Dear Parent,

As a parent, you want your child to have time to relax

and have fun during summer, but you don’t want your

child to forget their English skills.

This Summer Booklet provides comprehensive, fun

activities to help children keep their skills fresh all

summer long.

Dear Students,

Well done for all the effort you have put into this year!

It truly has been a fantastic eye opening year for us all

and we have learned many new things. Thank you for

your hard work, patience and determination.

It is time to put your thinking caps on and dive into

your Summer Booklet, we hope you enjoy it!

Have a great summer!

With lots of love

Your Teachers

The following materials were adapted from:

Robert Winston, All About Your Brain, China, 2016

Sterling Publishing, FlashKids Summer Study, Canada, 2016
Evan-Moor, Critical Thinking
 Fact or Opinion?
A fact is true and can be proven. An opinion is how you feel about something.

Example:
Fact: The beach is 1.2 km from my house.
Opinion: The beach is too hot today.

Write F for fact and O for opinion for each statement below.

1) In the Middle Ages, many people lived in castles for protection. _F_

2) Stone castles replaced wooden ones because they wouldn’t burn.

3) A stone castle would feel cold during the winter.

4) Most people preferred to live in castles rather than in small villages.

5) Minstrels and jugglers performed for the king and the queen.

6) Banquets and plays were the favourite amusements of the day.

7) A castle’s outer walls were usually about 6 metres thick.

8) It was probably frightening to be trapped inside a castle.

Write a fact and an opinion about what it was like to

live in the Middle Ages.

Fact: _______________________________________________________________________________

Opinion: ____________________________________________________________________________

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 Rocky Riddles
Read each riddle and find the answer in the box.
Write the answer to the riddle on the line.

calcite metamorphic feldspar

igneous sedimentary quartz

1) I am a mineral with six-sided crystals. 2) I am soft, I can be scratched with a penny.

I am so hard, I can scratch steel. I am used in I am white, yellow or sometimes transparent.
jewelry and glass. I am used in toothpaste, chewing gum and glue.
__________quartz___________

3) I am the most common of all minerals. 4) I come from volcanoes! When lava cools, it
I have flat sides. I come in many colours, hardens into rock. That’s how I’m made.
Like pink, white and green.

5) I have many layers called strata. Each 6) I am a rock that has

undergone a change.
layer is made from tiny rocks that formed Heat and pressure turn me into something new.
together. That’s how I’m made. That’s how I’m made.

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 Raining Cats and Dogs
Follow the directions below.

Have you ever heard the expression, ‘‘It’s raining cats and dogs’’? This is an example of an idiom. The
expression means something different from what the words usually mean. This phrase just means that

it’s raining very hard, not that cats and dogs are falling from the sky! Draw a line to match each idiom

with its meaning.

1) Once in a blue moon a) through good times and bad items

2) Hit the nail on the head b) to give away a secret or surprise

3) Learn the ropes c) once in a while

4) Stick out your neck d) very easy

5) A piece of cake e) to learn the basics

6) On cloud nine f) to get something exactly right

7) Through thick and thin g) to go out of your way or take a risk

8) Let the cat out of the bag h) very happy

9) Time flies i) say what you think

10) Speak your mind j) time passes very quickly

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 Make It Better!
Read each simple sentence. Can you make the situation better?

Turn each simple sentence into a compound sentence by adding a conjunction and another sentence

part. Use the conjunctions in the box to help you. Remember to use a comma before a conjunction in a

compound sentence.
Example: My bike is broken.

My bike is broken, but my dad is driving me to

school.

Conjunctions
although yet and but or

Ss’ own answers

1) I lost my backpack at the museum.

____________________________________________________________________________________

2) My lunchbox is full of bugs.

____________________________________________________________________________________

3) I dropped my homework in the mud.

____________________________________________________________________________________

4) I ripped a hole in my jeans.

____________________________________________________________________________________

5) My pet bird flew out of its cage.

____________________________________________________________________________________

6) The class field trip is canceled.

____________________________________________________________________________________

7) I spilled juice on my shirt.

____________________________________________________________________________________

8) The puppy chewed up my shoes.

____________________________________________________________________________________

9) Our team lost the game.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10) I can’t go out and play in the rain.

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 Choices
Choose one, and then tell why you picked it.

be a monkey or a hawk?______________________________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________________________________

be a pencil or a stapler? _____________________________________________________________

Why?______________________________________________________________________________________________

talk to animals or plants? ___________________________________________________

Why?______________________________________________________________________________________________

be able to turn invisible or to fly? _______________________________________________________

Why?______________________________________________________________________________________________

be super smart or super good-looking? ________________________________________________

Why?_____________________________________________________________________________________________

live the rest of your life without TV or without junk food? ____________________________________
Why?_____________________________________________________________________________________________

be good in school or good at sports? ________________________________________________

Why?_____________________________________________________________________________________________

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 At the Movies
Some people like to rent movies to watch at home, and others like to see movies in a theater.
Use the chart to write 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages of seeing a movie in a theater.

Advantages Disadvantages

Do you prefer seeing movies at home or in a theater? ___________________________________________________

Circle the letter of the statement that completes each syllogism.

All cartoons are animated movies. All Vampires are scary. Some movies are
children like cartoons. Therefore, about vampires. Therefore,
_________________ _________________________
A) All movies are animated A) All movies are scary
B) All movies are cartoons B) Some movies are scary
C) All children like animated movies C) Some vampires
are not scary

Write the title of the last movie you saw. Then summarize it in just one sentence.
Title:___________________________________
Summary:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

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 Hooray for Celebrations!
Special days are days that we celebrate every year. Invent a new special day that you think should be
celebrated and added to the calendar. For example; we celebrate Earth Day on the 22 nd April. First,
brainstorm some ideas about your holiday. What makes this holiday special? How would people
celebrate it? Why should it be added to the calendar?

What does your special day look like? Illustrate it in the box below.

Write a few words to convince your friends and family to celebrate your special day! Include lots of

reasons to support your points.

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

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 What Are You Like!
Psychologists use personality questionnaires to help find out what kind of person you are.

The questionnaires don’t tell you what you can or can’t do, they just reveal how you prefer to be.

Finding out more about your personality can help you understand why and how people act differently to you.

The questions here can help you identify some

of your personality preferences. If you find
yourself thinking ‘‘ I like both the options’’ try to
decide which option seems to describe you best.
1) When you first get in from school what
do you prefer to do?
A) Find someone to talk to about your day.

B) Think through your day, maybe in your room while

watching TV or listening to music.

2) At school do you prefer to work…

IF YOU PICKED As: You may have a preference for Extraversion. This
A) In a team?
means you get your energy from being with other people, and may prefer
B) Alone in a private study?
to spend as much time with others as possible.

IF YOU PICKED Bs: You may have a preference for Introversion. This
means you get your energy from reflecting and thinking through things

yourself– so may enjoy your own company.

3) When you are given a new board game or computer game

would you rather……..

A) Read all the rules before you start to play?

B) Start playing and only look at the rules if you need to?

4) Think about a bike. Take a piece of paper and write down what

you’re thinking. What did you write?

A) A list of facts about the bike, such as its colour, size what type of

bike it is, how many gears it has, if it has lights, and so on.

B) A description that includes where you could go on the bike, how it

can get you to places you want to go to, how it is good exercise, and so on.

IF YOU PICKED As: You may have a preference for Sensing. You may prefer your homework
to have clear specific instructions. You may enjoy remembering details and facts.

IF YOU PICKED Bs: You may have a preference for Intuition. You may prefer to see an
example of what the homework should look like. You may enjoy daydreaming and using
your imagination.

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 What Are You Like!
5) Think about a time that a friend came to you with a problem. Did
you……

A) try to help them by solving their problem?

B) ask them how they are feeling, say how sorry you felt?

6) When a friend asks you to read their homework do you……

A) tell them how they could improve it, so that they will get top marks?

B) tell them what you like about it and what they did well?

IF YOU PICKED As: You may have a preference for Thinking. This
means you prefer to make decisions using logic.

IF YOU PICKED Bs: You may have a preference for Feeling. This means you
make decisions by considering other people’s point of view.

7) Look in your wardrobe. What is it like?

A) Tidy and organized– a place for everything, and everything in its place.

B) A bit of a jumble. You know where everything is but no one else does!

8) When you do your homework, do you prefer…….

A) to plan out your work and work until it’s finished?

B) to leave it until it really needs to be done, because this is when you do your best work.

IF YOU PICKED As: You may have a preference for Organizing. You like to have things planned
and well ordered.

IF YOU PICKED Bs: You may have a preference for Adapting. You are happy to go with the
flow and adapt to the situation.

People with different preferences can

be attracted to different careers. This

doesn’t mean that if you have one set of

preferences, you can’t work in a

different career– all it shows is that

people with certain preferences may en-

joy particular jobs.

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 Bar Graphs
Read the information in the bar graph. Then answer the questions.

Favourite Sport Survey

Tennis

Football
Types of Sport

Baseball

Basketball

Soccer

Other

Number of Students
Girls
Boys

1) How many girls like baseball?

2) How many boys like tennis?

3) How many boys and girls like soccer?

4) How many more boys like basketball than girls?

5) Which sport do you like best? _________________ Girls?

6) How many total student were surveyed?

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 You Make Choices
Every day, you make dozens of choices: what to wear, what to eat, where to sit. How

many choices do you think you have made today? _____________________________________

What are 3 of those choices:

1) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kristen has decided to paint every room in her house. She has chosen a different colour of paint for

each room. Read the clues and write the name of the colour (blue, green, yellow, purple, or orange) she
has picked for each room.

• The kitchen and the dining room are both primary colours.

• The bedroom is not orange.

• The colours of the dining room and the living room are both one-syllable words.

Kitchen: _____________________________________________

Dining room: _____________________________________________

Living room: _____________________________________________

Bathroom: _____________________________________________

Bedroom: _____________________________________________

What is one of the most important choices you have ever made?

What do you think are two of the most important choices you’ll make in the future?

1) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Cause and Effect
A cause is why something happens. An effect is what happens as a result of the cause.
Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

It was 1955 when Rosa Parks climbed onto a bus for a ride home. She was
tired from a long day at work. When she took a seat near the front of the bus,

she was asked to move. When she didn’t, she was arrested. What had she

done wrong? Rosa Parks was African American living in Montgomery, USA. In
1955, African Americans did not have the same rights as white people. Some

of the rules stated that African Americans were not allowed to go to same
schools as whites or drink out of the same water fountains. They also had to

sit in the back of the bus. On this day, however, Rosa Parks refused to move.
Sick of the injustice, she stayed in her seat and was arrested for it.

This one act of courage would change the nation forever. Other African Americans

started a bus boycott in protest. They stopped taking the bus and walked or used

Carpools instead. This affected the bus business and brought the civil rights
movement into full force. This one act of courage helped change the laws of the city

as well as of the nation.

1) What do you think caused Rosa Parks to stay in her seat?

2) What was the effect of Rosa Parks being arrested?

3) How did Montgomery bus boycott affect the bus business?

4) Describe the long-term effect of Rosa Parks’s brave act. How do you think it affected the city of
Montgomery? How do you think it affected the nation?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

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 My Business Plan
Imagine you are opening your own store. Before you open the store, you have to make a
business plan. A business plan asks you the following questions. Fill them out below.

The type of business: _________________________________________________________________________________________

The name of the business : ___________________________________________________________________________________

Why is it needed? _____________________________________________________________________________________________

The products or services you sell : ____________________________________________________________________________

Your target market:____________________________________________________________________________________________

( who you want to sell to,e.g., young children, sports collectors, general public, etc.)

Goals and objectives: _________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________
Business name

Come join us to
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

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 Matilda
Read the book ‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl, then answer these
questions.

1) Something ‘strange’ happened to Matilda. After that, Matilda was never

frightened of anybody – not even the terrible Miss Trunchbull.

What happens to Matilda?

Why isn’t she frightened of anybody any more?

2) What evidence can you find to suggest Matilda is an unusual/unique child?

3) How do Matilda’s parents treat her? Explain your answer in detail.

4) Why do you think reading is so important to Matilda?

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 MATILDA
Matilda had two teachers at school. Miss Trunchbull and Miss Honey.
What about writing the differences and similarities between them?
How are her two teachers similar? How are they different?

Miss Honey Miss Trunchbull

Both

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 MATILDA
Are these sentences true or false. If your answer is false, support your answer.

Explain WHY it is false.

1) Matilda’s father drives cars backwards for thousands of miles.

Matilda’s father rewinds the odometers for thousands of miles.
____________________________________________________________________________________

2) Matilda doesn’t look at the pictures in the books.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3) Matilda’s father buys and sells cars.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) Matilda’s father is an honest man.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5) Matilda’s parents are busy doing things that aren’t important.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6) Matilda wants to watch TV with her family.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7) Matilda puts glue around the inside of her father’s hat.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8) Matilda cuts the hat off her father’s head.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9) Fred lives very close to Matilda.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10) Matilda borrows a parrot from Fred.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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 Who Said What?
Who said the following sentences?

A) ‘We’re too good to you already, my girl!’

B) ‘Shall I find you a nice one with lots of pictures in it?’

C) ‘You mean you’ve looked at the pictures.’

D) ‘I get it from the wood shop.’

E) ‘She was too angry.’

F) ‘You’ll pull the skin off my head!’

G) ‘Don’t you ever stop reading?’

H) ‘My father gave it to me.’

I) ‘He’s always saying that.’

J) ‘I want to see if you’re clever.’

Look at the underlined words. What do they refer to?

A) Nigel spelled it.

B) ‘Mrs Phelps at the library helps me to choose them.

C) ‘I was in there yesterday.’

D) It has only got ten thousand miles on the clock.’

E) ‘We don’t keep them in the house.’

F) It’s a very tall, narrow cupboard in Trunchbull’s room.’

G) ‘M-my m-m-mummy likes it long.’

H) ‘And this selfish little snake ate it !

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