Summer Reading Assignment

Rising 6^th Grade Summer Reading Assignment

Cathedral Academy is continually trying to raise the academic level of our students.  One way to do this is to keep their minds engaged over the summer.  For their summer reading assignment, every rising 6^th grade student will be required to read one book this summer and complete a response journal about that book. Please select a book that you have not read before.  Each student is responsible for using the public library or purchasing a copy of the book for this assignment. Students may also want to share books with their classmates. We do not have copies of the books at the school.

The journal must contain at least five (5) journal entries.  Each of the five entries must be at least one full page, typed, double spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font.  Journal entries should be the student’s reactions to the book and not chapter summaries. Students are encouraged to write the journal entries as they read, not after the book is finished. Students must incorporate at least three quotes as well as specific information from various parts of the book into the journal entries (three quotes in the entire journal, not per page).  Include page numbers with quotations (p. 37). 

Ø  Journals are due on Wednesday, August 17, 2011, at the beginning of class.  

Rising 6^th graders are to select one of the following:

           Freak the Mighty  by Rodman Philbrick 

·                                  Heaven Is For Real  by Lynn Vincent and Todd Burpo 

Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board  by Bethany Hamilton, Rick Bundschuh and Sheryl Berk

·                                 She Said Yes:The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall  by M. Bernall

Something to think about while reading and writing...

• If you had to eliminate characters, who would you eliminate and why?

• What was your first reaction to the book? Did your feelings change as you read?

• What were the most important ideas or moments from a particular passage?

• What was the most important change that took place in the book?

• What other books or stories might you compare to this book?

• How are you like or different from one of the characters in the book?

• What is the conflict in this book? How is it resolved? Have you ever been through anything similar?

• Would you change the ending of the book? Why or why not?