East Greenwich School District Summer Work: Entering Grade 6 ELA
Work students from Cole Middle School and East Greenwich High School are expected to complete over the summer, prior to school opening.
Entering Grade 6 - Summer Reading Expectations
SUMMER READING REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS ENTERING GRADE 6
It is the expectation that all sixth graders will read one book per month independently throughout the year. To prepare, all incoming sixth-grade students are expected to read TWO books over the summer. Ideally, book one should be read in July, and book two should be read in August. (Any additional reading is encouraged but not required). Students are encouraged to complete the optional reading response log after reading every book for additional practice with reading comprehension and written expression.
*Please note that while it is not possible for your child’s teacher to have read a majority of the books on the lists we’ve provided, the selections have been vetted by well-respected panels of library media specialists and preteen/adolescent educators.
| STEPS FOR SUMMER READING SUCCESS | |
| JULY |
Read Book One Survival Choice Book.
|
| AUGUST | Read Book Two Survival or Choice Book.
|
- We welcome students to read multiple titles from the list but additional reading response forms are not required.
- We strongly advise parents/guardians to preview the content and summaries of the book options before their child chooses one to read. This will help families work together to choose a book that best fits the student’s interests, reading level, and maturity level.
- The book titles listed below are available in print, eBook or audiobook, and on occasion, book on CD, and portable media player (Playaway) at the public library. Please contact the East Greenwich Free Library for assistance.
- Entering Grade 6 Optional Reading Response Form
*The optional reading response form is accessible only when signed on with your district-assigned email/Google account. - Book Trailers
View book trailers for each of the books listed below!
Access to Free Books in East Greenwich
- Cole LibraryEast Greenwich school libraries have access to audio and eBooks. If our school libraries own a copy of an audio book or eBook, a link has been made to the book title. To access the digital resource, click on the book title link and enter the following:
Username: Your 5 digit lunch code
Password: EGR
. - East Greenwich Free Library
Rhode Island public libraries have multiple copies of the books listed on this page. Audio books, books on CD, portable media players and eBooks may also be available. Please contact the East Greenwich Free Library to reserve a copy and check out the book.
. - Public Library Card
Do you need a library card for the public library? Complete this online form to request a FREE public library card.
Entering Grade 6 - Survival
Rising Water by When a Thai youth soccer team went on a field trip to explore a local cave system they found themselves trapped with no hope of escape. Racing against time, an international team of divers made a story of survival out of what was nearly a tragedy.
-Non-Fiction.
-2021 RI Middle School Book Award Nominee
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by ISBN: 9781250196705Publication Date: 2019-01-08Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash. Coyote hasn't been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished--the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box--she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it. Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers.
Fort by Wyatt and his friend Augie are enjoying the fort they built, but when two older boys mess with it and with another kid who can't fight back, they launch Operation Doom to get back at the bullies.
-SLJ reviewed grades 4+
*Book available on Learning Ally
Nowhere Boy by Fourteen-year-old Ahmed is stuck in a city that wants nothing to do with him. Newly arrived in Brussels, Belgium, Ahmed fled a life of uncertainty and suffering in Syria, only to lose his father on the perilous journey to the shores of Europe. Now Ahmed's struggling to get by on his own, but with no one left to trust and nowhere to go, he's starting to lose hope.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
*Book available on Learning Ally
Torpedoed by A true account of the attack and sinking of the passenger ship SS City of Benares, which was evacuating children from England during WWII.
-Nonfiction
- 2020 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Red Pencil by After her tribal village is attacked by militants, Amira, a young Sudanese girl, must flee to safety at a refugee camp, where she finds hope and the chance to pursue an education in the form of a single red pencil and the friendship and encouragement of a wise elder.
- 2016 RI Children's Book Award Nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
Entering Grade 6 - Survival
The Canyon's Edge by One year after the death of her mother, Nora and her father go exploring canyons in the Arizona desert. Nora aches for her life to return to normal, having dealt with her father’s fear and grief. But as they are exploring, a flash flood separates Nora from her dad - and wipes out all her supplies. Alone in the menacing desert, she must find her dad - if she can survive herself.
- 2022 RI Middle School Book Award Nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
Refugee by Although separated by continents and decades, Josef, a Jewish boy livng in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl trying to escape the riots and unrest plaguing her country in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015 whose homeland is torn apart by violence and destruction, embark on harrowing journeys in search of refuge, discovering shocking connections that tie their stories together.
-2019 Rhode Island Middle School Book Award nominee.
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Unexpected Life of Oliver Cromwell Pitts by In 1724 England, twelve-year-old Oliver Cromwell Pitts embarks on a journey from his seaside home in Melcombe Regis to London to find his father and his older sister, a journey filled with thieves, adventurers, and treachery.
-SLJ reviewed grades 3+
The Night Diary by Shy twelve-year-old Nisha, forced to flee her home with her Hindu family during the 1947 partition of India, tries to find her voice and make sense of the world falling apart around her by writing to her deceased Muslim mother in the pages of her diary.
-Newbery Honor book
*Book available on Learning Ally
May B. by When a failed wheat crop nearly bankrupts the Betterly family, twelve-year-old May's father pulls her from school and hires her out to a couple new to the Kansas frontier.
-Novel in verse.
*Book available on Learning Ally
I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of Valparaiso, Chile--until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word. Celeste doesn't quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is safe, not anymore. Based on true events during Pinochet's dictatorship.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
*Book available on Learning Ally
I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 by On the day that shocks the world, one boy just wants to find his dad. Noah has always been proud of his father-a brave New York City firefighter. So Noah is thrilled when his dad plans a special outing for Noah's eleventh birthday-they're taking a school day off to spend in the city, just the two of them! The morning of September 11 dawns bright and clear. But in less than an hour, everything changes-forever.
-Kirkus reviewed ages 9+
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Trail by Toby has to finish the final thing on The List. It's a list of brave, daring, totally awesome things that he and his best friend, Lucas, planned to do together, and the only item left is to hike the Appalachian Trail. But now Lucas isn't there to do it with him. Toby's determined to hike the trail alone and fulfill their pact, which means dealing with the little things -- the blisters, the heat, the hunger -- and the big things -- the bears, the loneliness, and the memories.
-2019 Rhode Island Children's Book Award nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
Entering Grade 6 - Survival
Scar Island by Twelve-year-old Jonathan Grisby has been sent to the Slabhenge Reformatory School for Troubled Boys, a former lunatic asylum which is currently run by a sadist who enjoys punishing the boys and setting them against each other; but when a lightning strike kills all the adults the boys find themselves suddenly free--and trapped on Scar Island which seems to be sinking into the ocean.
-2019 Rhode Island Middle School Book Award nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Bridge Home by Facing daunting prospects on the streets of Chennai, two runaway sisters finds shelter and friendship on an abandoned bridge with two homeless boys before an illness forces them to choose between survival and freedom.
- 2021 RI Middle School Book Award Nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
Running on the Roof of the World by Tash lives in Tibet, where as a practicing Buddhist she must follow many rules to avoid the wrath of the occupying Chinese soldiers. Life remains peaceful as long as Tash, her family, and their community hide their religion and don't mention its leader, the Dalai Lama. The quiet is ruptured when a man publicly sets himself on fire to protest the occupation. In the crackdown that follows, soldiers break into Tash's house and seize her parents.
SLJ reviewed grades 5+
The Cay by Philip, an adolescent white boy who is blinded in a torpedo attack at sea during World War II, acquires a new type of vision, courage, and love when he is stranded on a tiny Caribbean island with Timothy, a kind, elderly black man.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
*Book available on Learning Ally
I Am David by David's entire twelve-year life has been spent in a grisly prison camp in Eastern Europe. He knows nothing of the outside world. But when he is given the chance to escape, he seizes it. With his vengeful enemies hot on his heels, David struggles to cope in this strange new world, where his only resources are a compass, a few crusts of bread, his two aching feet, and some vague advice to seek refuge in Denmark. Is that enough to survive?
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Honest Truth by A boy named Mark, tired of being sick with cancer, conceives a plan to climb Mount Rainier, and runs away from home with his dog, Beau--but with over two hundred miles between him and his goal, and only anger at his situation to drive him on, nothing will be easy, and only his best friend, Jessie, suspects where he is heading.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Skeleton Tree by Less than forty-eight hours after twelve-year-old Chris sets off on a sailing trip down the Alaskan coast with his uncle, their boat sinks. The only survivors are Chris and a boy named Frank, who hates Chris immediately. Chris and Frank have no radio, no flares, no food. Suddenly, they've got to forage, fish, and scavenge the shore for supplies.
-2019 Rhode Island Middle School Book Award nominee.
*Book available on Learning Ally
Allies by June 6, 1944: The Nazis are terrorizing Europe on their evil quest to conquer the world. The only way to stop them? The biggest, most top-secret operation ever, with the Allied nations coming together -- by land, sea, and air -- to storm German-occupied France.
- 2021 RI Middle School Book Award Nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
Entering Grade 6 - Survival
Robinson Crusoe by This classic tale of shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island was an instant success when first published in 1719 and has inspired countless imitations.
- Challenge book
*Book available on Learning Ally
Will Sparrow's Road by In 1599 England, twelve-year-old lying, thieving Will Sparrow runs away, meets many colorful characters on the road, and then reluctantly joins a traveling "oddities" exhibit, where he learns to see beyond appearances.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
*Book available on Learning Ally
Cast Off by It's 1663 and there is an extra passenger on board a Dutch merchant ship setting sail for the East Indies. Twelve-year-old Petra has stowed away to escape her abusive father. But she quickly realizes that surviving for months at sea will be impossible without help.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
My Side of the Mountain by A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains, including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.
-Newbery Honor Book
*Book available on Learning Ally
Call It Courage by Based on a Polynesian legend, this is the story of a youth who overcomes his fear of the sea and proves his courage to himself and his tribe.
-Newbery Award winner.
*Book available on Learning Ally
Lifeboat 12 by In 1940, a group of British children, their escorts, and some sailors struggle to survive in a lifeboat when the ship taking them to safety in Canada is torpedoed. Includes historical notes.
-2020 Rhode Island Middle School Book Award nominee
*Book available on Learning Ally
The Sign of the Beaver by Although he faces responsibility bravely, thirteen-year-old Matt is more than a little apprehensive when his father leaves him alone to guard their new cabin in the wilderness. When a renegade white stranger steals his gun, Matt realizes he has no way to shoot game or to protect himself. When Matt meets Attean, a boy in the Beaver clan, he begins to better understand their way of life and their growing problem in adapting to the white man and the changing frontier.
-Newbery honor book.
*Book available on Learning Ally
Caminar by In 1981 with the arrival of soldiers in his Guatemalan village, Carlos must flee and join a band of guerillas who head to the mountains where his grandmother lives to warn her about the soldiers.
-Novel in verse.
-SLJ reviewed grades 5+
Alone by ISBN: 9781534467569Publication Date: 2021-01-12Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town.
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by Unable to celebrate the holidays in the wake of his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting, Lolly Rachpaul struggles to avoid being forced into a gang himself while constructing a fantastically creative LEGO city at the Harlem community center.
- 2018 Coretta Scott King New Talent Book Award
*Book available on Learning Ally
