During the first quarter we have been learning about to be strategic readers through the use of signposts to analyze character, summarize text, and determine theme statements. The following books are recommended for students to read for independent reading to assist with these skills.
(Sharon Creech is the author of The Wanderer, a book all fourth grade classes are reading together. Reading other books that she has written will allow students to reinforce the style of the book that is being read aloud.) We will also be reading Love That Dog as a class.
Here are her other titles:
Absolutely Normal Chaos, Bloomability, The Boy on the Porch, The Castle Corona, Chasing Redbird, The Great Unexpected, Heartbeat, Ruby Holler, Pleasing the Ghost, Replay, The Unfinished Angel, Walk Two Moons, Granny Torrellini Makes Soup
As we read Love That Dog and discuss figurative language, here are some other texts that would help students understand verse and figurative language:
---Moo by Sharon Creech
---Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech
---May B by Caroline Starr Rose
---The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
---Looking for Me by Betsy Rosenthal
---Red Butterfly by A.L. Sonnichsen
---The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
---Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
---Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
---Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
---Words With Wings by Nikki Grimes
Common Core Exemplars: The first two pages of this document list recommended texts for all fourth and fifth grade students based on the reading curriculum.
Newbery Honors and Awards: This website provides the titles and authors of texts that have been selected for the Newbery Medal, as well as books of honor.
As we begin reading nonfiction and fiction focused on the history of North Carolina in mid-October, reading historical fiction texts can help readers build a stronger understanding of various time periods. The following books provide students with an opportunity to continue practicing the strategies we have learned about reading historical fiction:
---The Watson's Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis
---The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
---The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
---The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
---Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
---The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
---A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson
---Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
---One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
---The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
---Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper
---Island of the Blue Dolphins Scott O'Dell
---The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
---Dragon Wings by Laur Yep
---Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
---Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
---Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
---The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
---A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck
---In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
---Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
---Blood on the River by Elisa Carbone
---The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
---Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy by Seymour Reit
---Lyddie by Katherine Patterson
---Between the Lines by Claudia Whitsett