Dear Incoming Sixth-grade Class,
This summer, one of the books that you will be reading is The Wednesday Wars, by Gary D.
Schmidt. This book is an award-winning tale of a teenage boy growing up in the 1960s who tries
to stay as far away from trouble as possible, trouble which just seems to have a knack for finding
him.
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Step 1: Tracking Conflicts
A conflict is a struggle between two or more opposing forces. Conflicts can be both internal and
external. Use this list as a guide:
Internal Conflict
person vs. self
External Conflicts
person vs. person
person vs. nature
person vs. society
There are many conflicts, both internal and external, that occur throughout the story. While you
are reading, keep track of each conflict that you come across by recording the conflict on a postit note and placing it directly in the text. On the post-it note, write the type of conflict (person
vs…) and the quote that illustrates that conflict in action.
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Step 2: Analyzing Conflict and Resolution
Choose one of the main external conflicts in the book.
Describe the conflict in detail, and
explain how the conflict is resolved. Your answer should be at least two paragraphs.
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Bring your book (with the completed post-it notes) with you on the first day of school. Please be
prepared to share what you wrote. We will discuss your findings in detail, together as a class. I
will be pairing a writing assignment with the book to follow our discussion.
Finally, you must also read at least two other recommended books from the suggested summer
reading list. Be prepared to discuss these as well.
Enjoy your summer reading!
-Mr. Prince
Please follow the guidelines below for your 6th-grade summer reading:
Required text:
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The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Please also read two other texts of your choice from the provided list.
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Airborn
Almost Astronauts
Bacon Street Girls
Cosmic
D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myth
Gossamer
Heir Apparent
Joan of Arc
King Arthur – His Knights and Their Ladies
Peace, Locomotion
Sparrows in the Scullery
The Boy Who Saved Baseball
The Death-Defying Pepper Roux
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
The Glory Girl
The Trumpeter of Krakow
Touch Blue
The Iliad and The Oddessy by Homer (translated for students/children)
The Making of a Knight
The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt
The Sixty-Eight Rooms
Thunder Cave
Turnabout
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Written in Bone
Invisible Inkling – Emily Jenkins
Drizzle – Kathleen Van Cleve
Whole Nother Story – Dr. Cuthbert Soup
Magic Half – Annie Barrows
Swindle – Gordon Korman
Everything on a Waffle – Polly Horvath
Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman – Ben H. Winters
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11 Birthdays – Wendy Mass
Max Cassidy, Escape from Shadow Island – Paul Adam
Dragon Slippers – Jessica Day George
Baseball Great – Tim Green
Dark Life – Kat Falls