Freddy’s Favorites compile TextProject’s recommendations for read-aloud books for struggling and beginning readers. The Common Core State Standards bring increased focus to what it is that students are learning in schools and what they need to know. Through read-alouds, students can be introduced to topics and genres that they might otherwise not be able to read independently. Our list of Read-Aloud Favorites can be searched by grade level, genre, format and subject.
To read more about the importance of reading aloud in a classroom, please read this blog entry in Frankly Freddy.
The Wednesday Wars
It is the academic year of 1967-68 in Long Island, New York. Holling is a teenage boy who must spend his Wednesdays with a teacher who hates him – he’s sure of it – while the other students engage in religious instruction. This Newberry Award-winning novel follows a protagonist whose antics many young readers can relate to, and is written in a witty style that will keep them turning the pages.
The New Girl… And Me
This book captures the emotions of Mia, who wants to befriend a new student in her class, but who is afraid to do so. The new girl, Shakeeta, has a pet iguana and threatens to punch a boy in the head. But Shakeeta looks so lonely. Will Mia befriend Shakeeta or will she always be afraid of her?
The illustrations are so beautiful; it suits the simple text. This is a wonderful book to help ease the first day of school for a new student or to show new friends can be made if one is brave and reaches out a hand of welcome.
The Most Beautiful Place in the World
This book can be as simple as a little boy struggling to survive in the impoverished town of San Pablo, Guatemala, and his desire to attend school. Or it can be a heart-wrenching cultural study of a bright young boy who has been deserted by those who are supposed to protect him and his difficult choice between bettering himself with education and the security that money can bring. In either case there is enough for the reader to get a feel for Juan’s life and the city he lives in. The text is simple, but the concepts can be used to start a discussion for high school students.
Frindle
Author Andrew Clements has written many books that take place in a school setting. Frindle is the story of boy who creates a word to exasperate his English teacher, but then finds unexpected fame when the word takes on a life of its own. This would be a fun book to read aloud in class.
The Cello Of Mr O
In her book, The Cello of Mr. O, the author shows readers that those left behind during war can also have courage. Children are not affected by the logistics of war. They only want to know when their family members are coming back and when they will be warm, with a belly full of food. As the days of war drag on, the children in this book deal with many emotions. For example, the little girl in the book is angry for having to stay in the war-torn region, longing for her father’s safe return; bored with the lack of school, playground, or library; and afraid of anyone she knows getting killed or hurt. By the end of the book, the little girl learns appreciation and courage from Mr. O, who shows the children that the joys of life cannot be easily defeated, and when shared with others, can replace fear with hope.
The American Story
This book is a collection of 100 stories from American history, beginning in 1565 with the first settled city in America, St. Augustine, Florida, and ending in 2000 with the Presidential election. Each of the short stories attempts to give readers a more cohesive and human picture of American history. The breadth of the stories creates an interesting complement to what the students learn in textbooks. The author connects the different stories by linking the people or the land in the footnotes. There is also an attempt to include different groups of people. For example, there is a story how the Newsies banded together and won better wages from two of the largest newspaper publishers. Another story is about the whale that inspired Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Yet another is of how the Confederation of the Five Nations started. There are many stories that provide the perfect opportunity for research or discussion with students. Armstrong has written each text to resemble a story, which may be the right approach for students who find accessing textbooks difficult.
Tasting the Sky
In Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, the author Ibtisam Barakat writes of her life during the Six-Day War and its aftermath. This book tells one of the many stories about life during that turbulent time in the Middle East. The author writes mostly about her life from 3 1/2 to 6 years old. As such, there are many happy stories of the author playing games with her older brothers. But the reader is never allowed to stray too far from the war and is reminded with details of hunger—relief organizations did not have enough food for everyone; and fear—Israeli soldiers knocking on the door. There is evidence of war sprinkled throughout the book. The book is a quick read, but allows the reader to look into what life was like for a family trying to survive in the middle of a war zone.
Red Scarf Girl
History has shown that during a time of political revolution, many innocent and not-so-innocent people are persecuted for being against the revolution, their voices silenced forever or for the time being. This was particularly the case when Mao Ze Dong took over as the leader of China: he began several initiatives or revolutions. One of these was the Cultural Revolution. Many of China’s people were caught up in the excitement in moving their nation towards a better future. However, there were some who criticized the initiatives and found themselves persecuted for their opinions. As more and more people sought to rid China of the counter-revolutionists, they found that the path toward the perfect soldier of China was a slippery slope.
This is a memoir of the author as a 12-year-old girl. Like many of her peers, the author wanted to join the Cultural Revolution. But her deceased grandfather, whom she barely remembered, was a landlord and thus her family was considered “black,” or against the Cultural Revolution.
This book is based on the two-year timeframe during which the author struggled to fit in, when she was a social outcast, and when she tried to reconcile current political ideology with her loyalty to her family. This is a fascinating book that zips along, but the fear and confusion is palpable; at times it is a bit overwhelming. This is a good look at what happens when a family is caught on the other side of a revolution, as many Loyalists found themselves during the American Revolution.