Books for My Classroom

Hatchet is a great book about Brian who ends up lost and alone in the woods. He learns how to survive and use resources until he is rescued. His time and adventures are something that many students would enjoy reading about.

I would use this book with an older elementary grade. Having students read this as a class or in a literature circle would be a good use for this book.

Lexile Level - 1020

Hairy, Scary, Ordinary is part of a great series on different parts of speech. It teaches about adjectives. The illustrations and text are engaging. 

I would use this book to introduce or review adjectives. We could identify adjectives we see around the room, or work in groups to identify the most adjectives in the room in a time frame.

Developmental Reading Assessment Level - 34

Tales of a Fourth Grade nothing is a funny book about a boy and his younger brother. They experience many different experiences and trials throughout the book.

I think this book would be a great one to use in a literature circle for older elementary grades.

Lexile Level - 470

Flat Stanley is about a boy who is flattened by a bulletin board and goes on adventures while flat. At the end, he is returned to his normal self by his brother at the end.

This book lends itself to fun classroom projects. There is the Flat Stanley Project that would be fun to incorporate into a class and have students send their flat stanley around to others and see the adventures that he goes on!

Lexile Level - 640

Charlotte's Web is a story about a pig and a spider and the unlikely relationship that forms between the two of them. Charlotte, a spider, works hard to take care of Wilbur, a pig, and make sure he stays safe rather than being turned into bacon. Throughout the story, we see how Charlotte and Wilbur can teach us about love and friendship.

I would use this book as a class and discuss the character development throughout the story. I would also put this book in a classroom library.

Lexile Level - 680

The Giving Tree talks about unconditional love in the form of a tree who loves a little boy. 

I would use this book to talk about how we can act towards each other and not to just take from our friends and family but to give back to them as well.

Lexile Level - 530

The Knight at Dawn is a Magic Tree House Book. This book is very easy to read and interesting for many children. Jack and Annie go back to explore the magic tree house after their first encounter with going to dinosaur times. They end up going to a castle and getting into different situations while exploring this new place.

I would put this book in my classroom library. I think this would be a great book for students to read to themselves.

Lexile Level - 310

There's a Giraffe in my Soup is a great book, that has outrageous situations. While trying to eat a bowl of soup, there is everything from an alligator to a whale to a lion in the soup. The waiter thinks that there is no way that these animals could possibly be in the soup, but they always are.

I think this would be a great book for a classroom library. It is an easy to read book and shows that being silly in your writing is perfectly okay. I would love to see students write a short silly story after reading this book.

Lexile Level - AD140

(AD: Adult Directed, a book typically read to students)

This book centers around nouns. It presents many different nouns throughout the book and even presents the nouns in different color text. It is engaging and makes introducing or reviewing nouns a more enjoyable experience for all without as much work. 

I would use this book to introduce the topic of nouns or review in upper grades. 

Developmental Reading Assessment Level - 34

What Do You Do With A Problem? is a book that follows a child that has an unexpected problem arise. The child tries to avoid the problem but ends up realizing that it is an opportunity. This book focuses on solutions and how to face problems.

I would use this book in a class and have students write about a problem they currently have in their life and maybe start brainstorming about potential solutions.

Lexile Level - AD500

(AD: Adult Directed, a book typically read to students)

What Do You Do With An Idea? is a great book that shows what happens to a great idea that is nurtured over time. This book goes through experiencing doubt and discouragement about this idea all the way through to the end realizing that an idea can change the world.

I would use this book in a classroom and then let kids write or talk about some of their ideas. I would love to see classmates encourage each other's ideas and get on board with ideas, too.

Lexile Level - AD340

(AD: Adult Directed, a book typically read to students)

This book is about differing perspectives when looking at an animal. The book doesn't show the whole picture of the animal, but people see different things. After the animal leaves, the people begin to see the other person's side and perspective. At the end, however, a new dilemma arises when a new animal appears and they disagree on whether it's an anteater or a brachiosaurus. 

I think book could open up great conversations about how we see things differently based on our perspectives. We can become fixated on our point of view and forget that people see things differently than we do.

Lexile Level - AD20

(AD: Adult Directed, a book typically read to students)

Amazing Grace addresses the issues of traditional roles of race and gender and how we can break out of these traditional roles. Grace proves the other kids in her class wrong by getting the part of Peter Pan in the school play, despite being African-American and a girl.

I think this book is great at addressing these issues with a class setting in the story which can transition to a real classroom. I would use this with middle elementary students who would be addressing some of the issues presented in this book. I think it could open up wonderful, open discussions in the classroom, too.

Lexile Level - 680

This book is about an elephant named Gerald must decide whether to share his ice cream with his friend Piggie. Gerald shares his thoughts about what he is feeling about sharing with Piggie. Gerald spends so much time debating whether or not to share his ice cream that it has all melted by the time he has decided to share, but Piggie shows up with an ice cream cone and offers to share with Gerald. 

I would use this book in younger grades to discuss sharing with peers. I making ice cream cones as an activity and writing something like I can share... on the cone and then writing a few things that they can share on 3-4 ice cream scoops to display.

Lexile Level - 180

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, is a cute book about a mouse who is given a cookie and then goes on an adventure because of the other things it wants because of receiving the cookie. 

This would be a great book to work on sequencing. We could sequence our day at school after reading or transition to writing a story that every student would write that was in this style. (ex. If you give ___ a ___, and so on)

Lexile Level - AD660

(AD: Adult Directed, a book typically read to students)

A Bad Case of Stripes is about Camilla Cream. Camilla loves lima beans, but doesn't want to eat them because her peers do not like them. Throughout the book, she gets some crazy symptoms from not eating the lima beans and learns that it is perfectly ok to like what you like and be yourself.

This would be a great book for bringing up conversations about our differences in likes and dislikes. I think this would be a great to transition to a writing activity about something that each individual student likes that others might not like, just like Camilla likes lima beans, but others don't.

Lexile Level - AD540

(AD: Adult Directed, a book typically read to students)