Reads for Reluctant Readers

Colorful pictures and a high-interest topic will get the attention of most hard-to-reach readers every time. The Magic School Bus book series gets a lot of use in my 4th grade classroom and what most students (and their parents) don’t get is how deceptively challenging non-fiction texts can be. Students have to track the text all over the place, instead of the basic left to right of traditional texts. Then here are all those awesome vocabulary words.

Lesson Ideas: These books, along with the videos, are a great way to convey science content, but I’d also think about using a page or two to model how to read a non-fiction text. Students can then grab another title in the series to do some practice on their own.

Pro Tip: Check the age levels for each book as they can range quite a bit. I keep a big bucket of these in a plastic bin in my classroom library with the label “Magic School Bus.” Works like a charm. 

(via )

More on the Amulet Series, with an actual description of the plot!

realkidsgoodbooks:

The Stonekeeper (2008), The Stonekeepers Curse (2009), The Cloud Searchers (2010), The Last Council (2011) a.k.a. the Amulet Series by Kazu Kibuishi.

I’m woefully behind the curve for cutting edge new releases, if you hadn’t noticed already. Mainly I just poke around the library until I find interesting books that I want to read myself, share with my own kids or feature here. So pardon my lateness if you are already an Amulet fanatic. Hopefully there’s room for just one more gushing review in the great pantheon of gushing reviews. And who knows? There might just be someone out there who needs a little heads up about this addictively fun series. 

First thing to know: Do not just get the first book in this series. You will need to devour all four of them in ravenous gulps as quickly as possible. Then be prepared to feel an empty hole inside your soul when you realize that the story goes on and you will now have to wait and wait for Book 5. (I tried to find some information about a Book 5 release, but couldn’t find anything except that it’ll be called The Elf King. Please note that I cannot vouch for the source on that tidbit. I’m basically repeating internet gossip on that one.)

What’s so great about Amulet then? The protagonist is a girl who is not completely popping out of her leotard, as in almost every other comic book out there. And this girl (Emily) is so bad-ass that boys are going to identify with her powers to kick booty and not even blink over the fact that she’s a girl. As for girls who pick up Amulet, hopefully they’ll just enjoy the ride and not even blink over the fact that there’s been such a pathetic paucity of girl action heroines who are not sex sirens in comics before now. 

The artwork is wow, super wow, holy wow wow, super good. The plot lines whip along and swerve into surprises. There are dangerous antagonists trying to destroy everything. There’s a fox-fighter, a rabbit, robots and a resistance. 

What more could you want? Kazu Kibuishi has created a new standard for graphic novels. I can’t wait to see where the story takes us next. 

(Image source: Wired)

As an adult, I will read the odd graphic novel, but my fourth grade students love them. (I believe the art in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is a important part of its success.) I bought this book because I read a review somewhere awhile back that this series was good. And it was available at the local used book shop for cheap!

I gave it to one of my less inclined readers and he finished it in a day. Then another lower reader asked to borrow it next. Then another. Soon, all of the kids who rarely contribute to book discussions were talking about this book without me even being a part of the conversation. Like, during lunch. They asked me if I had the next one (there are four in the series), which I didn’t, but I bought it that night. 

Lesson Ideas: I can see using a few pages of the text to do a guided reading lesson on inferences - think about how much you have to infer from just a few frames of images! There are lesson plans on the Scholastic website, but I think the fun for them was just devouring a good book in a day or so.

Pro Tip: This is a Scholastic book, so get it with those Book Club Bonus Points.

As with any learning community, setting a positive tone is essential to strong outcomes. Ryan here is my way of saying, “You are going to find what you need to get that one kid to stop interrupting silent reading time because he doesn’t have anything he wants to read.” My hope is to create a blog to help you reach those readers. -M 

(Source: heygirlteacher)