Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Running Out of Books {SOL 5.02.17}

I have a problem....

I am running out of books for my some of my students to read.

Not all of my students, just a few of the higher level girls.

(The boys seem to be happy with a constant diet of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate or Goosebumps.)

These girls have read everything I've got. Pax. Hour of the Bees. Fish in a Tree. The Red Pencil. Wish. The Last Fifth Grade. Raymie Nightengale. Land of the Forgotten Girls. The Seventh Wish. The War That Saved My Life. Almost Home. Mr. Lemoncello. Echo.

And more.

You see, we are nearing the end of our second year together. We looped together from fourth grade to fifth grade so they lost out on having access to a new teacher's library. They were high readers in fourth grade and even higher in fifth.

Now I'm finding that not only do I not have new book recommendations for them, many of the books that are available for them at their reading level are not "appropriate" for fifth-grade girls. (LOVE and other things like that.)

I've tried to encourage them to reread a few of their favorites and they have. But it is killing me not being able to put new books into their hands.

Suggestions?





8 comments:

  1. I didn't think it was possible! I don't know 5th grade titles as well as 3rd....do you tweet with your class? Maybe they could ask for recommendations from other kids and then you can see if your school library has them? @kpteach5 and @literacydocent are my go-to's for books for that grade! :)

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  2. I've flipped the tables with some of my students recently. Instead of me recommending books to them (I still do, but not exclusively), I deputized them as book scouts. The idea is that they would go off to the local library (or bookstore if they're a family that does that) and search out new titles for the school. I tasked them not only with finding books that are perfect for themselves, but books that might appeal to various audiences. For example, can you find a book that your 3rd grade self would have loved?

    They might discover Ms. Bixby's Last Day, The Cabinet of Wonders, A Snicker of Magic, A Tangle of Knots, or others like those. Or have they read Anne of Green Gables about another book-loving girl?

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  3. I've flipped the tables with some of my students recently. Instead of me recommending books to them (I still do, but not exclusively), I deputized them as book scouts. The idea is that they would go off to the local library (or bookstore if they're a family that does that) and search out new titles for the school. I tasked them not only with finding books that are perfect for themselves, but books that might appeal to various audiences. For example, can you find a book that your 3rd grade self would have loved?

    They might discover Ms. Bixby's Last Day, The Cabinet of Wonders, A Snicker of Magic, A Tangle of Knots, or others like those. Or have they read Anne of Green Gables about another book-loving girl?

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  4. Yikes! @guerrette79 (Melissa) is another great source. Good luck!

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  5. I panic over the same issue. How about THE KEY TO EXTRAORDINARY, ONE AMAZING ELEPHANT, THE WARDEN'S DAUGHTER, CLOUD AND WALLFISH, MS. BIXBY'S LAST DAY, THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH, and SERAFINA'S PROMISE. I scout the public library and check the books out under my name and share them with my readers. I wish I had enough $$$ to but them all! Happy reading!

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  6. Goodluck! That is also a good thing because it shows they love reading! Try padlet as well were they can share book recommendations to one another and get ideas from their peers!

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  7. Have you tried prose novels by Helen Frost. She writes brilliantly. Hidden is a favorite of mine!!

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  8. I'm thinking your problem is getting more books into your room. I had that problem once and went to the neighborhood public library. When I told the librarian my problem, she did something special-- she'd check out 20-24 books at a time to me. She would even pull titles for me and have them waiting when I got there. I'd keep them about a month. We had a special basket that these books were kept in. They had three places they could be-- in the basket, on top of a desk (never in a desk), or in their hands. They couldn't take them home or put them in their backpacks (the only down side) but I could afford to have them lost. No book was ever lost. :) Don't know if they could bend the "rules" like that now in this digital age.

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