2009 – 2010

4th Grade Summer Reading

  

          You will be required to...

          1.   Choose one book from the attached list to read

          2.  Write a book report

          3.  Make a book poster

          4.  Plan to take the AR quiz after we return to school

          5.  Have a great summer!

 

 I hope you enjoy your break.  I am looking forward to having you in my class in August. 

 Book Report

 You will be required to write a book report on your book.  The book report needs to include the following...

 

Title and Author

Main Characters – Include names and a brief description of the characters.

Setting – Include where the story takes place and describe it.

Summary – Write a summary of the book (beginning, middle, end)

Your Opinion of the Book – Tell why you liked or disliked the book.

A Cover – (book title, your name, decorate the cover)

  

The book report is due Friday, August 21, 2009.

  

AR Quiz

           You will need to be prepared to take the AR quiz on your book.  We will discuss the books during the first weeks of class.  After our class discussions we will set a deadline to take the AR quiz. 

          It may be helpful to buy a copy of the book so that you can review it prior to taking the quiz.

 

Book Poster   

 

          You will need to make a poster. The poster will be for a contest that we will have in each of the 4th grade Language Arts classes.  The poster should be like one that you would see in a book store advertising a new book.  The poster must be on poster board and include the following...

 

  • A brief summary of the book (similar to what you would find on a book jacket, BUT NOT COPIED FROM THE BOOK.

     
  • Include an illustration of what YOU think the book cover should look like...keep in mind that a book cover must include the title of the book and the author’s name.

     
  • Include a price for your book.  (You can make the book price a small amount if you did not like the book or you can make it very high if you loved the book.)

     
  • Include a review of the book.  Pretend you work for a newspaper or magazine and it is your job to review the book.  (This should only be one or two sentences.)

     
  • Your name must go on the back of the poster.

     
  • HAVE FUN and BE CREATIVE!

 Posters are due on Monday, August 24, 2009.

 
 Choose one of the following books: 

I have included a brief description from the Barnes & Noble website to help you choose your book. 

You should be able to find them at all local bookstores or online.  Pick the one that sounds good to you.

  

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen

by:  Eric Berlin

Reading Level:  4.2

 Winston Breen says "the only thing better than discovering a puzzle is stumping someone else with it." But when his sister uncovers mysterious strips of wood with words and letters on them, even Winston himself is stumped. Soon the whole family—and some friends—are caught up in the mystery and off on a scavenger hunt that just may lead to a ring worth thousands of dollars! Chock-full of puzzles to solve—some tied to the mystery and some not—this treasure hunt will keep readers' brains teased right up to the exciting ending!

  

The Lemonade War

by:  Jacqueline Davies

Reading Level:  4.1

 As the final days of summer heat up, so does a sibling showdown over a high-stakes lemonade stand business. Jessie and Evan Treski compete to see who will make $100 first off of their respective lemonade stands. Full of surprisingly accessible and savvy marketing tips for running a stand (or making money at any business) and with clever mathematical visuals woven in, this sensitively characterized novel subtly explores how war can escalate beyond anyone's intent.

 

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School

by:  Candace Fleming

Reading Level:  3.9

 Ellen and her troubles are both funny and touching; we meet her trying to hide her long underwear at dancing school, and playing a substitute rat in `The Pied Piper.' All is told with a downright realism, and the school scenes are choice.


Found

by:  Margaret Haddix

Reading Level:  5.0

 Thirteen-year-old Jonah has always known that he was adopted, and he's never thought it was any big deal. Then he and a new friend, Chip, who's also adoped, begin receiving mysterious letters. The first one says, "You are one of the missing." The second one says, "Beware! They're coming back to get you."

Jonah, Chip, and Jonah's sister, Katherine, are plunged into a mystery that involves the FBI, a vast smuggling operation, an airplane that appeared out of nowhere — and people who seem to appear and disappear at will. The kids discover they are caught in a battle between two opposing forces that want very different things for Jonah and Chip's lives.

Do Jonah and Chip have any choice in the matter? And what should they choose when both alternatives are horrifying?

 

Punished

by:  David Lubar

Reading Level:  3.6

 Gr 3-5-Logan knows he shouldn't have been playing tag in the library reference stacks and he's sorry that he crashed into Professor Wordsworth. But what did the strange old man mean when he said that Logan should be "punished?" Suddenly, the boy starts speaking in puns-really awful puns-and he can't stop. His family and friends think he's just smarting off, but Logan quickly realizes that he is under a curse. According to the professor, there is only one way to break the spell. Logan has three days to collect seven oxymorons, seven anagrams, and seven palindromes-or the "pun"-ishment will continue forever. This lighthearted fantasy would be an excellent classroom read-aloud. The language concepts are deftly explained and the clever, wordplay-filled dialogue provides numerous examples. There is an emphasis on problem-solving and self-reliance as well. Logan uses the dictionary and experiments with Scrabble tiles as he races against the clock to find the required answers.

 

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

by:  Linda Urban

Reading Level:  3.9

 Ten-year-old Zoe Elias dreams of playing a baby grand piano at Carnegie Hall. But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe's dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn't the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn't the only part of Zoe's life that's off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day. Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises—and that perfection may be even better when it's just a little off center.