This week I’m happy to welcome my guest Mary Bauer from The Artistry of Education. Although I’m not currently teaching, I enjoy following Mary’s blog for tips on good reads. And here she is…
I just packed up my twenty-first class in the district where I graduated high school. My parents were both educators in the same district. At different times, I have taught kindergarten through sixth grade, and I will be teaching fourth grade in the fall.
How I choose books for my classroom
Each summer I read twenty to thirty books for the age group I teach and figure out where they will fit in my classroom. Over time I have created four categories:
1. Books I want everyone to experience through read aloud or class study.
I recently did a series of posts on my blog about my favorite read aloud books. You can find a list of my recommendations on my post Favorite Read Alouds Recap. These are the books that have general appeal, good writing, and an educational reason for sharing. For example, I share The Phantom Tollbooth most years because of the play on words. Many teachers I know share this book for the same reason.
Some other books I put in this category are Holes by Louis Sachar, Frindle by Andrew Clements, and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan.
2. Books I want to recommend to certain students.
The majority of the books I read in a summer fit into this category. I discover favorite authors and genres to share with my students. As I read, I picture different children I plan to introduce to my new find.
As I read through my book list, I am especially looking for books that reluctant readers will enjoy. Personally, I didn’t like the book Dragonbreath, a combination text and graphic novel about a dragon who has adventures, but I did recommend it to a 7-year-old boy. I include 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass, The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd, and Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
3. Books I will allow students to read, but I won’t promote.
Books in this category are more controversial. They may be popular, but the content is generally too mature for my age group. I may mention them to the reader’s parents, because I believe parents should decide what their students read.
I have already decided that Hunger Games is not something I want next year’s fourth graders to read, but I won’t ban the books at school. They are very popular and students as young as third grade want to read them. Our school librarian took this opportunity to teach students about dystopian literature. There are examples of this genre that do not have children killing children.
Religious materials also fit in this category. A few years ago the Twilight series was very popular, but not necessarily what I wanted elementary students to read. I don’t often outright forbid a book I don’t like, because I know that just increases its attraction.
Thank you Mary! I hope everyone finds helpful suggestions here. How do you like to find books for your students or children? Leave your comments below, and thanks for stopping by!
Julia
This week I’m happy to welcome my guest Mary Bauer from The Artistry of Education. Although I’m not currently teaching, I enjoy following Mary’s blog for tips on good reads. And here she is…
I recently did a series of posts on my blog about my favorite read aloud books. You can find a list of my recommendations on my post Favorite Read Alouds Recap. These are the books that have general appeal, good writing, and an educational reason for sharing. For example, I share The Phantom Tollbooth most years because of the play on words. Many teachers I know share this book for the same reason.
Thanks for this article! I shared it on our facebook page. I hope you can check it out, though it;s still new 🙂 I plan to posts lots of reading/education related things there and I think I have found one great source. Hope I could tag you but apparently you only have a personal profile and not a page. 🙂
http://www.facebook.com/thotbooks
I used to do this too! Mary’s post makes me miss the classroom.
This was fabulous! I have a reluctant reader going into 4th grade, so this list was right up my alley. He does like graphic novels, something I know nothing about, so I’ll definitely check out Dragonbreath!
I like her approach! I remember when my kids read Holes and Frindle, and I was so glad their middle school curriculum included Diary of Anne Frank.
Hats off to all the wonderful teachers out there!