4th+Grade+Read-Alouds

9/16/09 from Ellen

Following is a list of some more recent titles I think would make good read-alouds:

Higher Power of Lucky by Sharon Patron (Newbery Winner in 2007) Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life. (Note: This book was controversial because of the word scrotum on the first page. Much ado about nothing.)

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy rabbit, loves only himself until he is separated from the little girl who adores him and travels across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories. (note: I have some good teacher material for this book. It has serious themes though it looks like the Velveteen Rabbit)

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.

The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Birney Eben McAllister searches his small town to see if he can find anything comparable to the real Seven Wonders of the World.

Worth by La Faye After breaking his leg, eleven-year-old Nate feels useless because he cannot work on the family farm in nineteenth-century Nebraska, so when his father brings home an orphan boy to help with the chores, Nate feels even worse.

Jerenmy Fink and the Meaning of LIfe by Wendy Mass Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless locked box--set aside by his father before his death five years earlier--that purportedly contains the meaning of life.

Each year the California Young Reader Medal program nominates books for awards.If students read all three books in each category, they can cast a vote for their favorite. I would be great if each teacher could choose one of the books in the Intermediate Chapter Book category to read aloud. Then a student only has to read two other books on their own to finish the category. I think that any of the three books in the intermediate category would make a good read aloud.

Intermediate Chapter Books:
No Talking by Andrew Clements

The 5th grade boys and 5th grade girls at Laketon Elementary don't get along very well. The real problem is that these kids are loud and disorderly. A contest is sparked - a whole day of no talking at school. Not in class, the hall, playground, etc. A contest between boys and girls. Whichever side talks less, wins. This book is about language and thought, about the power of words, spoken and unspoken.

A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

Zoe Elias has big musical dreams. She know that as soon as she gets a baby grand piano she'll be on her way. Trouble is, Zoe gets a wood-grained, vinyl-seated Perfectone D-60 organ. To add to her problems, her mom is always at work and her dad is afraid to leave the house, and an odd boy from school becomes a friend of the family. She enters the Perform-O-Rama organ competition and she discovers that sometime life's lopsidedness will help her find what she is really looking for.

A Friendship for Today by Patricia C. MicKissack

Twelve year old Rosemary Patterson is about the make history. She is among the first African American students in her town to enroll in a school that had once been an all-white school. Her best friend is diagnosed with polio and she must face the first day of school alone. At school, her worst tormentor is Grace Hamilton, a girl who is from an openly racist family. As the school year progresses, Rosemary struggles with her parents rocky marriage and forges a most unlikely friendship, with Grace Hamilton.