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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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.
Please click on the comments icon below to leave your message.
8 comments:
The books I enjoy sharing with students range from grades 1 through the middle school years since these are the grades I work with as a resource teacher. All but one of my five suggested readings are series books. I believe that series books keeps readers reading.
First, I suggest the series by Mercer Mayer (some - Gina Mayer). For grades one through three this series is a great introduction to young children regarding series reading. Although these books are written for younger children, the stories are great for any age to relate to. This is one asset to this series. Also, the detailed pictures force the reader to visualize. One can almost see themselves in the "critters" being read about. Another positive characteristic of this series is the book topics. All topics covered are easy to relate to - and enjoyable. Some book titles in this series include: Just Me and My Dad, Just Me and My Mom, Just Me and My Grandma Merry Christmas Mom and Dad.
Second,the book, Sometimes I feel Like a Mouse is a wounderful piece for all ages up to middle school covering the topic of feelings. It is written by Jeanne Modesitt. I recommend this book because of its' topic. It refers to being scared, ashamed, proud, brave... This is valuable for parent / child discussion and teacher / student discussion. It could be used in a class where children are not respecting each other. This book can be used to relate respect of others with guided discussion.
Third, Series of Unfortunate Events is written by Lemony Snicket. This is geared for grades five through seven and students find the eventfulness of this series wanting them to continue onto the next book. Throughout this series orphans move from place to place. While students can relate to the characters because they are kids, students, I think, are captivated because their lives are so different from theirs. The author explains the characters well. The size of print is reader friendly.
Fourth, the Dear America series has over 72 contributing authors. It is for grades three through five, approxomitely. I recommend this series because it relates to hisorical events. Although the books are fictional, the "dairy" of the person is involved in history - and takes the reader "there". These books are written in diary form which is a positive for reading for short periods of time. Examples of books include, After the Rain, Virgina Civil War and Our Strange Land referring to immigrants to the new world. Other topics include Indian life, World War I and II. Contributing authors include, Walter Myers, Debra Hopkinson, Jim Murphy, Susan Bartoletti...
Fifth, I suggest another historical refence book series called Dear Mr. President. This series is also ficticious but based on researched hisorical events on a "meatier level" than Dear America. Another asset to this series is that it has a virtual library with games, interactive footnotes, links and historical information. This is awesome for kids and can be used for assignments or extra credit. With many contributing authors, the topics vary. One example is, Franklin Delano Roosevelt : Letters from a Mill Town Girl by Elizabeth Winthrop covering the topic to the depression and Thomas Jefferson : Letters from a Philadelphia Bookworm by Jennifer Armstrong. In this book the ficticious character, Amelia Hornsby, is a twelve year old girl writing Thomas Jefferson.
While reviewing this list of "favorite" books, I can not help but wonder if some of these books are your favorites too for some of the very same reasons.
I found it difficult to narrow it down to five. I chose five books that I use for read alouds for various reasons. One of my favorite books to share is Charlotte's Web. By fourth grade, most of my students have heard or read the story. I use the book to model descriptive writing. I read different excerpts from the book aloud. We try to look at it from the writer's point of view, and it leads to some great discussions. It is always interesting to have kids start to notice the quality of the writing and not just the story.
I also read aloud Thank you, Mr. Falkner by Patricia Polacco. I share it because I really enjoy the story, and kids find it interesting that someone who struggled with reading early on went on to become a published author.
Another favorite of mine is Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees. I like the lesson that it teaches, and it leads to some great discussions. My favorite quote is "We all can dance when we find music that we love."
I share Hurry Granny Annie by Arlene Alda. I use it to model making connections because it reminds me of my mom who we call Granny Annie.
I share Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. The kids are always amazed to find out that he lives in Madison. I read it just because I love the language and the way it sounds when it is read aloud.
I also always read Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. I use this book to teach making connections. It reminds me of my childhood. I grew up with 8 siblings, and we always set up an entire community like the kids in the story.
There are many other books that I share as read alouds and for book talks. Sometimes I read the entire book to the class, and other times I just introduce the book and recommend it to the kids.
1- When Riddles Come Rumbling: Poems to Ponder
This is a book of about 15 – 20 poems that describe objects or events. There are poems that describe things from food to roller coasters. It’s cool to use for a discussion of context clues, but it’s just plain fun to read and have the kids guess what is being described. The kids always want to hear the poems again after they figure out what they were about.
2- Holes
I was really nervous when the movie came out a few years ago because the book is so good. I worried kids would see the movie, think it was bad, and miss out on reading a remarkable story. My favorite thing about Holes is the multiple storylines Sacher creates through the book and how they are woven together by the end of the book. When kids ask me what my favorite book is, this is always one of the first titles I name.
Again, from a teaching perspective, Holes has lots of examples for inferencing that make for good modeling.
3- A Long Way From Chicago & A Year Down Yonder
Okay so they’re two books, but they are really related. A Year Down Yonder is a bit of a sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. Both stories have one of my favorite characters of all time, Grandma Dowdell. The things that woman does! She’s simply outrageous. The humor of the story is attractive when I share it with kids, but, like Holes, the way the storylines are put together is remarkable. These are favorites among my historical fiction literature circles titles.
4—Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden
This is a metaphorical picture book about a teacher getting her garden ready to grow for the schoolyear. The book goes onto explain the tools necessary to grow her garden and what type of flowers emerge. Some flowers shoot up right away while others take a little time to break ground. Some flowers need lots of TLC while others will grow where they please (a dandelion in the crack of the sidewalk). And, of course, all flowers are different yet beautiful in their own special way.
5—Flotsam by David Wiesner, Doug Cushman (Illustrator)
A wordless picture book. Flotsam means “Wreckage or cargo that remains afloat after a ship has sunk.” I didn’t know that when I picked up the book, but a friend of ours did. A camera remains afloat for several years. The boy who finds the camera has the pictures developed. He sees what really happens under the sea. There is also one interesting picture of a boy holding a picture of another picture of a person holding a picture of another…etc. It’s a great discussion book and way to get the kids involved in reading a story by following the gorgeous illustrations.
6—Grandpa’s Teeth by Rod Clement
This is a funny book about how Grandpa’s teeth go missing. The best part is using the lisp Grandpa gets when not having teeth. You should see where his teeth end up!
7—Gasp! By Terry Denton
A poor fish fell out of his bowl…GASP! How will he get to the water before the end of the book? GASP! The page numbers are backwards, so the fish is cognizant of the remaining pages he has to solve his problem. I’ve only read this once, but the kids enjoyed joining in when the fish GASPs!
1. BFG or Big Friendly Giant by: Roald Dahl
This book is about Sophie, an orphan, who is snatched by a friendly giant. He takes her back to giant country where she learns that the BFG is good because he gives children good dreams. The BFG and Sophie have an adventure when they notify the Queen of England about bad giants who eat children during the night.
This story is great to stimulate writing and to discuss problem and solutions.
2. The Red Ranger Came Calling by: Berkeley Breathed
This is a great story to share at Christmas time because it is about a little boy who doesn't believe in Santa Claus. He discovers that Santa does exist. I love to have the students talk about how the character has changed due to his experiences in the book and to predict what will happen next.
3. Muggie Maggie by: Beverly Cleary
This book is about a third grade girl who does not want to learn cursive. The students can relate to this book because of her age and because they are learning cursive too. There is some very good vocabulary in here and the connections from self to text is endless.
4.Esperanza Rising by: Pam Munzo Ryan
This book is about a rich girl from Mexico who loses all her possessions and her father. She has to immigrate to the U.S. and work to survive.
This book has a great family theme that runs through it and there is a lot of history about migrant workers within it.
5. Chocolate Touch by: Patrick Skene Catling
This is about a boy who eats so much chocolate that everything he touches turns to chocolate.
I like to compare this story to the story about King Midas and his golden touch. It is a great book to talk about how too much of one thing is not good.
1.Little Red Cowboy Hat:Susan Lowell
This is my all time favorite. :)
This is a new version of Little Red Riding Hood with pumped up vocabulary. When I read this book I put on a red cowboy hat. As I read this book I use a western accent. I always read this book at the beginning of the year to show children how reading is a passion of mine and I enjoy making reading fun by sharing it in different ways.
This story has multiple themes that could be used including: descriptive writing (Word Choice: using adjectives), text/self (families), character traits, author's point of view, to name a few.
2.The BFG The Big Friendly Giant: Roald Dahl
I use this book as a read aloud. Again using voices as I read the children are actively involved.
The vocabulary is rich, and the children enjoy trying to figure out what the giant is really trying to say. As a writing project the class creates their own dreams and made their own jars (plastic bottles) to keep them in.
3.The Relatives Came: Cynthia Rylant
Family travels cross country to spend time with their relatives. This is another good book to help build on text/self (comparing and connecting) afterwards we launch into a writing project about when our relatives came. For those children who may not have that experience they can create what it would be like if they did.
For younger students I've made pictures that follow the sequence of the story. The children place the pictures in order and then color them in with colored pencils. They turned out as beautiful as the illustrators.
4.Manners Can be Fun: Munro Leaf
I share this book with my class at the beginning of the year. It is great to point out some of the bad habits people may have and how that might bother other people. My class never wants to be those type of children so this helps tremendously with classroom management issues.
5.One Day in the Life of Bubble Gum: 4th Grade Students of Mt. Horeb Intermediate Center
I enjoy reading this book and other books published by children for children because my class becomes empowered in their writing as well as their reading. The speech bubbles are great for reinforcing the idea of metacognition and paying attention.
I teach middle school reading, and here are the top five books I have used to teach reading:
1. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
I love how this book makes the kids think. My classes always end up having deep, rich discussions about the this supposed utopia of the future. This is a great book for inferencing, questioning, predicting, and synthesis.
2. Crash, by Jerry Spinelli
This is the story of a star middle school football player who comes to realize that family and relationships are more important than popularity and stardom. Awesome book for middle school kids because they are at that age where they are searching for an identity. Also, the book is super for text-to-self connections and character analysis. As you could imagine,boys especially love this book, but girls seem to enjoy it as well.
3. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
As far as pure laughter, this is my favorite. This is the story of a young boy who gets shipped from relative to relative for periods of time because of his parents drinking. This particular summer the book is set, he goes to his cousins' farm in the middle of nowhere and develops a close relationship not only with Harris, his younger male cousin,but with the whole family. The focus of the book are the hilarious adventures and mishaps the boys have throughout the summer. The book is great for visualizing and dramatizing, especially for the kids not familiar with farm life. Again, especially popular with the boys, but girls enjoy it as well.
4. The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, by Christopher Paul Curtis
This is a piece of historical fiction set in the turbulence of the Civil Rights Movement. The Watsons are an African-American family from Michigan, who visit their grandmother in Birmingham. While there, there is a church bombing of a black church by a white hate-group, and it has a profound effect on the main characher, 11-year old Kenny Watson. The book is a nice history lesson, but it is also very funny at times and drives home the point that family is what's really important, regardless of race. A great book for inferencing, questioning, and predicting.
5. Petey, by Ben Mikaelson
Just a tremendous read that teaches the kids so much. It is the story Petey, who is born in the 1920's with severe cerebral palsy. Since there was little understanding of this condition at the time, most people assumed -- including his parents -- that he was incapable of thinking or feeling. As the story progresses, we see quite the opposite as Petey becomes an inspiration for all who get to know him closely. Just a great book for teaching kids about what it is like to live with a disability and how people like this are capable of amazing things. Another great book for connections, questions, and predictions.
Decisions, decisions! The possibilities are endless since I am a bit of a book fanatic. Here is a condensed version:
1. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney is my all time favorite book. I like to read it to some of my groups because all kids can relate to the llama that becomes distressed at bedtime. I use it as a writing prompt about bedtime tactics kids use to not go to bed. It is very funny and the llama is just adorable and secretly reminds me of my two year old. (grades k-2)
2. Walter the Farting Dog by William Kotzwinkle can get every child to laugh because, well, kids think farting is funny. Pair it up with the accompanying farting plush toy and you have a hit. It is a great way to get boys who are hesitant to read to start reading. It also shows that even though Walter is not the cleanest or most popular dog, he can still do great things and save the day! (grades k-3)
3. Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton is about a sheep in Frogsbottom Field who cannot fall asleep. the illustrations are phenomenal and it has a frog sidekick that hides on every page. (grades k-1)
4. Leonardo, the terrible Monster by Mo Willems is about a monster that cannot scare anyone or anything. He feels he is a failure and goes to find the wimpiest boy to try and scare. It is a great story about being a good friend to others that is also very funny and easy for children to relate to. (grade K-1)
5. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad day by Judith Viorst is a long loved classic about bad days. It is a great story to show kids that sometimes life deals you a bunch of lemons and that in the end...it is all OK. (K-2)
1. Chato and the Party Animals by Gary Soto
I would recommend this picture book to any teacher who is teaching different types and uses of language. The party animal cats in the story use a great deal of barrio slang, Spanish, and colloquial English making the book cool, funny, and culturally rich. I used this book along with a Spanish phrase and slang guessing game during a Latino heritage month celebration. The students had a blast.
2. Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
This is a picture book that I recommend for teaching about WWII, Japanese internment camps, racism, and oppression. Baseball Saved Us is a coming of age story that takes place in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. There is a nonfiction passage in my American literature textbook on the internment of a Japanese family, but it does not make as big of an impression on the students as Baseball Saved Us. So, I read the picture book to the students before they read the textbook passage.
3. William Shakespeare & The Globe Written and Illustrated by Aliki
I recommend reading this with a class that is about to read any of Shakespeare’s works. Students get a visual representation of the different aspects of Shakespeare’s life and career. This is important because reading Shakespeare can be intimidating for a lot of students. Seeing his life and works put into an approachable format makes him less scary.
4. Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and madness by Gris Grimly
This is an excellent book for any class that reads and studies Edgar Allan Poe, specifically The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, Hop Frog, and The Fall of the House of Usher. The illustrations make Poe’s stories extra spooky; and for the student who struggles with some of the challenging words used in these stories, the illustrations increase the ability to comprehend the stories.
5. Maus, A survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
I know that this doesn’t fall into the category of a children’s picture books because it is classified as a young adult graphic novel; however, this is a great way to start a unit on the Holocaust. It depicts, through a comic’s format, a son’s visit to his father who survived the Holocaust. At the request of his son, the father begins to tell his story of survival. Students seem to be initially drawn to this book by the artist qualities; the Jewish characters are mice and the Nazis are aggressive cats.
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