6th books

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Home : 2002 : August : 12

6th books
By Tia

The books I do with my 6th graders are: Island of the Blue Dolphins--good to start the year because it's a quick/easy read. The main character is a girl, but the boys get into it because it is a survival story.

The Phantom
Tollbooth--Excellent book, rich use of language--figurative language, alliteration, said synonyms, idiom, hyperbole....fantasy. This book needs a lot of teacher explanation--especially the lower 6th graders who don't always get all the twisted meanings--"It's as easy as falling off a log," said the Earl, falling off a log.
The Westing Game--a puzzle mystery--probably my favorite

book ever. I read this with my class as they read along--we stop every couple paragraphs so I can ask, "Why did he say that?" "The author has not attributed this quote to a particular character. Who said it? How do you know?" "What does this clue lead us to believe?" I hang up posters for each character--16 characters--same number of pieces in a chess game, hmmmm....and the students keep track of what we know about each character. We also keep track of all the clues, so we can solve the mystery.
PT and WG are pretty sophisticated stories--it would take a real advanced 5th grader to read them on his/her own.

Maniac Magee can be used with 5th or 6th--it is also an easy/fast read with a lot of discussion/application potential.

Tuck Everlasting is good, too. Can't teach it to my 6th graders since the 5th at my school teach it.

The View From Saturday is also a good book for pumping up your students for learning and accepting others' differences. I do this as a read aloud. I make a point of explaining to the students that the book follows different characters at different points of their lives.

I'm so jealous of all of you who are able to use Holes. It has been claimed by the 7th grades in our district--don't ask me why--so we are not allowed to use it.

I too wonder about those series. I started reading the Snicket series this summer, and I'm hooked--but I'm tired of buying new copies--why can't they be in paperback, already?! and the library never has the books in when I'm there! And WHY was #7 chosen for the Young Readers list this year? Seems strange to encourage children to read a book (if they haven't read the first 6). I like knowing that JK Rowling will only be doing 7 Harry books; I can look forward to the end of the series and not feel like I'm getting jammed for every penny. Anyone know how many installments Snicket has planned?