Best Books for 6th Grade: A Summer Blog Party and FREEBIE

This week I am linking up with my friends at The Reading Crew to share some of our favorite books to fire up readers at various grade levels.  As a 6th grade teacher, I want to tell you all about my choices of...

First, I truly adore this grade!  I find students at this level are kind of all over the map when it comes to reading.  Some "<3" reading and never want to put their books down, some read because they "HAVE to", and others love to share their "HATRED" for reading! I think I was destined to become a 6th grade reading teacher because I detested reading as a 6th grader!  While I am confessing, I hated playing the piano, too!  I don't remember who helped me resolve my hatred of all things reading, but I can tell you that having a special job stamping check-out books in the school library and finding The Babysitter's Club series, transformed me as a reader!  So-I take it personally if my students have not left me at the end of the school year and found "THE BEST BOOK EVER! 

So-onto my list...I must admit that I am a realistic and historical fiction nut!  I love knowing that stories have or can actually transpire, so my list is full of these genres.  I am actually really honest about books with my students because it helps them understand that even though I am a reading teacher, I can struggle with books, too.  I often share that except for the Hunger Games series and Among the Hidden, science fiction can be a challenge for me to stick with.  Dare I say that I was not a big fan of Harry Potter after the first two novels?!

I have compiled a list of 10 of my favorite books to share with students at this 6th grade level...If you click on the title, you will see that I have created novel units for each of these texts due to my strong LOVE for these books! You will also find a FREEBIE character analysis resource to share with your kiddos...

Best Book #1:  Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Best Book #2:  Crash by Jerry Spinelli

Best Book #3:  Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Best Book #4:  Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Best Book #5 and #6:  Stargirl and Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Best Book #7:  Woodsong by Gary Paulsen

Best Book #8: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Best Book #9:  Love That Dog by Sharon Creech

Best Book #10:  The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

I would love to hear more of the texts you LOVE to utilize with your 6th graders...I am always on the hunt for "Best Books"!  Now, race to your library and GRAB these AMAZING works!  Your students will thank you!  Happy Summer Reading! Check out these other perfect book ideas to FIRE UP your readers...

Summer Blog Party Kick-Off

Happy Summer!  I hope this blog hop finds you ready to tackle some summer relaxation and fun!  For my family, we are in the midst of tournament play for baseball, attending various sports camps, spending lots of time at the pool, and enjoying time with friends.  We will be heading to the beach for a week in August, but for now, we bask in the warm weather and minimal schedule.

Despite our busyness, one thing we continue throughout summer is reading.  As a reading teacher, I enforce daily reading time in our house.  I say enforce because grabbing a book and slowing down is NOT a favorite past-time among my kiddos.  My littlest can sit and read book after book, my middle loves to be read to, and my oldest knows that his allowance gets reduced if I have to ask him to complete his daily reading more than once.  If a friend calls for a playdate for my daughter, or a knock comes at the door for my oldest, reading is the last thing on their minds.  Therefore, I have to mandate that it happens. 

I have given up on the idea that my kids should want to read. I want them to want to read, but ideally, if my children could be outside playing every moment of every day, that is what they would prefer to do! And so, before we head outside and grab for any type of technology, reading occurs.  Some might argue with this strategy, but it works for my family.  There are no written rules, no chart to keep track, just the expectation that for 20 minutes a day, we read.  Very manageable.

My heading into 4th grade son has tackled Chocolate Fever and is on to Frindle.  I am offering him the chance to choose the books. I am not making him complete any novel units to accompany his reading, but they are available, just in case.

My heading into 1st grade daughter is tackling Level D books and inspired me to create this FREEBIE text unit for my intervention students.  She loves Young Cam Jansen books.  She struggles a bit to read them independently, but loves when we read them together.  This unit is perfect for reading comprehension for grades 1-3, and an intervention resource for students that might be struggling a bit in grades 4-6.  If you are a teacher in the midst of summer school, or a parent wanting to help your child with comprehension, this text resource is ideal for you! It includes: directions for use, lesson plans, character analysis work, context clue word work, chapter by chapter reader response questions, and post-reading writing prompts for FREE!

It is a forever FREEBIE and I would love to hear how you put it to use at home or in your classroom.  Grab some more HOT resources as you move on to the next stops!  Michelle from Big Time Literacy has a great one!  Grab it at the next stop!  Happy Hopping!

Thematic Thursday Linky Party~Historical Fiction Novels for Upper Elementary to Middle School

A little early, but I have linked up again with my friend, Carla from Comprehension Connection to share about some essential historical fiction novels to share with your middle-upper elementary and middle school students.

I have to be honest and tell you that I am not a big history buff.  I never enjoyed my social studies classes in elementary school and was always hopeful for a solid, whole-class-period-in-length film in my history classes in high school.  Have you seen this meme?  This brought pure delight back in the day!

As a teacher and mom, I now have different expectations about what history class should look like.  My third grade son is obsessed with history, and I have worked hard to find historical fiction novels for my students in my ELA classroom. 

Here are a few of my son's favorite historical fiction texts...

He has plowed through the entire I Survived...series of 11-novels.  He is so fascinated by historical events and these books bring up some awesome discussions with him.  While some of these events hadn't yet taken place when I was in elementary school, I would have enjoyed history more with books like these.

If you are looking for high-interest historical fiction texts that are fast-paced to hold student attention, find these at your local library, or buy them.  Your students will fly through them.  The books are designed for grades 3-5, but can easily be utilized with older readers.  The author's website allows you the chance to read about each book by clicking on the cover.  In addition, she provides an Educator's Guide for teaching the novels that are common core aligned.  Head to her website here: Lauren Tarshis

A few historical fiction novels I have utilized with my 6th graders are: 

• Bud, Not Buddy (The Great Depression)
• The Whipping Boy (1700s)

These two books contain male main characters that are both witty and on a quest for true happiness.  These early adolescent years send most boys and girls on a bit of a quest to figure out who they are, so my 6th grade students are really able to connect to these clever characters.

Summary of Bud, Not Buddy: Bud is an orphan after his mother's death and is sent from the Home to the Amoses where he is mistreated and flees.  He wants to find the person in the flyers he keeps in his suitcase that he believes to be his father.  Bud takes the reader on an adventure to find his forever home. 

Summary of The Whipping Boy: Prince Horace is known as Prince Brat to all of the kingdom.  He is a spoiled brat that refuses to learn and loves to play pranks on others because he has no consequences.  He has a whipping boy that gets punished every time the prince has a misstep.  One night Prince Horace decides to runaway and takes Jemmy, his whipping boy, on the adventure of their lives.  As much as they boys seem to despise one another at the beginning of the story, they form a bond and their lives are changed forever by the end of the novel.

Your students will love Bud's quick wit and resilience.  They will also grow tired of Prince Horace, but understand that the life of the rich and famous is not all that it is cracked up to be.

I created this FREEBIE summary organizer that works perfectly for any fictional text, so grab it below...

I have also created novel units with lesson plans to go with Bud, Not Buddy and The Whipping Boy.

Challenge your students with these AMAZING historical fiction texts-they won't be able to put them down, and more importantly, they won't need special videos to learn about history! I would love to hear about any historical fiction gems your students can't get enough of!

Yuck! It's STILL winter! Some Upper Elementary Resources and a FREEBIE to make it through!

I am linking up with my friend, Carla at Comprehension Connection for her Thematic Thursday Link-Up.  The focus for this week is WINTER!

I enjoy winter in Ohio as much as I enjoy getting hit in the face with a snowy iceball!

Here is a favorite meme that my spinning instructor shared with me that makes me question the fact that I reside in Cincinnati...

I will tell you that despite my above rant-I don't complain a whole lot about it.  I know that by April or May, I will be loving life again and enjoying the fact that I get to spend 90% of my time outside.

I find this time to be tough on my own children and students as well.  They often are stuck inside for recess due to temperature restrictions and are antsy to get some fresh air and exercise. Watching videos, playing board games, and coloring are all great time-fillers for recess, but kids really just want to be outside.

While there is always an instructional calendar in place, my reading passages and novel unit selections vary each year during these winter months.  Some years I am perfectly fine with the colder weather, and other years all I can do to stay sane is dream of places like sunny Florida or dry and temperature-perfect, Arizona, while I am bundling up and racing around to stay warm.

BOOK IDEAS

If you are looking for a novel to share with your upper elementary students to help them escape the cold, check out Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.  The setting of the novel is sunny Arizona.  While you navigate through this mystical, realistic fiction novel, it will feel like a mini-escape from the cold temps, at least for a little while. This novel is about a girl that after being home-schooled, enters high school at Mica Area High School where her uniqueness is not welcomed.  Her non-conformity irks all the wrong people and she battles with the idea of staying true to herself or changing in order for people to like her.  It is the perfect novel to share with students that are at this impressionable stage and heading to middle school.

     

When I am really over all of the student complaints about cold, I love to share Woodsong by Gary Paulsen with my students.  This is the ideal text to share with my students in the bitter cold January and Feburary winter months because while we complain about the cold here in Cincinnati, it certainly isn't as cold here as it is in Minnesota or Alaska, for goodness sake!  The novel is a memoir of what led Gary to train and run the Iditarod in Alaska.  Your students will not even think about complaining of the cold when they read about Gary's experiences running a trapline through the Minnesota woods and the different stages of the unforgettable dogsled race.  Here is the novel and unit to assist your instruction...

READER'S THEATER IDEA...

And when you realize that you can't beat winter, so you just need to join it, there is this fun reader's theater for fluency, word work, comprehension, and writing fun.  Your students will love reading this high interest realistic fiction passage about a snowy recess in which the assistant principal's silly action leads to a student getting carried away and injuring another. The lesson students will take away is that "Rules are made for a reason" and we as adults need to be reminded of that sometimes.

And finally, a FREEBIE...

Stay warm!

What are your children hoping and praying for this Christmas? Black Friday Wish List and Giveaway

So the flyer madness has begun in my household.  Before the mail carrier can even get the toy flyers into our mail slot, he is almost ruffed up and tackled to the ground by my five year old daughter.  OK, I exaggerate a bit, but the girl is nuts for these things.  She gets the booklet from the mailman, races to the kitchen table, busts out her tub of markers, and becomes elated with each toy she circles.  She is almost out of marker ink at this rate!  I have already informed her that there is NO way Santa will be bringing her everything on her FROZEN wishlist.  Baby Jesus didn't need a life-size Elsa doll...

The wishlist for my oldest son is an iPad Air and Beats headphones, holy Moses at 8, the expensive items already get added.   My littlest son has no clue and is very delighted with any Matchbox car he has in his hand and loves the new bell he acquired because he got to put a dollar in the Salvation Army bucket.  My daughter simply needs to relocate to Disney World so she can live with Elsa and Anna, the Frozen sisters. 

Teacher Friends,
I know that this is an especially crazy time of year for you!  You are busy creating the best working environment in your classroom with engaging lessons.  The holidays are coming, so you are doing all you can to get everything in that you have planned to teach before the winter holiday break.  Your students are starting to get just as excited with the anticipation of everything!  In addition, I know you have 60 bazillion things going on outside of school to prepare for...family gifts, travels, meal planning and making, etc.  Your list is endless!  I feel your joy and pain!

I am not one to make a list, but shopping through teacher stores, I have a few things I can't wait to purchase for my classroom as soon as these items go on sale...I am obsessed with all KG Fonts and Tracee Orman knows her Hunger Games Trilogy stuff.  Her units are amazing!  I am not tackling the mailman or furiously circling.  Instead I am just crossing my fingers for a sale!

If you are not into fonts and middle to high school novel units, here are some items that I am thinking you might like.  I will be giving all 4 of these away and will also be planning a sale in the coming days (wink wink)!  As a special gift, I would like to give away this bundle of products...enter the giveaway below.  The giveaway runs from November 24-November 28th!  Enter the Rafflecopter and good luck to you!  Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I would love for you to share any awesome gift ideas or teacher things that are on your list.  Comment below to share because I may need to update my wishlist!

Head to the Primary Pack and enter to win more goodies...

  

Novel Ideas and Units for the Hard To Reach Middle Schooler...

If you are like me, you are always on the prowl and in search of that BEST novel to share with your readers.  The other trick is that different school years bring completely different readers.  Some years will bring very naive students with more sheltered experiences, while others bring the complete opposite.  Is this true of your students as well?

Recently I was having a conversation with a teacher about novels to read in her classroom.  She teaches inner-city students with very challenging backgrounds and she needs novels that will accommodate and inspire their needs as readers.  I get it!  It can be an absolute challenge to encourage learning to occur, when survival is the focus of your day.  While the majority of my experience has also been in an urban setting with readers in search of novels they can connect with and relate to, every year has not been quite that extreme.

Here are a few novels and units for upper elementary through middle school that we found to support and meet our students' needs:

The Lottery Rose is about a young boy named Georgie who is removed from his mother's home and taken to a boy's home because he is abused by her boyfriend.  It is a story about how he has to heal in order to move on in his life and survive.  This novel will truly change you as a teacher and the mindsets of your students as they grapple with the idea that we often have no idea what another person might be experiencing in their personal life, but is imperative that we are empathetic and understanding as human beings.

Maniac Magee is the story of a boy who's parents die in a fatal train accident.  Shortly after, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle who do nothing but argue.  This arguing forces him to run and not stop until he finds the best possible place to live.  It is in an unlikely place and with a family who does not look like him, but will definitely provide him with the love he needs to survive.  Your students will love reading about how Jeffrey takes challenges head on, and through struggling, finds what he is looking for.

Missing May is the story about a girl who is adopted/taken in by her Aunt May and Uncle Ob.  Six years later, her Aunt May dies in the garden unexpectedly, leaving Summer and Ob alone and struggling to go on.  This novel shares how sometimes we truly have to grieve the loss of someone in order to move on, and also that sometimes what we think we need isn't meant to be.  This novel is told from Summer's perspective, which gives students the opportunity to take on a novel from the first person narrative view. 

While each of these novels seems to deal with loss, it is common place for many of our youth.  Some have lost a parent, a grandparent, a close relative or friend, and there is peace in knowing they are not alone.  They struggle to read novels that they can't connect with, so it is imperative that we as teachers find them materials that are more relate-able.  I would love to hear about some of the best novels and units you have for your hard to reach students.