St. Paul’s Catholic School
5th Grade Summer Reading List
Choose any combination of assignments that adds up to 30 points.
The length of each writing piece listed is the minimum requirement.
10 points each
 Write a poem about your book. (16 lines)
 Draw and color a map of the setting. Locate the important landmarks of the
novel.
 Write an obituary for a character. (100 words)
 Make a crossword puzzle about the book. Include at least 15 clues and an
answer key.
15 points each
 Discuss the similarities and differences between the protagonist (main
character/hero) and yourself. (200 words)
 Write a prequel to the novel. (300 words)
 Write a five paragraph essay persuading your friend to read the book.
 Write a different ending for the novel. (300 words)
 Write and design a newspaper article about an event in the story. (300 words)
 Discuss whether or not the antagonist is effectively punished. (200 words)
20 points each
 Find two songs that relate to your book. Write out the lyrics to both songs.
Include a 100 word explanation of the relationship between each song and
the novel.
 Write a song for the novel. Record yourself performing it. Turn in the
recording and the lyrics.
 Create a 3-D piece of art that symbolizes an aspect of the book.
 Make a scrapbook for one of the characters. Include at least seven items and
a paragraph for each item explaining its significance.
 Recreate the main event of the story in play like format. Turn in a video of
yourself performing the play (costumes and props required)
Remember: The projects you turn in must add up to 30 points!
 You must do one project for each of your “selection” books.
 Do not complete a Summer Reading Project on the required text, Hatchet.
 After turning in your Summer Reading Projects; you MUST take the
corresponding Accelerated Reader within the first two weeks of school.
 The points you earn from the Summer Reading Projects and the Accelerated
Reader Quizzes will be your FIRST READING GRADES for the year.
Each student entering 5th grade MUST read…
After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old
Hatchet
Paulsen, Gary
Brian spends 54 days in the wilderness,
learning to survive initially with only
the aid of a hatchet given to him by his
mother, and learning also to survive his
parents' divorce.
Additionally, please choose TWO of the following books for your Summer
Book Assignments…
Left alone on a beautiful but isolated
Island of the Blue Dolphins
O'Dell, Scott
island off the coast of California, a young
Indian girl spends eighteen years, not
only merely surviving through her
enormous courage and self-reliance, but
also finding a measure of happiness in
her solitary life.
The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe
Four English school children find their
way through the back of a wardrobe into
the magic land of Narnia and assist
Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over
the White Witch.
Lewis, C.S.
Tuck Everlasting
Babbitt, Natalie
From the Mixed up Files of Mrs.
Basil E. Frankweiler
Konigsburg, E.L.
A Wrinkle in Time
L'Engle, Madeleine
The Cricket in Times Square
Seldon, George
Winnie Foster discovers a magic spring
that has given the Tuck family eternal
life. She is faced with the difficult
decision of whether to drink from it and
whether to tell all when a stranger
wants to know the secret in order to sell
the water.
Claudia and her brother Jamie run away
from home and take up residence in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Meg Murry and her family receive a
surprise visit from an unearthly
stranger out of another dimension in
time.
Chester the cricket resides in a
newsstand in Times Square. He has
many adventures, climaxing with the
rescue of the newsstand owner from
financial disaster.