Dear Incoming Sixth Graders,
Welcome to Middle School! Mr. Roach and I are anxiously awaiting your arrival.
When you return in August, we will begin Literature with the Summer Reading
Selection, Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Like us, the book’s theme is
about New Friendships and New Beginnings; however the ending is very different.
Your assignment is to read the book and then type a one page summary. There
will be a test the first week of school.
Next, select one book from the list below and complete one of the following
activities on the book:
1. Make a new book jacket. It should include an attractive picture or cover design, a
summary of the book, information about the author and illustrator, and a short
“review” of the book by you.
2. Pretend you are a news reporter and present a “live at the scene” news story about
a particular scene, character, or event from the book.
3. Construct a diorama of a scene from the book; old shoe boxes are good for making
diorama scenes that can be simple or very complicated.
4. Make a collage to represent the mood of the book or its theme with words, colors,
and/or pictures. Be prepared to explain your collage to us when you return to school.
5. Compare/contrast different media representations of the book– movie, play, comic
books.
6. Make a booklet of illustrations of scenes or characters from the book with a caption
or sentence for each illustration.
7. Write a new ending to the book.
Both of the assignments: summary and activity will be graded so please try your best.
Have a great summer and see you in August.
Ms. Kluba
Angleberger, Tom – Horton Halfpott
Avi – The Barn
Bauer, John – Almost Home
Bober, Natalie – Restless Spirit: The Story of Robert Frost
Byars, Betsy – Keeper of the Doves
Summer of the Swans
Cushman, Karen – The Midwife’s Apprentice
Duble, Kathleen Benner - Sacrifice
Fitzhugh, Louise – Harriet the Spy
Grahame, Kenneth – The Wind and the Willows
Hale, Shannon – Book of a Thousand Days
Houson, Dick – Bulu: African Wonder Dog
Kennedy, Marlane – Dog Days of Charlotte Hayes
Levine, Kristin - The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds - Shiloh
Paolini, Christopher – Eragon (The Inheritance Cycle, Book 1)
Patterson, James – Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life
Peet, Mal - Keeper
Pfitsch, Patricia Curtis – Riding the Flume
Riordan, Rick – Lightning Thief (Book One)
Smith, Roland - Peak
Smith, Sherri – Flygirl
Sperry, Armstrong – Call It Courage
Stanley, Diane – Bella at Midnight
Swanson, James – Chasing Lincoln’s Killer