Channel View School for Research
Summer Reading – Sixth Grade
Due Friday, September 11, 2015
Assignment #1
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Students must read the book required for the grade which they will enter in the fall.
Students must also read at least one of the other books from the appropriate grade list.
Assignment #2
For each book, students must
1. Complete a one paragraph summary of what each book is about.
2. Write the “Lost” chapter of the book – What would the next chapter be? (3 – 5
paragraphs)
Grade 6
Students will read one required book and one book from the list.
Required:
How Angel Peterson Got his Name by Gary Paulsen
Choose 1:
Samir and Yonatan by Daniella Carmi
A Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Assignment #3
1. Read the articles that are assigned for your grade/topic.
2. CENTRAL QUESTION: 6th grade- Should plastic bags be banned?
Do you think plastic bag bans or fees are a good idea?
Would you support one in your town?
Pick one side of the argument in this debate. Cite textual evidence from the article to
support the position of your choice. You must use the graphic organizer to plan
your essay and hand it in with your assignment.
3. Persuasive Essay: You must compose a 4 paragraph argumentative/persuasive
essay explaining your position.
a. In your essay you must include an introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
b. Your essay must answer the central question.
Name: ___________________________________
Argumentative Essay Graphic Organizer
Introductory Paragraph
Hook the audience:
Give a little background on the issue:
Main Idea Sentence:
Body Paragraph #1
Reason #1
List out your Evidence of Support
Body Paragraph #2
Reason #2
List out your Evidence of Support
Conclusion Paragraph
Restate Your Main Idea
Bag-Ban Debate
Communities consider banning plastic bags or charging for them
By Jennifer Dignan | April 14 , 2009
Petroleum
Petroleum is another name for crude oil, or oil as it comes from the ground. It is a fossil
fuel, or a fuel that is formed from the remains of prehistoric plants and animals. Fossil fuels
are nonrenewable, meaning that once we use up the amount that already exists, we cannot
create more.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions are the waste given off by industrial and power plants,
automobiles, and additional methods. (To emit something means to give it off.) About three
fourths of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases trap the heat
of the sun and lead to global warming.
Helping your mom unload groceries from the car, you look down at the plastic bags in your
hands. Chances are, it's not the bags that interest you—it's what's inside them.
But you might want to give those bags some thought after all.
Plastic bags are harmful to the environment, and cities and states across the United States are
considering placing fees on them or banning them.
One U.S. city, San Francisco, already bans plastic bags in grocery stores. Los Angeles's ban on
plastic bags will go into effect in 2010.
New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, are also considering bans or fees on
plastic bags. So are the states of Colorado, Hawaii, and Maine.
Problems with Plastic
"The average American family takes home almost 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year," says Eric
A. Goldstein of the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. The total
number of plastic bags used in the United States per year is between 70 billion and 100 billion.
Plastic bags are made from petroleum products. It takes about 12 million barrels of oil to make
the plastic bags used in the U.S. each year.
Shipping the bags to stores across the country contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Most plastic bags eventually end up in a landfill, where they can remain for as long as 1,000
years. But first, or instead, many plastic bags become litter.
As Goldstein puts it, "They're hanging from trees, and littering our beaches." Plastic bags are a
major source of ocean pollution as well.
Plastic bags are recyclable, but only about 5 percent of them are recycled. To encourage more
recycling, some cities and states are passing laws requiring stores to provide recycling bins for
plastic bags.
Bad Ban?
Not everyone supports plastic-bag bans or fees. Some argue those measures place an unfair
burden on shoppers. Others say that banning plastic bags or charging for them creates hassles for
store owners.
Another major argument against banning or charging for plastic bags is that doing so would
increase the use of paper bags. In some ways, paper bags are as bad or worse a threat to the
environment than plastic bags.
Unlike plastic bags, paper bags are biodegradable. However, in order to biodegrade, they must be
exposed to air—which does not happen in landfills.
Producing paper bags requires cutting down millions of trees. Paper bag production also requires
large amounts of water and pollutes the environment.
BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag)
If neither paper nor plastic bags are eco-friendly choices, what is a shopper to do? One option is
to use biodegradable plastic bags. However, it is not clear that these bags are much better for the
environment than regular plastic bags.
The production of some biodegradable bags still requires petroleum products.
And due to a more complex manufacturing process, making biodegradable bags can result in
even more greenhouse gas emissions than the production of regular plastic bags.
So what's left?
The Worldwatch Institute is an independent environmental research organization. According to
its Web site, "the best alternative [to plastic bags] is to carry and reuse your own durable cloth
bags."
Inexpensive, reusable bags are available at many stores. You can even buy reusable bags that
fold up to the size of a wallet—easy for stashing in a purse or backpack, or even in a back
pocket.
http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751739