What's on your child's summer reading list? (Insp. by always quiet)

[luvmarypoppins]

Only ds going to be a junior got his book, only one, My Antonia, don't know what its about. The other 2 havent gotten theirs yet. But if freshman has same teacher as ds had, then it will be To Kill A mockingbird again.

 

[Cindy B]

Originally posted by AirForceRocks
DD is going into 5th grade next year, and they have a book report due on the first day of school. The list was broken down into 3 parts:

Basic:

Number the Stars
The Cay
Because of Winn Dixie
The Blue Heron
Walking to the Bus Rider Blues
Frindle

Frindle? Thats on my sons list. That book I have a dickens of a time finding. Ok, I feel a little bit better, because that is one a 5th grade list. That then crosses out the other "easy" books.

 

[disneyjunkie]

My son's last day of school is this Friday. He's going into the 8th grade. Each teacher is required to give the students a summer reading list. The principal will also give them a list.

During the school year they are required to read 30 books. Since the city only requires 20, they are allowed to combine the summer and school year readings.

The new students (mostly incoming 6th graders) are required to read House On Mango Street, David Copperfield, The Old Man And The Sea, and The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.

 

[two4ruff]

My nine year old is determined to get through the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books before the movie comes out next fall.

Seems to really enjoy them!

(We read "Where the Red Fern Grows" together recently, and even though I've read it before, I cried like a baby... )

 

[cruisnfamily]

DD is going into 6th grade. She is required to read Tangerine and at least one other book from the following list:

Bud, not Buddy
Homecoming
The One Eyed Cat
Indian in the Cupboard
Jade Green
Walk Two Moons
One Fat Summer
Wringer
Indian in the Cupboard is reserved for ESE kids(slower readers) which is too bad as that's a pretty good story. DD has chosen to read Bud, Not Buddy and Homecoming in addition to the required book, Tangerine. She also has to write a paragraph on each book.

She's already finished Tangerine and I agree with Cindy B....really great book!

By the way, DD read Frindle this last year...it's a 5.something on AR which was below her level but she enjoyed it. This kid makes up a new word "frindle" and the story line goes from there. Something about the teacher at school and the dictionary and by the way, a frindle is a pen.


DS is going into 3rd grade and doesn't have any required reading. He's currently reading the Time Warp Trio books and has also check Bunnicula out of the library to start after he finishes the time warp series.

 

[LittleMissMickey]

This board is so fun to read! I am finishing my teaching degree in the fall with student teaching (4th grade), and I love children's literature.

All of the books sound like good picks. I really loved Frindle, I think that it can spark a lot of interesting ideas in children.

I know that the lists seem overwhelming to parents, but the books are selected to reach all students and to put books in the hands of children that they may not select on their own. I would suggest creating a little "reading group" at home, and reading the book with your child. If you are friends with another child's parents in the class, and if you children are friends, maybe you could push the book club idea one step further. This will help children embrace reading as a social activity and help them find the important information in books and any foreshadowing. As teachers, these are the kinds of htings that we try to help children find and discuss. Discussing with their parents is really good practice! So really use it to your advantage to set aside a special reading time wtih your child. I am sure that you will find that the time spent together is increasingly more valuable as they years go on.

The Cay is also an interesting one for me. One of my professors is very good friends with Theodore Taylor, the author of The Cay, and we got to see all of the original manuscripts for it. SO COOL!

Also, books like Johnny Tremain and My Brother Sam is Dead (for example, using Revolutionary War period...) are excellent ways to help children become more familiar with history. If I could have my way in my future classroom, I would teach history through literature any chance I could. I am sure that your children will find reading historical fiction much more interesting than reading history, but please correct me if I am wrong!

Have fun with summer reading. If you need any more reading suggestions for your children, let me know! I have read lots, and continue to read with the children I nanny for.

And here are two quick must-reads: The Newbery Award Winners from the past two years have been exceptional (in my mind):

Avi - Crispin: The Cross of Lead
Kate DiCamillo - The Tale of Despereaux

Enjoy!

Ashley

 

[JulieWent]

We don't start a "reading list" until 9th grade, thank goodness. (And I'm an English teacher.) I'm pretty firm in my belief that kids need some time to be kids. That said, my DS (age 9) spends a lot of time reading. (He's working on HP--Prisoner of Azkaban right now.)

I dropped in on this thread because someone asked about the difficulty / maturity level of Fahrenheit 451. I teach it to 9th grade pre-AP students. They find it pretty easy to read, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to ask a 6th grader to read it independently. (This book begs for discussion.)

Disneyjunkie -- wow! Your kids have their work cut out for them. I can't imagine a school asking a 6th grader to take on House on Mango Street independently -- lots of mature themes there. And I know how much my kids would love it if I assigned Dickens for summer reading . (I love Dickens. It's harder to help 9th graders appreciate his appeal.)

Most of the summer reading lists look like lots of fun, though. My kids (incoming 9th graders) get to choose between The Time Machine and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. (Part of a year long look at the duality of things.) The kids who left me this past year to go to 10th grade get to choose one book from a list that has 60 books on it. It was a cool list, and we spent some time talking about their choices before the end of the year. Difficulty level ranged from The Martian Chronicles to Beloved and Poisonwood Bible. Hope they're enjoying themselves.

Julie

 

[suzannen]

We just picked up my DD's summer reading books. She was not given a list to choose from, but was assigned

"The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden
"Arthur, For the Very First Time" by Patricia MacLachlan
"Ramona the Pest" by Beverly Cleary

She is required to turn in three 3-5 page book reports on the first day of 5th grade.

 

[newholiday]

Those going into 7th grade have a choice of either
The Giver or Lyddie

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by disneyjunkie
My son's last day of school is this Friday. He's going into the 8th grade. Each teacher is required to give the students a summer reading list. The principal will also give them a list.

During the school year they are required to read 30 books. Since the city only requires 20, they are allowed to combine the summer and school year readings.

The new students (mostly incoming 6th graders) are required to read House On Mango Street, David Copperfield, The Old Man And The Sea, and The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.

For 8th graders? Thirty books?

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by Pin Wizard
I stopped by the library today and signed him up for their summer reading program. The paperwork they gave me said the kids must read books they get at the library! I'll have to check and see if they have a list posted there because there wasn't a list included with the papers they gave me. Hmmm...physically one of their books? I'm hoping books on their list!!

Well, I stopped by the library again tonight to check on if I read that paper properly. Yes, the books must be checked out of the library for them to receive credit for it. For the fun of it, I looked for Treasure Island and Tuck Everlasting . They had three copies of TI and I don't know how many of TE. But they were all checked out. I think we're skipping it at the library. We can stick with it at B&N.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by two4ruff
My nine year old is determined to get through the "Series of Unfortunate Events" books before the movie comes out next fall.

They seem like such fun books. Wish DS would try one out. Hmmm...I'll have to run it past him AGAIN!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Wow! Thanks for the comments, teachers. I remember being in a book club at the library as a kid. Reading was like pulling teeth...and DS is the same way. It certainly looks like everyone's kids will be busy reading.

 

[Davids-Coco]

Originally posted by luvmarypoppins
Only ds going to be a junior got his book, only one, My Antonia, don't know what its about. The other 2 havent gotten theirs yet. But if freshman has same teacher as ds had, then it will be To Kill A mockingbird again.

My Antonia is a great book, but is dence with ideas and symbolism. However, it is one of those great books that you can read over and over and see new things as you get older and a more advanced reader. I read it my senior year of high school and in a 400 level (senior) class in college. So much difference in what I saw! I hope he enjoys it.

 

[LittleMissMickey]

Another Idea! I just thought of sharing this after talking to my mom...

When the Library Book Club no longer fit my needs/interests, my mom started our own summer reading program. I would go to the library every week with my friend, and we would each check out stacks of books. Then my mom would go through and tell me how many "points" each book was worth. As I read the books, I would put them on a list. We sat down at the beginning of summer and agreed on how points could be spent. I was able to go to Taco Bell for 25 points, but Olive Garden required 100 points. I could get a new ball for 15 points, but a Skip-It was 75 points. It was great to figure this stuff out, and the meals were always "Mom and Me" Dates. I really loved doing all of that fun stuff that summer. Since I didn't get allowance or anything, this was a fun way for my parents to reward me for something positive with something positive. I really had to think about the value of those books, too. Reading a Sweet Valley Kids book was worth 5 points (2 points the following summer), while The Giver was worth 20 points. My friends were all jealous that I had such a cool reading program while they were stuck at the library! I will definitely do that with my kids when I have them. Unless the library program has really evolved since then, of course...

Ashley

 

[Cindy B]

Originally posted by Pin Wizard
Well, I stopped by the library again tonight to check on if I read that paper properly. Yes, the books must be checked out of the library for them to receive credit for it. For the fun of it, I looked for Treasure Island and Tuck Everlasting . They had three copies of TI and I don't know how many of TE. But they were all checked out. I think we're skipping it at the library. We can stick with it at B&N.

Dont forget to ask for interlibrary loans.. my library gets books form other libraries in the same county for free. Sometimes they will go out of couty to another state.

They probably are asking for for the library books to be read, so they can track the trend of how many people are actually checking out books.

 

[angel's momma]

The reason most libraries require that you read books checked out from them is to help increase their circulation statistics that they have to report to the state library. The number of books checked out during those few weeks of the summer reading program is easily 2 or 3 times the number of books children check out during the rest of the year, at least in our area. The one summer our library said that children could read non-library books, circulation dropped dramatically - which doesn't look good on the annual report.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by Cindy B
Dont forget to ask for interlibrary loans.. my library gets books form other libraries in the same county for free. Sometimes they will go out of couty to another state.

They probably are asking for for the library books to be read, so they can track the trend of how many people are actually checking out books.

True! Their computer system did have a box you could check off to request a copy of the book. Maybe that's interlibrary loan.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by angel's momma
The reason most libraries require that you read books checked out from them is to help increase their circulation statistics that they have to report to the state library. The number of books checked out during those few weeks of the summer reading program is easily 2 or 3 times the number of books children check out during the rest of the year, at least in our area. The one summer our library said that children could read non-library books, circulation dropped dramatically - which doesn't look good on the annual report.

That's probably it. But I'd be happy to check out any other available book so they have something checked out. However, DS is first going to read those books required for school whether they have it or not. After those, he can read other books they have.

Hmmm...now thinking about it, I did hear one lady working there tell a mom that her kids didn't have to participate every week during the summer. So I would guess during the weeks someone isn't participating, they aren't going to have any books checked out then either.

 

[luvflorida]

My daughter is going to be a Freshman in the fall and she has to read To Kill A Mockingbird over the summer, along with a biography or autobiography of her choice, and another book of her choice. They will also be reading Lord of the Flies in September.

I absolutely love To Kill A Mockingbird and Lord of the Flies! Along with Catcher in the Rye, they are my all time favorite books!

CRB#33- The Secret Life of Bees is excellent. I read it a few months ago and I'm trying to interest my daughter in it.

JulieWent- I agree with you about Fahrenheit 451. My daughter read it last year in 8th grade, and she was in an advanced Language Arts class. There was a lot to discuss about that book.