Sixth Grade (Class of 2017) Summer Reading, 2010-2011

Please contact Mrs. Judith Pransky, jpransky@jbha.org, 610-922-2441,
Core Teacher (Social Studies and Language Arts) or

Mrs. Chris Farrell, cfarrell@jbha.org, 610-922-2352, Director of the Middle School
with any questions.

Assignment I

On Etruscan Time, by Tracy Barrett

This year at Barrack, we will be studying archaeology and ancient history.  Archaeology means “the study of first things”.  Scientists look at what is left of something and use it to try to figure out what was originally there.  Much of what we know about ancient history was discovered by archaeologists studying the remains of ancient civilizations.  We will study certain ancient civilizations because they laid the groundwork for the way we live today in the United States.  So learning about them helps us understand us. 

The five main civilizations that we will study are Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece and Rome.  And the novel that you will read this summer is about the last of these civilizations—the Romans.  But it is not about the Romans themselves.  Instead, it is about an earlier civilization that lived in Italy, north of Rome—the Etruscans.  In this novel, a boy your age travels to Italy with his mother, who will be working at an archaeological dig.  Only the boy, Hector, travels even further, because he time-travels—back to ancient Etruria, where he meets an Etruscan boy named Arath who needs his help. 

Use “active reading” or “close reading” as you look for information on how archaeologists work, and how people lived in Etruscan times.  This means that you should highlight passages in the novel that discuss how things were done, and write notes in the margins about what you learned.  You should also put post-it notes on pages that have the information you’re looking for.  

After reading, create a word document in which you list information about the story to help you remember details for classroom discussion and writing. 

• Heading:Type your name, and the title and author of the book.
• Scenes: Write a sentence or two (not a paragraph!) about each of the 10 most important scenes or events of the story.
• Characters: List the names of all important characters and write one sentence for each, explaining who they are.
• Places: List the names of buildings and locations mentioned in the book and write one sentence for each, explaining why they are important.
• Problems: Write a few sentences about what you think are the problems that Hector, the main character, must overcome.  Be sure to discuss more than one problem.
• Resolutions: Write a few sentences about how he overcomes these problems. 
• Information: Write a list of five things you learned about how archaeologists work or how people lived in Etruscan times. 
• Paragraph: Choose one of the five things you listed and write a paragraph describing it in detail.

Assignment II

Read a historical fiction novel of your choice from any period in history.  Some suggestions are listed below.  Historical fiction can mean a book about people who are not real, but whose story takes place during a real period in history; it can also mean a book about real historical figures, but some of the details are not real.  For example, the story can be about a real or imagined person who lived in Ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome, or during the American Revolution or the Civil War, or during World War II and the Holocaust. Create a second word document with a heading that contains your name and the title and author of the book you chose.  Then type a short book review about the novel.  In it you should:

• introduce the main characters
• explain the time period of the book
• explain where the story takes place
• tell what the story is about, but don’t spoil it for someone who hasn’t read it
• give the book a rating out of five stars—with five being the best and one being the worst

The review should not be longer than one page, typed and double-spaced.

Be sure to save it on your computer because you will be using it later.  

Both of these assignments should be ready to hand in on the first day of school. 

SUGGESTIONS FOR HISTORICAL FICTION ABOUT ANCIENT TIMES

Go to www.barrackbooks.wikispaces.com to browse through reviews of many of the books listed below, as well as others. 

Banks, Lynne Reid—Sarah and After

Blacklock—Pankration

Greenspan—Masada Will Not Fall Again (more challenging)

Gregory—Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile

Lasky—The Last Girls of Pompeii

Lawrence—The Assassins of Rome and any other books in the Roman Mysteries series

McClaren—Waiting for Odysseus

McGraw, Eloise Jarvis—The Golden Goblet

McLaren—Inside the Walls of Troy

Miklowitz—Masada: The Last Fortress (more challenging)

Purtil—Enchantment at Delphi

Ray—The Ides of April

Rubalcaba—The Wadjet Eye

Stanley, Diane—A Time Apart

Sutcliff—Frontier Wolf (more challenging)

Sutcliff—The Eagle of the Ninth (more challenging)

Treece—The Windswept City

Winterfield—Detectives in Togas

Yarbro—Four Horses for Tishtry

Yarbro—Locadio’s Apprentice