Choice Lit Topic: Booklists
There are so many wonderful new children’s and young adult books published each year — and there is a lot of dreck out there too. We aim to be curators as we sort through, organize, and group books so that you can find just what you need.
Whether it’s mentor texts for a unit on persuasive writing, or just-right books for a fifth-grade English language learner, we’ve scoured lists of award winners, recommendations from colleagues, and the Kidlitsophere to come up with these lists.
Results
Student-Created Text Sets
My students are readers. For at least the two years they are in my classroom for seventh and eighth grade, a time in adolescence when research shows a decrease in...
Closing the Year and Making Space to Remember
Last summer, Kim moved from Long Island to Wellington, Florida. Although the move was an exciting and celebrated adventure for her family, leaving her dear home where both of her...
Favorite Wordless Picture Books for Teaching Inference
When children are first learning to read, figuring out the alphabetic system is often so taxing that grappling with letters and sounds relegates meaning to the back burner. Although we...
Using Picture Books to Foster Resilience
Each year as we work to build a strong classroom community, my fourth graders and I read several picture books focused on learning and working with others. Many focus on...
How to Speak “Friend”
In my morning pre-kindergarten class, we speak many languages, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and English. As we are considered an English language classroom, our focus is on building understanding and...
Blurring Genres and Real-Life Readers
As a teacher who likes to observe reading trends in my classroom, I sometimes start to lump kids into groups when it comes to reading preferences. For example, I have...
Exploring Literary Nonfiction with Middle School Students
Lately, I have noticed that nonfiction is sometimes hard to categorize because of the innovative ways authors are writing it. It seems more creative and literary than it used to...
Nine Picture Books for Teaching Mindfulness
In our last booklist for Choice Literacy, we shared titles with characters or events that demonstrated mindfulness. In this booklist, we offer picture books with more overt connections to mindfulness....
Multicultural Series Books
There were about 20 emails in my inbox that morning in March. They all had the same subject line: “Where are the people of color in children’s books?” The emails...
Eight Picture Books That Show (vs. Tell) How to Be Mindful
Charlotte’s Web is arguably the most read, and perhaps the most beloved, chapter book in elementary classrooms. Of late, we’ve been learning and thinking about the value of mindfulness, and...
Top 10 Intermediate Books for Boys
Two years ago I stood side by side with a student, glancing over the shelves of books in my classroom. Matt was, by his own definition, a nonreader. He knew...
Books for Studying Illustration with First Graders
After many weeks of helping students get acquainted with the routines in writing workshop, I am excited to begin our first study. With such young writers, the notion of study...
Books for Brain Breaks
The bathroom. I couldn’t believe we were talking about the bathroom during my teacher evaluation last year. I thought I had a great plan for using the bathroom. My kindergarten...
A Strong Foundation: Books and Media for Launching Literacy Workshops
Beginnings are important, whether it is building a new relationship, building a home, or starting a new school year. Lucy Calkins talks about building invisible structures so that the deeper,...
Launching Writing Workshop: Mentor Texts
Writing is more than crafting an opinion, a narrative, or an informational piece to meet a standard. As I think about launching a writing workshop unit in second grade, I...
Launching Reading Workshop: Mentor Texts
Unless we reach into our students’ hearts, we have no entry into their minds. Regie Routman Changing grade levels can be scary, because most likely the books and materials...
A Booklist for Memorial Day
This year, Memorial Day will be celebrated on Monday, May 26. Many local communities have parades and lay wreaths at monuments to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Volunteers...
Conferring About Independent Reading
Karen Terlecky confers with fifth grader Alex about making wise choices during independent reading time.
Celebrating Screen-Free Week (BOOKLIST)
At our school, we have attempted for the last several years to get children and families talking about screen time during Screen-Free Week. Screen-Free Week is scheduled for May 5-11...
A Booklist for Earth Day
On April 22, people everywhere try to do their part to make the world a cleaner, greener place. We can use literature to impart lessons to our students about protecting...
The Power of Mystery Series for Teens and Tweens
It’s what every book lover dreams about: finding a book with wonderful characters and a gripping plot, only to discover that the story doesn’t end with this book. You do...
