A Blogging Prompt, then TedEd Videos or...

Hello Dear 5th Graders,

Apologies that I cannot lead class today, but here is the plan:

As we only have three classes left this year, I think it might be time to think about your summer reading strategy.  You have a super-long summer vacation, so it seems especially important to come up with a great list of things you would be interested in reading.

I would like you to consult the website Read Kiddo Read, or our draft 6th Grade Reading list (the teachers still haven't worked out exactly what books will be... but preliminary titles are below:)

And on your Kidblog, I would like you to do an entry listing AT LEAST five books that look interesting to you.  (I'd be more impressed if you came up with an ten-item list, as you have a 14 week break...)   I would like a complete sentence about each book, please!

Remember your Kidblog login is: http://kidblog.org/5thGrade-Morell/

Find your name from the pull-down menu, and remember the login is titans1325.

If for some reason the login doesn't work, just Email your list to me.

The title of your entry should be "My Summer Reading List"

I can't wait to see the choices you've made!

If you finish, you may make a choice between:

FreeRice

Khan Academy

Mathletics

or

TedEd

6th Summer Reading Summer of 2014 Draft

Good list of fiction - now need more non-fiction, biographies and poetry. bbb

The Hunger Games: Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a grave competition hosted by the Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the death. Collins, Suzanne

Scat: (Mystery). Nick and Marta are determined to find what happened to the biology teacher after she disappears on a school field trip to Black Vine Swamp. Hiaasen, Carl

When You Reach Me: As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980’s television game show “The $20,000 Pyramid,” a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seem to defy laws of time and space. Stead, Rebecca  (optional fun tip: read this with A Wrinkle in Time, see below)

OR  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: (or any title from the Harry Potter series)  Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School for Wizards and Witches. Rowling, J.K.

Ark Angel: (Adventure) An Alex Rider Adventure: After recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound, teenage spy Alex Rider embarks on a new mission to stop a group of eco-terrorists from sabotaging the launch of the first outer space hotel. Horowitz, Anthony

City of Ember: (Science Fiction) In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. DuPrau, Jeanne

Doll Bones Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever. And for almost as long, they’ve been playing one continuous, ever-changing game of pirates and thieves, mermaids and warriors. Ruling over all is the Great Queen, a bone-china doll cursing those who displease her.  But they are in middle school now. Zach’s father pushes him to give up make-believe, and Zach quits the game. Their friendship might be over, until Poppy declares she’s been having dreams about the Queen—and the ghost of a girl who will not rest until the bone-china doll is buried in her empty grave.  Zach and Alice and Poppy set off on one last adventure to lay the Queen’s ghost to rest. But nothing goes according to plan, and as their adventure turns into an epic journey, creepy things begin to happen. Is the doll just a doll or something more sinister? And if there really is a ghost, will it let them go now that it has them in its clutches?  Black, Holly

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate: (Historical Fiction) Calpurnia struggles with growing up as she spends more of her free time with her grandfather, an avid naturalist, examining the beauty of nature, while at the same time her mother wants to teach her the responsibilities of a young woman during the turn of the century in Central Texas. Newbery Honor, 2010. Kelly, Jacqueline.

Fire from the Rock:  (Historical Fiction) In 1957, honor student Sylvia Patterson is thrilled to be chosen to be among the first African American students to attend the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, but threats of violence by racist mobs cause Sylvia to reconsider. Draper, Sharon M.

Flush: (Mystery) With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this floating casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the protected waters around their Florida Keys home. Hiaasen, Carl

How They Croaked: (Nonfiction) A description of the fatal maladies that ended the lives of 19 historical figures. Bragg, Georgia

Guys Read The Sports Pages: Ten stories guaranteed to put you in the ring, under the basket, and right behind home plate, from the following perennial all-stars: Dustin Brown James Brown Joseph Bruchac Chris Crutcher Tim Green Dan Gutman Gordon Korman Chris Rylander Anne Ursu Jacqueline Woodson with illustrations by Dan Santat . Sciezka, Jon

Hold Fast: From the "New York Times"-bestselling author of "Chasing Vermeer" and "The Calder Game" comes the story of a girl who falls into Chicago's shelter system, and from there must solve the mystery of her father's strange disappearance. Balliett, Blue

The Odyssey: A Graphic Novel.  Hinds, Gareth

Out of My Mind: A brilliant, impatient, young girl with cerebral palsy discovers a way for her to speak for the first time. Draper, Sharon M.

The Last Dragonslayer - Fifteen-year-old Jennifer Strange runs an agency for underemployed magicians in a world where magic is fading away, but when visions of the death of the world's last dragon begin, all signs point to Jennifer--and Big Magic - Fforde, Jasper  

Mockingbird  Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon has died, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure- and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be black and white after all.   - Erskine, Kathryn

Navigating Early - New York Times Best Seller Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool, Newbery Medalist for Moon Over Manifest, is an odyssey-like adventure of two boys' incredible quest on the Appalachian Trail where they deal with pirates, buried secrets, and extraordinary encounters.  Vanderpool, Clare

One Came Home - In the town of Placid, Wisconsin, in 1871, Georgie Burkhardt is known for two things: her uncanny aim with a rifle and her habit of speaking her mind plainly.  But when Georgie blurts out something she shouldn't, her older sister Agatha flees, running off with a pack of "pigeoners" trailing the passenger pigeon migration. And when the sheriff returns to town with an unidentifiable body—wearing Agatha's blue-green ball gown—everyone assumes the worst. Except Georgie. Refusing to believe the facts that are laid down (and coffined) before her, Georgie sets out on a journey to find her sister. She will track every last clue and shred of evidence to bring Agatha home. Yet even with resolute determination and her trusty Springfield single-shot, Georgie is not prepared for what she faces on the western frontier.  - Amy Timberlake

Paperboy - An 11-year-old boy living in Memphis in 1959 throws the meanest fastball in town, but talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering, not even his own name. So when he takes over his best friend's paper route for the month of July, he knows he'll be forced to communicate with the different customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know just about everything.   The paper route poses challenges, but it's a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and thief, that stirs up real trouble--and puts the boy's life, as well as that of his family's devoted housekeeper, in danger.  -  Vawter, Vince

Pi in the Sky - Joss is the seventh son of the Supreme Overlord of the Universe. His older brothers help his dad rule the cosmos, but all Joss gets to do is deliver pies. That's right: pies. Of course, these pies actually hold the secrets of the universe between their buttery crusts, but they're still pies.  Joss is happy to let his older brothers shine. He has plenty to keep his hands full: attempting to improve his bowling score; listening to his best friend, Kal, try (and fail) to play the drums; and exploring his ever-changing home, The Realms. But when Earth suddenly disappears, Joss is tasked with the seemingly impossible job of bringing it back. With the help of Annika, an outspoken girl from Earth, he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime...and learns that the universe is an even stranger place than he'd imagined. - Mass, Wendy

Princess Academy: While attending a strict academy for potential

princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland. Hale, Shannon

The Red Pyramid: Siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, who have been living apart the six years since their mother’s death, are reunited with their Egyptologist father who takes them to the British Museum where he disappears in a fiery explosion. Carter and Sadie try to save their father by embarking on a dangerous pursuit which leads them to the source of a secret order that goes back to the time of the pharaohs. Riordan, Rick

The Romeo and Juliet Code: (Historical Fiction) During World War II, Londoner Felicity is sent to live in Maine with grandparents she doesn’t know, and she learns the truth about herself and her mysterious family.  Stone, Phoebe

The Serpent's Shadow:  When Apophis, the chaos snake, threatens to plunge the world into eternal darkness, siblings Carter and Sade Kane plan to use an ancient spell to destroy the snake, but first must rely on the murderous ghost of a powerful magician.  Riordan, Rick

The Shakespeare Stealer: (Historical Fiction)  A young orphan boy is ordered by his master to infiltrate Shakespeare's acting troupe in order to steal the script of "Hamlet”, but he discovers instead the meaning of friendship and loyalty. Blackwood, Gary

Skulduggery Pleasant: (Mystery) Twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgely teams up with Skulduggery Pleasant, a walking, talking skeleton and detective, to solve her uncle’s murder. Landy, Derek

Wildwood: Prue's life shifts from ordinary to extraordinary when her baby brother is kidnapped by a murder of crows and she must embark into the Impassable Wilderness, a dense forest in the center of Portland, Oregon, with her friend Curtis in tow, where the pair will encounter warring creatures, peaceful mystics, and other dark-minded, powerful figures.  Meloy, Colin

The Winter of Red Snow:  Eleven-year-old Abigail presents a diary account of life in Valley Forge from December 1777 to July 1778 as General Washington prepares his troops to fight the British.  Lasky, Katherine

A Wizard of Earthsea: (Mystery/Fantasy) After pride causes him to unleash a demon, Zed is compelled to either chase or escape from the ever-pursuing shadow. Le Guin, Ursula K.

A Wrinkle in Time:  Meg Murry, her brother Charles, and their friend Calvin, embark on a journey through space and time, assisted by three otherworldly women, to find Meg's father, a physicist who disappeared while experimenting with time travel. L’Engle, Madeline Add graphic version.

Young Bond Series #1: Silverfin - A James Bond Adventure. Young James Bond attends school at the prestigious Eton boarding school, and teams up with Red to investigate the mystery of the disappearance of a boy named Alfie Kelly, Red's cousin, who is allegedly linked to a madman with a plot for global domination. Higson, Charlie