From: Kathy Isaacs <kisaacs>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:02:18 -0400

At Edmund Burke school, for the last ten years, I have used the penultimate 20 minutes of my sixth graders' day (right before reflection journal writing) for read-aloud . I chose books that seemed relevant to the theme of the term or the time of year, books that were new and unavailable in paperback, books I thought might be Newbery contenders ( my personal goal was to be in the process of reading or to have read to my students an honored book before the announcement), and books I just thought would be fun to read. My sixth graders strongly preferred funny stories, but would happily listen to anything. A list of some of the more successful books I've read recently is below; the capitalized ones were read year after year. I didn't include picture books, but I used them as well.


CRASH - Jerry Spinelli

SEES BEHIND TREES - Michael Dorris

A BOOK OF COUPONS - Susie Morgenstern (a good beginning of the year story)

How Angel Peterson Got His Name - Gary Paulsen

THE WANDERINGS OF ODYSSEUS - Rosemary Sutcliffe (goes with /Homecoming/)

Hoot - Carl Hiassen

Joey Pigza Swallowed a Key - Jack Gantos

The River Between Us - Richard Peck

The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo

THE ARKADIANS - Lloyd Alexander

THE MISFITS - James Howe (another good early in the year book)

The Same Stuff as Stars - Kathryn Paterson

Love that Dog - Sharon Creech

Because of Winn-Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

A Year Down Yonder - Richard Peck

King of Shadows - Susan Cooper

Janitor?s Boy - Andrew Clements

HARRIS AND ME - Gary Paulsen

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkein (this takes a long time)

THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM, 1963 - Christopher Paul Curtis

SEEDFOLKS - Paul Fleischman

Dave at Night - Gail Carson Levine


Kathy Isaacs
Received on Thu 19 Aug 2004 05:02:18 PM CDT