My3Munchkins Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 We're going to spend some time focusing on American History next year. I would love some recommendations for read alouds. (My children will be in 3rd and 5th grade.) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Have you looked at the Sonlight Core D and E read alouds and readers? We are very much enjoying the core D ones this year, and plan to read the Core E ones next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llifeon18wheels Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I would suggest Core D and E as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Those SL cores were my first thought as well. We're not using SL anymore but those were some of our favorite books ever and I'm looking forward to doing them again with my younger children. I would think that you could easily incorporate those books without actually using the SL guides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3Munchkins Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 I'll check out the Sonlight books. Any specific, not to be missed, books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 We're doing American History next year (up to the civil war). I sat down with the book lists from: Sonlight MFW Veritas HOD Elemental History to see which read-alouds seem to be universally recommended. There are sooo many to choose from! (I'm about to head out the door to take the kids to P.E. but I'll come back later and add in the book list I came up with.:)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 These are some of the ones we read and enjoyed: 1. Toliver's Secret 2. Amos Fortune, Free Man 3. The Witch of Blackbird Pond 4. Childhood of Famous American series (these are fun biographies) 5. The Little House Series 6. The 39 Clues (this one is a stretch, but it DOES center around Ben Franklin, lol, and they start out in America so that counts, right?) 7. Journey to the New World: the Diary of Patience Whipple 8. Heroes of History series (also good biographies) 9. The Sign of the Beaver 10. Johnny Tremain Hope that helps! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3Munchkins Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 We're doing American History next year (up to the civil war). I sat down with the book lists from: Sonlight MFW Veritas HOD Elemental History to see which read-alouds seem to be universally recommended. There are sooo many to choose from! (I'm about to head out the door to take the kids to P.E. but I'll come back later and add in the book list I came up with. :)) This is my problem! There are so many great books I'm having trouble narrowing them down to make a manageable list! We may just spend the whole year reading! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Witch of Blackbird Pond--favorite colonial book EVER. Sign of the Beaver--some don't like this for its portrayal of NA peoples but we enjoyed it Books by Kenneth Thomasma--written from an NA perspective. We liked Om-Kas-Toe and Doe Sara (I think that was the title) Caddie Woodlawn--FAVORITE--set in Civil War, but about a family in Wisconsin--tomboy girl Little House books--FAVORITE Tree in the Trail (and Paddle by the Sea) Streams to the River, River to the Sea--Lewis and Clark By the Great Horn Spoon--and anything by Sid Fleishman! Across 5 Aprils--Civil War Miracles on Maple Hill--WWII--dad comes back changed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Some we liked are listed by pp, but here are a few more. My ds liked Ben and Me and Mr Revere and I The Jean Fritz books are good. Pink and Say is a favorite by Patricia Polacco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Does anyone have a recommendation for a comprehensive narrative read aloud for advanced kids this age? Unfortunately HE Marshall's "This Country of Ours" is not acceptable for our family. I'm thinking of using the first 2 Gerald Johnson's history for Peter books for assigned reading but would like something as a read aloud. I have a 4th edition(1971) of Bailey's "American Pageant", this was among the last single author versions of the text, which I received as a discard when I was a lad *many* moons ago. It has a decent narrative flow but I would hope there is a better choice. Bennet's "last best hope" is appealing since it is shorter but is pitched at too mature an audience both for sophistication and content. I don't need to get into promiscuity and syphillis in the 1st chapter ;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I have a schedule of what we are using for US History on my blog with lots of supplemental book options, many of the SL ones are scheduled. Some favorites The Maestro Books Jean Fritz books D'Aulaire biographies Om Kas Toe Naya Nuki Ben and Me Mr. Revere and I The Courage of Sarah Noble The Little House books Sarah Plain and Tall The Cabin Faced West Toliver's Secret Squanto Friend of the Pilgrims Pocahontas the Stranger Paddle to the Sea Johnny Tremain Matchlock Gun A Lion to Guard Us These are all from the first half of US History...we will be using most of the SL Core E books for the 2nd year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSinNH Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I'll second "Johnny Tremain" and "Caddie Woodlawn." My girls loved them both!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Take a look at the books recommended by Beautiful Feet (even if you aren't going to use BF). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 "Johnny Tremain" and "Witch of Blackbird Pond" definitely. We also just picked up "General Butterfingers" by Catharine Bowman Smith. Found this too http://www.powells.com/section/childrens/historical-fiction-us-colonial-and-revolutionary-periods/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdobis Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 My favorite was Walk the World's Rim. My then 8year old son loved it too. All the others look good as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 We're using The Complete Book of US History as our spine, so the following categories are based from that... Also, my kids are a bit younger than the OP's so I've got a fair bit of picture books included. I've also mixed fiction & non-fiction (much of the non-fic is just what my local library had available). This is just my "potentials" list -- I doubt we'll read all of these. I'll narrow them down once I actually see them in person (most of these are from library searches, Amazon searches, etc...) First Americans: Dreamplace (Lyon) Ancient Cliffdwellers of Mesa Verde (Arnold) The Very First Americans (Ashrose) North American Indians (Gorsline) Aztec, Inca & Maya (Baquendano) Explorers: Eric the Red (Grant) Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky (Schiller) Leif the Lucky (D'Aulaire) Who Was First (Freedman) Pedro's Journal (?) Follow the Dream Christopher Columbus (Sis) The story of Columbus (Ganeri) Explorers Who Got Lost Colonial Times: Roanoke: The Lost Colony (Yolen) The Lost Colony of Roanoke (Fritz) Pocahontas and the Strangers (Bulla) The Story of Pocahontas (Jenner) Squanto's Journey (Bruchac) Pilgrim Stories If You Lived in Colonial Times Tattered Sails (Kay) Molly Bannaky (McGill) Our Strange New Land (Hermes) A Lion to Guard Us (Bulla) The Legend of Daniel Boone (Blair) The Matchlock Gun (Edmunds) American Revolution: Did it all start with a Snowball Fight? (Carson) Paul Revere (Martin) Paul Revere's Ride (Niz) A Picture Book of Paul Revere (Adler) Henry and the Cannons (Brown) Farmer George Plants a Nation (Thomas) Meet George Washington (Heilbroner) Sybil Ludington's Midnight Ride (Amstel) Sarah Whitcher's Story The Bear that Heard Crying (lots of pictures books on Thomas Jefferson/Ben Franklin) If You Were there in 1776 (Brenner) The One and only Decl. of Indep (St. George) The Decl. of Indep.: A-Z (Osornio) Whew, I have more for Western Expansion... but most of them are what my library had. We'll read aloud: Farmer Boy/ On the Banks of Plum Creek Apples to Oregon Sarah, plain & tall The Cabin Faced West Caddie Woodlawn Lots of Tall Tales compilations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 We, too, did a year of American History with the Complete book of US History as our spine. We added in quite a few American Girl books as we were theoretically using Portraits of American Girlhood (although we didn't use it much). My schedule - with readalouds - is at the link here. Some of the historical fiction reading was for an older child (5th), but you would want to preview anything because what didn't bother me might bother you. :-) I will tell you which books the kids disliked the most: Johnny Tremain, the Story of Eli Whitney, Carry On Mr Bowditch, and Francis Parkman & the Plains Indians. Of the books they read, they most remember things like By the Great Horn Spoon. They loved the songs the most - from I Hear America Singing! You could definitely spend an entire year (or two) reading. We read, drew, read, read, sang, and read some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 There are some great suggestions here. It's hard to just pick some of them. The Witch of Blackbird Pond is one of my all time favorite books. I think growing up in CT maybe made me love it even more. It's too complicated for my kids at this age, I think. Maybe in a couple years. I just read it this week actually since we are studying the colonial times. Love it. The Felicity Stories are good if your children like the American girl books. We enjoyed them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 We liked: The Corn Grows Ripe Tikta'Liktak Island of the Blue Dolphins Welcome to Kaya's World (not really a read-aloud, but a good discussion book), also Welcome to Kirsten's World, Welcome to Josefina's World and Welcome to Molly's World Ben and Me King George: What was His Problem? The Courage of Sarah Noble Farmer Boy On the Banks of Plum Creek By the Great Horn Spoon Understood Betsy Thimble Summer (set during the Depression, though it's not explicitly stated) I didn't like Om-Kas-Toe as a read-aloud at all. It was really choppy. It's a good story, but better read silently. Others on my list we haven't gotten to yet: Blood on the River: James Town 1607 Streams to the River, River to the Sea The Witch of Blackbird Pond Rip Van Winkle, The Headless Horseman The Ballad of Lucy Whipple Two Miserable Presidents Behind Rebel Lines Little Women The Adventures of Tom Sawyer A Family Apart A Girl of the Limberlost Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself Bridge to Terabithia Wonder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I wouldn't use these as read alouds but DS has read ~1/2 of the Garrard Discovery series biographies, http://www.valerieslivinglibrary.com/garrard.htm , this year. I quite like them. They are written at a roughly 3rd grade reading level and are ~75-90pgs each. They are OOP but are better written than anything I've found in print. We get them through ILL. For us, DS can read them in a day and doesn't begrudge reading them. Sure they are some what light and naive but for a first exposure I think they are great... on subjects of greater interest we have followed up with Landmark books which are roughly twice as long and a couple a grade levels higher in reading level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I didn't like Om-Kas-Toe as a read-aloud at all. It was really choppy. It's a good story, but better read silently. We have friends who read this & loved it. I couldn't figure that out since I was left with the same impression you had. I couldn't figure out how such an exciting idea was turned into such a terribly-written book. It turns out that when she read it aloud, she was modifying it as she went to make it flow better. I don't know if reading it silently is any better, but it could be such a great book if it were rewritten. Naya Nuki, by the same author, was a much better read. I will say there were several books I really liked that the kids didn't love (like Swift Rivers, for instance). Often, we would barely tolerate a book & friends of ours loved it. Everyone is different, so you might just have to try some out. Also, we used audiobooks for some of the books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 For Civil War we really enjoyed Under Siege. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 We just finished Soun Tetoken, which was also by the author of Naya Nuki and Om-Kas-Toe. It was a pain to read as well. However, it was a great as far as historical fiction of the Nez Perce go. We learned a lot. So it was worth my pain in reading it. The kids enjoyed it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMary2 Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 We liked: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Where the Red Fern Grows Little House in the Big Woods Caddie Woodlawn Shiloh Sign of the Beaver Little Madison Carry on Mr. Bowditch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.