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Hopkinton Middle School Summer Reading Program During their years at Hopkinton Middle School, students are required to read an assigned novel each summer for their English Language Arts course. When students return to school, they are expected to have read the novel and answered the reading guide questions. Teachers will collect the reading guide questions during the first two classes of the school year. Additionally, students will be assessed on the reading with a common summative assessment that will receive a Pass/Fail grade. Grade 6 students entering Grade 7 next school year need to read the historical fiction novel So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins. Students can purchase this novel from a local bookstore or borrow from the public library. Answers to reading guide questions can be handwritten or typed in complete sentences. Below are the questions students need to answer as they read. So Far From the Bamboo Grove: Reading Guide Questions Chapters 1-3: 1. Why does Yoko’s family live in Korea? How does being Japanese affect them as the war develops? 2. How do the Kawashimas act toward the patients on the train? What does their behavior reveal about their values and character? 3. What saves the Kawashimas from the Korean soldiers? 4. Yoko refers to her sister Ko as ”Honorable Sister.” Sometimes they exchange words that are not very honorable. What sort of relationship do they have? Why does Ko seem “bossy” to Yoko? 5. Yoko, Ko and their mother face exhaustion, hunger, danger and fear on the way to Soeul. How does this life-‐or-‐death situation affect their ability to deal hardships? Chapter 4-7 6. Where does Hideyo go after he escapes from the factory? 7. Describe the living conditions of the Kawashimas in the train station in Seoul and then the factory in Pusan. 8. Why does Mrs. Kawashima stop in Kyoto? 9. What values does Mrs. Kawashima have? Do the girls share these values? 10. At this point, how would you describe Ko? Yoko? Chapter 8-11 11. How does Yoko treat Mr. Naido? How do the other girls treat him? What does this reveal about her character? 12. After Mrs. Kawashima returns from her trip, what news does she share with Yoko? What happens next? How does the event affect the lives of the girls? 13. How does Corporal Matsumura find Yoko? How is his friendship so important and so helpful to the girls? 14.Why do you think Yoko writes about her school experience rather that her ordeal in Korea? 15. What skills and qualities does Ko have? 16.Which character in the story did you admire the most? Why? Provide textual evidence for your answer. Geography Connections: Use an Atlas or map of East Asia to answer the following questions: Where is Pusan located relative to Seoul? Where is Japan located relative to Korea? What countries border Korea? What effect might this have? Why did the Kawashimas leave by ship from Pusan and not Seoul? Provide an example of how the terrain (land) and climate of Korea affected any part of the story. Other Suggested Reading Also, please note that if your child is interested in additional reading this summer, Ms. Norby, the school’s library media specialist, has posted a list of engaging middle-‐level novels along with story descriptions. You can access this list at: https://sites.google.com/a/hopkinton.k12.ma.us/hopkintonmiddleschoollibrary/