Throughout the school year, we cover reading skills through a hardcore Guided Reading set up. However, during this time of year, we are knee deep in statewide testing. I like to make this week special and low pressure. One of the ways that I do this is to by doing Book Clubs. It is something that I look forward to every year, and my students always seem to enjoy the week!
I begin by showing book trailers for each of the books I have selected. My principal generously allows me to spend a little money each testing season to grow our Book Club library. I keep these books stashed away for the special occasion. Over the last few years, I narrowed down top ten list of books that my kids LOVE!
If you want to purchase any of this books for you classroom, click on the picture of the book to find a link to Amazon. These are affiliate links, which help fun new book purchases for future blog posts.
Chocolate Fever
This is the silliest book but is always enjoyed by all groups that read it. It has a lower reading level and only twelve chapters. This is the perfect book for lower level students or students who could use a confidence boost. This book is a funny story about a boy who comes down with Chocolate Fever. He suddenly has chocolate spots from eating too much chocolate.
Class Dismissed
This is a book has thirty-two short chapters and also has a lower reading level. It is a cute story about a teacher who suddenly quits teaching after a little mishap. Due to an oversight, the teacher is never replaced and her students are left teacher-less. The students work together to try to keep their secret!
Hatchet
Hatchet is seriously a classic book that all students must read before they leave elementary school. This is a great adventure and survival book that my boys typically love. However, even my girls enjoy it when they take the time to sit down and read it! With an upper elementary reading level, it is the perfect challenge for my boys!
Number the Stars
I also love the book Number the Stars and would consider it a classic, must read book as well. This book touches on a sensitive topic of being a young Jewish girl as Germans take over her Denmark community. It is well written and always a favorite of my students.
Slacker
This book is the PERFECT book for your kids who dislike school, reading, and all things that require sustained mental effort. Slacker is a funny book about a boy who is a total slacker. He lives for playing video games. When a little mishap occurs at home, he is forced to get his act together. We also read Ungifted by Gordon Korman in the fall, so my kids look forward to reading another book by this author.
The Bridge to Terabithia
Although I can’t read this book without crying, my kids look forward to it year after year. It is a loveable, heart-wrenching story about two young kids. I love that it is a quick, easy read for my higher level students, and the perfect challenge for my lower level students.
The Great Gilly Hopkins
I have had kids begging to read this book for the last two years. Since I love The Bridge to Terabithia, I am reading it myself at the moment. It is a story about a girl, Gilly Hopkins, who has been in the foster system for a long time, and she works hard to sabotage her foster care placements. This is the perfect girlie book!
The Honest Truth
This was the new and popular book last year. My kids fought over who “should be allowed” to read one of my coveted five copies. This is about a young boy who has cancer. It is a tough topic but is written SO well. Both my male and female students have fallen in love with this book.
The Watsons Go To Birmingham
This is a popular book by both my male and female students. It is about an African American family currently living in Flint, Michigan, who are moving to Birmingham. Their family drama and issues with segregation keep the reader eager to read the next chapter.
The Westing Game
This is one of my all-time favorite books. I didn’t read this as a child, but I read it during my first year teaching fifth grade. It is a mystery involving the heirs of a millionaire and is a serious page turner. The characters in the story are trying to piece together clues that seem to make little sense. I seriously had to order more copies because SO many of my kids wanted to read this book.
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2 Comments on Book Clubs: 10 Books That Your Upper Elementary Students Will LOVE
The following are 6 interesting survival tips and uses for the hatchet, axe, or tomahawk. survival axe
In particular, the logline furnishes the writer with an approach to concentrate on the three primary stays of their composition.Free Printables Worksheets for kids
The following are 6 interesting survival tips and uses for the hatchet, axe, or tomahawk. survival axe
In particular, the logline furnishes the writer with an approach to concentrate on the three primary stays of their composition.Free Printables Worksheets for kids