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American Academy

Lincoln Meadows - Reading

Summer 2023: Assignments are listed by grade (K-8).

 

 

Kindergarten

  • Practice letter recognition (letter names) A-Z by utilizing ABC/Alphabet books.
  • Recommended books
    Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault,
    Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
  • What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know, E.D. Hirsch 


Note to Kindergarten Parents: When you begin reading this summer, start with the Language and Literature section of What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know. Throughout the school year you may want to read selections from the History/Geography section of What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know. The information in that section will help students prepare for first grade.


 

 Grade 1

  • What Your First Grader Needs to Know, E.D. Hirsch
  • Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, Joann Deak 

Note to incoming first grade parents: Please choose 1-2 of the following books to read to your child this summer. These books are great to introduce a Growth Mindset. We will build on these concepts throughout the school year.

  • Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg
  • The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
  • Ish by Peter H. Reynolds
  • The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken
  • What Do You Do with an Idea? By Kobi Yamada
  • What Do You Do with a Problem? By Kobi Yamada
  • What Do You Do with a Chance? By Kobi Yamada
  • Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak
  • The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein

 


 

 

Grade 2

Parents of incoming second graders should pick one or two of the following Tall Tales to read with your child:

  • Paul Bunyan, Steven Kellogg
  • Pecos Bill, Steven Kellogg
  • Johnny Appleseed, Steven Kellogg
  • John Henry, Julius Lester


AND

Pick one (or more) of the following Magic Treehouse books, by Mary Pope Osbourne, to read:

  • #16: Hour of the Olympics
  • #21: Civil War on Sunday
  • #47: Abe Lincoln at Last!
  • #10: Ghost Town at Sundown
  • #14: Day of the Dragon King
  • #37: Dragon of the Red Dawn
  • #5: Night of the Ninja
  • #23: Twister on Tuesday
  • #18: Buffalo Before Breakfast


AND

Start enjoying our amazing second grade curriculum in this book:

  • What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know, E.D. Hirsch

 


 


Grade 3

REQUIRED:

  • Who Was Isaac Newton, Janet Pascal and Tim Foley

AND 

One of the following informative-narratives about Pompeii:

  • Vacation Under the Volcano, Mary Pope Osborne
  • I Survived: The Destruction of Pompeii, Lauren Tarshis

Additional recommended reading to help build student background knowledge:

  • Third Grade Angels, Jerry Spinelli
  • Falling Up, Shel Silverstein
  • The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • Magic School Bus Science Chapter Books, Various authors
  • Any non-fiction books about animals/plants, weather/climate, magnetism, and/or geography
  • Any non-fiction books about Ancient Rome, Vikings, the Thirteen Colonies, and/or European explorers

 


 

 

Grade 4 

REQUIRED:

-Fictional Book- Required for everyone- Frindle by Andrew Clements

**Students will be completing an activity in literacy on this novel.

 

-Historical Fiction- Pick One Historical Fiction

  • The Middle Ages: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: Historical Eras) by Allison Lassieur
  • I Survived American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

**Students will be completing an activity in history to reflect on their selected historical fiction novel.

 


 

 

Grade 5

Incoming fifth graders must read a minimum of two books this summer. Students will do a book report/project on one of the REQUIRED books they read during the first trimester of school.  

REQUIRED:

  • The City of Ember, Jeanne DuPrau


OR

  • Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis


AND

CHOOSE ONE: Please choose one of the following books to enjoy this summer:

  • Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O’Dell
  • In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Caroline Nakajima
  • My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
  • Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret, Trudi Trueit

 

 


 

Grade 6

BOOK: Wonder, Raquel J. Palacio
READING PROJECT: Download and complete the grade 6 questions for Wonder. The grade 6 questions will help prepare students for the Socratic Seminars at the beginning of the school year.
Download the grade 6 Socratic Seminar Rubric
Questions: Email Ms. Neil 


 

Grade 7

BOOK: The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton
READING PROJECT: Download and complete the grade 7 questions for The Outsiders. The grade 7 questions will help prepare students for the Socratic Seminars at the beginning of the school year.
Download the grade 7 Socratic Seminar Rubric
Questions: Email Ms. Ferradino


 

Grade 8

BOOK: The Giver, Lois Lowry
READING PROJECT: Download and complete the grade 8 questions for The Giver. The grade 8 questions will help prepare students for the Socratic Seminars at the beginning of the school year.
Download the grade 8 Socratic Seminar Rubric
Questions: Email Ms. Benz