[ancientciv]

My literacy coaches just asked today for titles for our classroom library - focusing on nonfiction and picture books.

My curriculum is American History: Reconstruction - Present

I have to have titles in to them by Monday! Help!

[NeeCee]

1. Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (inventor of method to photograph snowflakes)
2. The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson (two girls who live on opposite sides of a fence that separates/segregates their town)
3. Trains by Lynn Curlee (history of railroads in America)
4. The Boy Who Invented TV (story Philo Farnsworth)
5. Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson (daughter of baseball player, Jackie Robinson)
6. Sky Pioneer by Corrinne Szabo (Amelia Earhart)
7. Poetry for Young People (Langston Hughes)
8. Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges (true story of 6 yr. old girl isolated within her school as the first African-American enrolled there)
9. We the People Series, published by Compass Point Books, has everything you can think of (Ellis Island, Trail of Tears, Battle of Little Big Horn, Santa Fe Trail, Transcontinenal Railroad, etc.)
10. Children of the Wild West by Russell Freedman
11. Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
12. Martin's Big Words
13. Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
14. March On! by Christine King Farris (sister of MLK, Jr.)
15. Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Civil War)
16. The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco (immigration)
17. My Hiroshima by Junko Morimoto
18. Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator by Shelley Tanaka
19. The Memory Coat by Elvira Woodruff
20. If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island by Ellen Levine

All of the above are picture books.

Don't forget biographies!! I was shocked at how few we had in our school library. http://www.carolhurst.com/booklists/biographies.html

[Candiqueen]

Biographies are a good idea.

[Queen of Pink]

although it is not nonfiction or picture book, The Watsons go to Birmingham is a great historical fiction novel.

Also Sweet Clara and the Freedom quilt is a great picture book about escaping slavery

[1956BD]

She wrote a book titled How To Get Your Child To Love Reading and has a website called Planetesme. Both the book and website are full of suggestions. Good luck finding lots of great suggestions.

[tchr45th]

Altho I do not utilize a lot of non-fict in my AR reading I have a lot of historical content in fiction which really fosters a love of reading about history. With emerging readers--as most 4-8th graders are, it is extremely important that they develop an interest in history and reading historical based books is the first step. Often strictly fact based NF is simply too dry for their attention span unless they have a deep understanding of the topic already. WHich most kids do not. having said that here are books I use in my 5th gr class that are popular with the kids. (I have read all of these books and they are all appropriate for 4-8 grade levels)

Mildred Taylor books--Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, The Well, The Friendship, The Gold Cadillac...etc all of her books are civil rights, southern, black, racism. All excellent--some easy reading but heavy content--so they are not necessarily appropriate for 4th gr.

Boy books--topic- WAR

Boy at War Series (3) Pearl Harbor -Pacific
Soldier X WWII
Flames of the Tiger WWII
The Big Lie-WWII-holocaust
Milkweed WWII-holocaust
Yellow Star-WWII-holocaust
The Rifle-Civil War
Private Peaceful-
Blood River-Capt John Smith-colonialism
Victory
Only the Names Remain- Trail of Tears
All Ann Rinaldi Books--Rev. War and Civil -Historical figures in time period rl 6-8 (I have not read one I did not like)
Belle Teal - (multi-theme) Civil Rights, racism, Alzheimers, friendship
Kensuke's Kingdom-WWII Pacific + survival

If I have time when I go to work I can send more--those are off the top of my head..