Phyllis Reynold Naylor has a series that starts with "The Boys Start the War" and goes for 12 books. An easy read. but the kids love the give and take of pranking and war of the sexes. (The Hatfords and Malloys are the families. )
One of my favorite books I read with students and always did reading aloud, but with activities too was The Kid Who Became President. Funny book and good timing with the inauguration.
The Forgotten Door was the favorite of my fourth grade class. They were dying to know what happened next. I was too, but alas, the author was deceased. I recently bought it for the children of one of my former students.
Downriver or Bearstone by Will Hobbs are some of my favorites. The author used to teach middle school, and lives in the 4 corners area. He writes for midschool age, so maybe good for 5th grade. The Homecoming by Cynthia Voight is really good too.
My all time favorite read aloud for 4th grade was The BFG by Ronald Dahl, but they may be familiar with that one.
Last edited by dutchgirl; 01-15-2021 at 02:58 PM..
I like to read Love That Dog and then Hate That Cat (but i provide them copies to read along to SEE the writing). written in poem form by a kid who thinks he can't write poems. i tend to read them near the end of the year after we've practiced alliteration and onomatopoeia and other literary devices--and my kids eat it up as the narrator is discovering them.
Spoiler Alert: you find out later in the first book that his dog dies (and i usually choke up) and you find out later in the second book that his mom is deaf (and i get choked up there too). you can read one of them in 45 minutes! i usually read one all at once or in two parts. the teacher has the students use a variety of famous poems--which are listed in the back--so we also analyze them and do copy-change poems with a few of them.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. I used to read it with my gifted kids. It was hugely popular because of all the stories within stories. Great introduction to theme and character traits, as well as Chinese folktales.
which they've probably not read because they're old...
The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
The Westing Game
The Phantom Tollbooth (wonderful for teaching figurative language, but some of my fourth graders struggled with the vocabulary)
someone mentioned Sideways Stories from Wayside School - while not exactly the level I'd use with fourth/fifth GT - there is a companion book called Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside school, and it is great fun if you want to push their math skills along with the reading. :-D
The Great Brain is also a great historical fiction book based on a real person growing up when Utah became a state in 1896. It is highly interesting. The first chapter has the boy’s father ordering the first indoor toilet in his area (mainly Morman) from Sears Roebuck. It is also quite funny with great wit thrown in.
Sisters Grimm Series by Michael Buckley. I can vouch for the first two in the series. Very detailed intricate plot, humorous, love the fairy tale connections and an unexpected twist at the end.
This would be great for a gifted group.
We followed this up by writing fractured fairy tales of our own.
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01-14-2021, 03:00 PM
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