Middle School Summer Reading (2024): Rising 6th Grade

Book 1: Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson and Kwame Alexander
 

Part 1: Annotate (mark up) the text.
As you read the required summer reading book Becoming Muhammad Ali, your humanities teachers would like you to engage with the story by annotating and responding to it. While reading, put a square around new characters, underline new settings, and circle strong or new vocabulary words. Put a star next to strong quotes and plot events that stand out to you about Cassius’ experience.

Note: no writing is required for Part 1; just active reading with a pen.

Part 2: Respond to Becoming Muhammad Ali in writing. After you read Becoming Muhammad Ali, respond to the following questions:

1. Summarizing the Text
List the 8-10 most important events (plot points) throughout Becoming Muhammad Ali. Make sure your list of events is in chronological order. Note: Your list does NOT need to be in complete sentences.

2. Connecting: Who was Muhammad Ali?
Research Ali's life and write a short biography. Your biography should be a 5-8 sentence paragraph written in your own words.

3. Opinion Writing
What do you think? Was it right to give Cassius an alternative assignment so he could graduate from high school? Should more students be allowed to have alternative assignments if they have handicaps or challenges with school? Compose your response in one paragraph of 5-8 sentences.

Book 2: When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

Read When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller. After you read, answer the following prompts (copy and paste the prompt into your document) using one to three sentences.

Good readers make connections.

1. A connection between the book and myself is ...
2. A connection between this book and something else I’ve read is ...
3. A connection between this book and the world (a historical or current event) is ...

Good readers ask questions.

1. Why? (What questions do you have after reading When You Trap a Tiger?)
2. I wonder? (What do you wonder now that you have read When You Trap a Tiger?)

Good readers visualize the text.

1. Pick an important scene from the book and draw it on the back of your paper. Write the page number from your setting on your picture and two to four sentences about your scene. Please take a photo of your work and include it in your email.

Choose as many independent reading books as you like this summer!

Print the prepared sheet below to keep track of the choice books you read this summer.