There are no adult fiction books in the library, either, even though some of my sixth graders could read them. Eric read Robert Louis Stevenson’s horror classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and then moved on to Michael Crichton’s adventures Jurassic Park and The Lost World. Michelle is slowly making her way through her mother’s favorite, Jane Eyre. I support advanced readers as much as my developing ones, but I am careful about the line between support and providing adult reading materials to eleven-year-olds. Just because a gifted reader can read more advanced texts does not mean that they are emotionally ready for adult themes and issues. This is not my decision to make; it is a parent’s decision. Gifted readers should read fiction close to their age level and nonfiction at their advanced reading level (Halsted, 2002). In keeping with this principle, I have gathered college textbooks and adult nonfiction texts on a variety of topics of interest to my students, but I limit the fiction offerings to what is age-appropriate.
The majority of the book choices for our library grow from my own reading experiences and continual recommendations from my network of teachers, librarians, friends, and students. I try to read every book before I place it in the library. Reading a book every few days over summers and holidays, and one book a week during the school year, I rack up about a hundred books a year. Occasionally, I will add an unread book to the library, but only if I have read something else by the author. And I add it to my reading list as soon as possible.
Appendix B: Ultimate Library List
I COULD USE my diverse knowledge of books to create a list for you that would make a killer library. Lord knows a bibliophile like me could spend blissful hours composing it. (It would be an extreme version of the desert island-game!) But in keeping with my beliefs that my students run the reading show in every way possible, I have asked them to create a list for you of the books every teacher, grades five through eight, should have in their class library. I tried to set one hundred books as an arbitrary number for the list, but my students kept those titles coming! Because this list reflects the interests and tastes of real students today, you may not see your favorite authors or treasured books here. Remember item 10 in Pennac’s The Rights of the Reader: the right not to defend your tastes.
These books are the books the children like to read, not those that a teacher chose for them. I made no attempt to balance reading levels, genres, or topics. The third column of the table indicates titles that have a sequel or are the first in a series. You could expand your library by adding the subsequent titles. Once your students are hooked on a series, they will want to read the rest.
Ultimate Library List (grouped by genre; alphabetical by author)
TitleAuthorSequel or Series?
Realistic Fiction
Nothing But The Truth Avi
Hope Was Here Bauer, Joan
Rules of the Road Bauer, Joan Yes
Tangerine Bloor, Edward
Frindle Clements, Andrew
School Story Clements, Andrew
The Chocolate War Cormier, Robert Yes
Walk Two Moons Creech, Sharon
Chasing Redbird Creech, Sharon
Seedfolks Fleischman, Paul
The Clique Harrison, Lisi Yes
The View from Saturday Konigsburg, E. L.
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place Konigsburg, E. L.
Silent to the Bone Konigsburg, E. L.
The Sixth Grade Nickname Game Korman, Gordon
Son of the Mob Korman, Gordon Yes
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life Mass, Wendy
Tripping Over the Lunch Lady Mercado, Nancy
Hatchet Paulsen, Gary Yes
The Boy Who Saved Baseball Ritter, John
The Schwa Was Here Shusterman, Neal
Peak Smith, Roland
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Sonnenblick, Jordan
Maniac Magee Spinelli, Jerry
Loser Spinelli, Jerry
Wringer Spinelli, Jerry
Stargirl Spinelli, Jerry Yes
Surviving the Applewhites Tolan, Stephanie
Each Little Bird That Sings Wiles, Deborah
Love, Ruby Lavender Wiles, Deborah
Fantasy
The Word Eater Amato, Mary
The Underneath Appelt, Kathi
Artemis Fowl Colfer, Eoin Yes
Gregor the Overlander Collins, Suzanne Yes
The Sea of Trolls Farmer, Nancy Yes
The Thief Lord Funke, Cornelia
Inkheart Funke, Cornelia Yes
Princess Academy Hale, Shannon
Children of the Lamp Kerr, P. B. Yes
Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Capture Lasky, Kathryn Yes
Ella Enchanted Levine, Gail Carson
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Lewis, C. S. Yes
Twilight Meyer, Stephenie Yes
Eragon Paolini, Christopher Yes
The Lightning Thief Riordan, Rick Yes
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Rowling, J. K. Yes
Midnighters Westerfeld, Scott Yes
The Warrior Heir Chima, Cinda Williams Yes
The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp Yancey, Rick Yes
Historical Fiction
Fever 1793 Anderson, Laurie Halse
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Avi
Crispin: The Cross of Lead Avi Yes
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Coerr, Eleanor
The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Curtis, Christopher Paul
Bud, Not Buddy Curtis, Christopher Paul
Catherine, Called Birdy Cushman, Karen
Stone Fox Gardiner, John Reynolds
Number the Stars Lowry, Lois
A Boy at War Mazer, Harry Yes
Kensuke’s Kingdom Morpurgo, Michael
Private Peaceful Morpurgo, Michael
Soldier’s Heart Paulsen, Gary
Where the Red Fern Grows Rawls, Wilson
Riding Freedom Ryan, Pam Munoz
Esperanza Rising Ryan, Pam Munoz
Under the Blood-Red Sun Salisbury, Graham
The Wednesday Wars Schmidt, Gary
Homeless Bird Whelan, Gloria
The Ravenmaster’s Secret Woodruff, Elvira
Hiroshima Yep, Laurence
The Devil’s Arithmetic Yolen, Jane
Science Fiction
Things Not Seen Clements, Andrew
The Supernaturalist Colfer, Eoin
The Last Dog on Earth Ehrenhaft, Daniel
The House of the Scorpion Farmer, Nancy
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm Farmer, Nancy
Among the Hidden Haddix, Margaret Peterson Yes
Double Identity Haddix, Margaret Peterson
Stormbreaker Horowitz, Anthony Yes
The Giver Lowry, Lois Yes
The Beasties Sleator, William
Cryptid Hunter Smith, Roland
Uglies Westerfeld, Scott Yes
Mystery
Chasing Vermeer Balliet, Blue Yes
Half-Moon Investigations Colfer, Eoin
The Face on the Milk Carton Cooney, Caroline Yes
Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery Feinstein, John
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Konigsburg, E. L.
On the Run: Chasing the Falconers Korman, Gordon Yes
How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found Nickerson, Sara
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief Van Draanen, Wendelin Yes
Traditional Literature
D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths D’Aulaire, Ingri
D’Aulaire’s Book of Norse Myths D’Aulaire, Ingri
Myths and Legends Horowitz, Anthony
The Rough-Face Girl Martin, Rafe
The Outlaws of Sherwood McKinley, Robin
Beast Napoli, Donna Jo
Bound Napoli, Donna Jo
Favorite Greek Myths Osborne, Mary Pope
The Once and Future King White, T. H.
Greyling Yolen, Jane
Here There Be Dragons Yolen, Ja
ne Yes
Poetry
Love That Dog Creech, Sharon
If You’re Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand Dakos, Kalli
Joyful Noise Fleischman, Paul
Toasting Marshmallows George, Kristine O’Connell
I Never Said I Wasn’t Difficult Holbrook, Sara
Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices Janeczko, Paul
The Headless Horseman Rides Tonight Prelutsky, Jack
For Laughing Out Loud Prelutsky, Jack
Where the Sidewalk Ends Silverstein, Shel
A Light in the Attic Silverstein, Shel
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies Sones, Sonya
What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sones, Sonya
Biographies, Autobiographies, and Memoirs
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Frank, Anne
Helen Keller: A Photographic Story of a Life Garrett, Leslie Yes
The Tarantula in My Purse George, Jean Graighead
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam Huynh, Quang Nhuong and Tseng, Jean & Mou-sien
Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio Kehret, Peg
Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela Keller, Bill
How Angel Peterson Got His Name Paulsen, Gary
My Life in Dog Years Paulsen, Gary
Informational
Hitler Youth Bartoletti, Susan
World War II DK Eyewitness Books Yes
The Way Things Work Macaulay, David
Gastle Macaulay, David Yes
Oh Rats! The Story of Rats and People Marrin, Albert and Mordan, C. B.
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy! Stewart, David, Salariya, David, and Antram, David Yes
Appendix C: Student Forms
Source: Reis et al., 2005. “Reading Interest-A-Lyzer.” Copyright © 2005 by Sally M. Reis. Based on the Interest-A-Lyzer by Joseph S. Renzulli.
References
Allen, J. (2000). Yellow brick roads: Shared and guided paths to independent reading 4-12. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Allington, R. L. (1977). If they don’t read much, how they ever gonna get good ? Journal of Reading (later renamed Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy), 21, 57-61.
Allington, R. L. (2006). What really matters for struggling readers: Designing research-based programs. Boston: Pearson.
Alsup, J., & Bush, J. (2003). But will it work with real students? Scenarios for teaching secondary English language arts. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of Language Arts.
Anderson, R. C., Hiebert, C. H., Scott, J. A., & Wilkinson, I.A.G. (1985). Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the Commission on Reading. Washington, DC: National Institute of Education.
Applegate, A. J., & Applegate, M. D. (2004). The Peter effect: Reading habits and attitudes of preservice teachers. Reading Teacher, 57(6), 554-563.
Atwell, N. (1998). In the middle: New understandings about writing, reading, and learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Blasingame, J. (2007). Books that don’t bore ’em: Young adult books that speak to this generation. New York: Scholastic.
Calkins, L. (1994). The art of teaching writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Cambourne, B. (1995). Toward an educationally relevant theory of literacy learning: Twenty years of inquiry. Reading Teacher, 49(3), 182-190.
Crowe, C. (1999, September). Young adult literature. English Journal, 89(1), 139.
Elmore, R. F. (2002, May). Hard questions about practice. Educational Leadership, 59(8), 22-25.
Fisher, D., & Ivey, G. (2007, March). Farewell to A Farewell to Arms: Deemphasizing the whole-class novel. Phi Delta Kappan, pp. 494-497.
Fountas, I., & Pinnell, G. (2001). Guiding readers and writers (Grades 3-6): Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fram, A. (2007, August 21). One in four read no books last year. Retrieved August 22, 2007, from The Washington Post at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082101045.html
Gambrell, L. (1996). Creating classroom cultures that foster reading motivation. Reading Teacher, 50(1), 14-25.
Halsted, J. W. (2002). Some of my best friends are books: Guiding gifted readers from preschool to high school. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
Jacobs, B., & Hjalmarsson, H. (Eds.). (2002). The quotable book lover. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press.
Keene, E., & Zimmerman, S. (1997). Mosaic of thought: Teaching comprehension in a reader’s workshop. Portsmouth, NH : Heinemann.
Krashen, S. (2004). The power of reading: Insights from the research. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Pennac, D. (2006). The rights of the reader. London: Walker Books. Quindlen, A. (1998). How reading changed my life. New York: Ballantine.
Reis, S. M., et al. (2005). The Schoolwide Enrichment Model—Reading framework (SEM-R). Storrs: National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut.
Robinson, J. (2005, December 18). Why you should read children’s books as an adult. Retrieved March 30, 2008, from Jen Robinson’s Book Page at http://jkrbooks.typepad.com/blog/2005/12/why_you_should_.html
Rosenblatt, L. (1969). Towards a transactional theory of reading. Journal of Reading Behavior, 1(1), 31-51.
Ruddell, R. (1995). Those influential literacy teachers: Meaning negotiators and motivation builders. Reading Teacher, 48(6), 454-463.
Samuels, C. A. (2007, September, 10). Experts eye solutions to “fourth grade slump.” Education Week, 27(3). Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/09/12/03slump.h27.html
Stanovich, K. E. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21(4), 360-407.
Thomas, L., & Tchudi, S. (1999). The English language: An owner’s manual. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Weaver, C. (1996). Teaching grammar in context. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook.
Index
A
Accelerated Reader
Achievement: assessing students’ ; gap in reader; improving with independent reading ; teacher’s reading habits and student. See also Assessment
Activities: focusing extra; fun folders; teacher’s self-reflection
Adults: modeling reading for children ; reading statistics for; views on student reading
Allen, Janet
Allington, Richard
Alsup, J.
Amazon website
American Library Association
Anderson, R. C.
Angelou, Maya
Applegate, Anthony and Mary
Art of Teaching Writing, The (Calkin)
“Ask the Mentor”
Assessment: book groups for students’; conversations with students as; reader’s notebooks for; reading logs for independent reading; traditional comprehension tests as . See also Reader’s notebooks
Association for Library Services to Children: Literary Awards
Atwell, Nancy
Audible
Audiotapes of books
Authors: building familiarity with; introducing with read-alouds
B
Becoming a Nation of Readers (Commission on Reading)
Behavior during in-class reading
Billingsley, Peter
Birrell, Augustine
Black and Blue (Quindlen)
Blake, Quentin
Blasingame, J.
Book clubs
Book groups
Book lists: favorite read-aloud books; keeping own; published; students’ “Ultimate Library List” ; for whole-class novels
Book pass log
Book reports: book commercials vs.;
book reviews; book talks ; student criticism of; traditional
Book selections: book pass logs for; discussing; encouraging students to make; learning goals and personal ; leaving to students ; making for classroom library; making your own; shaping reader’s self-identity with; validating. See also Book lists; Reader’s notebooks
“Book Whisperer, The”
Booklinks
Booklist
Bookplates
Books: acquiring classroom library; audiotapes, CDs, and podcasts of; building knowledge of genres; caring for; carrying everywhere; checking out; connecting with others via; discussing how to choose; identifying by genre; immersing students in; introducing; leaving choice to students ; limiting concepts taught for; selecting for classroom libraries; sharing responses to; showing how to use; size of; storing; validating student’s choice of. See also Book reports; Book selections; Classroom libraries
Books That Don’t Bore ’Em (Blasingame)
Bucking the Sarge (Curtis)
Bush, J.
C
Calkins, Lucy
Cambourne, Brian
CDs of books
Celebrating student milestones
Characteristics of Genre form
Children’s books: reading; “Ultimate Library List” of
Chocolate War, The (Cormier)
Classroom: about strategies in; approaches to literacy in; conditions for learning in; demotivating practices in ; expanding reading time in ; independent reading during interruptions; making place for reading; transforming into workshop. See also Classroom libraries
Classroom libraries: acquiring books for ; book check out from ; caring for books in; Miller’s; selecting books for ; storing books in; “Ultimate Library List” for
Click Here (Vega)
Commission on Reading
Comprehension tests;, See also Standardized testing
Cormier, Robert
Crichton, Michael
Crowe, Chris
Crucible, The (Miller)
Curriculum: alternatives to whole-class novels ; fitting independent reading to ; grammar lessons vs. independent reading; reading after other work completed; tailoring reading requirements to; teaching whole-class novels