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.
One Well: The Story of Water on Earth
This book takes the persective that all living things on Earth use water from one global well. It’s a great reminder that everything on earth is interconnected. Starting with a close look at where water can be found on Earth, this book is organized into short chapters that are perfect for read-alouds. The author doesn’t just look at the amount of water people use, but also how much water plants use. This book is great way to study how the water cycle connects the water from one part of the world to another.
Handle With Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey
Where do the butterflies in museums come from? From a butterfly farm, of course! This book is a fantastic look at how butterflies are raised from eggs and sent to museums. The pictures of the different stages of the butterfly life cycle are the best feature of this book. Most people only see the larval stage and adult stage. This book shows how small the eggs are and how the chrysalis is perfectly packaged. The clear and concise text is the perfect accompaniment to the images of beautiful butterflies.
Dolphin Baby
This book follows a dolphin baby soon after it is born. It’s a gentle story of how Dolphin grows into an adolescent dolphin, learning how to echolocate and whistle. There are facts on every page that make rereading a must.
Wild Wings
Ospreys soar above the Scottish landscape in this novel about a boy learning to see himself as an individual and to follow his passion. The main character, Callum, becomes friendly with a girl named Iona who is thought “weird” by his friends. Iona has discovered something on his farm—an osprey nest—that no one else knows is there. Callum and Iona then help a scientist free an osprey from the nest who has become entangled in fishing line. The scientist fits the osprey with a satellite transmitter so they can all monitor her movements. However, Iona dies before she can participate in the tracking project.
Callum eventually lets his friends in on his secret, and the three boys track the osprey as she migrates to Africa. After they lose her signal, they locate a girl named Jeneba in The Gambia, whose family finds the bird. The girl needs surgery, so, in thanks, the boys raise money to bring her to England for the operation.
This novel was written by a veterinarian who provides solid scientific information about how animals are rescued, released, and monitored in the wild. It would be appropriate to include in a unit about animal migration or a unit about having the courage to resist bullies and to do what’s right in the face of resistance.
This Moose Belongs to Me
This Moose Belongs to Me is a silly book about “owning” an animal. One day Wilfred comes upon a moose and decides that the moose is his to “own.” The only thing is that the moose does not care much about being “owned.”
Do people own animals? Or is it more of a case that the animal happens to like where it is?