5th GRADE MODIFIED SUMMER READING SCRAPBOOK
You must read TWO BOOKS on your reading level for your summer reading.
Choose 1 from the list provided and 1 free choice.
DUE DATE: First week of 5th grade
READ CAREFULLY.
Directions for creating your scrapbook are below.
(All book responses go in one scrapbook)




Buy a composition notebook (like the one you use for reading and writing workshop) to be used as
your scrapbook. (Suggested)
Your scrapbook must have a title such as “My Summer Reading” or “Summer Books”.
Design/decorate a special cover for your book. PUT YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT.
Examples: Drawing of events from your reading, interesting lettering of your titles, important objects from
your reading, pictures of your characters, or pictures and information about the authors.
Include an INTRODUCTION on the FIRST page of your scrapbook.
o LIST EVERY title and author you read.
o STATE the number of pages in each book.
o GIVE each book a rating between one and ten (with ten being the best book you ever read)
Create TWO quality pages for each book that you read. The book title must be on the top of EVERY
page with the activity number. Choose from the following activities to FILL EACH of your scrapbook
pages. DO NOT use any activity more than one time. Be creative in your presentation of the activity on
each page.
1. Favorite quote – include the page number and explain why you liked it.
2. Design a T-shirt for one of the characters and explain why it represents that character.
3. Write an acrostic poem using the letters of a character’s name to create a brief summary of the
character.
4. Find a picture that looks like one of your book’s settings. Paste the picture in the scrapbook and
include a written description and why it’s important to the story.
5. Write a postcard, letter, or email to the author telling how the book changed your view on a topic.
6. Write a recipe for how a character can cope/deal with a problem in the story. For example, your
character might need a recipe for “surviving bullies.”
7. Draw and color an entire page as a mural that includes a number of places, events, or things you
visualized as you read.
8. Make a Venn diagram that compares and contrasts one of your books to a book you have
previously read. Both book titles are needed!
9. Choose one character. Tell what he/she said, did and thought and what that taught you about the
character. Add a picture, about the size of a postage stamp of this character.
10. Design an advertisement about your book to convince a friend to read that book.
11. Make a comic strip (4 boxes) and use speech bubbles to show the author’s main theme (message
or lesson) from your story.
12. Make a chart of LIKES and DISLIKES. List 3-5 things you liked and 3-5 things you disliked
about the plot, characters, author’s techniques, story ending, plot, twists, etc.
13. Design a different cover for one of the books you read. Write a paragraph explaining your new
cover.
14. Choose 3 events in your book. Tell about the events by writing a paragraph from one character’s
perspective.
15. Create a glossary for 5 new words you did not know from your book. Look up the definitions,
write them down, and draw a picture for each word.
16. Make a timeline to show the sequence of at least 5 events in your book.
17. Write a letter to the author of your book. Tell why you liked the book. Ask 2 questions to help you
better understand the book.
18. Pretend you're interviewing a character/person from the book. Write your interview in question
and answer format. Interview a character. Compose 6 to 8 questions to ask the main character in
the book. You must write the character's response to each question.
19. "Dear Diary." Create a diary or journal and write at least five entries that might have been written
by a character in the book you just read. The entries should share details about the story.
If you have any questions, please email: Ms. Maiorino: jmaiorino@edgewaterschools.org or Miss Pio:
dpio@edgewaterschools.org.
5th Grade Summer Reading Book List
Baseball Fever by Joanna Hurtwitz
Ezra Feldman, almost ten, likes baseball more than anything else in the world. His father cannot
understand why his son would rather rot his brains watching men swinging big wooden sticks than read a
book or play chess. Can an unwanted car trip, a grumpy old professor, and a surprising chess victory help
father and son find a little common ground and convince Ezra's dad that cheering for the national pastime
isn't completely off base?
Boxcar Children Series by Gertrude Warner
This series involves the children solving various mysteries and occasionally traveling to other
locations as they do so. After the first novel, the children become amateur sleuths. They stumble across a
mystery no matter where they are, whether on vacation or in their own backyard. They usually solve the
mystery with very little adult help.
The Kid in the Red Jacket by Barbara Park
Howard Jeeter has moved across the country and his only friend is an annoying six-year-old girl.
Of course, when you’re really lonely, you’ll be friends with anyone—almost.
Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
Henry Green is a boy who loves chocolate. He likes it bitter, sweet, dark, light, and daily, for
breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. He likes it in cakes, candy bars, milk, and every other form you can
possibly imagine. Henry probably loves chocolate more than any boy in the history of the world. One day,
it starts off like any other day. Henry finds that strange things are happening to him. First, he makes
medical history with the only case of Chocolate Fever ever. Then he finds himself caught up in a wild and
hilarious chase, climaxed by a very unusual hijacking!
Wayside School Series by Louis Sachar
There'd been a terrible mistake. Wayside School was supposed to be built with thirty classrooms
one on top of the other, thirty stories tall! The builder said he was very sorry. That may be why all kinds
of funny things happen at Wayside School, especially on the thirteenth floor. You'll meet Mrs. Gorf, the
meanest teacher of all, terrible Todd, who always gets sent home early, and John who can read only
upside down--along with all the other kids in the crazy mix-up school that came out sideways. But you'll
never guess the truth about Sammy, the new kid or what's in store for Wayside School on Halloween!
CUT AND PASTE THE FOLLOWING FOR THE FINAL PAGE OF YOUR
SCRAPBOOK AND HAVE YOUR PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGN IT.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I verify that my child, ____________________________________, has read the two
books listed on the introduction page of this handout. He/she has also completed the
required scrapbook pages for each book.
PARENT/GUARDIAN SIGNATURE:
___________________________________________________
DATE: _________________________
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------