Standards-Based Reading Excellence

 

Today's Snack: Place a slice of American cheese between two slices of bologna. Cut in several narrow strips the same width. Pile on top of each other. Then cut into squares. Secure each square into a "sandwich" with a toothpick. Eat with a tall glass of milk.

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            Here are some wonderful "reads" that match up with the learning standards and expectations in many school districts. These books are separated by approximate grade level. These would be excellent choices for your child's out-of-school reading enjoyment. They'd be great family read-alouds, as well.

 

You can ask your child's teacher or your school's principal to give you a list of recommended reading for every grade level, and see if these books are on there. If they are, you wouldn't want to double up by getting the same book for your child to read at home that he or she will later study in school.

 

But if they aren't, here are some great gift-giving ideas for birthdays and holidays . . . with the timeless ideas and imagery of quality literature that every child needs.

 

 

                                  Scientific and technological literacy.

 

                                 K-4   Water Dance, Thomas Locker

                                 5-8   The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury

                               9-12   The Silent Spring, Rachel Carson

            reluctant reader   Illustrated biography of Leonardo daVinci

                           

 

                                          Multiculturalism.

 

                                 K-4   The Unbreakable Code, Sara Hunter

                                                                     (Navajo heroes in WWII)

                                 5-8   The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom

                                                                     (Holocaust heroine)

                               9-12   The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. DuBois

            reluctant reader   Slave Day, Rob Thomas

 

                                         

                                         Global awareness.

 

                                 K-4   The Arabian Nights, Scheherazade

                                 5-8   Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling

                               9-12   One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,

                                               Alexander Solzhenitsyn

            reluctant reader   The Big Wave, Pearl S. Buck

 

 

                                         Character.

 

                                 K-4   The Children's Book of Virtues,

                                               William J. Bennett

                                 5-8   The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter

                               9-12   The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

            reluctant reader   My Side of the Mountain,

                                                                     Jean Craighead George

 

 

                                          Work ethic.

 

                                 K-4   Jordi's Star, Alma Flor Ada

                                 5-8   Bridge Over the River Kwai, Pierre Boulle

                               9-12   Great Expectations, Charles Dickens.

            reluctant reader   Justin Morgan Had a Horse,

                                                                     Marguerite Henry

 

 

                                         Lifelong learning.

 

                                 K-4   Lyrics from folk songs about work

                                 5-8   Don Quixote of La Mancha,

                                                                     Miguel de Cervantes

                               9-12   "Civil Disobedience," Henry David Thoreau

            reluctant reader   The Library Card, Jerry Spinelli

 

 

                                         Social skills.

 

                                 K-4   Treasury for Children, James Herriot

                                 5-8   Poor Richard's Almanack, Benjamin Franklin

                               9-12   Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

            reluctant reader   Biographies of their heroes

 

 

                                         Problem Solving.

 

                                 K-4   Fairy tales

                                 5-8   The Count of Monte Cristo,

                                                                     Alexandre Dumas

                               9-12   The Shame of the Cities, Lincoln Steffens

            reluctant reader   Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne

 

 

                                         Group Interaction.

 

                                 K-4   The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Robert Browning

                                 5-8   Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

                               9-12   The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

            reluctant reader   Oaths: Boy Scouts, Hippocratic, inaugural, etc.

 

 

                                         Creativity.

 

                                 K-4   American folktales

                                 5-8   Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

                               9-12   Humorous and wise quotes and proverbs

            reluctant reader   Lyrics of current musical groups and artists.

 

 

                                         Citizenship.

 

                                 K-4   Aesop's Fables

                                 5-8   Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson

                               9-12   Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy (socialism)

            reluctant reader   The Yearling, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings