Student Name:
Mandatory Summer Reading
Students Entering 6th Grade
1) Read one of the following books and be prepared to complete a project on the book when you return to
school. You will also be required to fill out the attached graphic organizer (Story Map) for the book that
you choose.
Title
Lexile Level
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
The Kidnapped Prince: Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano
890L
840L
The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
Tae's Sonata by Haemi Balgassi
The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
1320L
850L
870L
2) Read a minimum of two Accelerated Reader (AR) books that are within your ZPD range. Record the
title of the books you read here, and have your parent sign and date when you complete the book.
Book Title & ZPD Range
Date
Completed
Parent Signature
Your end-of-year ZPD range is: ___________________
3) Read the article “On Top of the World”. Fill in the Cause and Effect worksheet using information
from the article.
4) Read the article “Learning from the Mt. Everest Disaster”.
5) Fill in the Venn Diagram, comparing the 2 articles (“On Top of the World” and “Learning from the Mt.
Everest Disaster”)
When you return to school, you should give your ELA teacher the AR Reading Log and 3 Graphic Organizers:



Story Map (for the book of your choice)
Cause and Effect (for “On Top of the World”)
Venn Diagram (comparing the 2 articles)
Be prepared to complete a project about the book you chose!
Learning from the Mt. Everest Disaster
May 05, 2014
Nepalese people light candles in memory of the 16 Nepalese Sherpa guides killed in an
avalanche on Mount Everest in Katmandu on April 30, 2014. An unprecedented shutdown of
Mount Everest after the worst ever accident on the world's highest peak has left grieving
Nepalese sherpa guides and their families fearing for their livelihoods. The avalanche on April
18 that tore through a group of sherpas -- who were hauling gear up the mountain for their
foreign clients before dawn -- left 16 people dead and three others seriously wounded.
We never have been seized with a desire to climb Mount Everest. But we can understand the
obsession to push into the thinnest air, to test your courage, skill and endurance, to plant your
feet at the top of the world and boast of accomplishing a feat that most people would not dare.
Many climbers who had hoped to reach Everest's 29,035-foot summit this season are packing up
and returning home before they even attempted the ascent. Major touring companies have
canceled planned ascents, after a recent avalanche killed 16 Sherpa guides in one of the deadliest
days in climbing history.
Nepal government authorities infuriated the Sherpas by offering a piddly $408 in compensation
to the families of those guides who died in the accident. Major touring companies charge as
much as $100,000 to climbers. Some of that money flows to the Nepal government. Angry
Sherpas demanded larger death benefits, and a greater share of those proceeds. Even after the
government sweetened its offer and agreed to some concessions, most of the Sherpas balked.
Rule No. 1 on Everest: No Sherpas, no climbing. The Sherpas are renowned for their mountain
skills. They go first on ascents, hauling food and supplies. They test ice ladders stretched across
crevices. They fix ropes and establish camps. They carve a path through the ice and snow for the
paying customers — climbers from around the world — to follow.
So this climbing season ends with fewer boot prints at the summit. Among those who didn't
make it, The New York Times reported: A teenager with epilepsy who wanted to inspire others.
A 34-year-old British banker who quit his job, sold his apartment and drained his savings to pay
for the trip. And a California builder carrying the ashes of his younger brother.
Some of the disappointed realized a central truth: It's not just about you. "We clients, Western
climbers, are here by choice. We pay to come here and test ourselves," Isaiah Janzen, an
engineer from Iowa, wrote on his blog. "... I would still like to climb this mountain but there are
things at stake more important than my selfish, arrogant, and egotistical summit ambitions."
But Kent Stewart, an American climber, wrote in a blog post: "If I don't ever make it to the top
of Everest, I'm afraid there will always be a hole in my life, and frankly, that worries me."
Obsessions die hard.
There have been many deaths on the mountain since it was first scaled by Sir Edmund Hillary
and Tenzing Norgay, on May 29,1953.
There will be more.
One frustrated climber, Jon Reiter of Kenwood, Calif., had planned to scatter the ashes of his
brother Jesse on the summit. He told The Times that the avalanche — watching rescuers carry
the dead Sherpas off — prompted a question that all climbers grapple with: Is it worth the risk?
Reiter's answer: "I have a great plan. I am going to go home and hug my 12-year-old. I've seen
numerous things in my life, but nothing was ever driven home as to watch those guys on cables
being brought down. ... I have put years of my life into this. But I am going home alive. I think
I'm done with the mountains. I'm going to cherish what I have and count my blessings."
Reiter didn't make it to the summit. But we'd say he still triumphed. The mountain teaches many
lessons, whether climbers reach the top or not.
Name _______________________________________________ Date ______________________
Venn Diagram
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Subject:__________________________
Subject:__________________________
Write details that tell how the subjects are different in the outer circles. Write details that tell
how the subjects are alike where the circles overlap.
Name
Date
Story Map 1
Write notes in each section.
Time:
Characters:
Problem:
Plot/Events:
Resolution:
Place:
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
Setting:
Name _________________________________________
Cause & Effect Graphic Organizer
From the article “On Top of the World”, find 3 examples of cause and effect. All answers should be in
full sentences. For example:
John shared his snack with the
new kid in his class.
1)
2)
3)
John and the new boy,
Jason, became friends.