I posted in early December about my plans to make December a month of nonfiction reading. I had big goals for my students and met many of them. The process took a little longer than I planned and much of the month was spent finding great books, building stamina for nonfiction, etc. I was getting a bit discouraged but then I started noticing things. I noticed a child hand off a nonfiction book to another child as they were lining up for lunch. I noticed a few books begin to circulate and become popular in the classroom. I noticed some readers stick with a topic. I noticed kids finding series or authors that they wanted to read more of. I thought I'd share the books that have been popular in the last few weeks in our 4th grade classroom. Lots of books are books I predicted would be well loved but others are surprised.
I have a group of kids reading lots about baseball history. These books seem to be circulating between 5-6 kids in the classroom. The books they are currently reading include:
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth
Teammates
Henry Aaron's Dream
Heroes of Baseball: The Men Who Made It America's Favorite Game
Two authors students seem to like are Nic Bishop and Irene Kelly:
Nic Bishop: Butterflies and Moths
Frogs
It's a Butterfly's Life
There is also a group interested in reading anything and everything about dogs. Some current favorites include:
Why Do Dogs Bark? (Penguin Young Readers, L3)
National Geographic Kids Everything Dogs: All the Canine Facts, Photos, and Fun You Can Get Your Paws On!
Several books that are popular based on (I imagine) topic are:
Venom (Junior Library Guild Selection)
Micro Mania: A Really Close-Up Look at Bacteria, Bedbugs, & the Zillions of Other Gross Little Creatures That Live In, On & All Around You!
Life-Size Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures (Life-Size Series)
A few students have become interested in some nonfiction series books such as:
Face to Face with Lions (Face to Face with Animals)
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot (Scientists in the Field Series)
Overall, it's been a great month of nonfiction reading. I have seen more voluntary nonfiction reading with this group than I ever have. The time to dig in and find books they love was necessary. Now, I think we are ready for some work on becoming better nonfiction readers, writing in response to nonfiction, stretching ourselves as nonfiction readers etc.
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth
TeammatesHenry Aaron's Dream
Heroes of Baseball: The Men Who Made It America's Favorite Game
Nic Bishop: Butterflies and Moths
Frogs
It's a Butterfly's Life
Why Do Dogs Bark? (Penguin Young Readers, L3)
National Geographic Kids Everything Dogs: All the Canine Facts, Photos, and Fun You Can Get Your Paws On!
Venom (Junior Library Guild Selection)
Micro Mania: A Really Close-Up Look at Bacteria, Bedbugs, & the Zillions of Other Gross Little Creatures That Live In, On & All Around You!
Life-Size Sharks and Other Underwater Creatures (Life-Size Series)
Face to Face with Lions (Face to Face with Animals)
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot (Scientists in the Field Series)
Overall, it's been a great month of nonfiction reading. I have seen more voluntary nonfiction reading with this group than I ever have. The time to dig in and find books they love was necessary. Now, I think we are ready for some work on becoming better nonfiction readers, writing in response to nonfiction, stretching ourselves as nonfiction readers etc.
by Kate Bernheimer
by Barbara Bottner
by Andrea Cheng
by Kate Cleminson
by Carolyn Crimi
by Mem Fox
by Michael Garland
by Dennis Haseley
by Julian Hector
by Amy Hest
by Tad Hills
by William Joyce
by Jesse Klausmeier
by Lane Smith
by David Ezra Stein
by Mo Willems
by Louise Yates
by Gail Carson Levine
by Laura Purdie Salas
by John Green
by Markus Zusak
by Penny Kittle
by Donalyn Miller
by Anna Quindlen. Anna Quindlen is a reader and she writes about how reading changed her life in this little book written for adults. Anna Quindlen shares stories from her life as a reader and how important books have been throughout her life. I have read the book cover to cover many times and have used many excerpts with my students. We thought that Quindlen's celebration of reading was one of the best ways to give back to our readers. If you don't have a copy of this book, we highly recommend it. Comment below and you have a chance to win a copy! (But if you don't win, we still HIGHLY recommend this book to all readers out there!)
by Donalyn Miller is a book that for so many of us, helped us remember the important work we do with children. Awakening kids to reading is the work we do and Donalyn shares her own story here. Donalyn Miller is a master at matching kids with books and creating a reading community in her classroom. Donalyn shares her vision as well as the nuts and bolts of how she accomplishes this each and every year. We know that many of our readers already own this book, but we feel like this is a good one to put in the hands of a colleague. We are all about paying it forward this year, so if you already own this book (or a few copies of it as I do:-), please comment so that you have a chance to win and pass it along to a new teacher or someone you know who will love it too!