Happy Wednesday, y’all! I’m excited to announce a new weekly series on the blog called “Book Share”. Each week, I’ll post a few books that are current hits in my classroom. Sometimes there will be a theme among the books such as award winners, poetry books, “sporty” books, etc. And then sometimes (like today!) it’ll be random titles that are popular among my kids. If you have any requests on certain types of books, email me (lifeinfifthgradeblog@gmail.com).
I LOVE to see other teacher’s recommendations and what their kids are reading, so I thought this would be a good feature on the blog. You can link up below and share too! 🙂
Let’s jump right in, shall we? Here are a few of the most popular books in my classroom right now. You can click the link below each book to find out more about the book.
Hands down, the current hit right now in my room is The Crossover. After introducing this book to the class as my top favorite book of 2015 so far, it has been in high demand. There is a wait list a mile long and I cannot keep it on the shelf. I’ve had 3 boys go out and buy it on their own. This is a hardback book, therefore it’s a little on the expensive side. For 3 boys to go out on their own and ask their parents to get the book is a huge deal in my classroom. That never happens! This book has motivated all my kids to get excited about reading, especially the boys! There’s a reason why this book is the 2015 Newbery winner people. If it isn’t in your classroom library, make it happen today! 🙂
When I started talking about The One and Only Ivan, I was worried the size of the book would scare some of my kids away. My reluctant readers are always searching for the shortest book that would still be considered a chapter book. The One and Only Ivan is such an easy to read book though and the story is so great! Several kids have come to me when they finish it and are so mad that I didn’t warn them about how sad it was! 🙂
I started pushing Flora and Ulysses as soon as I finished it and didn’t have any luck selling my kids on it. They were intrgued, but not enough to pick up the book and read it for themselves… until one of my very animated girls did a quick book share on it (let me know if you want me to post about quick shares….they are making all the difference in my classroom!). She completely sold the class on this extraordinary book. When she describe how Flora had to perform CPR on the squirrel, hands shot in the air requesting a copy. Love this funny story!
I’m sure your kids are fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. When the new one came out in November, we were so excited! Then we read it and needed something else similar to it to occupy our time until the next one is released. I introduced them to the Middle School series by James Patterson and they are hooked! Again, these are great for those reluctant boy readers.
Middle School: Get Me out of Here!
James Patterson also wrote the I Funny series, which is my favorite by him. This book has great current references like Daniel Radcliffe appearing on Jimmy Kimmel. One of my kids pointed this out to me after we had watched this video when discussing alliteration. The books are a hit with my kids who like humorous fiction.
I Funny: A Middle School Story
I have several kids that LOVE graphic novels. I’m not a huge fan of graphic novels, but I am a huge fan of any book that gets the kids excited about reading, so I’m loving the Nathan Hale Hazardous Tales series. I bought the Donor Party one and my homeroom is obsessed with it. We are super excited about this one
Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party
I would love to know what books are popular in your classroom right now! Link up below and simply comment! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recommendations! I'd never heard of the Hazardous Tales series—looks like a winner! My fifth grade class is currently passing around the book The Terrible Two, by Mac Barnett and Jory John. My more reluctant readers all love the I Survived series.
I only taught the younger ones a single year, but the biggest hit in my classroom was The Last Book in the Universe. I also loved reading it, and couldn't wait to read each chapter as I read through it myself! If it's okay, I linked to the book in Amazon. Please delete if you'd prefer just blog posts!
Thanks for all your great ideas! I'm definitely passing your blog onto my elementary friends!
Michele
Thanks for sharing that video with alliteration! I will be showing to my students tomorrow! My kids love the Percy Jackson series, they LOVED El Deafo, and are really into the Who Was, What Is series. Thank you for sharing about the non-fiction series. I'm going to pick up a copy soon!
We love "The Name of This Book is Secret".