

Patricia Reilley Giff. Pictures of Hollis Woods. Hollis has been living in foster care since she was abandoned as a baby. When she is 12, she is taken in by Josie, a retired art teacher. Hollis and Josie get along well, but when Josie starts to have trouble remembering things the roles are reversed and Hollis becomes Josie’s caregiver.

Lois Lowry. Anastasia Krupnik. (or other books by her. Exceptions: please save The Giver, Gathering Blue, and The Messenger for 7th grade, and Number the Stars for 8th).

Walter Dean Meyers. Slam (or any other novel of over 75 pages by him).

Richard Peck. A Long Way from Chicago: a Novel in Stories. In the 1930s, Joe and Mary Alice leave Chicago to visit their grandmother every summer. Grandma Dowdel uses her wit and trickery to get the best of manipulative or selfish people.

Jacqueline Woodson. After Tupac and D Foster (or other novels and memoirs by her). In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur’s music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.

Historical Fiction

Laurie Hulse Anderson. Chains (or other novels by her). After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, an enslaved girl named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War.

Susan Campbell Bartoletti. The Boy Who Dared. In October, 1942, seventeen-year-old Helmuth Hubener, imprisoned for distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, recalls his past life and how he came to dedicate himself to bring the truth about Hitler and the war to the German people.

Gennifer Choldenko. Al Capone Does my Shirts. An often-humorous historical novel set on the island of Alcatraz in 1935, when the families of guards used to live in a village near the high security penitentiary.

Karen Cushman. The Loud Silence of Francine Green (or other novels by her). In 1949, thirteen-year-old Francine goes to Catholic school in Los Angeles where she becomes best friends with a girl who questions authority and is frequently punished by the nuns, causing Francine to question her own values.

Sally Gardner. The Red Necklace. In the late 18th century, Sido, the 12-year-old daughter of a self-indulgent marquis, and Yann, a fourteen-year-old Gypsy orphan raised to perform in a magic show, face a common enemy at the start of the French Revolution.

Janet Taylor Lisle. Black Duck. Years afterwards, Ruben Hart tells the story of how, in 1929 Newport, Rhode Island, his family and his best friend’s family were caught up in the violent competition among groups trying to control the local rum-smuggling trade. History is happening just over the border in Rhode Island!

Katherine Paterson. Bread and Roses, Too. Rosa is a diligent student and daughter of Italian immigrants. She and Jake are thrown together in the tumult of a 1912 mill strike as workers unite in the struggle for better wages and conditions.

Pam Munoz Ryan. The Dreamer. A shy boy growing up in Chile develops his unique talents, even though the people around him, especially his strict father, don’t understand what makes him special. This is a fictional biography based on the childhood of the man who later became poet Pablo Neruda.

Fantasy, Mystery, and Adventure

S. A. Bodeen. The Compound. Fifteen-year-old Eli, locked inside a radiation-proof compound built by his father to keep them safe following a nuclear attack, begins to question his future, as well as his father’s grip on sanity, as the family’s situation steadily disintegrates over the course of six years.

Vera Brosgol. Anya’s Ghost. Anya, embarrassed by her family and lacking confidence in her body and social skills, finally finds a friend after falling down a well, but quickly learns there are drawbacks to having a ghost for a friend.

Andrew Clements. Things Not Seen. When Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his condition and how to reverse it.

Ethan Colfer. Artemis Fowl (or any other book in the Artemis Fowl series)

Suzanne Collins. Gregor the Overlander or any in the Gregor the Overlander series.

Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games or Catching Fire or Mockingjay. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games," a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.

Nancy Farmer. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm or any other novel by her.

Betsy Hearne. Wishes, Kisses, and Pigs. Louise accidentally turns her brother into a pig, which puts him in danger when the neighbors want to serve the pig at a picnic.

Ingrid Law. Savvy. On her 13th birthday, Mibs learns about her “savvy” – a magical power unique to each member of her family – just as her father is injured in a terrible accident.

Andy Mulligan. Trash. A group of fourteen-year-old boys, who make a living picking garbage from the outskirts of a large city, finds something special and mysterious that brings terrifying consequences.

Christopher Paolini. Eragon or other books in this series. Eragon receives a blue stone that turns out to be the egg of a rare blue dragon. He learns that he is a Dragon Rider, and that he and his dragon Saphira must contribute their magic and their fighting skills in a war that has been brewing for many years.

Rick Riordan. The Red Pyramid or any book in the Kane Family Chronicles. Set in Egypt.

Rick Riordan. The Lost Hero or any book in the Heroes of Olympus series.

J. K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, or any book in the Harry Potter series. The movies can’t capture all the fun of reading this series!

Louis Sachar. Holes. “If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy.” Do you agree? Perhaps you saw the movie, but the book is much better.

Trenton Lee Stewart. The Mysterious Benedict Society. Raynie Muldoon, an orphan, responds to an ad for gifted children looking for special opportunities. After passing a series of strange tests, he joins an undercover operation to prevent a master criminal from carrying out an evil plan.

Scott Westerfeld. Uglies or Pretties or Specials or Extras. In Tally’s world, good kids who turn 16 get a special operation to make them “Pretty” – you get to choose your own pretty face and start having fun! While exploring outside her city’s boundaries,Tally meets a secret society of people who have refused the surgery: they believe that the surgery that gives people their pretty faces also has an effect on their brains….

Scott Westerfeld. So Yesterday. Did you ever wonder how fads got started?

Nonfiction

Tonya Bolden. Tell All the Children Our Story: Memories and Mementos of Being Young and Black. The story of African-American children throughout the nation’s history is told and celebrated, with abundant historical photographs.

Kadir Nelson. We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. Written in a conversational tone from a player’s point of view and illustrated with stunning oil paintings, this history of the Negro leagues starts with Rube Foster, a gifted manager, and ends with Jackie Robinson.

James Swanson. Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. A fast-paced, non-fiction thriller about the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators after the assassination of President Lincoln.

Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, and Lisa Frazier Page. The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream. (or, by the same authors, We Beat the Streets: How a Friendship Pact Led to Success. This book tells the same story, but is adapted for easier reading)

Walter Dean Meyers. Bad Boy. As a boy, Walter Dean Myers was quick-tempered and physically strong, always ready for a fight. He also read voraciously-he would check out books from the library and carry them home, hidden in brown paper bags in order to avoid other boys' teasing. He aspired to be a writer. But growing up in a poor family in Harlem, his hope for a successful future diminished as he came to realize fully the class and racial struggles that surrounded him. He began to doubt himself and the values that he had always relied on, attending high school less and less, turning to the streets and his books for comfort.

Stephen Venables. To the Top: The story of Everest. A well-known climber describes the various attempts to climb to the summit of Mount Everest, including his own expedition.

Sports and the Outdoors (both fiction and nonfiction)

Gary Paulsen. How Angel Peterson Got his Name and Other Outrageous Tales of Extreme Sports. Boston Prep favorite author tells the true story about the crazy, death-defying tricks he and his childhood friends tried, including car-skiing and bicycle-jumping.

Gary Paulsen. Hatchett (or any other book by Paulson over 75 pages). After an airplane crash, a teenaged boy is left to fend for himself in the wilderness. (Exception: please do NOT read The Winter Room for summer reading, because it’s an 8th grade book!)

Van Dranaan. The Running Dream. When a school bus accident leaves sixteen-year-old Jessica an amputee, she returns to school with a prosthetic limb and her track team finds a wonderful way to help rekindle her dream of running again.

Mike Lupica. Million Dollar Throw (or other novels by Lupica). Star quarterback Nate’s family is stressed by the bad economy, and he worries about his best friend Abby going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars he is nearly overwhelmed by pressure to succeed.

Kathy Mackel. Boost. Thirteen-year-old Savvy’s dreams of starting for her elite basketball team are in danger when she is accused of taking steroids.

Walter Dean Myers. Hoops. (or any other book by Myers). A teenage basketball player from Harlem is befriended by a former professional player who, after being forced to quit because of a point-shaving scandal, hopes to prevent other young athletes from repeating his mistake.

Dear Upcoming 6th Graders,

Over the summer you will choose one mathematics project to complete by the first day of school, Monday, August 31st, 2015.

You can choose one of the following options:

• A Class Picnic: Objective is to design a schedule and calculate costs for a 6th grade picnic that will take place at the beginning of the year

• Adjust a Recipe: Objective is to adjust a recipe from that reflects your family’s culture and traditions

Both projects include a rubric to provide you with a clear understanding of what constitutes excellence and how your work will be evaluated. Refer to the rubric regularly as you work on a project in order to ensure that your work is complete and fulfills the criteria. A project checklist is also included. You may choose to use the checklist in place of, or along with, the project rubric.

You will be expected to present your project in an organized, creative and effective way in September. We look forward to learning how you problem solve, learning more about you and kicking off the year with a picnic that reflects each of you as individuals.

Have a fantastic summer!

Your 6th Grade Teachers

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Requirements 4 3 2 1

Show your work All work is shown andcalculationscompleted accurately

All work is shown withone minor calculationerror

Not all work is shownor work containsseveral calculationerrors

Work is not shown orwork containsnumerous calculationerrors

Schedule and Map Schedule and mapare presented veryclearly

Schedule and mapare presented clearly

Schedule and mapare somewhat clear.

Schedule and mapare unclear

Explanation Explanation is veryclear and logical

Explanation is clearand logical

Parts of theexplanation are clear

Explanation isunclear or is notincluded

Writing Conventions. spelling. punctuation. capitalization. grammar. paragraphing

Strong grasp of allstandard writingconventions evident

Strong grasp ofstandard writingconventions evident.Some minor errorsthat do not impairreadability.

Basic grasp ofstandard writingconventions evident.Errors impairreadability.

Minimal grasp ofstandard writingconventionsapparent. Numerouserrors distract orconfuse reader.

Presentation Project is presentedin a very organized,creative and effectiveway

Project is presentedin an organized,creative and effectiveway

Some parts of theproject are presentedin an organized,creative or effectiveway

Project is notpresented in anorganized, creative,or effective way

Total: /20

A Class Picnic Rubric Name: Date:

Adjusting a Recipe Project Æ Find a simple recipe in a recipe book or on the internet with at least four fractions

in the ingredients list. Write the original recipe. Æ Rewrite the recipe for twice as many people. Show your work and explain your

strategy. Æ Rewrite the recipe for half as many people. Show your work and explain

your strategy. Æ Explain how you would adjust your recipe to feed everyone in our class (don’t forget

the teacher!) If the quantity served is not given, estimate how many it will serve and explain what you would do to have enough for us all.

Æ Use correct spelling.

Æ Present your information in a CREATIVE way.

Æ Optional – Make the recipe and bring the results to our Fraction Feast on

__________________!

Sample Recipe: EASY SUGAR COOKIES (Makes 12) Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup flour • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder • 1/4 cup butter, softened • 1/4 cup white sugar • 1 small egg • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

©K-5MathTeachingResources.com

Requirements 4 3 2 1

Show Your Work All calculations areshown and completedaccurately

All calculations areshown but include 1-2errors

Some work is shownor calculationsinclude several errors

Work is not shown orcalculations includemany errors

Strategy Problem solved usingefficient strategy

Problem solved usingappropriate strategy

Used strategy thatwas partially useful,but did not lead to afull solution

Inappropriate strategyused

Explanation Explanation is veryclear and logical

Explanation is clearand logical

Some parts of theexplanation are clear

Explanation isunclear or is notincluded

Writing Conventions. spelling. punctuation. capitalization. grammar. paragraphing

Strong grasp of allstandard writingconventions evident

Strong grasp ofstandard writingconventions evident.Some minor errorsthat do not impairreadability.

Basic grasp ofstandard writingconventions evident.Errors impairreadability.

Minimal grasp ofstandard writingconventionsapparent. Numerouserrors distract orconfuse reader.

PresentationProject is presentedin a very organized,creative and effectiveway

Project is presentedin an organized,creative and effectiveway

Some parts of theproject are presentedin an organized,creative or effectiveway

Project is notpresented in anorganized, creative oreffective way

Total: /16

Adjusting a Recipe Rubric Name: Date:

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