Name: _______________________________________________________________

Name: ________________________________________________________________

The Haverford School

Summer Reading Assignment for Students Entering Sixth Grade

Assignment: Read Knots in My Yo-Yo String (required), The Misfits (required), and at least two books from the summer reading list (attached). Complete the assignments in this packet before school begins. Type or hand-write your answers neatly. Write in complete sentences. Bring your writing to the first day of school. The assignment is two paragraphs for Knots in My Yo-Yo String, two paragraphs for Misfits, and a paragraph each for your self-selected reading.

Spinelli, Jerry. Knots in My Yo-Yo String.

1. Choose one of these questions. Write at least two paragraphs. You may type or handwrite your answers, but please write neatly.

a. In the chapter “Mrs. Seeton’s Whistle,” Spinelli begins by saying, “More than a Victrola crank handle or a blizzard of coal dust, George Street was its people.” Then he goes on to say he wishes he could find them today and ask them questions. Describe your neighborhood, team, family, or old school, starting the same way Spinelli does.

b. In the chapter “Lash LaRue,” Spinelli says, “Early on I learned, without anyone actually telling me, that in this world it is not enough just to be. You have to be something.” He talks about wanting to be a cowboy. What ambitions do you have (or did you have earlier in life)? Describe them, in detail.

c. In the last chapter, a child asks Jerry Spinelli, “Do you think being a little kid helped you be a writer?” You are a writer yourself. You write in and out of school. How do you think being a little kid has helped you be a writer? Give details from your own life, the way Jerry Spinelli does in the book.

Howe, James. The Misfits

2. Choose one of these questions. Write at least two paragraphs. You may type or handwrite your answers, but please write neatly.

a. Bobby Goodspeed narrates the book. What kind of person is he? How would the book be different with a different narrator? Why?

b. Each character in the book is different, with a different character, family, and way of being an individual. Choose a character, describe him or her, and explain what makes the character an individual. Could you be friends with this character in real life? Why or why not?

c. Of all the characters in the book, who is the bravest and why?

d. Write about what it is like, or what it could be like, to be a “misfit” in The Haverford School.

Self-Selected Reading Summer Reading Response

3. In addition to reading Knots in My Yo-Yo String and Misfits, you should choose two books from the summer reading list. After you have finished each book, write a well-developed paragraph about what you have read. You may type or handwrite your answers, but please write neatly. In each paragraph, you can do any of the following things:

a) Comment on the way the author writes: how he or she chooses words, tells a story, describes settings, names characters, explains things, and so on. Do you like the way the author does it? Why or why not?

b) Explain why (or how) you chose what you're reading.

c) Write about something you did that is similar to something you read.

d) List the questions that you have about what you're reading.

e) Choose some interesting facts you learned as a result of reading.

f) Explain how to do something you learned from the book.

g) Tell me your experience as you read the book, as if you were telling me about a trip you took. What did you expect? What surprised you? What disappointed you? What did you get out of it?

h) Become a character in your book and write the letter as if you we re that character.

i) Pretend you have interviewed a main character and report on the interview.

j) Discuss a memorable scene or a favorite part.

k) Make a prediction about how you think it will end, and why.

l) Discuss how you will use your reading in your own life.

m) Comment on the way the author writes: how he or she chooses words, tells a story, describes settings, names characters, explains things, and so on. Do you like the way the author does it? Why or why not?

n) Do you think the title of the book is a good one? Why or why not? List some other possible titles.

o) What would you like the author to know about your experience reading the book? Did you like it, or not like it? Why? How could the author improve it? What would you like to know?

p) Disagree with the book. What does it get wrong? How would you argue with the author?

q) Write the beginning, or an outline, of a sequel to the book.

r) Write a book review. A book review is written so the person reading it can decide whether to read it or not. You should give a brief summary, your reaction to the book, whether you recommend it or not, and why. If it would be good for one kind of reader but not another, explain.

s) Compare what you're reading to something else you've read.

Spinelli, Jerry. Knots in My Yo-Yo String.

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Howe, James. The Misfits

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Self-Selected Reading Summer Reading Response

Student name (first and last): ________________________________________________

Author or Editor of book (last name first): _____________________________________

Title of book: ____________________________________________________________

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Self-Selected Reading Summer Reading Response

Student name (first and last): ________________________________________________

Author or Editor of book (last name first): _____________________________________

Title of book: ____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________