Rising 4th grade summer learning
Summer reading is an important part of the curriculum at Athens Academy. Students will be responsible for the contents of the required readings when school convenes in August. Students should also select two books to read from the Choice List. Finally, for math practice over the summer, please click the icon for the DreamBox login. Parents, please print and sign the signature form at the bottom of this page, and your student will turn it in the first week of school.
Required Math Program:
Practicing 3-4 lessons a week consistently every week of the summer (30-40 lessons total) will help ensure that skills are reinforced to prepare for a smooth transition back to school in August. If your child wants to do more (because the program is fun!), all the better.
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This summer Athens Academy students will continue to use DreamBox, a rigorous, adaptive, and engaging online math program to help students reinforce their math proficiency over the summer months and smoothly transition back to school in August. Please know that we have spent time working with DreamBox in an effort to make this year’s summer learning even better. We were able to work with DreamBox and your child’s teacher to best identify an initial student placement for their summer work this year. This year, the $15 payment for DreamBox will be processed automatically through students' Smart Tuition accounts. |
Required Books:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
by Kate DiCamillo |
Landry News
by Andrew Clements |
Choice Books (choose two):
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Humor
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume (or any of her books) Peter finds his demanding two-year-old brother an ever increasing problem. The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies Evan and his younger sister, Jesse, react very differently to the news that they will be in the same class for fourth grade and as the end of summer approaches, they battle it out through lemonade stands, each trying to be the first to earn 100 dollars. Swindle series by Gordon Korman After a collector cons him out of a valuable baseball card, sixth-grader Griffin Bing puts together a band of misfits to break into a heavily guarded store and steal the card back. I Funny series by Robert Patterson Jamie Grimm is a middle schooler on a mission: he wants to become the world's greatest standup comedian, even if he doesn't have a lot to laugh about these days. War with Grandpa by Robert Kimmel Smith Upset that he has to give up the room he loves to his grandfather, Pete decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back. Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli Suds is not sure he wants to be like his friend, Joey, because Joey is mean, a troublemaker, but Joey is also popular and Suds does want to be popular. Pie by Sarah Weeks Alice's Aunt Polly passes away and entrusts the recipe for her world-famous pie crust to her cat, which she leaves in Alice's care, and as everyone, including Alice, tries to discover the secret ingredients, Alice learns some important lessons about faith, love, and family. Fiction Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall The four Penderwick sisters are faced with the unimaginable prospect of their widowed father dating, and they hatch a plot to stop him. Runt by Marion Bauer From the very start, Runt struggles in the harsh world of the wolves and tries to learn along with his brothers and sisters but he makes serious mistakes. If only Runt could prove himself to his family and his powerful father. Gaby, Lost and Found by Angela Cervantes Gaby is a volunteer at the local animal shelter. A story about adoption, abandonment, immigration and deportation wrapped in a warm-hearted tale. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (or any other book by Henry) Two youngsters' determination to own a Chincoteague pony is greatly increased when the Phantom and her colt are among those rounded up for the yearly auction. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents' divorce. Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar Two middle-grade kids take a shortcut home from school and discover what looks like fuzzy mud but is actually a substance with the potential to wreak havoc on the entire world. OR Holes Stanley Yelnats is sent to a terrible correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself. Non Fiction Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly by Gail Carson Levine Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine shares her secrets of making magic with your writing. Favorite Norse Myths by Mary Pope Osborne From the creation of the universe, to its heroic battles for order, the fourteen intriguing myths in this collection come together to tell one powerful story. One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest by Jean Craighead George The future of the rainforest and the Macaw depends on a scientist and a young Venezuelan Indian boy, as they search for a nameless butterfly during one day in the rainforest. The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney After her tribal village is attacked by militants, Amira, a young Sudanese girl, must flee to safety at a refugee camp, where she finds hope and the chance to pursue an education in the form of a single red pencil and the friendship and encouragement of a wise elder. |
Sports
Any sports books by Matt Christopher Comeback Kid series by Mike Lupcia (or others by Lupica) Series featuring young protagonists dealing with challenging situations, both in and out of the sports they play. Honus and Me by Dan Gutman Joey, who loves baseball but is not very good at it, finds a valuable 1909 Honus Wagner card and travels back in time to meet Honus. Historical Fiction The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley A young disabled girl and her brother are evacuated from London to the English countryside during World War II, where they find life to be much sweeter away from their abusive mother. Misadventures of Maude March by Audrey Couloumbis Eleven-year-old Sallie March is a whip-smart tomboy and voracious reader of Western adventure novels. When she and her sister Maude escape their self-serving guardians for the wilds of the frontier, they begin an adventure the likes of which Sallie has only read about. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama. A Boy at War series by Harry Mazer While fishing with his friends off Honolulu on December 7, 1941, teenaged Adam is caught in the midst of the Japanese attack and through the chaos of the subsequent days tries to find his father, a naval officer who was serving on the U.S.S. Arizona when the bombs fell. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan This is the story of the Norwegian children who helped their country during World War ll by sneaking the country's gold bullion passed the enemy to a place of safety, so it could be kept out of the hands of the Nazis. Fantasy Lightning Thief / Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction — Zeus’ master bolt. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate A story about a homeless boy and his imaginary friend that proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary. Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin Before their father disappeared into the woods and their mother disappeared into sorrow, Snow White and Rose Red had the perfect life. This is the story of two sisters and the enchanted woods that have been waiting for them to break a set of terrible spells. Pax by Sara Pennypacker After being forced to give up his pet fox Pax, a young boy named Peter decides to leave home and get his best friend back. The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm Ellie's scientist grandfather has discovered a way to reverse aging, and consequently has turned into a teenager--which makes for complicated relationships when he moves in with Ellie and her mother, his daughter. George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl George decides that his grumpy, selfish old grandmother must be a witch and concocts some marvelous medicine to take care of her. |