As Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis states in Strategies That Work, "one of the best reasons to read a picture book to a group of students is simply because you love it. Sharing our thoughts about why we love a book allows students to get to know us better and shows them how discerning we are about what we read."
Please list your top five books (and author) that you enjoy sharing with your students. Briefly explain why you would recommend them to others in this course.
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of course, my favorites are: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer AND Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
I usually alternate the students reading and me reading. We read these not only for the story but to hear the period/locale language.
Night, by Elie Weisel
I read this book with the eighth grade. It is a survivor's story of the Holocaust. There are powerful mental images and discussion possibilities that must be read out loud.
ANY Dr.Seuss books
Even the middle school students love to hear the rhythm and rhyme of these stories. I think these stories also bring back fond childhood memories for all of us.
The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
This book I read with the eighth graders. There are many points for discussion. The mental images and word choice come alive when shared out loud in the classroom.
In thinking about the books that I enjoy sharing with my students several came to mind. I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, and it is amazing the differences in maturity, interests, and ability. For this reason, there are some books that I may recommend to a mature 8th grader, that I wouldn't think of sharing with a 6th grader. Two of these books are:
The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak
One of my all time favorites, this book, about a young girl living in Nazi Germany, is narrated by Death, but in a very surprising and gentle way. It is beautifully written "about the ability of books to feed the Soul". It is 500+ pages and too advanced for most of my students, but a great read. (I think it was a Printz Award winner)
The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
This book is about a young girl who is molested and murdered by a neighbor. She tells her story looking down from Heaven, where she sees her family trying to cope with her disappearance and the eventual knowledge that she is gone. A great book that makes you think, obviously for mature readers.
Other books that I enjoy teaching with (and they are appropriate for a bigger audience)and I highly recommend are:
Tangerine, by Edward Bloor
This book is about Paul, a 7th grade soccer player who is legally blind, and his mean Football hero brother, who move to Tangerine, FL. We quickly learn there is a mystery behind his blindness. This book is full of metaphors, symbolism, and conflicts. It is great to teach with because it is readable (680 Lexile), has interesting characters, and can be read for the simple enjoyment or more in depth for the teaching of literary concepts.
Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick
This is a must do Read Aloud every year for me. I read it during our Bullying unit at school. It is about 2 boys, Max (huge and "LD"), the Freak (AKA Kevin- very small and "the brain"). Together they form an unlikely bond. The story is told from Max's point of view in a very funny way (most of the time), but has an ending that will leave tears in your eyes (EVERY time!). I also show the movie "The mighty" (Sharon Stone, Meat Loaf, Kieran Culkin -1998) based on the book and have them compare/contrast.
Daphne's Book, by Mary Downing Hahn
This about 2 girls who are put together to work on a book project. One of the girls hangs out with the popular crowd, the other is the object of everyones taunts. It is very realistic in its depiction of how middle schoolers pick on one another, name call, exclude, and the power of peer pressure.
Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbitt
Another great book for teaching about literary elements, this one is FULL of similies, metaphors, personification, and imagery. In this story, Winnie, a young girl, is faced with the choice of drinking or not from a "fountain of youth" that has made the Tuck Family "everlasting".
One of the reasons that I love teaching third grade is that in third grade they really like when the teacher reads aloud to them. I know I have some kids who think that is the best part of the day. Here are some of the books I like to read aloud to the kids.
Tale of Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo
I like this book because it had interesting language and easily rolls off the tongue. They like all of the threads that get woven together to make the story in the end.
Wayside School books by Louis Sacher
The teachers I work with either can't stand these books, or they are their favorites. The kids like how silly the kids in the class are. I like how there are a lot of jokes for teachers.
Verdi by Janell Cannon
Third graders love hearing about animals and all of Janell Cannon's books have interesting stories mixed with facts about the animals in them. I like to use them when talking about events and plot structure.
Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex
This is a relatively new one for me but a lot of fun. The book contains a variety of poems about well-known monsters.
The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake
I have to be careful with this one. I have to really prep the kids because they go hysterical over it. It involves a cowboy that ends up losing his clothes during his once a year bath. The cowboy is naked through most of the book with creative ways of covering him up. I worried about this one at first but the kids love it and with enough prep I have never had a complaint.
Squids Will Be Squids by Lane Smith and John Sciezka
This is a good way to teach fables as the book has all mixed uup fables in it with an explanation of fables in the beginning. The kids like the illustrations and the silly morals that go along with the stories.
My favorites include The Great Frog Race, by Kristine O’Connell George. It is great fun to use with George's website. I read the poems to the class and then they listen to the author read her own poems. We talk about the different ways people feel and react to the poetry.
Another good one is new but I have gotten great reactions from 4th graders and it is a super way to introduce an Undergourd RR unit. The book is Henry’s Freedom Box,by Ellen Levine. The kids like that it is based on a true story about someone their own age.
My next choice is The Great Graph Contest, by Loreen Leedy. It is fun for the kids and we use it to introduce or finish a unit on making graphs that tell what we want them to tell others.
My fourth choice is closely realated to my job as an elementary librarian. What happened to Marion’s Book?,by Brook Berg. It really gets the 2nd graders thinking and involved. I had one girl crying last week about the destruction on Marion's book!
The story goes on, by Aileen Fisher is a stroy that works as a good introduction to units on food chains and webs. The kids like to hear it again at the end of the unit! What is better than asking to hear the same book just one more time?!?
Teaching 2nd grade, I read so many books to the students that is was hard to choose my favorites. Here are a few that the students enjoy.
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf (as told to Jon Scieszka) – It’s the familiar story of the 3 Little Pigs, but from the wolf’s point of view.
“I Can’t” Said the Ant by Polly Cameron - I love the rhyming pattern, as well as the vocabulary that the kids gain.
Basket Moon by Mary Lyn Ray – This is the story of a family that lives in the highlands of New York, making baskets to sell in a nearby town. A young boy accompanies his father to town for the first time, and is laughed at and ridiculed for being a “hillbilly.” At first, he is embarrassed and refuses to help his family weave. Eventually, he hears the call of the wind and learns to take pride in his unique talent.
Dream by Susan Bosak – It’s filled with wonderful illustrations which capture the dreams of all ages, as well as quotes from individuals who had great dreams that impacted our history. It would be a great book to share with older students as well as young.
How I Became a Pirate by David Shannon – Kids enjoy hearing the imaginary adventures of Jeremy Jacobs, who pretends to join a pirate’s crew.
Thank you all for sharing your favorite books with the class!
I had the opportunity to check out the book that Sam recommended, The Dirty Cowboy. It is GREAT!
Have a wonderful rest of your week!
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