Hopkinton Middle School Summer Reading Program During their years at Hopkinton Middle School, students are required to read an assigned novel each summer for their English Language Arts course. When students return to school, they are expected to have read the novel and answered the reading guide questions. Teachers will collect the reading guide questions during the first two classes of the school year. Additionally, students will be assessed on the reading with a common summative assessment that will receive a Pass/Fail grade. Grade 5 students entering Grade 6 next school year need to read the fiction/fantasy novel Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. Students can purchase this novel from a local bookstore or borrow from the public library. Answers to reading guide questions can be handwritten or typed in complete sentences. Below are the questions students need to answer as they read. Tuck Everlasting: Reading Guide Questions 1. In the beginning of the story, Winnie wanted to run away. Why do you think she wanted to leave her home? 2. What is the connection between these three events that happened in the “Prologue” of Tuck Everlasting? A) “At dawn, Mae Tuck set out on her horse for the wood at the edge of the village of Treegap. She was going there, as she did once every ten years, to meet her two sons, Miles and Jesse.” B)“At noontime, Winnie Foster, whose family owned the Treegap wood, lost her patience at last and decided to think about running away.” C.)“And at sunset, a stranger appeared at the Foster’s gate. He was looking for someone but he didn’t say who.” 3. What is the setting of the story? Remember: setting includes time and place. 4. What are two lessons that Winnie learns from the Tucks? Give evidence by providing examples from the story. 5. What was the man in the yellow suit’s plan for the Foster’s forest, spring, and Winnie? 6. Do you think the man in the yellow suit was a wise businessman or a villain? Support (explain) your answer by giving examples from the story. 7. What was the Tuck’s secret? 8. What is immortality? 9. At the end of the story, why do you think Winnie chose to give the toad immortality instead of herself? 10. What was the precious item of Mae Tuck’s? 11.Explain one event when Mae was considered a criminal. Do you think she was? 12.Do you think Winnie was right to help Mae escape or was Winnie a criminal for doing so? 13. What did Mae Tuck mean when she exclaimed, “Well, boys, here it is. The worst is happening at last”? Other Suggested Reading Also, please note that if your child is interested in additional reading this summer, Ms. Norby, the school’s library media specialist, has posted a list of engaging middle-­‐level novels along with story descriptions. You can access this list at: https://sites.google.com/a/hopkinton.k12.ma.us/hopkintonmiddleschoollibrary/