6th Grade Extension Texts

Module 1: Hero's Journey

Grade 6-8 Texts (Lexile 925-1185)

  • The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman
  • The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey, Rosemary Sutcliff
  • The Neverending Story, Michael Ende
  • The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
  • So You Want to Be a Wizard, Diane Duane
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
  • The Monsters and Creatures of Greek Mythology, Don Nardo
  • The Heroes and Mortals of Greek Mythology, Don Nardo
  • Greek Gods and Heroes, Robert Graves
  • The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley
  • Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, Edith Hamilton
  • The Mythology Handbook: A Course in Ancient Greek Myths, Lady Hestia Evans
  • The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley
  • The Odyssey, Homer

Lexile above 1185

  • Black Ships Before Troy, Rosemary Sutcliff
  • The Hobbitt, J.R.R. Tolkien
  • Heroes in Greek Mythology Rock!, Karen Bornemann Spies
  • The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy, Padraic Colum
  • Greek Mythology for Teens: Classic Myths in Today's World, Zachary Hamby
  • Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece, Gustav Schwab
  • 100 Characters from Classical Mythology: Discover the Fascinating Stories of the Green and Roman Deities, Malcolm Day
  • D'Aulaires' Book of Green Myths, Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire

Module 2: Adversity Now and Then

Grade 6-8 Texts (925-1185)

  • Timeline of the Middle Ages, Charlie Samuels
  • Joan of Arc, Diane Stanley
  • Under the Mesquite, Guadalupe Garcia McCall
  • DK Eyewitness Books: Medieval Life, Andre Langley
  • Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page, Richard Platt
  • The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History, Barbara Hanawalt
  • Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck, Margarita Engle

Texts Above Lexile 1185

  • Outcast, Rosemary Sutcliff
  • Men of Iron, Howard Pyle
  • Requiem: Poems of Terezin Ghetto, Paul Janeczko
  • Aleutian Sparrow, Karen Hesse
  • Becoming Billie Holiday, Carole Boston Weatherford
  • Home of the Brave, Katherine Applegate
  • Keisha's House, Helen Frost
  • Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson
  • Partly Cloudy, Gary Soto
  • The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, Margarita Engle
  • Poetry Speaks Who I Am, Elise Paschen
  • Ringside, 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial: A Novel, Jennifer Bryant
  • Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems, Kristine O'Connell George
  • Worlds Afire, Paul Janeczko

Module 3: World's Oceans

Grades 6-8 Texts (Lexile 925-1185)

  • Endangered Planet, David Burnie
  • Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands, Cathryn Berger Kaye and Phillipe Cousteau
  • Overfishing (Habitat Havoc), Therese Shea

Texts Above Lexile 1185

  • Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Motion, Loree Griffin Burns
  • The River Cottage Fish Book: The Definitive Guide to Sourcing and Cooking Sustainable Fish and Shellfish, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nick Fisher

Module 4: Pesticides

Grade 6-8 Texts (Lexile 925-1185)

  • None

Texts Above Lexile 1185

  • Silent Spring at 50: The False Crises of Rachel Carson, Roger Meiners, Pierre Desrochers, and Andrew Morriss
  • The War on Bugs, Will Allen