5th+Grade+Read-Alouds

9/2/09 From Ellen

__How Angel Peterson Got His Name__ by Gary Paulsen is a hilarious read aloud. I usually read the intro and maybe the first chapter in the library to the fifth graders. They love it! It is a little naughty and funny. It would be fun to read the whole book to the class.

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. In addition, one of the books in the middle school chapter book category would be a great read aloud that ties into the 5th grade social studies curriculum.

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.

Middle School Chapter Book
Blood on the River - James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone

Samuel Collier, an orphan and street urchin, become a page to Captain John Smith and boards the Susan Constant bound for the new world. Beginning with his journey, and with his first contact with the native people, he realizes this is nota land paved with gold. The settlers endure hardship. The ways the English do things don't suit this new land. Samuel is ready to learn and has the opportunity to learn from the English and the Powhatan. A great adventure story with authentic details.