books?
So the cool thing about my job is that I "can teach whatever I want, as long as they're learning to read."
Wow.
I can spend the year reading my favorite books and forcing children to love them too? Sweet.
I'm starting a list of material to be read. I'm short on nonfiction. Any suggestions you have (fiction, non, short stories, graphic novels, anything!) would be greatly appreciated. These kids are 6th grade, reading below grade level, but I will be reading the hardest stuff with the and scaffolding like the dickens.
Thanks!
posted by Emily @ 1:37 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Ender's Game, The Giver, and Holes are great for sixth graders.
I'm starting the year with Ender's Game, and nobody's gonna stop me! It's my favorite book, and what better way to get kids excited than to be excited myself?
The KIPP kids I talked to here (Emily knows this, but I'll tell the rest of you here that I recently interviewed with KIPP OKC) all said their favorite author is Walter Dean Myers. I have also had GREAT success with The House on Mango Street and Night with my 10th graders who are all over the map where reading levels are concerned.
What I do know is that you will get so much great training and I wouldn't be surprised if you threw aside everything you thought you knew before.
Anything I have is yours where lesson plans are concerned, but I really look forward to hearing what you have to share from this!
I really love The Dark Thirty, which is a great selection of short stories. I have also had a lot of success with The Jacket and Frindle. I have also had a lot of luck with Morning Girl, it is a more difficult book, but my students really enjoyed it. If you are looking for good nonfiction for struggling readers, I recommend a series called X-zone. They write books on subjects kids love like mummies, pirates, and natural disasters. Finally, my personal favorite is A Wrinkle in Time (what can I say? I'm a fantasy geek!)
The Westing Game (Ellen Raskin)
The Diary of Anne Frank (The play version - Goodrich and Hackett)
The Miracle Worker (Gibson)
His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman - a movie version of the first book in this trilogy is being released in December)
The Little Prince (Saint-Exupery)
Ursula K. LeGuin's short story "The Wife's Tale" has always been a hit (and works well as a back-up lesson)
Nothing But the Truth (Avi)
Princess Academy (Shannon Hale)
Wind on Fire trilogy (William Nicholson)
The Seventh Tower series (Garth Nix)
Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events
Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series (2 books out so far) are a fun way to delve into Greek mythology
and I echo "Ender's Game", "House on Mango Street", and anything by Madeline L'Engle
Enough for now? :)
You guys are awesome! I knew I could count on you.
I echo His Dark Materials (an amazing audio theater version -- produced by my friend Bill Dufris [aka Bob the Builder]-- is available, and could make a great classroom resource.
I also think The 3 NBs of Julian Drew is an exceptional work for kids that age (or kids any age, for that matter).
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