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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Great Reads - Chapter Books

I'm always being asked by parents, teachers, or other librarians what my students are reading. In the library I order chapter (fiction) books, picture books (easy fiction) or non-fiction (informational texts) books for my students. Yes, I do take requests from teachers. I thought I would share my student's favorite chapter books. Please remember these are not the only books in my library or a complete list of what I think children should read. These books are their favorites. As I'm constantly purchasing new books for my students to read, I'm sure it will change a little this school year.

I have included a link to a free list of these books at the bottom of this post. The collage contains the most popular books from each group of students in my school.

Popular Chapter Books for K - 2:


 
Students in the lower grades love humorous or animal stories. Graphic novels are always a big hit. Of course, they are still reading a lot of picture books. My students fell in love with Bad Kitty this past year. I'll have to find some more of them.

 

Popular Chapter Books for Grades 3 - 5


 
My middle grade students are learning to read longer and more serious stories. Of course if it's funny, it's probably popular. I start getting more requests for something "scary" about 2nd or 3rd grade. The Big Nate series and The Buddy Files were both new purchases last year.

 

Popular Chapter Books for Grades 6 - 8


 
Upper grade students are all about drama! (In more ways than one... I had to coach varsity cheerleading for a couple years and I learned very quickly to carry chocolate in my purse. I'm not going to tell if it was for me or the girls.) James Patterson's Maximum Ride books fly off the shelves. The next most popular author is Rick Riordan. His books stay on the school's hold list. (It goes without saying Diary of a Wimpy Kid is very popular!)  Lurlene McDaniel is always popular with my girls, but I'm going to use her Hit and Run  either as a read aloud or in my RTI for upper grade classes.

I have the complete list available for downloading in my TPT store. (Here's the link!) I will be updating it as I add the new books I've picked up this summer. I have already purchased a few series that were requested at the end of the last school year.

I'll keep you updated as I find new and wonderful books for my kids. I already have a few books (about $2,500 worth) on my wish lists for the fall.  Hopefully my library budget will not be one of the things that gets cut at the school board's next budget meeting. Oh well, there's always book fair. Hey, I love books and so do my students!

Keep Reading!!!


2 comments:

  1. One series that really sparked some big reading my upper elementary class was the Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley. I read the first one aloud and they went nuts trying to get the 2nd-7th books.
    I highly recommend them!
    The other series is How to Train Your Dragon series. The boys in my class LOVED them and quickly realized that the movie is a completely different story. Another great series to spark a love for reading. Just thought I would share. :)
    ~Amy
    The Teacher Next Door

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Amy. I'm always looking to update my library or find books for the classroom libraries. I'm going to be adding a few more series in the next few weeks. I'll have to see how the kids like them.

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