Summer Reading for The Georgetown School 2022-2023

5th Grade English

Please select 2 books from the list below for your summer reading project. Complete both projects (one project for one book, and one for the other).

  1. Wonder by R. J. Palacio
  2. Frindle by Andrew Clements
  3. The One and Only Ivan by K. A. Applegate
  4. El Deafo by Cece Bell
  5. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
  6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Projects

  1. Write a letter to your new teacher (3 paragraphs). Introduce yourself and what you like to read. Tell me a brief summary of the book (not too long, I’ve read them all before). What did you like about this book? What did you dislike? What questions do you have for the author? Do you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?

  2. Use a Pizza Box for Your Report. Take an old pizza box. Draw pictures of how you imagined the story on the top inside of the box. Then draw a big pizza inside the bottom of the box. On this bottom, divide the pizza into 6 slices (at least 3 sentences each) –


1 Title/Author/Illustrator
2 Plot
3 Setting
4 Main Characters
5 Favorite Part
6 Lesson You Learned from the Story

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS I (6th grade and others placed in this class)

This Summer you will read 3 books.


1. ONE that I choose.
2. ONE from the list below
3. ONE of your choice


1. ONE THAT I CHOOSE:

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
or
Out of My Heart by Sharon Draper

If you’ve already read Out of My Mind, then please read its new sequel, Out of My Heart. We will have a quiz on this book when we get back to school, and do a in class activity.


2. ONE FROM THE LIST:

a. Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson

b. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

c. George’s Secret Key to the Universe by Stephen and Lucy Hawking

d. Any of the 7 books in The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis


3. ONE OF YOUR CHOICE:

It must be your grade level
It must be a book you’ve never read before



PROJECTS (The first one we will do in school, the next two must be done over the summer)

ONE THAT I CHOOSE:

We will have a quiz on this book when we get back to school, and do an in class activity (make sure you’ve read the book by then).

ONE FROM THE LIST:

Pick a main character from one of them. Write an essay on whether your character is static or dynamic. How so? Why is it important to the book or to the reader?

Reminder:

STATIC means: character does not change throughout the story
DYNAMIC means: character does change throughout the story.

You essay should be 3 paragraphs long.

The 1st paragraph should introduce your book and character. Then it should state your idea and purpose (ex: So and so is dynamic character because he/she….”).

You 2nd paragraph should explain with details and examples about your character’s change or lack of change.

Your 3rd paragraph should be your conclusion. Restate the main idea of your essay, but this time, add why you think it is important to the book or to the reader.

ONE OF YOUR CHOICE:


After reading one of these books, you should compose a friendly letter recommending (or not recommending) this bookto a friend.

Your letter should contain:

  • Salutation (followed by a comma)
  • Body (introductory paragraph, 1 paragraph with your reasons, and a concluding paragraph)
  • Closing and signature

Your letter should be neat, and your writing should exhibit correct spelling, capitalization, grammar, paragraphing, and punctuation.

At the top of the page, you should write OMH (On My Honor) and sign your name. This means that you are promising you did not lie, cheat, or steal (in other words, the work is your own; you did not take anything from the internet, another person, or any other source). You must sign this honor code pledge for all work at The Georgetown School.

Below you will find an example of a friendly letter with more information about your assignment.

Dear (put your friend’s name here),

The first paragraph of your letter should state your purpose for writing. You will give the name of the book and the author in this paragraph. You will also want to give a brief overview of the story. You are not trying to tell the whole story; two or three sentences explaining what the book is about will be enough. Since the letter is a recommendation, you probably won’t want to give away the ending.

In the next paragraph, you will tell your friend why you are recommending (or not recommending) the book. You must give at least 1 reason you want (or don’t want) your friend to read the book and at least one, but preferably two, specific examples from the book to illustrate your point. For example, if you think the story is funny, you should give two examples of funny things that happen in the book. As you write, remember that the tone of a friendly letter is conversational.

Your last paragraph will be your conclusion. You will sum up the reasons you are recommending (or not recommending) the book.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    (use your name here)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS II (unassigned 7th grade and other students placed in this course)

You will read 3 books and have a test when school starts. You may want to write some notes about your book if you don’t think you will remember everything by the first day of school, or you could record some notes on voice memos on a phone and listen to it before school starts. If you can’t find one of the books in the library, email me. I have most of these books, and I can arrange for you to check one out for 2 weeks. 

If you have already read the books listed, please email LCrosby@TheGeorgetownSchool.org  for an alternate choice.

1. Your first book will be a book of your choice. It must be a book on your reading level. You may not choose a book that has a movie version or a book that you have read before. You should not read an abridged version. You may not choose a graphic novel for this assignment.

2. Your second book will be The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. 

3. Your third book will be from this list. It must be a book you haven’t read before.

The River by Gary Paulsen (sequel to Hatchet)—after Brian survived 54 days in the wilderness, the government wants him to go back so they can learn how and why he survived. When the government psychologist who goes with him is left unconscious from a freak storm, will Brian be able to get him 100 miles to safety?

Jason’s Gold by Will Hobbs (In 1897, gold was discovered in the Klondike-an area in Alaska-and people rushed to Dawson City to strike it rich. Jason is a teenager who hops a train and then stows away on a ship to find search for adventure and gold)

Percy Jackson series: You’ve probably heard of Percy Jackson, the boy who has many adventures after he discovers he is a demigod (his father is the Greek god Poseiden)

The Lightning Thief  by Rick Riordan (choose this if you haven’t seen the movie)

The Titan’s Curse (note: this is the 3rd book in the series—this is a good choice if you’ve read the first two or if you’ve seen a movie)

Out of My Heart by Sharon Draper (sequel to Out of My Mind); this time Melody, our protagonist who has cerebral palsy, wants to show her independence by attending a camp for kids with disabilities

Shouting at the Rain by Sharon Draper (Delsie loves tracking the weather, living with her grandmother, and the support of friends and neighbors, but misses having a “regular family,” especially after her best friend outgrows her. A compelling story about learning to feel complete, figuring out who deserves your love and making sure those are the folks you give your heart to.)

More challenging choices:

The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkein                                       

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson              

Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak–tells a fictional story about Liesel Meminger, a young girl who lived through Nazi Germany. Zusak chooses an interesting narrator, Death, to tell his story of loss, hope, and the importance of the written word.

ENGLISH I  (unassigned 8th grade and others assigned to this course)

You will read 2 books and have a test when school starts. Students wishing to earn honors credit will read a 3rd book and complete an assignment in August. You may want to write some notes about your books if you don’t think you will remember everything by the first day of school, or you could record some notes on voice memos on a phone and listen to it before school starts. If you can’t find one of the books in the library, email me. I have each of these books, and I can arrange for you to check one out for 2 weeks.

 If you have already read the books listed , please email LCrosby@TheGeorgetownSchool.org  for an alternate choice.

  1. Your first book will be a book of your choice. It must be a book on your reading level. You may not choose a book that has a movie version or a book that you have read before. You should not read an abridged version or a graphic novel for this assignment.
  • Your second book will be a choice from this list. You may not choose a book you have already read.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Starr lives in her Black neighborhood but attends a mostly  white private school. When she witnesses her childhood friend being shot and killed by police, she struggles to find her place in the white school and Black neighborhood).

The Martian by Andy Weir. (Read the student edition, which leaves out the bad language). When a dust storm threatens to strand the crew on Mars, the ascent vehicle has to take off and leave Mark Watney behind. Can he find a way to communicate with his crew to tell them he is still alive? Can he find a way to survive for a year until another mission returns to Mars? Even if you’ve seen the movie, Mark has many adventures that were not included in the film. 

Unbroken (young adult version) by Lauren Hillenbrand. This is a student version of a true story 

(about half the length of the original). Louis Zamperini goes from Olympic runner to lost at sea to POW (prisoner of war) in brutal Japanese camps during World War II. Will anyone realize he’s still alive? Will he survive to make it home? 

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Freshman year is not going well for Melinda. She busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, and now her friends—and even strangers—all hate her. She stops trying, stops talking. She retreats into her head, but it’s not so comfortable in her head, either—there’s something in there that she doesn’t want to think about. Eventually, she’s going to have to confront the thing she’s avoiding, the thing that happened at the party, the thing that nobody but her knows. She’s going to have to speak the truth.

Honors—in addition to the 2 books listed above, you will read an additional book that you have not read. 

A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Set at a boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, this novel is a harrowing story of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. This is a classic war story of a German soldier in World War I. Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another . . .  if only he can come out of the war alive.

Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss. Written in 1812, this book tells a story of a family shipwrecked on an island.   

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. This play is about the hopes and aspirations of a struggling, working-class, Black family living on the South Side of Chicago.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. This is the coming-of-age story of Francie Nolan, an Irish-American girl growing up in the slums in at the turn of the twentieth century.

GENRES (9th and 10th ) – HONORS ONLY. No reading for non-Honors students.

Read Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Any copy is fine, and it can be found online in the public domain. There will be a test on the novel week one.

AMERICAN LITERATURE (11th and 12th) – HONORS ONLY.  No assigned reading for non-Honors students

Read ONE of these:  Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Moby Dick by Herman Melville or The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

Any copy is fine, and most can be found online in the public domain. There will be an assignment or test based on the novel week one.