Sixth graders win the Summer Reading contest
For the second straight year, sixth graders were awarded paletas for successfully passing their Summer reading title at a higher rate than seventh and eighth graders.
The sixth-grade students won the Summer Reading contest by having 319 students out of 408 pass the James and The Giant Peach. Second place was seventh grade by having 297 out 408 passing Tale of Despereaux. Eighth grade placed third by having 224 out of 386 having passed The Girl Who Drank the Moon.
“I hope the Summer Reading program shows students that they can be successful by starting the year off right,” said Language Arts Teacher Mr. Gregory Celestino.
This was the third year of the Summer reading program at MacArthur. The sixth-grade students have had the most success over the two other grades for the second straight year.
Seventh-grader Sidney Martinez said, “I think the book was lower than our grade level because it was really easy.” The Tale of Despereaux is a 32,375-word book, and it takes place in the middle ages. The Tale of Despereaux is a fantasy book about a mouse trying to save a princess from a servant girl and a rat.
The prize for the Summer Reading Contest was popsicles that were six different flavors, including lime, watermelon, coconut, and mango. The sixth graders received tickets in their language arts classes. The popsicles were given out on September 13 in the PAR at lunch. The winners were the sixth graders for the second straight year.
The Summer reading books are handed out to the students at the end of the previous school year. The fifth graders who will become sixth graders at MacArthur had their books handed out to them near the end of fifth grade at the elementary schools. The continuing seventh and eighth graders received them at MacArthur in their language arts classes.
The eighth graders received third place once again for the reading contest. The eighth graders got 224 out of 386 to pass to the book The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Eighth-grader Brandy Figueroa said, “It was a really good book, it was entertaining and it had a really good plot.”
If sixth graders achieve 500,000, seventh graders achieve 800,000 words and eighth graders achieve 1.5 million, they will get their All-star sheet signed for having hit their annual goal. All million-word readers receive a medal at the end-of-the-year assembly, and any student who reads two million or more attend a field trip in May.