2016Summer Reading Assignment: Grade SIX

Bethel School District

2016Summer Reading Assignment: Grade SIX

Dear students and parents,

Summer reading is an important part of the Bethel School District culture. It is avital experience that keeps kids learning even when the school year is over. In addition to fostering a joy of reading, current research indicates that increased summer reading helps students maintain skills and avoid learning loss. However, summer reading does more than preserve the skills of the previous school year; by exploring a shared text, students have a common experience with their classmates to begin the school year in September. Finally, when students complete an assignment accompanying the text, teachers can provide valuable feedback to students to set them up for success throughout the coming year.

Bethel’s goals for assigning summer reading are:

To ask students to demonstrate their knowledge of and interaction with an extended text
To allow students to practice skills that will be reinforced or built upon during the next year of instruction
To foster the habits of mind demonstrated by successful readers

Students entering sixth grade will have the opportunity to study the concept of change. Students will examine changes that happen in their own lives as well as in the world around them. For summer reading, students must choose a book related to the concept of change.

Some titles that address the concept of CHANGE include:

Grade Six Summer Reading 2016: Bethel School District (DUE 9/2/16)

A Long Walk to Water* by Linda Sue Park
Maniac McGee by Jerry Spinelli
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Library Card by Jerry Spinelli
The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Grade Six Summer Reading 2016: Bethel School District (DUE 9/2/16)

In order to document your thinking and interaction with the text, please complete the following assignment:

Part I: Before Reading - Respond to a series of quotations: See page two for the quotes and directions.
Part II: During Reading - As you read the novel, you must document your thoughts and reactions by keeping a double-entry journal. Effective readers respond to text in a variety of ways; therefore, you are expected to respond using each option given at least once. Please see the attached template for more details and support.

This assignment is due on September 2nd, 2016 (the first Friday of the school year) and will be collected in your English Language Arts class.

If a student fails to complete the assignment by the specified due date, (s)he will

Miss out on valuable feedback from the teacher
Be unable toparticipate in and benefit from collaborative discussion with peers
Not earn credit for the work

First and Last Name

Elementary School Attended

6th Grade Summer Reading Packet – DUE September 2nd, 2016

Stories of ChangeAnticipation Guide

PART I – BEFORE READING: This anticipation guide will give you the opportunity to explore YOUR thinking about change, one of the major ideas in your summer reading book.For each of the following quotations, circle the number that matches your opinion about each quote:

1 = Strongly Agree2 = Agree3 = Disagree4 = Strongly Disagree

Before Reading
1 2 3 4 / “Change in all things is sweet.” -Aristotle
1 2 3 4 / “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” -Gail Sheehy
1 2 3 4 / “Just when I think I have learned the way to live, life changes.” -Hugh Prather
1 2 3 4 / “Don't waste your energy trying to change opinions ... Do your thing, and don't care if they like it.” -Tina Fey
1 2 3 4 / “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” -John. F. Kennedy
1 2 3 4 / “A tiny change today brings a dramatically different tomorrow.”
-Richard Bach
1 2 3 4 / “Change is hardest at the beginning, messiest in the middle and best at the end.” -Robin S. Sharma
1 2 3 4 / “You can't just wish change; you have to live the change in order for it to become a reality.” -Steve Mariboli

Which statement do you feel the most strongly about? In complete sentences, explain your answer. Be VERY specific and use examples from your life to support your response. If you need more space, answer on a separate sheet of paper.

PART II – DURING READING: DOUBLE-ENTRYJOURNAL

While you read you will record your thinking about and interactions with the text using the double-entry journal format. Your double-entry journal must contain at least 10 entries.
The left column is used to record significant quotations from the text. The quotations you choose do not have to be character dialogue. A quotation can range from a single sentence to a short paragraph, as long as it is important or meaningful to your understanding of the book. Place this text excerpt in quotation marks and include the page number.
The right column is used for commenting on the quotations; your commenting options are listed below. Effective readers respond to text in a variety of ways; therefore, YOU MUST USE EACH OF THE OPTIONS BELOW AT LEAST ONCE.

Your comments on the right must include:

Analysis of the quote’s connection to plot, character development, conflict, or theme
Connections / Associations (to similar themes or topics in other books, authors, historical events)
Questions about the book (meaning, character motivations, plot, etc.)
Predictions or inferences

Template:

Quotations from Text / My notes (reactions/questions/analysis)
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Connections

To the plot
To a character
To a conflict
To a theme

“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Questions

Why did the author/character do…?
I wonder why…

“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Predictions/Inferences

Based on what happened here, I can infer…
Last time this happened, the character…so I can predict…

EXAMPLE:
“It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends” (142). / EXAMPLE RESPONSE (prediction):
In this quote, Dumbledore has noticed Neville's bravery. Neville is brave, just as brave as anyone else in Gryffindor. Dumbledore reminds us that "all kinds of courage" exist in the world and Neville's been participating in an important one: standing up to his friends. He's faced enemies, too, but sometimes it's just as difficult to face down your companions. Sometimes small acts of bravery are the most important, and I predict that later in the book, one of the main characters will have to stand up to his or her friends in a difficult situation that might even destroy a friendship.

In order to earn FULL CREDIT for your double-entry journal, you must fulfill the following criteria:

10 or more entries for the book
Quotations from text must be one or more sentence in length
Entries span the entire book (beginning, middle, end) and are indicated by page numbers
Work is proofread and contains no spelling errors
Student responses contain two or more complete sentences and demonstrate fully developed reactions to or thinking about the text.

Your response will earn PARTIAL OR NO CREDIT if:

There are fewer than 10 quotations and responses to the text
Quotations or analysis contain many misspelled words
Quotations from text indicate the entire book may not have been read (as indicated by page numbers)
Student responses demonstrate incomplete thoughts or connections and seem hastily written. Entries lack elaboration.

Common Core Connections - by completing this work, students will practice the following skills:

R.6.1: Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

R.6.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

W.6.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

W.6.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

W.6.9: Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research

Grade Six Summer Reading 2016: Bethel School District (DUE 9/2/16)