During the course of this school year, sixth graders will be required to complete an outside reading requirement each quarter.  Each student will have to read at least three books outside of class per quarter, for a total of twelve (12) books read between August 23, 2010 and May 27, 2011.  Books chosen must be fiction, and they must be at least 150 pages in length.  At least four of these should be from the list below (most are in the classroom library as well as the school library):

The Underneath – Kathi Appelt

Iron Thunder: The Battle Between The Monitor and the Merrimac - Avi

The Unknowns: A Mystery – Benedict Carey

Singer of All Songs – Kate Constable

Forged by Fire – Sharon Draper

The City of Ember – Jeanne DuPrau

Under a War-Torn Sky – Laura Elliott

The Thief Lord – Cornelia Funke

The Brooklyn Nine – Alan Gratz

Out of the Dust – Karen Hesse

The Outsiders – S. E. Hinton

Red Scarf Girl – Ji-Li Jiang

Heaven – Angela Johnson

Schooled – Gordon Korman

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Touching Spirit Bear – Ben Mikaelson

My Dog Skip – Willie Morris

Here Lies the Librarian – Richard Peck

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Betty Smith

Milkweed – Jerry Spinelli

Truesight – David Stahler, Jr.

The Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

The Land – Mildred Taylor

The Weirdo – Theodore Taylor

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Journey to Change the World… – Sarah L. Thomson

Surviving the Applewhites – Stephanie Tolan

Angel on the Square – Gloria Whelan

In addition to reading the books, students must also:

1)     Create a bibliography of the books read each quarter. This must be typed in correct bibliographic form. The bibliography due dates are indicated on the calendar.

2)     Complete a “book report” of some type for each book. A packet of the twelve “formats” will be distributed at least one week before the first book report is due. Students may use each “format” once. 

The due dates are indicated on the calendar in the format “Book 1-1” due. The first number indicates the quarter and the second number indicates the book, so that book 1-1 would be the first book of quarter 1, book 1-2 would be the second book of quarter 1, and so on. No matter which option you choose, it should be done creatively to the best of your ability and should include the following.

·         Title

·         Author

·         Plot summary – Identify setting, main characters, and significant events in your own words.

·         Brief review – Indicate whether or not you enjoyed the book and why or why not.

The reading requirement will comprise 20% of the students’ literature grade.  Each book completed can yield a possible 33 points--13 for a correctly done bibliographical entry (1) and 20 for the option of your choice (2)-- for a total of 99 points.  An additional point will be earned for the bibliography being in correct order (ALPHABETICAL by author’s last name!).

Bibliographic form for a book with one author (MLA):

Author’s last name, author’s first name. Title.  Place of publication: publisher, publication date.

Example:

Finkel, Clytemnestra. Revolt of the Spinach-Eaters.  Batavia: Greenleaf Press, 2007.