Dear Reader,

Welcome to the 6th grade! Believe it or not, you are almost halfway through your school years. You have been a reader for a very long time. Have you ever thought about that? As babies, your parents may have read to you. You may have flipped through picture books and invented your own stories. As an elementary school student, you learned how to read, and embarked on a journey as an independent reader.

Your first assignment as a 6th grader is to think back on your life as a reader and create a time line that marks major miles stones in your reading life so far. Do you remember reading favorite books over and over again? Do you remember the first books you read on your own? Did you have a favorite book that you wanted to share with the world? Maybe you even have a few books that you disliked, and will never forget that.

You will then create a notebook entry in your ELA notebook that displays some of your most important reading memories.  This can be done through writing, creating a collage or time line as a way to display all of those big reading moments. You may include several of your favorite books over the years.  The final entry on this time line will be one of the books you read over the summer. The final notebook work that you will turn in, will include the following:

-A visual “timeline” (created in a way that you feel is unique, creative, and captures you as a life long reader. This can be on paper, a small poster, or using the computer or other media resources)
-Timeline must have at least 3-5 reading related events on it. (See class examples)
-Complete sentences that describe each event.
-Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Think about all of those moments you have had as a reader….the good, the not so good, the moments where you were whisked away from reality into another world, the moments where you learned how to do something, or even the moments where you discovered something amazing about the world of reading.

Good luck! I cannot wait to see your life as a reader so far and I am so excited to continue your life long reading journey with you!

Check out some of these ideas, along with the examples shown in class:

Love,

The 6th grade ELA teachers