6th Grade Summer Book Report Format

We encourage you to read many good books this summer. Enclosed are three different lists of suggested books to read. You need to write two book reports in the form of reading response journal writing. These two book reports are due on the first day of sixth grade. The reports will be your first two language arts grades for the first quarter of sixth grade. Carefully read through the expectations for the reports. Your book report grades will be based on meeting all these expectations. Before beginning your response, write a summary (or retell) paragraph of the book, including main characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Independent Reading Response

Use the middle school heading (same as fifth grade)
Title your response: First Impression, Character Sketch, Connection, Question, Image, Conflict, or Interest
Include the title of your book (underlined) somewhere in your response.
Use printing, cursive or typing that is legible to all readers.
Spend at least 30 minutes planning writing and proofreading your response (more than one draft is encouraged, but hand in the final draft only.)
Write at least a full page response after the summary.

First Impression: Do you like how the book began? Explain why or why not. Did you get "hooked" right away? Explain why or why not. What prediction(s) can you make about events, characters, or ideas that might be part of the rest of the book? What text evidence do your have for your prediction(s)? Use specific examples or quotations from the book to support your thinking.

Character Sketch: Choose one important character from your book. What does that character do or say in the book that reveals what kind of person he or she is? Focus on character traits rather than on physical appearance. Support your thinking with examples or quotations from the book. Do you like that character? Tell why or why not.

Connection: Explain how a passage in your book triggered either a text-to-self connection, a text-to-text connection, or a text-to-world connection. Be sure to fully explain your connection so readers will understand how you made it. Also explain how this connection helped you better understand or appreciate the book.

Question: All questions are good because you are showing your thinking, but concentrate on asking thick questions (questions that lend themselves to deeper thinking and stimulate good discussion). Choose a question you had as you were reading and explain your thinking. Use text evidence to support your thinking.

Image: Find a passage (a few sentences or a paragraph) in your book that really enabled you to see, hear, smell, taste or feel something. Quote the passage. Copy carefully and use quotation marks. Explain how the passage fit into the book as a whole. Then tell exactly how you imagined the scene in your own mind. How did this help you better understand or appreciate your reading?

Conflict: Choose a book you have already finished. State what kind of conflict is central in your book (Man vs Man, Man vs Nature, Man vs Himself, Man vs Society, or Man vs Technology). Support your choice by explaining the exact nature of the conflict as it occurs in your book. Then tell how the conflict is resolved.

What if I'm Reading Non-Fiction?

If you are writing about non-fiction, one of these types of entries may work for you: First Impression or Connection

If you are reading a biography, autobiography or diary, you could write: Character Sketch

Here is another option:

Interest Entry: Explain how you chose this non-fiction subject. Is it an area of personal interest? Briefly tell what you already knew about the subject before you started reading. What interesting, surprising, or important information did you learn as you read?