Summer Homework & Supply Lists

Below is a list of items that 6-9 students are expected to bring to school on the first day:
(Important: Please put your name on your items.)

• Plastic clipboard with flat clip (can be found at Target)
• Five folders with bottom pockets (name on each of them)
• One-inch three-ring “D” binder with pockets (name on it)
• First-year and new students to the school:  ½-inch binder for music
• Classroom sketchbook 
• Additional sketchbook for art 
• Washable cloth placemat (name on it)
• Three 75-count containers of Lysol/Clorox type wipes
• One 12x12-inch scrapbook (name on it) with 10 top-loading sheets (including pages). These can be purchased at Michael’s, Target, etc.
• Mud boots or outdoor shoes for the playground
• One small backpack (lockers are 6 inches wide by 11 inches deep) (name on it)
• Reusable lunchbox (name on it)
• Reusable silverware (available on Amazon)
• A complete change of clothing (including underwear, pants, shirt, socks) as well as a sweater or sweatshirt
• Recorder for music class (available on Amazon)

Summer Reading

Each 6-9 student is expected to read or be read to for 20 minutes at least five times per week. While children may choose any books that spark their interest, a link to a list of suggested books from the New Castle County Library, specific to grade, is available on the WMS website. The public library is a wonderful place to find a great selection of books (for free!) and to participate in their summer reading programs. You can also borrow downloaded books for your Kindle or iPad. If you have any questions, please ask your child’s teacher.

Math Review

One option for summer review for math is to have your child work through a mathematics workbook such as the Summer Math Skills Sharpener series. This can be ordered online at www.summerskills.com.

Please choose the grade level your child has just completed. Children can also practice using grade level math game apps or other possible websites:

• www.fun4thebrain.com – math fact games
• www.Aplusmath.com – online math games and printable worksheets
• www.kidsnumbers.com – online math games

Summer Box Project

In addition to maintaining reading and math skills over the summer, another part of your child’s summer homework is a project called “The Box Marked Summer.” In the interest of recycling, the students may use their “summer box” from a previous school year or find a shoebox/other small cardboard box to hold their vacation artifacts. Feel free to have them decorate the outside as well. In September, the children will share their “summer boxes” with the class. This is a wonderful way for the children (and teachers) to get to know one another. Ideally this is work the children would do over the course of the summer rather than in one day. All the items should fit neatly in the box. Here is a list of suggested items for your child to collect:

• Brochures or maps from a trip
• Trip itinerary
• Rocks, shells or pressed flowers
• Family photographs
• Journal entry
• List of stories/books read during the summer

In September, the teacher will let you know when your child may bring the box back to school.

• Two 1.5-inch binders with dividers and tabs: one for math and one for writing (required for fourth-graders and only if needed for fifth- and sixth-graders)
• Writer’s notebook (required for fourth-graders and only if needed for fifth- and sixth-graders). This notebook is used to collect ideas. It can be any type of notebook your child likes. Sometimes it looks more like a journal and other times it is simply a composition book. This is your child’s choice.
• One composition book, graph ruled, for math (required for fourth-graders and only if needed for fifth- and sixth-graders)
• Manual pencil sharpener
• Pencils for personal use (labeled with your child’s name)
• Erasers
• One reusable water bottle (labeled with your child’s name)
• One cloth place mat (labeled with your child’s name)
• Two folders (child’s choice) - one for chorus music and another for health
• Earbuds/headphones for iPad
• Wireless (Bluetooth) keyboard (recommended)
• $8 birthday supply money

Many children also prefer to have a personal binder (Case It) to organize their papers and materials. This is not required but may be preferred by your child.

Please note that backpacks need to fit in lockers. The dimensions of our lockers are 59 inches high, 9 ¾ inches wide and 10 inches deep.

Required: 
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book is in preparation for our study of "What it means to be Human." It can be found on Amazon as well as at the public library. 

Each student must select three additional books to read. The criteria for these books is listed below:

Three books from three different genres:

Students may choose the genres and the titles.

For all books*, students need to fill out an index card with the following information:

• Student name
• Title
• Author
• Genre
• Main characters
• Interesting parts/facts

Each student should be prepared to share about one of their three choice books at book talks in September. Book talks are short, direct and mostly enthusiastic endorsements of particular titles. In one or two minutes, students will tell the story of a book they loved: who the main character is, what his or her problem is, a bit of the plot, its genre, and what made the reader love it. We want students to be inspired to read this book, not learn about exactly what happened. Think about a book review as an example. It will be helpful to have the book available for others to see or a picture of the cover. 

Possible Genres:

• Autobiography
• Biography
• Classic
• Fantasy
• Historical fiction
• Memoir
• Mystery
• Mythology
• Poetry anthology
• Poetry collection
• Realistic fiction
• Science fiction
• Short-story collection
• Sports novel
• Graphic Novel

*Books may be found at the local library. Please do not feel that you need to purchase any of them. We encourage reading in any capacity, whether students read alone, with parents or siblings, with an audiotape or have books read to them. 

Note: We will be discussing these books in September. Completing summer reading in June may interfere with remembering details. Hot August days are great days for curling up with a book.

As you know, we will be going to New York City to take part in the Global Citizenship Action Project next October. We will learn about the United Nations, how it works and about the many non-governmental organizations that support the mission of the UN. One of the most interesting experiences we will have is to visit a country’s mission to the United Nations. We will talk to the people who work for the mission and learn about the global issues of importance to that country. In the past few years, we have visited missions of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and Cyprus. 

Your work this summer is to consider the country you would like to know more about. It may be a country you have visited, where you know someone or that you hear about on the news. It may be a country that always fascinated you, is home to your favorite soccer player or is interesting to you for other reasons. Listen to conversations, read the newspapers and watch television. What is going on in the world? What do you want to know more about? 

Once you have come up with a country or two you want to learn more about, you need to do a bit of research. When you return to school in September your job will be to present your country to the other sixth-graders and convince them to vote for that country. We have to request at least three countries because a mission visit isn’t guaranteed. 

It is very important that you complete this work over the summer. We will be meeting the first week of school to share your research and vote on the countries of your choice. Please do not wait until September to do this work. Be ready to visually and orally present your country and the reasons it is a worthwhile place to visit. Most importantly, have fun! 

Visit www.un.org/en/ to choose a country that is a member state.

Learn about the United Nations as well. When and why was it formed?  Who are the founding/permanent members?  What work do they do? How many countries are members of the UN?...etc... 

Please bring in the following information:

• Name of Country
• Capitol
• Three reasons you would like to visit this country’s mission.
• Important facts about this country (List at least three)
• What are the main problems/issues in this country today?

• Graph paper notebook
• Headphones or earbuds
• Spill proof water bottle
• 9x12 spiral bound sketch book

1. Please select two books to read from this book list. If there is a book that you would really like to read that is not on the list, please send Middle School Lead Teacher Mandy Balanetsky an email to discuss your choice! 

2. Complete a project for ONE of the books that you choose to read. Please refer to the project list for options. These projects are due on the first day of school and will be assessed using the attached rubric.

3. For the book that you do not complete a project on, please complete this worksheet. This is also due on the first day of school.

Please contact Mandy with any questions!