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This summer each student will be
required to read two books from a grade level list and one
book of his/her choice, for a total of three books. During the
second week of school in Language Arts class, each student will take a quiz
on the books read from the grade level list. In order to prepare for the
quiz, notes should be taken while reading since it will be an “open-note”
assessment.
The third book of choice will be
assessed by means of a creative postcard about the book. The information in
the postcard must include:
·
The title and author of the book
·
One important character
·
One important place or event from the book
·
A brief summary of the book (5-7 sentences)
These books are of various reading
levels and may be purchased at local bookstores or borrowed from the public
library.
Sixth Grade Reading List
Before We Were Free
(non-fiction) reading level 5.6 - lexile 890 (167 pgs.)
By Julia Alvarez
In the early 1960s, in the Dominican Republic,
twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground
movement to end the bloody rule of the dictator, General Trujillo.
The
Devil's Arithmetic
(fiction) reading level 4.6 – lexile 730 (170 pgs.)
by
Jane Yolen
When 12-year-old Hannah is transported back to a
1940's Polish village, she experiences the very horrors that had embarrassed
and annoyed her when her elders related their Holocaust experiences.
Dragonwings
(fiction) reading
level 5.3 – lexile 870 (248 pgs.)
by
Laurence Yep
In the first years of the twentieth century, 8-year-old Moon
Shadow leaves China to join his father, Windrider, in San Francisco. Moon
Shadow learns that his father, a master kitemaker, dreams of building and
flying his own airplane. Father and son experience discrimination, but also
make valued friends. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire bring
destruction but new opportunities for the boy and his father.
The
Endless Steppe
(non-fiction) reading level 6.3 – lexile 940 (243 pgs.)
By Esther Hautiz
In the 1940’s the Rudomin family is arrested and
is forced from their home and family in
Poland to the
endless steppe of Siberia. For five years, Esther and her family live in
exile, working the land, struggling for food and clothing.
Far
North (fiction)
reading level 5.3 – lexile 820 (214 pgs.)
by
Will Hobbs
Fifteen-year-old Gabe, formerly of
San Antonio, enrolls in a boarding school in
Canada's Northwest Territories to
be near his father, whose love of the wilderness has become infectious. Gabe
gets more than he bargained for when an airplane accident leaves him and his
roommate Raymond, a Dene, stranded near the fierce
Nahanni River at the
start of a long winter. Guided by their fellow survivor Johnny Raven, a Dene
elder, Gabe and Raymond learn to hunt beavers, trap rabbits and make
snowshoes and mittens from animal hide. More significantly, they learn
respect for ancient Dene beliefs. When facing death, the two boys must
struggle out of Deadmen Valley.
House of
the Scorpion (fiction)
reading level 5.1 - lexile 660 (380 pgs.)
By Nancy Farmer
In a future where humans despise clones, Matt
enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patrón, the 140-year-old
leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United
States.
Incident
at Hawks Hill
(fiction) reading level 7.2 – lexile 1200 (191 pgs.)
By Allan Eckert
A shy, lonely six-year-old wanders into the Canadian
prairie. Benjamin is a lover of nature and animals. As the weather grows
threatening he crawls into the hole of a female badger he had previously
befriended. Over the period of several months he becomes a part of the
badger's family, first as a surrogate baby badger being fed and cared for in
the den by the female to eventually hunting and foraging with her out in the
open.
The
Shark Callers
(fiction) reading level 5.5 – lexile 830 (230 pgs.)
by
Eric Campbell
Two teenage boys, one on a shark
hunt and the other traveling with his family, face the challenge of their
lives when a volcano erupts causing a massive tidal wave in the South Seas.
Just
Call Me Joe (fiction) reading
level 4.2 (144 pgs.)
By Frieda Wishinsky
This story is seen through the eyes of a
10-year-old who has just emigrated from Russia in 1910. Joseph and his
17-year-old sister, Anna, are staying with their Aunt Sophie in her Lower
East Side apartment. Joseph, who is placed in first grade because he doesn't
speak English, yearns to make friends with boys his own age, and he gets
involved with bullies who cut class and steal. Anna experiences the trials
and tribulations of factory work.
Taste
of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti
(fiction) reading level 4.2 - lexile 650 (173 pgs.)
by Frances Temple
In the hospital after being beaten by Macoutes, a
seventeen-year-old Djo tells the story of his impoverished life to a young
woman who, like him, has been working with the social reformer Father
Aristide to fight the repression in Haiti. Djo reveals the key events of
his childhood in brutally vivid detail: he left home early because his
mother had too many mouths to feed; he taught reading to younger boys at
Aristide's shelter; he was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a sugar cane
worker.
The
Wave (fiction) reading level 5.2
(144 pgs.)
By Todd Strasser
The Wave
is based on a true incident that occurred in a high school history class in
Palo Alto, California, in 1969. The powerful forces of group pressure that
pervaded many historic movements such as Nazism are recreated in the
classroom when history teacher Burt Ross introduces a "new" system to his
students. And before long "The Wave," with its rules of "strength through
discipline, community, and action, " sweeps from the classroom through the
entire school. And as most of the students join the movement, Laurie
Saunders and David Collins recognize the frightening momentum of "The Wave"
and realize they must stop it before it's too late.
Within Reach: My Everest
Story (non-fiction) reading level
6.0 (224 pgs.)
by Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin
Mark Pfetzer decided at the age of 13 that he would
like to climb Mt. Everest. In 1996, at 16, he became the youngest climber
on the ascent that year. Unfortunately, it was also the year that so many
people lost their lives on the mountain. This is the story of that tragedy
and Mark’s triumph.
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