Summer English Language Arts Packet Students Entering Grade 6

There are many things that can be given to help your child’s literacy skills stay strong throughout the summer. This packet includes reading, writing and word study activities that challenge your child and may even make them laugh. Having said that, if time does not allow these activities to get done—it is okay. The single most important way to strengthen your child’s literacy skills can be summed up in one word:

This cannot be encouraged enough. Visit the library and make books a part of your summer days. Set aside time to read books, listen to books, watch videos of books, and discuss books every day. Flip through magazines, comics, picture books and graphic novels together. Most importantly, let your child see you read—to yourself and to them. Let them hear your silly voices. Let them tell you the best parts and predict how it will end. Point out your favorite words, sentences or pictures. Sharing in the excitement that comes from reading is the most important step to creating life-long learners!

If you do wish to challenge your child with the activities in this packet, it will be helpful to have the following tools: + A Literacy Notebook Option 1: A single-subject spiral notebook Option 2: 20 loose-leaf notebook pages stapled together Option 3: A digital journal created on a computer or iPad Power Point, Keynote, Pages, Microsoft Word, Padlet + A stack of index cards + Pens, pencils + Bonus: Access to the internet (most activities will have a tech-free option!)

The packet consists of three calendar pages (June, July and early August) containing a total of 27 challenges . There is one writing activity and one reading activity for each week. Every month also includes two word-study options. We encourage your child to complete 10 activities by the end of the summer. For additional guidance, this packet also contains Reference Sheets (for tech-free options) and sample comprehension questions, literary terms and additional learning websites. Once the new school year starts, your child can share his/her Literacy Notebook with his/her new teacher and talk about all that was learned and experienced.

Stay safe. Stay connected. Have a wonderful summer!

Suggestions for Learning Websites www.padlet.com Your child can use this website as an alternative to writing their Literacy Notebook entries in an actual notebook. You have to create an account, but the website is free! Be sure your child prints off all of the entries on their wall at the end of the summer OR just share the padlet with his/her 5th grade teacher! www.mightybook.com/story_books.html This site has several animated storybooks, many of which are set to music, all of which read the words aloud to your child. Great for children who have difficulty reading independently. To find a book, go to the “Catalogue” on the left-hand side of the webpage and click on your child’s age range. https://wwwmystorybook.com/ Kids can write their own storybooks! They can use clipart from the website or draw their own pictures. If you sign up for free, you can then share your storybooks on the website. Story ideas: All About Me, All About my Favorite TV character

Important Literary Terms Comprehension Questions for Fiction Comprehension Questions for Non-Fiction

+ Theme: the main idea or message + Tell me what this story is about using only two or three words + Tell me what this book or article was about using only two or three + Mood: the overall feeling a story evoked in the reader (friendship, overcoming challenges….) words. + Plot: the sequence of main events in a story. The plot typically consists of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and + What is the overall theme of the story- or message? + Why do you think the author wrote this? What do you think they resolution wanted you to learn? + Conflict: the problem the story’s main character (s) must + Does this story remind you of any stories you’ve read in the past? overcome How so? + Tell me some important facts from this text. Why do you think + Rising Action: the events that build suspense and lead up to the these facts are important? Why wasn’t ______important in your story’s climax + Name at least two important vents from the story. Briefly opinion? + Climax: the point in the story where the conflict becomes the summarize each one. most intense. This is the most exciting part of the story + How is _____ different from ______? + Falling Action: the events or actions that lead to the solution of + What did the main character do before ______? the story’s conflict + How is _____ similar to ______? + Resolution: how the story ends after the main conflict has been + Why are these paragraphs important to the story? resolved + What effects do/did ______have on ______? + Protagonist: the story’s main character + At the beginning of the story, how does ______(character) fell + Antagonist: the character who opposes or works against the about ______? Does this feeling change by the end of the story? + Tell me how _____ happens/happened (use first, next, after that, main character How do you know? finally…..) + Narrator: the person who is telling the story + First person point of view: the point of view of a narrator who is + What caused ____ to change their mind about ______? + Where would you look in this book to find information about ___? part of the story they are telling. Pronouns to look for: I, me, my, mine + Why doesn’t _____ like ______? + What conclusion can you make from looking at this + Third person point of view: the point of view of a narrator who is chart/graph/diagram/cartoon? not part of the story they are telling. Pronouns to look for: she, her, + Do you think the author of this story is writing from personal his, he, him, they, it, them experience? Why do you think so? + How does this illustration/picture help you understand ____? + Flashback: an author goes back in time to tell a story that explains a character’s actions or to show a difference between the + What does this word mean? How do you know? + According to the text, what does ______mean? way things are now and the way they were in the past + What does this phrase/sentence mean? How do you know? + What does this word mean? How do you know?

+ Summarize the story by talking through the following chart: + What does this phrase/sentence mean? How do you know? Somebody Wanted But So + Does reading this book/article make you want to know more about anything? What? How could you learn about this?

Resource Page FLASHBACK STORY EXAMPLE: Strawberry and Peanuts

I really love ice cream. What flavors? It really doesn’t matter as long as it is creamy and in a cone. But, if I had to choose my absolute favorite ice cream—it would be strawberry. I love the cheerful, pink color, the chunks of fresh strawberries, the sweet taste and most of all, the peanuts. Peanuts? Have I lost my mind? No, not at all. My best memory with strawberry ice cream was when I was 6 years old. It was the day I learned how delicious a peanut topping really can be.

I remember being with my grandma. I was in Ohio and just sitting on the porch swing looking out at her neighborhood. It was hot! We were hot! My mind kept thinking “I really could use an ice cream right now”. Right after that thought, I heard music. Cheerful, music. It almost sounded like a song you would hear at the circus. My grandma jumped up, without saying a word and went into the house. It was so strange , I got scared and thought maybe I should run inside too. Right when I stood up, my grandma came back and held out 4 quarters. “Come on, get moving, before we miss him”. Just then a white and pink truck, covered with pictures and blaring that circus music came right down my grandma’s street. THE ICE CREAM TRUCK. Grandma and I went to the edge of her driveway. The truck stopped and I looked at all the choices. There were too many. I couldn't decide. My grandma pointed to a pink popsicle and said, “Those strawberry shortcake bars were always my favorite”. So I ordered the strawberry shortcake bar. It was strawberry ice cream covered in peanuts and it was the best ice cream I have ever had. All thanks to grandma!

Now that I am 12 years old, I don't see many ice cream trucks. But every time I scoop some strawberry ice cream in a bowl and cover it with peanuts I still remember grandma and that loud ice cream truck in Ohio!

Point of View Photos

Resource Page The Kraken Legend (Wonderopolis) Pirate Research: TALK LIKE A PIRATE Ask any group of pirates and they’ll tell you bone-chilling tales of terror on the open Was Blackbeard his real name? His real name was Edward Thatch or In Pirate Lingo… seas. From hurricanes to tsunamis, sailing the oceans can be a perilous business. Edward Teach. Pirates took nick names to hide their real names. He was called Blackbeard because of his long, black beard. He was known “Me” means “My” But weather isn’t the only danger to contend with. There’s always the fear of being “Ye” means “You” to tie up his beard in ribbons! attacked by gigantic sea creatures! Verbs are often used in the “be” What was Blackbeard’s early life like? He was thought to have been born form, as in “Ye’ll not be insulting the Pirates certainly have many legends to fuel their fear of giant sea monsters. One in Bristol. Blackbeard went to sea when he was very young. He served captain, ye mangy sea dogs!” such legendary creature is called the Kraken. It supposedly lived in the depths of on an English ship in the War of the Spanish Succession. At the war’s

end in 1713, he decided to become a pirate. General Words and Phrases…. the sea off the coasts of Norway and Iceland.

Ahoy: a greeting or a way to get Kraken comes from the German word for Octopus. This has likely influenced the Why was he a pirate? Blackbeard was a pirate because it was his way to someone’s attention. Often followed way artists have painted the Kraken. It often appears as a large creature with make a fortune. Life at sea was hard and risky for sailors in navy or on by “Matey” many arms. In many cases, the arms reach as high as the top of a ship’s mast. merchant ships. It was tempting to take what you learned serving on those ships and join a pirate crew where you would earn a share of the Arg: a word that shows all sorts of . At different times, a government would encourage ships emotion—anger happiness, Legends hold that no ship could stand up to the Kraken. The creature could easily captains to be and raid ships from other countries, but not frustration, approval, disapproval. sink ships by wrapping its many arms around them. The ship’s crew would either theirs. These privateers might then begin to prey on any ships and You could also use “Gar” or “Yar” drown or be eaten by the monster. become pirates—stealing whatever that can be found.

Avast: a warning to call to stop, like Why was Blackbeard so famous? Blackbeard was famous because he “Look Out” These are certainly mythical tales. But the Kraken legends may have been based was a very scary pirate. When he knew he was going to attack

on a real creature: the giant squid. Giant squid have long tentacles and can grow someone’s ship, he put smoking fuses in his long black hair and beard. Aye: A word that shows agreement, up to 40-50 feet in length. They usually live deep in the sea. But they’ve been He also wore pistols strapped to his body. Some sailors who saw him in like “Totally, dog!” known to surface and attack ships from time to time. battle actually thought he was the devil.

Savvy: means “do you understand?” The Kraken gained literary fame in 1830 when Alfred Tennyson published his Did Blackbeard have a family? According to Captain , Names for Friends…. poem called “The Kraken”. In it, he described a huge sea creature that lived in who lived at the same time as Blackbeard, he had 14 wives. This Matey: means friend depths of the ocean and rose only to attack ships. probably isn’t true, but it seems likely that Blackbeard did get married sometime in 1718 in North Carolina. There is no record of him ever : what a pirate would call having kids. another pirate Today, the Kraken is alive and well in popular culture, including video games and theme park rides. Many modern movies also feature scenes in which the Kraken Did they ever catch Blackbeard? Local leaders often offered a reward for Me hearties: means “all my friends” attacks from the depths of the sea! the capture of famous pirates. Many men tried to catch Blackbeard, but Names for Enemies: he was too smart for them and escaped capture many times. To get him All of these are insults…. Click on the link below to ride the Kraken rollercoaster at sea world, Florida! It is to stop, he was offered a pardon and he accepted it. However, he Bilge Rat, Scurvy Dog, Sea Dog, one of the first REAL rollercoasters that you wear virtual reality glasses! returned to . Mangy Sea Dog, Landlubber How did Blackbeard die? Finally on November 22, 1718, pirate hunters Random Phrases and Words…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-txLuP1DCc4 caught up with him near Ocracoke Island, off of North Carolina. Shiver Me Timbers: Well, check that Blackbeard and his men put up quite a fight, but in the end, they were all out—can’t believe it! killed or arrested. Blackbeard died in battle and his head was cut off so hunters could prove they killed him. According to an old story, Kraken: a large sea monster—a his headless body swam around his ship three times. Pirate legend

Resource page Are Elementary School Children Too Young To Have Cell Phones? The Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on 12/12/16

More schools are letting students have cellphones. And it's not just high schools and middle schools. Elementary students in Montgomery County, Maryland, could soon be allowed to bring phones to school. Leaders there are talking about a new rule. This would give kids permission to have cellphones at school. The students would only be able to use cellphones with a teacher's permission. But, they could use phones after dismissal. They could also use phones on buses if the new rules pass. Every School Has A Different Rule Schools have different rules for cellphones. Some students are allowed to bring cellphones. But they can only use them in an emergency. Some schools let families ask permission for their child to bring a phone.

Some parents want young students to carry cellphones. They can stay in touch for safety or planning. Other parents worry that cellphones could be distracting. They also worry that cellphones would cause problems. Not all families have enough money to buy them. Catherine Carpela is a teacher in Maryland. She doesn't like the idea. She says teachers would have to monitor cellphone use. She wants to spend that time teaching. Making Sure Students Use Phones In The Right Way Many kids already bring phones to school. School leaders know this. They think the rule would make sure students use them appropriately. Sherwin Collette helps schools with technology. He said the rule change is in line with a bigger idea. Cellphones could add to other technology being used in the classroom. They could even help students learn. Amanda Lenhart studies teenagers and technology. She said it's common for kids to get a cellphone around age 10. "What is the right age to give a child a cellphone?" Lenhart said. It can be a hard choice for parents to make

Poem: My Teacher Took My Ipod (Kenn Nesbitt) My teacher took my iPod She looked a little startled My teacher changed her mind She said she had a rule; but after just a while She said it’s now okay I couldn't bring it into class she made sure we were occupied To bring my iPod into class Or even into school and cracked a wicked smile She takes it every day!

She said she would return it; Her body started swaying I’d have it back today Her toes begin to tap But then she tried my headphones on She soon was grooving in her seat And gave a click on Play And rocking to the rap

June 2020 Reading Adventures Fun with Words Writing Workshop Set up a Literacy Notebook. You may choose any of Can you recognize parts of speech like a 6th Create a special cover page for your Literacy Notebook. Fill your the following options: grader? It is time to find out! Visit cover with pictures (hand drawn, magazine cutouts, online pictures, Week 1 + spiral bound notebook www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/6_8/grammar/ and clipart) that make you smile. Think of… + 20 loose leaf papers stapled together choose the Nouns Quiz for 6th grade. It is not as Things you love + Digital Notebook (Word, PowerPoint, Keynote, easy as you think! People/pets you care about Pages…) Places you like to go Interests, talents, hobbies On the first page, write the title BOOKS I HAVE READ. Favorite quotes from songs, books, people Use this page to list the book title and author of every book you read over the summer! CHAPTER BOOK ACTIVITY 1: SETTING While reading NARRATIVE: HEART MAP today, find a paragraph or two that describes the I’m All About the Verbs! In your Literacy Notebook, draw a big heart. In that heart write brief Week 2 setting of your story. Draw a picture of this setting. Go to words or illustrate things that are important to you. This “Heart Describe how the author helps you see this place. www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/6_8/grammar/ and Map” holds the people, places , events and things you may choose Did the author include any of the following: language choose the Verbs Quiz for 6th grade. Now that you to write about in future sessions. You can add to your heart map that appeals to the senses, similes, metaphors, have learned all about the Verbs, pay attention to throughout the summer personification, dialect, or words that create a certain the interesting verbs the author uses within your mood? chapter book. Write down 6 interesting verbs from CHAPTER BOOK ACTIVITY 2: PLOT your book in the space below: NARRATIVE: WRITE A LETTER As you are reading, create a story map. This map Choose one person from your heart map and write them a letter. Week 3 should include the beginning, problem, series of 1. Include a specific memory/story that you have with that individual. events, climax (or high point), solution and ending. Make that memory come to life by including sights, sounds, tastes, BONUS: Include an internal story arc—keep track of smells, and conversations. Write the first draft of your letter in your the main characters emotions at each stage in the 2. Literacy Notebook--- write your final draft on a clean sheet of paper story! and send it to the person you wrote about as a special surprise!

CHAPTER BOOK ACTIVITY 3: CHARACTERIZATION 3. NARRATIVE: FLASHBACK STORY Hollywood has invited you to cast the characters in Start by reading the definition of FLASHBACK written under Week 4 your current book. Develop a list of characters and “Important Literary Terms”. Today you will write your own flashback the actors you would want to play each role. Think of 4. mini story. In the first paragraph describe something you REALLY feelings, motivations, behaviors, traits, and love! Give details so readers can see it too! End your first paragraph appearance/voice. Write down the qualities that the with the line “My best memory with _____ (favorite thing) happened character has that the actor must meet. BONUS: 5. when I was ____ (age) years old” Include pictures/drawings of the actors your select. Write this in your Literacy Notebook. Start the second paragraph with “I remember….” Now describe a 6. time you had with one of your favorite things—it should be a time that happened when you were YOUNGER than you are now. End by completing this sentence starter” Now that I am ____ (current age) years old, I still remember….”You just wrote a flashback!!! There is an example story on the Resource Page if you need ideas. CHAPTER BOOK ACTIVITY 4: MAKING CONNECTIONS NARRATIVE: Choose one of the pictures found under POINT OF VIEW Find a movie, TV Show, Poem or Song that relates to PHOTOS to focus on . You will be writing 2 paragraphs. The first one Week 5 the book you are reading. In you Literacy Notebook describes what is happening in the photo using 1st person Point of explain how this show or movie is related--- what View (become one of the objects, people or animals in the picture). rd common traits do you notice? Think about The second paragraph will be describing the events in 3 person (as characters, setting, plot, problems, or theme an outsider looking down and describing what is going on). Which paragraph did you like better? Write both in your Literacy Notebook.

JuLy 2020 Reading Adventures Fun with Words Writing Workshop INFORMATIVE: Real-Pirate Research Idioms are a form of figurative language that INFORMATIVE: Real-Pirate Research Find a library book or use the internet to find should not be taken literally. The group of words Using your notes from the “reading adventure” create a one pager, Week 1 information about one of the following real-life has a separate meaning. What do the phrases iMovie, poster, timeline or infographic highlighting all you have pirates. There is also a “Real Life Pirate” article below mean? Write your explanations in your learned about your pirate. You may hand draw this product, use included in this packet. For your pirate, take notes literacy journal. online tools. Include a blend of words and visuals to bring your about his Early Life, Pirate Beginnings, 2 Interesting pirate’s world to life. Facts, and End of Career/Death. Write these notes + On the day of the play, I got cold feet, and ran off in your Literacy Notebook of the stage (El Dragon), William Captain Kidd, + When I got to my new school, I felt like a fish out , (Black Sam), Henry of water Morgan, (Black Bart), Cheng I Sao

INFORMATIVE: Watch this video about the legendary Idioms in Pictures! Choose one of your favorite INFORMATIVE: Pirate Dialogue monster that all pirates talked about: The Kraken. In idioms from the list below. Take a photo of yourself Create a dialogue between two pirates discussing a time that they Week 2 your Literacy Notebook, write down 5 facts you (or a friend/family member) that illustrates the were face to face with a Kraken. Use a combination of made-up learned. There is an article on the Kraken in the idiom. Make sure print off this picture and place it details along with facts from your Kraken research. In your dialogue resource section of this packet in your Literacy Notebook. When the school year feel free to use “Pirate Talk” (see resource page) to make it sound starts, share your journal with others and have more authentic. Savvy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTpbZVxz3SI them try and guess what idiom you were “acting out”!! What a funny way to start the school year! ARGUMENTATIVE: CELL PHONE DEBATE ARGUMENTATIVE: CELL PHONES Read the article “Are Elementary School Students To cry over spilt milk You are about to enter middle school--- and you may see more and Week 3 Too Young To Have Cellphones?” found on a To put your foot in your mouth more students with cell phones. Should cell phones be banned (or resource page in this packet. Answer the following All in the same boat not allowed) in school during the school day? Write your opinion question in your Literacy Notebook: Is the author of To let the cat out of the bag about this issue. Give at least two reasons for why you feel the way the article FOR Cell Phones in Schools, AGAINST cell To see eye to eye you do. Write this paper in your Literacy Notebook. phones in school or NEUTRAL (cannot tell his/her To cost an arm and a leg opinion). How did you come to this decision? To feel under the weather To cut corns ARGUMENTATIVE: Take a look at the following To judge a book by its cover ARGUMENTATIVE: resources to learn more about the pros/cons of cell Get the best of both worlds In your Literacy Notebook, write a letter from a person who disagrees Week 4 phones in school. In your Literacy Notebook, write Hit the nail on the head with your opinion about cell phones. The letter should present 2-3 down three things you learned through the resources. Give someone a hand reasons why THEIR opinion is better than your opinion. This is going Keep an eye on someone to be a challenge, because you have to take on an opinion you do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INxsAxeqA88 On cloud nine not have, but I know you can do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2L43O5uU0g

Feel free to search for other articles to get more ideas!

August 2020 Reading Adventures Fun with Words Writing Workshop POETRY: Write a poem about an adult or friend who did something POETRY: Read “My Teacher Took My Ipod” found in unexpected (like in the poem you read during “Reading Week 1 the resource packet. Irony is when the opposite How many words can you make Adventures”). happens of what you THOUGHT was going to happen. with these letters? What was ironic about the teacher’s reaction to the iPod (how did she change from the beginning of the poem to the end—what caused this change?) Write W A S I R C N O D your response in your Literacy Notebook.

RESEARCH: Use the following sites to learn about Write at least 10 words. THEN see MY PERFECT MIDDLE SCHOOL: If you had the chance to design your the most unique classrooms and schools in the own middle school, what would it be like? In your Literacy Notebook, Week 2 world. Take notes , listing what you have learned. if you can use ALL the letters to design a middle school by including the following: find the “Magic Word”. Hint: It is What is the school called? What does the school look like (draw a picture)? What courses would be offered? What would the schedule https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfdKm40eE7I a favorite summertime place! look like? What is the mascot? What after school activities does it offer? What incentives does it have? What are the rules? How do https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCEH0_aE9kg the teachers teach? What is the dress code? What is served for 1. lunch? What makes this school unique/special?

https://www.businessinsider.com/the-13-most- 2. innovative-schools-in-the-world-2015-9#altschool- 3. san-francisco-california-the-school-of-silicon-valley-5 4. https://www.trtworld.com/in-depth/eight-most- unique-schools-in-the-world-121095 5. 6. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer- sheet/wp/2015/11/13/how-classrooms-look- 7. around-the-world-in-15-amazing-photographs/ 8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UApQk25v8Ro 9.

10.