Chef Laura and the kitchen staff receive more accolades. Another reason why we eat better than any other school.

Titanium Spork Award from the School Lunch Project

Brave New Lunch : "...the school community fosters trust in the food and open-mindedness not often seen in schools."

SUMMER READING LISTS BY GRADE LEVEL

GRADE 4

MCCPS REQUIRED SUMMER READING 2010

FOR STUDENTS ENTERING 4th GRADE IN THE FALL

We begin our year studying Native Americans.  What can we learn about these first Americans through fiction and nonfiction?  Please have your new fourth grader read one of the following novels prior to the beginning of school.  A reading comprehension activity is available and should be completed before coming to school.  (NOTE: the books are listed in the order of increasing reading levels)

Trail of Tears by Joseph Bruchac, ISBN 0679890521

In 1838, settlers moving west forced the great Cherokee Nation, and their chief John Ross, to leave their home land and travel 1,200 miles to Oklahoma. An epic story of friendship, war, hope, and betrayal.

Eagle Song by Joseph Bruchac, ISBN 0141301694

It's a shock for fourth-grader Danny Bigtree to move to Brooklyn from his Mohawk Nation reservation: suddenly he has no friends, and his classmates taunt him, asking him where his war pony is and telling him to go home to his teepee. After his charismatic father makes a class visit to talk about Iroquois culture, his peers begin to warm up to him.

Pocahontas by George Sullivan, ISBN 0439165857

 Famous for saving the life of Captain John Smith in 1608, Pocahontas grew up as the favorite daughter of the Native American chief of the Powhatans. Pocahontas¹s rescue of Smith made her famous not only in colonial America, but across the ocean in England as well. This is her story.

The Sign of the Beaver  by  Elizabeth George Speare, ISBN 0440479002

Twelve-year old Matt is trying his best to survive on his own until his father returns to their cabin in the Maine wilderness with the rest of the family. Matt develops a deep friendship with a Native American boy. Matt must decide if he should continue waiting for his family or begin a new life with his friend.

Guests by Michael Dorris, ISBN  0786813563

Moss's father extends his hospitality to a group of strangers who speak an entirely different language and who make the boy "uncomfortable with their oddness." When his efforts to convince his parents that the guests should not participate in his people's harvest feast are rebuked, Moss runs away into the nearby forest.

The Birchbark House  by Louise Erdich, ISBN 0786814543

The sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic on Spirit Island, Omakayas, then only a baby girl, was rescued by a fearless woman named Tallow and welcomed into an Ojibwa family on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. We follow Omakayas and her adopted family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847.

Please remind your child to bring the book to school this fall.  Sharing will be a great way to start the year!

SUGGESTED SUMMER READING

Take a look at these great books!

Benton, Jim. Lunch Walks Among Us. Franny K. Stein is a mad scientist who prefers all things spooky and creepy, but when she has trouble making friends at her new school she experiments with fitting in--which works until a monster erupts from the trashcan. The story continues with Attack of the 50 ft. Cupid, Invisible Fran, The Fran that Time Forgot and Frantastic Voyage, Fran with Four Brains.

Catling, Patrick Skene. The Chocolate Touch. Everything John touches turns to chocolate.

Dahl, Roald. The Witches. A young boy and his Norwegian grandmother, who is an expert on witches, together foil a witches' plot to destroy the world's children by turning them into mice.

DiTerlizzi, Tony. The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles) When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda's worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences. Books included in this series are, Seeing Stone, Lucinda’s Secret, The Ironwood Tree and The Wrath of Mulgrath.

McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody Gets Famous! When a third grade classmate gets her picture in the paper for winning a spelling bee, Judy is determined to find a way to become famous herself.

Pennypacker, Sara. Clementine . Features hilarious stories about the irrepressible eight year old Clementine. There are 3 books in this series.

Stewart, Paul. Beyond the Deepwoods. Thirteen-year-old Twig, having always looked and felt different from his wood troll family, learns that he is adopted and travels out of his Deepwoods home to find the place where he belongs. This is the first book in the Edge Chronicles, which continues with Stormchaser, Midnight over Sanctaphrax, etc.

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Secret Identity. (Shredderman 1). Fifth-grader Nolan Byrd, tired of being called names by the class bully, has a secret identity--Shredderman!

Winkler, Henry. Niagra Falls, or Does It? Fourth-graders Hank, Ashley, and Frankie are excitedly preparing for a magic show at the Rock 'N Bowl when Hank's creative alternative to an English essay lands him in detention and grounded the week of the show. Hank Zipzer is a new series that continues with I Got a “D” in Salami, Day of the Iguana, Zippety Zinger, The Night I Flunked My Field Trip, Holy Enchilada, etc.

Sage, Angie.  Araminta Spookie 1:  My Haunted House  Nerdy sixth-grader Simon Bloom finds a book that enables him to control the laws of physics, but when two thugs come after him, he needs the formulas in the book to save himself.

Vogel Frederick, Heather.  Spy Mice:  Goldwhiskers  During a London vacation, Oz Levinson must deal with the bullying Priscilla Winterbottom, while mouse spy Glory Goldenleaf tracks the whereabouts of a valuable jewel, missing orphaned mouselings, and two evil ministers of rats.

James, Charlie.  Billy the Fish  After eating Dad’s experimental fish food, Ned’s little brother turns into a cod and finds himself sharing an aquarium tank with Kylie the killer whale.

Korman, Gordon.  Swindle  After unscrupulous collector S. Wendell Palamino cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into Palomino’s heavily guarded store and steal the card back, planning to use the money to finance his father’s failing invention, the SmartPick fruit picker.

Jonell, Lynne. Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat   When Emmy discovers that she and her formerly loving parents are being drugged by their evil nanny with rodent potions that can change people in frightening ways, she and some new friends must try everything possible to return things to normal.

GRADE 5

MCCPS REQUIRED SUMMER READING 2010

FOR STUDENTS ENTERING 5th GRADE IN THE FALL

As the school year begins, the fifth grade will be thinking about respecting differences and friendship.  This summer, I would like you to read one of the following books.  They all deal with children who are different in some way.  You should borrow the book from the library or buy it used or new.  Please bring your book to school with you on the first day of school.  We will be completing activities in school that will require you to have read one of these books.

Lowry, Lois: Number the Stars: Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life.
Gantos, Jack: Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key: To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.
Funke, Cornelia: The Thief Lord: Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them, two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice, finding shelter with a gang of street children and their leader, the thirteen-year-old "Thief Lord," while also eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany.

Suggested summer reading for students entering 5th grade

Adler, David A. Satchel Paige: Don’t Look Back. Harcourt, 2007. Eventually overcoming racism and the social limitations of the early 1940’s, Satchel Paige enjoyed a career in baseball for over 40 years.

Allen, Thomas B. George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War. National Geographic, 2004. This illustrated biography of the Revolutionary War general and first President of the United States, George Washington, focuses on his use of spies to gather the intelligence that helped the colonies win the war.

Asch, Frank. Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius. Kids Can Press, 2006. Alex plans to leave planet Earth and his annoying little brother in Star Jumper– the spaceship he designed and built entirely of cardboard, duct tape, and old items from the basement.

Aston, Dianna. A Seed is Sleepy. Chronicle Books, 2007. Beautifully illustrated, this book includes an intriguing array of seed and plant facts.

Avi. Never Mind! : A Twin Novel. HarperCollins, 2004. Twelve-year-old New York City twins Meg and Edward have nothing in common, so they are just as shocked as everyone else when Meg’s hopes for popularity and Edward’s mischievous schemes coincidentally collide in a hilarious showdown.

Babbitt, Natalie. Jack Plank Tells Tales. Michael di Capua Books, 2007. Because he is too nice to be a pirate, Jack Plank looks for a new career, but each night he tells tales of why the one job he looked into that day is wrong.

Barshaw, Ruth. Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel. Bloomsbury, 2007. Armed only with humor, a pen and a sketchbook, eleven-year-old Ellie McDoodle chronicles her adventures and mishaps while camping with her cousins, aunt and uncle.

Bauer, Marion Dane. Secret of the Painted House. Random House, 2007. When her family moves from Chicago to the country, nine-year-old Emily is drawn to a mysterious playhouse she finds in the woods, and she soon meets its sad, lonely inhabitant.

Boniface, William. The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy: the Hero Revealed. HarperCollins, 2006. Ordinary Boy is the only person in Superopolis that doesn’t have superpower, which definitely means trouble when he finds himself in the clutches of arch villain Professor Brain-Drain.

Byrd, Robert. The Hero and the Minotaur. Dutton, 2005. This re-telling follows the Greek hero Theseus as he overcomes challenges on the road, defeats the Minotaur, and becomes the wise and just ruler of Athens.

Carman, Patrick. Atherton. Little Brown, 2007. Edgar, a natural climber, discovers a mysterious book and goes on a fast-paced adventure to discover what is happening to Atherton, a man-made multi-level world orbiting earth.

Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts. Putnam, 2004. A twelve-year old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935, when guards’ families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister. Newbery Honor.

Clements, Andrew. No Talking. Simon & Schuster, 2007. The noisy fifth grade class of Laketon Elementary becomes suspiciously quiet when the boys challenge the girls to a “no talking” contest.

Clements, Andrews. Dogku. Simon & Schuster, 2007. Haiku is used to tell the story about a dog named Mooch who rides in a car, barks at the neighbors, and chews on dirty socks.

Davies, Nicola. Extreme Animals: the Toughest Creatures on Earth. Candlewick, 2006. This amazing natural history book reveals how animals adapt to and survive the harshest of conditions that would kill any human.

Frederick, Heather Vogel. For Your Paws Only. Simon & Schuster, 2005. In this “James Bond”-styled story, mice and humans save the world from rats.

Gutman, Dan. The Homework Machine. Simon & Schuster, 2006. When three classmates of fifth grade computer geek, Brandon, find out that he has invented a machine that does homework in his own handwriting, they all use it secretly with disastrous consequences.

Hansen, Rosanna. Caring for Cheetahs: My African Adventure. Boyds Mill, 2007. Pounce into this colorful photo essay about protecting endangered cheetahs at a nature reserve owned by the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa.

Haven, Paul. Two Hot Dogs with Everything. Random, 2006. Although everyone credits him and his superstitions for the Sluggers’ first winning streak in 108 baseball seasons, eleven-year-old Danny Gurkin believes his discovery of a secret from the team’s past is the real reason for the team’s success.

Hobbs, Valerie. Sheep. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006. A young border collie is sold when his sheep-ranching family falls on hard times, leading him to a series of new owners, new names, and a mixed-bag of new adventures.

Horvath, Polly. The Pepins and Their Problems. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2004. The reader is invited to help solve the Pepin family’s unusual problems, which include having a cow that creates lemonade rather than milk and having to cope with a competitive neighbor.

Ibbotson, Eva. Haunting of Granite Falls. Penguin, 2005. When twelve-year old Alex's Scottish castle of Carra is sold, dismantled, and moved to Texas, the ghosts that raised him from a child have difficulty relocating.

Jackson, Donna. M. ER Vets: Life in an Animal Emergency Room. Houghton Mifflin, 2005. This book discusses the life in an animal ER hospital, from the point of view of the veterinarians, the vet technicians, the owners, and their pets.

Koppes, Steven N. Killer Rocks from Outer Space: Asteroids, Comets, and Meteorites. Lerner, 2004. Describes the role that collisions with meteors, comets, and asteroids have played in the history of Earth and other planets in the solar system and examines what is being done to protect Earth from future collisions.

Kraske, Robert. Marooned: The Strange but True Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the Real Robinson Crusoe. Clarion, 2005. Presents the story of Scottish mariner Alexander Selkirk and his experiences while marooned on a South Pacific island for four years.

Levine, Ellen. Henry’s Freedom Box. Scholastic, 2007. This is a fictionalized account of how in 1849, a Virginia slave, Henry “Box” Brown escapes to freedom by shipping himself in a wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia.

Lubar, David. Punished! Darby Creek, 2006. Because he was playing tag in the reference section of the library, Logan is punished by Professor Wordsworth, who puts a spell on him that is broken only by finding anagrams, palindromes, and oxymorons.

Morgan, Clay. The Boy Who Spoke Dog. Penguin, 2005. After being marooned on an island near New Zealand, Jack, an orphaned cabin boy from San Francisco, becomes allied with a group of dogs that protect the local sheep from wild dogs.

Napoli, Donna Jo. The King of Mulberry Street. Wendy Lamb, 2005. When nine- year-old Beniamino, a Jewish boy from Naples, is smuggled onto a ship, he assumes his mother is also on the ship. When he ends up alone in New York, he has to deal with his fear and sadness on the one hand and figure out how to get food and shelter on the other as he makes his way in the New World

Osborne, Mary Pope. Pompeii Lost & Found. Knopf, 2006. This fresco-illustrated book answers questions about the effect of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on the people of Pompeii and their life before the disaster.

Park, Linda Sue. Archer’s Quest. Clarion, 2006. Twelve-year-old Kevin Kim helps Chu-mong, a legendary king of ancient Korea, return to his own time.

Perry, Andrea. The Snack Smasher and Other Reasons Why It’s Not My Fault. Atheneum, 2007. Sneaky villains cause life’s little annoyances in this collection of poems.

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. Hyperion, 2005. Percy, expelled from six schools for being unable to control his temper, learns the truth from his mother that his father is literally a Greek god. Percy is sent to Camp Half blood where he is befriended by a satyr and begins a journey to retrieve Zeus’ lightning bolt. First of a series.

Roberts, Willo Davis. Hostage. Simon & Schuster, 2001. When eleven-year-old Kaci interrupts burglars in the process of robbing her house, she and her nosy elderly neighbor Mrs. Banducci are kidnapped and held hostage by the desperate and ruthless criminals.

Rosen, Michael J. Balls! Darby Creek, 2006. This illustrated book includes history, science, records, and some well-rounded trivia about some of your favorite sports balls.

Selznick, Brian. The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Scholastic, 2007. Hugo Cabret, a clever mechanically-minded orphan living in Paris in the 1930’s, has fascinating secrets and amazing adventures in the train station where he lives. Sequences of text and drawings combine to tell this suspenseful tale. Caldecott Medal 2008.

Scieszka, Jon. Oh Say, I Can't See. Penguin, 2005. Samantha, Joe, and Fred time warp to Revolutionary War days where they must convince George Washington and his men to cross the Delaware. Series

St. John, Lauren. The White Giraffe. Dial, 2007. After losing her parents in a tragic fire, eleven-year-old Martine must live with a grandmother she has never met on a wildlife preserve in Africa, where she learns about a mystical white giraffe.

Wiles, Deborah. Each Little Bird that Sings. Harcourt, 2005. Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so, the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events triggered by the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.

GRADE 6

FOR STUDENTS ENTERING GRADE 6 IN THE FALL:

Please have your new 6th grader choose 1 of the suggested summer reading novels prior to the beginning of the year.

Lupica, M.  The Big Field
Dowd, S. The London Eye Mystery
Ryan, P.M. Paint The Wind
Klages, E.  The Green Glass Sea
Meehl, B. Out Of Patience
Reisman, M. Simon Bloom: The Gravity Keeper
Frank, A.  Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
Bartoleti, Susan. The Boy Who Dared
Myers, Walter D. Monster
Myers, Walter D. Fallen Angels
Avi, Murder at Midnight
Avi, Midnight Magic
Westerfield, Scott. Uglies, Pretties, Extras, Specials (This is a series)
Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer

GRADE 7

REQUIRED SUMMER READING:

FOR STUDENTS ENTERING 7th GRADE IN THE FALL

Alice in Wonderland tickets are now on sale!

Purchse your tickets on the website, through Ms. Smith, or at the door.

$5 for students and $8 for adults

Performances are Friday June 18th at 6:30pm and

Saturday June 19th at 2:00pm.

Also, cast members need to remember that dress rehearsals are June14th-17th from 3:30-5:00pm and the cast party is Saturday, after the performance!