The Handwork teacher

I am a mother to two beautiful girls and I teach Handwork and Fine Arts in our local waldorf charter school in Arizona.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

needing suggestions for 5th and 6th grade books

I like to read to the children for half of their lesson with me. In the older grades their parents don't read to them anymore and I think they truly miss it....plus I can read them things they wouldn't necessarily read on their own....but like hearing.


SO!!!! any suggestions?

we were reading Harry potter the other day....but they all know it by heart!

I'm trying to think of what we have read already......
I brought the "choose your own Adventure" books last year....they LOVED those....but they are hard to find.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try Half Price Books for the Choose Your Own Adventure books, and the public library should have many in their system, too! :) How about the Edward Eager series beginning with Half Magic? What about the Chronicles of Narnia series? Have they heard any of the good, old classics like The Treasure Seekers or any of the Five Children and It stories by Edith Nesbit? I think most modern kids haven't actually read Winnie the Pooh, or Peter Pan, or Alice in Wonderland for themselves, perhaps one of those classics? I think it's WONDERFUL that you read to them! What a caring teacher you are!

Sarah said...

What about some of E. Nesbit's books?

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Crispin (read it first--6th grade)

maybe Percy Jackson books--5th grade (although our 5th grade teacher would probably not approve)

Crescent Moon said...

Have you read The Lightening Thief? Several of the kids I work with read that in 6th grade and really enjoyed it.

aelfie said...

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer is a wonderful series.
The ever classic Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander.
The Eragon Series is supposed to be good, but I haven't read it.
Codex Alera (5 in a series so far) by Jim Butcher is just Fabulous!
The Golden Compass Triology
So you want to be a Wizard Series by Duane is good
How about the Oz books, most kids don't read past book one!
Any series by Tamora Pierce
The Dragon Series by Patricia Wrede

That's just off the top of my Librarian Head

HTH

Lisa Anne said...

..."Journey to River Sea" or "Dragonfly Pool" by Eva Ibbotson. We still love "Swallows and Amazons". We definitely do not read outloud as much any more, but try to share a few good books a year together.

Anja Borrink said...

The children in my class(5th and 6th degree -the Netherlands) love the books by Michelle Paver. She writes about the adventures of a boy, Torak,with special gifts in the Stone Age.
I hope this is of any help...Your blog is very inspiring! Thank you for sharing with us,

Anja (waldorf teacher in the Netherlands)

Cadi said...

* Maori Myths & Legendary Tales by A.W. Reed. While I'm telling some of these to my 2nd graders, I think they are totally enjoyable & appropriate for 5th grade. (I'm rewriting things quite a bit for the younger ones.)

sara said...

My fifth graders loved The Whispering Mountain by Joan Aiken and Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.

What about some Diana Wynne Jones or Susan Cooper?

Josephine said...

Hi I am glad to be of help to you now! For 6th grade I highly recommend Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Gray www.amazon.com/Adam-Road-Elizabeth...Gray/.../0670104353 and The Hidden Treasure of Glaston by Eleanore M Jewett

For 5th grade I read Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat. The kids loved it.

By the way, Do you use Brown Sheep white frost to plant dye with? Josephine

Teaching Handwork said...

Thank you sooo much!!! I feel like such a dork....I haven't heard of most of these titles...where have I been?!

off to the library for me!

And the wool is brown sheep and the unbleached skeins....they aren't even in the tubes...they are in looped skeins for dyeing.

Katherine said...

My side of the mountain and it's sequel, can't think of the title....

HAlehrerin said...

I have read "Momo" by Michael Ende to my class 5 last year. They loved it. Michael Ende is a famous German author and an ex-Waldorf pupil;o)
At the moment we are reading "The Hobbit". Also great.
Best regards, Anka

sara said...

as a note, mske sure you pre-read any selection so you know what's coming. For instance, there are sexual situations in some of Tamora Pierce's books, and while they are handled in a wonderfully warm and respectful way, it can be awkward to be reading such a passage to 10-12 year olds...

Sarah said...

What a fab list of books. I'm going to look at some of these for our winter read alouds. I think you'd do well sticking with the old classics like Nesbit, Alice, Wheels on the School, etc. A couple of the books mentioned here are typical read alouds in the Waldord curriculum(Adam of the Road, for instance). A couple of the books my daughter's teacher would be upset to have read in school (Tamora Pierce, Philip Pullman)

clover said...

My kids have always enjoyed listening to The Hobbit read aloud at various ages, and it is a really fun book for me to read, as well. We have also enjoyed Inkheart as a read-aloud. This book is really rich with figurative language. There are some scary parts, though no worse than Harry Potter, so it should be fine for your girls.