Read Across America
Parents and Students,
Since reading is essential for your child’s academic growth, our class will be participating in a Read Across America Incentive Program. Sixth graders should be continually exposed to various types of reading materials and this program will allow students to read from a variety of sources. Therefore, the goals of our journey are to read various types of reading materials or genres as we read through the states. All students who read through all 50 states will receive a celebration at the end of the year.
Attached is a list of all of the reading requirements for each state. Your child may choose any state of reading interest and begin there. The students bring home a Read Across America slip each week. They are to fill out the slip, complete the requirements for a state of their choice and get a parent signature. Once the slip is retuned with the attached requirement for that state, they will check off that state in their Read Across America folder.
Reading slips will be kept in the student’s Read Across America folder in the classroom. At the end of each quarter, students will receive one reading grade for Read Across America.
10+ states=A
9 states=B
8 states=C
7 states=D
6 states & below=F
Keep in mind that students who want to complete the reading incentive program will have to read above and beyond the normal requirements. For example, students should read through more than 12 states every quarter to total 50 states by the end of the school year. Participating in the Read Across America program will be fun for your child, as well as educational.
Happy reading,
6th Grade Reading Teachers
Rogich Middle School
Revised 2012
1. Alabama: Read a fiction book of your choice for 60 minutes. Choose a character and think about the ways you relate to that character in the book. Using the beginning prompt, “This character is like me because….” Complete the prompt with a paragraph relating the book character to you. Use text evidence to support your idea.
2. Alaska: Read a fable of your choice. Identify the protagonist and antagonist. Describe the moral or lesson of the story.
3. Arizona: Read a mystery book. Draw a picture illustrating the main idea, and explain what the mystery is.
4. Arkansas: Read a book about animals. List 10 interesting facts you learned.
5. California: Read a historical fiction book. Identify from whose point of view are the events in the story described? How might the story be different if it were told through the eyes of a different character?
6. Colorado: Read 60 minutes of poetry. Share a favorite poem with the class. Be sure to practice reading the poem to family or friends before presenting to the class.
7. Connecticut: Read a realistic fiction book. Pretend you are the illustrator and redesign the cover of the book. Keep the main idea in mind while illustrating.
8. Delaware: Read a biography. List at least 10 facts you learned, and explain why you chose this person.
9. Florida: Read 60 minutes of informational text. Write a paragraph telling about the most interesting things you learned.
10. Georgia: Pick a topic of your choice and using an encyclopedia, list five interesting things you learned about your topic. Be sure to include the encyclopedia name and volume number.
11. Hawaii: Read a book about a reptile. List 5 interesting facts you learned about the reptile you chose. Draw a picture showing the physical features of the reptile.
12. Idaho: Read 60 minutes of a book of your choice. Make a puppet out of a paper bag or other materials. The puppet must be one of the main characters of the book. Write a short paragraph describing the character and place it on the back of the puppet.
13. Illinois: Read a poem. Listen to the same poem. Compare and contrast the similarities and differences of what you read vs. what you heard.
14. Indiana: Read about a national landmark. Write a paragraph describing it and include a picture.
15. Iowa : Read an article in the newspaper. Cut it out, and write a short summary about the article. After the summary, give your opinion of the article. Present it to the class.
16. Kansas: Read 60 minutes of fiction. Draw a picture illustrating a setting from your reading. Give your illustration a title.
17. Kentucky: Read about a famous athlete. Give the athletes name, sport played, and list 8-10 interesting facts you learned about the athlete.
18. Louisiana: Read through the atlas and find ten small towns in ten different states. List the town and which state it is located.
19. Maine: Read a comic section of the newspaper. Choose a comic and cut it out. Pretend you are the author and using three more windows, continue the comic strip making up what you think should come next. Depending on the comic, you may need to leave off the existing ending window in order to finish your own.
20. Maryland: Read 60 minutes in a fiction book. Draw a Venn diagram comparing the main character to you.
21. Massachusetts: Look through the atlas and find ten rivers or lakes and write their names and where they are located.
22. Michigan: Read about a career of your choice. Write at least one paragraph telling about this career and why you chose it.
23. Minnesota: Read a book of your choice and make up a 10-question test. Be sure to include the answers on the back or on another piece of paper.
24. Mississippi: Read about your favorite hobby or a hobby you would like to know more about. Write a paragraph about what you learned.
25. Missouri: Read a magazine from cover to cover. List the magazine and who the publisher is, and write a paragraph about what you learned from reading the magazine.
26. Montana: Free choice 60 minutes. Illustrate a bookmark about what you read.
27. Nebraska: Read a cookbook. Find a recipe and make it. Write down the recipe; write about your experience, how it turned out, and how your family liked it.
28. Nevada: Look up and read a historical American document online. Write down the website address where the document was found. Read the document and write a brief response to the document.
29. New Hampshire: Read for 60 minutes a book of your choice. Write a letter to a friend telling them why you would recommend this book to them. Remember to use the friendly letter format.
30. New Jersey: Read a fairy tale. Make a crossword puzzle relating to the fairy tale.
31. New Mexico: Read a comic book. List all the main characters and the main idea of the storyline.
32. New York: Read about the World Trade Center. Write down ten interesting facts you learned.
33. North Carolina: Read a legend. Draw a picture to represent the story. Give the picture a title and include a caption describing the picture.
34. North Dakota: Read about anyone of the 44 presidents. Write at least one paragraph stating the president’s name and interesting key information you discovered.
35. Ohio: Read about a famous scientist. Write at least one paragraph stating the interesting information you found and include a statement about why the person is famous. What accomplishments did they achieve?
36. Oklahoma: Read 60 minutes of poetry. Write a paragraph telling about one of your favorite poems and why you liked it.
37. Oregon: Read a riddle book. Write down your favorite 5 riddles and tell them to the class.
38. Pennsylvania: Read from a children’s nature magazine. Write a summary paragraph describing an interesting article you read.
39. Rhode Island: Read a non-fiction book. Make a word search using the facts from the book.
40. South Carolina: Read a historical event. Design a timeline or sequence map that includes the events that occurred. The timeline or map must include (5) events.
41. South Dakota: Read 2 picture books by the same author. Write at least 2 paragraphs comparing and contrasting the books.
42. Tennessee: Read for 60 minutes a book of your choice. Design a plot chart showing how the story unfolds. Label each part: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
43. Texas: Read a Dr. Seuss book of your choice. Write a paragraph describing the theme, a lesson about life. Use examples from the book to support your answer.
44. Utah: Read about a place you have always wanted to visit and never have. Create a travel brochure and include interesting facts/details or sites about your chosen location.
45. Vermont: Read for 60 minutes in a fiction book of your choice. Draw a picture of the main character and include (5) character traits (adjectives) that describe the character’s personality. Include an example from the story to support each trait.
46. Virginia: Read a tall tale. Write a summary explaining the tale and how it could not be true.
47. Washington: Read about a famous person of your choice. Pretend you are a talk show host and write an interview for this person and provide responses, as your person of choice would answer.
48. West Virginia: Pick one volume of an encyclopedia and scan it for interest. List five interesting things you learned from your reading.
49. Wisconsin: Read through the dictionary and find ten words you do not know. Write a brief definition and create you own interesting sentence for each word.
50. Wyoming: Choose a picture book of your choice. Imagine you are a character from the book and write (4) diary entries about your experiences. Describe what has happened to you. What are your feelings?