6th Grade Summer Reading Assignment-2014
Chapman 2014
Students and Parents/Guardians,
Thank you for taking the time out of your summer to complete the following assignment. I look
forward to seeing the results of all your hard work. Following is the Summer Reading
Assignment for Fall 2014:
Choose one book to read from the list below, and complete one project from the list provided. These
books were selected from historical fiction that will align with social studies content and from the
Kentucky Bluegrass Award Master List for 2015. The KBA list is generated by Kentucky students
who vote for most popular, well-liked books of the year.
Be sure to read and follow the entire grading rubric! Projects will be presented during the 1 st/2nd
weeks of school.
The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called
Eel by Deborah Hopkinson
Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a "mudlark," he spends his days in
the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. He's being hunted by
Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And he's
got a secret that costs him four precious shillings a week to keep safe.
But even for Eel, things aren't so bad until that fateful August day in 1854—the day the Great Trouble
begins. Mr. Griggs, the tailor, is the first to get sick, and soon it's clear that the deadly cholera—the "blue
death"—has come to Broad Street.
Everyone believes that cholera is spread through poisonous air. But one man, Dr. John Snow, has a
different theory. As the epidemic surges, it's up to Eel and his best friend Florrie to gather evidence to
prove Snow's theory before the entire neighborhood is wiped out.
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff
In a magic kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the
butt of everyone's joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems
to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best
friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With
each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.
To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls,
poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and
friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—he just might triumph in the end.
Soldier Dog by Sam Angus
With his older brother gone to fight in the Great War, and his father prone to
sudden rages, 14-year-old Stanley devotes himself to taking care of the family’s
greyhound and puppies. Until the morning Stanley wakes to find the puppies
gone.
Determined to find his brother, Stanley runs away to join an increasingly desperate army. Assigned to
the experimental War Dog School, Stanley is given a problematic Great Dane named Bones to train.
Against all odds, the pair excels, and Stanley is sent to France.
But in Soldier Dog by Sam Angus, the war in France is larger and more brutal than Stanley ever
imagined. How can one young boy survive and find his brother with only a dog to help?
Doll Bones by Holly Black
Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever. And for almost as long, they’ve
been playing one continuous, ever-changing game of pirates and thieves,
mermaids and warriors. Ruling over all is the Great Queen, a bone-china doll
cursing those who displease her.
But they are in middle school now. Zach’s father pushes him to give up makebelieve, and Zach quits the game. Their friendship might be over, until Poppy
declares she’s been having dreams about the Queen—and the ghost of a girl who will not rest until the
bone-china doll is buried in her empty grave.
Zach and Alice and Poppy set off on one last adventure to lay the Queen’s ghost to rest. But nothing
goes according to plan, and as their adventure turns into an epic journey, creepy things begin to happen.
Is the doll just a doll or something more sinister? And if there really is a ghost, will it let them go now that
it has them in its clutches?
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story by Linda Sue Park
The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told
in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a
boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk
from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva,
becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African
continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay.
Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with
killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an
astonishing and moving way.
One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she
becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family
shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookiecutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to
belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really
a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future
Project Choices for Summer Reading
(all projects need to be presented in 3-5 minutes)
1. Write a script of your favorite scene from your book and act it out with costumes and props
(you can make a short video and have your friends be characters if you do not want to do a skit
by yourself in class).
2. Create a 15 question test for the book you read, detailing main ideas you would expect a
reader to know after reading, and make an answer key (will be turned in, not given to the class).
3. Create a comic book for the book you read that is at least 6 “frames” of content, digital or hand
written. You would show a scene important to the plot and purpose of the book.
4. Draw, paint, digitally create, etc., a picture of your favorite scene in the book (Be CREATIVE)
and write a 5 stanza (stanzas are like paragraphs, at least 2 lines per stanza) poem about your
picture.
5. Make a PowerPoint about your book that highlights all plot structure elements (See rubric for
details!).
6. Create an interview of 10 questions you would like to ask the author of your book and write a
letter to the author addressing your questions.
7. Create a news story, article, news “website” detailing a main event in the book. Be sure to
include realistic elements of the news media you chose to do. Must include headline, bylines, at
least 2 pictures, and at least 2 articles—add-ins like advertisements, weather, ect, are
encouraged!
8. Write a song about your book, including musical elements, and sing/present to the class.
Must have at least 5 stanzas—have fun and just “Let it go!”
Rubric:
4 (24-20
points)
Script
3 (19-15)
2 (14-10)
1 (10-6)
script
script
Written
script
identifies
two
one
Acts out but
no
written
script
0 (5 and
below or
did not
present)
setting and
characters
required
elements
required
element
The test
contains 149
test
questions
with answer
key that asks
questions
related to
plot
sequence.
The test
contains 15
questions
related to
plot
sequence but
no answer
key.
The test
contains less
than 15
questions
not
related to
plot
sequence
and/or no
answer key
4-5 frames
with
less than 6
illustrations
and text
highlighting
main parts of
the book
2-3 frames
with less
than 6
illustrations
and
text
highlighting
main parts of
the
book
1-2 frames
with less
than
6
illustrations
and text
highlighting
main parts of
the book
an
introduction
15 question
test and
answer key
Comic book
at least 6 frames,
including text
acted out
The test is a
fifteen
question
test with
answer
key that asks
questions
related
to plot
sequence
(exposition,
rising
action,
conflict,
climax,
falling
action,
resolution).
At least 6
frames 6
illustrations
and
text
highlighting
main parts of
the
book
Picture and
poem—NO
ACROSTIC
poems
A poem of at
least
5 stanzas
with
colored
picture
that both are
about your
favorite part
of
the book.
A 4 stanza
poem with a
colored
picture that
both are
about your
favorite part
of the
book.
A 3 stanza
poem with
colored
picture that
both are
about your
favorite part
of the
book.
A 2 stanza or
less poem
with no
picture,
colored
picture, or a
picture
only.
PowerPoint or
Prezi
Contains a
slide for
each:
exposition,
Contains a
slide for five
elements of
plot.
Contains a
slide for four
elements of
plot.
Contains a
slide for 3 or
less elements
of plot.
rising action,
conflict,
climax,
falling
action,
resolution.
Author
interview
and letter
Have 10
questions
you
would like to
ask the
author and a
letter
written
to them
addressing
your
questions
following the
letter format.
Have 9-5
questions
you would
like ask the
author and
letter
written to
them
addressing
your
questions
following
the
format.
Have 9 or
less
questions
you would
like ask the
author, but
your letter
does not
follow the
letter
format.
Any
combination
of the
following:
has 8 or less
questions,
no letter, or
letter and
no questions.
News
Must include
Story/Article/Media headline,
bylines, at
.
least 2
pictures, and
at least 2
articles
Includes all
elements but
has less than
2 of either
pictures or
articles
Is missing
more than
one picture,
articles, or
headlines
Song
.
A 4 stanza
song with
music and
dancing
A 3 stanza
song with
music and
dancing.
News article
is not
authentic,
effort and
creativity not
apparent,
missing
major
elements
A 2 or less
stanza song
or song with
all stanzas
but no music
or dancing.
A 5 stanza
song with
music
and dancing.
Questions----Contact Ashley.chapman@eku.edu
Have a great summer! See you in the fall!