Critique my plans for 5th grade lit

[PeachyDoodle]

For some reason, I struggle more when it comes to picking literature than with any other subject. I just can't seem to find the right balance between too hard/not hard enough. I am really, truly TERRIBLE at judging this.

 

In theory, I like the WTM model of pinning literature to the historical period we're studying. But as we start the cycle over this year in 5th grade, I'm wondering if we aren't going backwards somewhat in our literature. Maybe the fact that we have to use more adaptations for ancient literature than we needed for modern lit makes it seem less challenging to me. DD will plow through whatever I give her. Some of the harder ones take her a very long time -- but she doesn't complain, and she does understand them, so I like to give her at least one or two real challenges. I do feel like last year we bounced around A LOT in terms of difficulty level. I don't know if that's bad or not. :huh:

 

Would love some input as I finalize 5th grade plans. Are we going backwards?

 

Last year (4th grade) dd read the following:

• Don Quixote -- Oxford Illustrated Classics adaptation
• The Whipping Boy -- Sid Fleischman
• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch -- Jean Lee Latham
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle -- Washington Irving
• Treasure Island -- Robert Louis Stevenson
• Alice in Wonderland -- Lewis Carroll
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer -- Mark Twain (read along with audio book)
• American Tall Tales -- Adrien Stoutenburg
• The Phantom Tollbooth -- Norton Juster
• Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry -- Mildred Taylor
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe -- C.S. Lewis
• Various poems by Longfellow and Robert Frost

This year (5th), starting again with the ancients, we're using a lot of suggestions from History Odyssey, along with some things I've picked out. Since there doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground between the "real McCoys" of ancient lit and the kiddie versions, I've supplemented with some biographies and fantasy (which dd really likes):

• Gilgamesh the Hero -- Geraldine McCaughrean
• Myths and Legends -- Anthony Horowitz
• The Children's Homer -- Padraic Colum
• Greek Myths -- Olivia Coolidge
• Archimedes and the Door of Science -- Jeanne Bendick
• The Aeneid for Boys and Girls -- Alfred Church
• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way -- Joy Hakim
• Caesar's Gallic War -- Olivia Coolidge
• "The Lady or the Tiger" -- Frank Stockton
• The Fellowship of the Ring -- J.R.R. Tolkein
• Antigone -- Sophocles, middle grade adaptation by Albert Callum
• Selections from the Bible (New International Version)

Thanks to anyone who muddled through this and is willing to help me wrap my head around it!

[SilverMoon]

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Edited October 30, 2022 by SilverMoon

[rutheart]

For lit this year, my 5th grader is reading:

Bridge to Terabithia

Little Women

Anne of Green Gables

Little House on the Prairie

Bed-Knob and Broomstick

The Midwife's Apprentice

James and the Giant Peach

Harriet the Spy

The Enchanted Castle

 

Each book is assigned a 4 week period, and if she finishes early, she can read whatever she wants during lit time. I do history and science reads as part of their subjects, literature is completely separate.

[Farrar]

I like the idea of all the myth retellings and I think you have good ones though I don't know that Aeneid version and I agree that it seems like you may have a book too many. I agree about skipping the Sophocles for now though, even as a retelling. 

 

Some fifth graders are ready for Lord of the Rings, but it's dense. If she's going to "plow through it" then why do it now? What's the rush? Has she read The Hobbit?

 

The Story of Science is great... I think pairing it with your history year makes sense, but it may be a lot of reading. Just a thought. Archimedes seems like a great choice though.

 

The Lady or the Tiger is good too... we started doing short stories this past year for fifth grade as a way to delve into serious literature in small enough doses to really engage with it and pick it apart. We didn't do that one (you can see our list and what we did on my blog here) but I might do a number of short stories. Why keep it to one?

 

We may just have different values in choosing literature, but this list really lacks the modern classics. I feel like 4th-6th grade is prime Newbery reading time but you don't have any of those sorts of books on here. Is that purposeful? Does she not gravitate toward traditional children's literature? Does she read a ton of that sort of stuff on her own so these are her "stretch" books (not just reading level, but outside her typical reading fare)? I would advocate for thinking about putting some of those on there. In general this list reads as old fashioned and like you're in a rush to push her ahead. But when you say "plowing through" then it makes me think maybe she doesn't take a lot of joy in her reading? What about reading a few meaty modern children's classics... A Wrinkle in Time or Bridge to Terabithia or Tuck Everlasting or The Giver... or even something more recent but full of issue worthy discussion like Wonder or Holes or Walk Two Moons. I get that these aren't tied to what you're reading, but I'd choose a couple of those over The Fellowship of the Ring for the vast majority of fifth graders.

[Pen]

I did not try to tie history and literature together that much, and also did not make a big deal over "literature" versus "current fiction."  Things I recall my ds liking in or around 5th grade included a lot of the Rick Riordan ancient myth meets modern world adventure fantasies, and then those led to exploring other books, history, etc. about the myths. I think he liked a different Aeneid version (Black Ships before Troy ? Sutcliffe version?) but I do not know the one you mention.  He liked the Mary Pope Osborne versions of some Homer stories--they are pitched younger than the Sutcliffe, but were engaging. And read various Greek, Egyptian (for the Red Pyramid and its series) and other myths from a variety of sources, mainly looking for stories that went along with what he was encountering in his modern current fiction.  He also read (though perhaps that was another grade) a bunch of other books that also blended myth and other fiction, such as The Book of Three and others in the Prydain series, which led to myths related to Celtic world.  Similar happened with the Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband series of books which were also fun for picking up anachronisms--like when the people are eating potatoes, which ds knew would not have been available in the British isles area until after they were imported from the Americas.

 

If your dd likes fantasy, she might like these modern fiction books that are well suited to fifth grade too, and then also like to read the myths etc. that go with them.

 

 

[Pen]

PS I let my ds decide on the too hard/too easy issue.  I'm not familiar with all your choices and cannot comment on that for many, but Aristotle Leads the Way was too hard for my ds in 5th grade.  Partly because the pages are too busy with side bars etc. which bothers him, partly other reasons. I think I had hoped he would like the book on Archimedes, but it seemed too babyish to him as I recall, which maybe means too easy or not interesting enough for his level at that point.

[SevenDaisies]

 

I did not try to tie history and literature together that much, and also did not make a big deal over "literature" versus "current fiction." Things I recall my ds liking in or around 5th grade included a lot of the Rick Riordan ancient myth meets modern world adventure fantasies, and then those led to exploring other books, history, etc. about the myths. I think he liked a different Aeneid version (Black Ships before Troy ? Sutcliffe version?) but I do not know the one you mention. He liked the Mary Pope Osborne versions of some Homer stories--they are pitched younger than the Sutcliffe, but were engaging. And read various Greek, Egyptian (for the Red Pyramid and its series) and other myths from a variety of sources, mainly looking for stories that went along with what he was encountering in his modern current fiction. He also read (though perhaps that was another grade) a bunch of other books that also blended myth and other fiction, such as The Book of Three and others in the Prydain series, which led to myths related to Celtic world. Similar happened with the Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband series of books which were also fun for picking up anachronisms--like when the people are eating potatoes, which ds knew would not have been available in the British isles area until after they were imported from the Americas.

 

If your dd likes fantasy, she might like these modern fiction books that are well suited to fifth grade too, and then also like to read the myths etc. that go with them.

 

The Sutcliffe books, "Black Ships Before Troy" and "The Wanderings of Odysseus", are retellings of the Iliad and Odyssey. The Lively book is called "In Search of a Homeland" and it is a retelling of the Aeneid. It is very similar to the Sutcliffe books.

[PeachyDoodle]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was feeling pretty good about this list, once upon a time, but now every time I look at it I like it less and less. I need to figure it out soon so I can get on with planning -- we start back in less than three weeks!

 

I agree with whoever said it's kind of dry. I think that's what's bothering me. It smells like my grandmother's attic.

 

I know some of these are more science-oriented, but I try not to have her working on more than one major read at a time, so that's why I lumped nonfiction in with literature. She prefers nonfiction in a lot of ways, so this gives her a break also. I have not been able to see the Hakim book in person yet, so we will have to see how it goes. Maybe we can at least do a few excerpts. I think it will really appeal to her -- but I've been wrong before.

 

She does like to read a lot, actually. But she tends to get into one book or series and camp out there. For the last 6-8 months, it's been Harry Potter. She has read and re-read them I don't know how many times, and basically nothing else. Which is totally fine with me, for her free reading (I love HP too!). But for assigned reading I try to encourage her to branch out a bit. The one thing she really dislikes is historical fiction, which is one reason I've gravitated to pieces FROM the historical period we're in, as opposed to pieces ABOUT it, if that makes sense. She enjoys myths and legends, so I think she will like some of what I've planned, but maybe it's overkill.

 

Fellowship of the Ring is her choice, so I'm going to let her give it a go. She has read The Hobbit. I don't mind giving her one or two that she has to work a little harder on. She enjoyed Treasure Island, even though it took her longer than I'd expected to get through it (but I don't want EVERY book to be that way). Plus, she really gets into the fantasy/trippy stuff. She has never had stereotypically "girl" taste in anything (hated dolls, loved TMNT, etc.).

 

I like the idea of keeping a basic block of ancient stuff and adding in a couple more modern books. There were some good suggestions that she hasn't already read. If we stick to mostly fantasy-type stuff, maybe my OCD won't kick in and start screaming that we're not sticking strictly with the ancients!! She has already read most of the Egyptian and Greek myths, but not all of the epics (just the Mary Pope Osborne Odyssey). So maybe we'll start there. Thinking out loud...

• Gilgamesh the Hero -- Geraldine McCaughrean
• The Children's Homer (Odyssey/Iliad) -- Padraic Colum
• Archimedes and the Door of Science -- Jeanne Bendick
• The Aeneid for Boys and Girls -- Alfred Church (or maybe the Lively version? will check that out)
• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way -- Joy Hakim (excerpts?)
• "The Lady or the Tiger" -- Frank Stockton (plus a few more short stories -- great list, Farrar!)
• The Fellowship of the Ring -- J.R.R. Tolkien
• Selections from the Bible (New International Version)
• Bridge to Terabithia
• Tuck Everlasting
• The Book of Three
• The Book of Dragons
• The Enchanted Castle

I'll let her choose her favorites from among those last few, and we'll reserve the rest to plug in as we have time. Getting better?

[PeachyDoodle]

My fifth grader is doing American history. I have scheduled a handful of American literature titles, but the majority of them are included in her history block. Her actual literature block has a collection of American folk tales and poetry, a fairy tale collection, a couple volumes of Journeys Through Bookland, and a pile of classic children's literature in a variety of genres, fantasy, adventure, and such. I am really picky about the quality of book that gets into this block, which rules out the majority of historical fiction. The good historical fictions we'll use for actual history study.

 

If it were my particular DD I'd keep a good basic mythology collection (Hawthorne), Gilgamesh, the Sutcliff Odyssey, Lively Aeneid, the Bible, Arabian Nights (McCaughrean), and fill the rest with good literature like Anne of Green Gables, The Book of Dragons by Nesbit, Hobbit, Little Women, Heidi, Swiss Family Robinson, Treasure Island, Christmas Carol, Jungle Book.

 

The more I think about it, the more I think that splitting up literature and history might work for us. That way we could still do some of the ancient lit but also work in some more classic children's lit.

 

Could you tell me more about how your history and literature blocks work? Do you do them both every day? What else do you do in history at this stage?

 

 

[Kfamily]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was feeling pretty good about this list, once upon a time, but now every time I look at it I like it less and less. I need to figure it out soon so I can get on with planning -- we start back in less than three weeks!

 

I agree with whoever said it's kind of dry. I think that's what's bothering me. It smells like my grandmother's attic.

 

I know some of these are more science-oriented, but I try not to have her working on more than one major read at a time, so that's why I lumped nonfiction in with literature. She prefers nonfiction in a lot of ways, so this gives her a break also. I have not been able to see the Hakim book in person yet, so we will have to see how it goes. Maybe we can at least do a few excerpts. I think it will really appeal to her -- but I've been wrong before.

 

She does like to read a lot, actually. But she tends to get into one book or series and camp out there. For the last 6-8 months, it's been Harry Potter. She has read and re-read them I don't know how many times, and basically nothing else. Which is totally fine with me, for her free reading (I love HP too!). But for assigned reading I try to encourage her to branch out a bit. The one thing she really dislikes is historical fiction, which is one reason I've gravitated to pieces FROM the historical period we're in, as opposed to pieces ABOUT it, if that makes sense. She enjoys myths and legends, so I think she will like some of what I've planned, but maybe it's overkill.

 

Fellowship of the Ring is her choice, so I'm going to let her give it a go. She has read The Hobbit. I don't mind giving her one or two that she has to work a little harder on. She enjoyed Treasure Island, even though it took her longer than I'd expected to get through it (but I don't want EVERY book to be that way). Plus, she really gets into the fantasy/trippy stuff. She has never had stereotypically "girl" taste in anything (hated dolls, loved TMNT, etc.).

 

I like the idea of keeping a basic block of ancient stuff and adding in a couple more modern books. There were some good suggestions that she hasn't already read. If we stick to mostly fantasy-type stuff, maybe my OCD won't kick in and start screaming that we're not sticking strictly with the ancients!! She has already read most of the Egyptian and Greek myths, but not all of the epics (just the Mary Pope Osborne Odyssey). So maybe we'll start there. Thinking out loud...

• Gilgamesh the Hero -- Geraldine McCaughrean
• The Children's Homer (Odyssey/Iliad) -- Padraic Colum
• Archimedes and the Door of Science -- Jeanne Bendick
• The Aeneid for Boys and Girls -- Alfred Church (or maybe the Lively version? will check that out)
• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way -- Joy Hakim (excerpts?)
• "The Lady or the Tiger" -- Frank Stockton (plus a few more short stories -- great list, Farrar!)
• The Fellowship of the Ring -- J.R.R. Tolkien
• Selections from the Bible (New International Version)
• Bridge to Terabithia
• Tuck Everlasting
• The Book of Three
• The Book of Dragons
• The Enchanted Castle

I'll let her choose her favorites from among those last few, and we'll reserve the rest to plug in as we have time. Getting better?

 

 

We handle literature in much the same way as described by Silvermoon. :) I do think your list is getting better. I like the variety. I'll share our list for 5th grade, but you may have already read some of them.

 

What about poetry?

 

 

Year Five Literature

 

Poetry:

Poetry for Young People: Alfred, Lord Tennyson edited by John Maynard

Poetry for Young People: American Poetry edited by John Hollander

Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman edited by Jonathan Levin

Tales:

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

Two Selections: Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving

Mythology:

The Trojan War by Oliva Coolidge

Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliff

 

We read the retelling of the Aeneid (Lively) in Year 6, but you could certainly move anything around as needed.

 

Shakespeare:

From Tales From Shakespeare by C. & M. Lamb

 

"As You Like It"

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona"

"The Merchant of Venice"

 

We finish Tales from Shakespeare in Year 6 and start full plays in Year 7, but you could also read the complete book.

 

Author Study:

Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs

 

Literature:

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge 

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald  

The Complete Fairy Tales by George MacDonald

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Faerie Gold: Treasures From the Land of Enchantment by Hunsicker and Lindskoog

Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

[SparrowsNest]

I tend to prioritize classic literature over historical fiction, but I will tie something in if I think the historical piece is worth reading on its own merits.  My 5th grader is doing an overview of world history (so the reading selections are kind of all over the place :) ).  I should also add that he is not a particularly strong reader, although he has made great gains since coming home, and I am super proud of him! 

 

 

Tirzah

Mara, Daughter of the Nile

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare and The Bard of Avon

Black Ships Before Troy

The Aeneid for Boys & Girls

Adam of the Road

The Silver Branch

The Good Master

 

The Trumpet of the Swan

Kidnapped

Redwall

The Red Keep

Robinson Crusoe

Swallows & Amazons

 

Little Britches

Biography of Albert Einstein

and

Storybook of Science

 

 We do poetry during Morning Time, and he's also working through some of the selections from Evan Moor's 5th grade poetry.  

 

 

[SilverMoon]

On 8/4/2015 at 6:50 AM, PeachyDoodle said:

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by SilverMoon

[SilverMoon]

She does like to read a lot, actually. But she tends to get into one book or series and camp out there. For the last 6-8 months, it's been Harry Potter. She has read and re-read them I don't know how many times, and basically nothing else. Which is totally fine with me, for her free reading (I love HP too!). .... She enjoys myths and legends, so I think she will like some of what I've planned, but maybe it's overkill.

 

 

...... Plus, she really gets into the fantasy/trippy stuff. She has never had stereotypically "girl" taste in anything (hated dolls, loved TMNT, etc.).

 

May I suggest handing her a Fablehaven for her free reading. ;)  And if she really likes the boarding school stuff that's not typical in this country, check out some of the Enid Blyton collections. The Famous Five, The Naughtiest Girl, St. Clare's, or stuff like The Magic Faraway Tree for more fantasy.  They're not as commonly found here, but I can get them used off Amazon fairly inexpensively.

[PeachyDoodle]

Yes, her history and literature will be daily for 5th grade. She did literature and geography daily for 4th grade. She does have more than one "major read" going at a time, because science and history are primarily reading based. The extra reading and discussion for those subjects *is* that subject for the day.

 

Again, this is a strong reader on the precocious side of life who does not struggle in the slightest with this workload.

 

For her literature I decided on the titles ahead of time, likely a few more than she could get through in a school year.  She is expected to read the book of her choice from that collection daily. When a new book starts we look at it together and decide how many chapters or pages will be done daily. Occasionally I will decide the next book.  We discuss what she's read nearly daily. The daily volume depends on how challenging the book is, how long the chapters are, how high her interest is, and such.

 

Her history is a big unit study this year, based on a lower level fictional history (American Girl) that I read aloud so her 2nd grade sister can do it too. DD/5th's daily work will be a variety of further reading and unit study style activities and projects. So when she's reading The Golden Book of the American Revolution (nonfiction) or Breaking Stalin's Nose (fictional history) that will be her history that day. The other stuff will be writing assignments, handicrafts, further research, acting out scenes, biographies, mapwork, character analysis, and such. They're using some of the paper dolls on a homemade felt board, and DD/5th will be responsible for researching what type of clothes the girls would have worn and making appropriate attire for them from my fabric stash or patterns she can print off the internet. (The AG stuff is high interest right now, and these two sisters really enjoy having a subject together. Last year the spines were more mature and the younger sister just didn't do all of them.)

 

If we were doing ancients she'd be writing letters in cuneiform and hieroglyphics, learning about how mummies are made, comparing the Egyptian gods to the 10 plagues, probably staging an Egyptian burial for a doll, and reading gobs of fun books. Obviously this is my hands on kid who learns best when she can be directly involved. LOL

 

Science will have a fair amount of real books to read too. Some picture books, biographies, "living" books, and a couple fiction books with high chemistry content.

 

We are less hands-on, but I think we could still make something like this work. I need to think a little more about where we want to focus our attentions in history and science, too. I do think she could handle more than one major book at a time if there wasn't so much cross-over in content. Same goes for writing. Our spines are going to need some tweaking, but in the end this sounds like a better fit for us. Thank you for sharing!

 

This will be our third year, and I'm still figuring out how to combine various subjects and curricula so we get the right balance. Is this a battle that's ever won? I'm starting to wonder... :)

 

Can't multi-quote, but I will check out the books you suggested as well. Sounds like they might be right up her alley.

 

[ScoutTN]

My DD is a 10 yo 5 pth grader and we are doing Ancients too.

And a Narnia lit study.

 

I don't tie lit to history, but I do include a few lit books within our history study. I will read the Sutcliff retellings of Homer as RA. Nice art!

 

I am asking her to read these:

Gilgamesh the Hero

Tales of Ancient Egypt or The Golden Goblet or The Cat of Bubastes

Tirzah

Lysis Goes to the Play

The Aeneid for Boys and Girls or the Penelope Lively book

The Bronze Bow

 

We have lots of others if she wants more. :) We read Detective in Togas last time around and I have the Eagle of the Ninth series too. Mythology is a given here (no need to assign it) My kids have practially memorized D'Aulaire's so I got the Hawthorne for Dd. Dd has read Percy Jackson and several Odyssey retellings.

 

A good number of our Narnia extra books will be picture books or RAs, so as to include Ds. I used the lists from FUFI and the ones SilverMoon and others have posted. Several books in Dd's lit list are from the Narnia list. She doesn't have to read them all but probably will.

 

At the Back of the North Wind

Lassie Come Home

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The Phantom Tollbooth

Cheaper By the Dozen

Baby Island

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

Gentle Ben

The Story of the Treasure Seekers

[ScoutTN]

Thanks for the fun project ideas, SM!

[SilverMoon]

This will be our third year, and I'm still figuring out how to combine various subjects and curricula so we get the right balance. Is this a battle that's ever won? I'm starting to wonder... :)

 

I'm still working on it with my 11th grader who has homeschooled from the beginning. :ph34r:

[SilverMoon]

Thanks for the fun project ideas, SM!

 

Glad they were useful! I'm certain none of them were my own unique creation, but were borrowed from curricula and other hsers over the years. :001_smile:

[Chelli]

I separate literature from history as well. My dd does have required books to read for history, but those are read as part of her history assignments. Her literature readings are read on her own and narrated to me. I tried to make her literature varied this year across many disciplines, but also include some great books that I know she'd like for her free reading. 

[ScoutTN]

Glad they were useful! I'm certain none of them were my own unique creation, but were borrowed from curricula and other hsers over the years. :001_smile:

I have cuneform cookies (found that one here on the boards), the SOTW chx mummy, a FT to the Parthenon (the Music City replica), and Roman baths on my list for this year.

[Farrar]

Peachy Doodle, I think your new plan feels way less stuffy. You can definitely do excerpts from Story of Science. It's just that it's a big text that's meant to take a full year. Reading it all in one go wouldn't be very fun for most kids, I think. I'd just pepper bits of it through the year.

 

Also, d'oh, I obviously meant to link our list of short stories from fifth grade and totally flaked. Maybe you found it, but I'll link it anyway...

https://farrarwilliams.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/reading-short-stories/

[PeachyDoodle]

Peachy Doodle, I think your new plan feels way less stuffy. You can definitely do excerpts from Story of Science. It's just that it's a big text that's meant to take a full year. Reading it all in one go wouldn't be very fun for most kids, I think. I'd just pepper bits of it through the year.

 

Also, d'oh, I obviously meant to link our list of short stories from fifth grade and totally flaked. Maybe you found it, but I'll link it anyway...

https://farrarwilliams.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/reading-short-stories/

 

I did find it -- but thanks! Love your blog, BTW!

 

I am feeling much better about our direction now. I've made a few more tweaks this afternoon. :) I told dd about our new plans, and she seems quite excited. (Well, for her. This is a kid that doesn't get too worked up about much of anything, good or bad!)

 

At least now my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode.

[Pen]

The Sutcliffe books, "Black Ships Before Troy" and "The Wanderings of Odysseus", are retellings of the Iliad and Odyssey. The Lively book is called "In Search of a Homeland" and it is a retelling of the Aeneid. It is very similar to the Sutcliffe books.

 

 

Yes!  Thanks! That is the one I meant.  And he did also like the Sutcliffe books which I think he did read around 5th with the Osborne ones a bit younger.

[Pen]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was feeling pretty good about this list, once upon a time, but now every time I look at it I like it less and less. I need to figure it out soon so I can get on with planning -- we start back in less than three weeks!

 

I agree with whoever said it's kind of dry. I think that's what's bothering me. It smells like my grandmother's attic.

 

I know some of these are more science-oriented, but I try not to have her working on more than one major read at a time, so that's why I lumped nonfiction in with literature. She prefers nonfiction in a lot of ways, so this gives her a break also. I have not been able to see the Hakim book in person yet, so we will have to see how it goes. Maybe we can at least do a few excerpts. I think it will really appeal to her -- but I've been wrong before.

 

She does like to read a lot, actually. But she tends to get into one book or series and camp out there. For the last 6-8 months, it's been Harry Potter. She has read and re-read them I don't know how many times, and basically nothing else. Which is totally fine with me, for her free reading (I love HP too!). But for assigned reading I try to encourage her to branch out a bit. The one thing she really dislikes is historical fiction, which is one reason I've gravitated to pieces FROM the historical period we're in, as opposed to pieces ABOUT it, if that makes sense. She enjoys myths and legends, so I think she will like some of what I've planned, but maybe it's overkill.

 

Fellowship of the Ring is her choice, so I'm going to let her give it a go. She has read The Hobbit. I don't mind giving her one or two that she has to work a little harder on. She enjoyed Treasure Island, even though it took her longer than I'd expected to get through it (but I don't want EVERY book to be that way). Plus, she really gets into the fantasy/trippy stuff. She has never had stereotypically "girl" taste in anything (hated dolls, loved TMNT, etc.).

 

I like the idea of keeping a basic block of ancient stuff and adding in a couple more modern books. There were some good suggestions that she hasn't already read. If we stick to mostly fantasy-type stuff, maybe my OCD won't kick in and start screaming that we're not sticking strictly with the ancients!! She has already read most of the Egyptian and Greek myths, but not all of the epics (just the Mary Pope Osborne Odyssey). So maybe we'll start there. Thinking out loud...

• Gilgamesh the Hero -- Geraldine McCaughrean
• The Children's Homer (Odyssey/Iliad) -- Padraic Colum
• Archimedes and the Door of Science -- Jeanne Bendick
• The Aeneid for Boys and Girls -- Alfred Church (or maybe the Lively version? will check that out)
• The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way -- Joy Hakim (excerpts?)
• "The Lady or the Tiger" -- Frank Stockton (plus a few more short stories -- great list, Farrar!)
• The Fellowship of the Ring -- J.R.R. Tolkien
• Selections from the Bible (New International Version)
• Bridge to Terabithia
• Tuck Everlasting
• The Book of Three
• The Book of Dragons
• The Enchanted Castle

I'll let her choose her favorites from among those last few, and we'll reserve the rest to plug in as we have time. Getting better?

 

 

I think the list looks a lot better now!  I'd suggest offering the Prydain (Book of Three) book very early in the year and see if she gets into it.  If she does, she may want to read the whole series as with Harry Potter.

 

Another I just thought of if she hasn't read it yet is Because of Winn-Dixie -- fun book, and by next year she may be getting a bit old for it.  Half a Chance is also lovely, and worth reading before she gets too old for it.

 

I don't much like historical fiction either.

[Soror]

Fwiw my son is just turned 11, 5th/6th grader and we are studying Ancients this year. My son is reading Story of Science and some of the classics with History, Kingfisher Classics- Odyssey, Illiad, various mythology books, and Gilgamesh but the rest of his history reading is his choice, I have a shelf of various books from the house and library and he is to just pick what he wants and read for x minutes each day after he finishes a bit of his main book.

 

For lit I honestly don't have a list and lit isn't really assigned since he usually reads on his on, now if he goes through a low reading spell I will make some suggestions but at this age we are just enjoying books. Ds is a voracious reader and loves read-alouds. I pick as many books as I can at the library that I think he will like and I think look like decent books and I just put them in the basket(yesterday's pics were Howl's Moving Castle, The Greenglass House, The Fire Within and The Iron Trial(he's nearly finished this one already). I read aloud as well, that will be some recent books (Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy(LOVED) was just finished and we just started Because of Mr. Terupt), some non-fiction I am Malala and Mandala biopic, A Long Walk to Water are all in my pile, Swallows and Amazons and Lord of the Rings are on the maybe read aloud list for the year, I just went through Sunday and pulled out some I thought might be good to hit this year but that is all I can remember right now! Last week he read the entire Maximum Ride series of Graphic Novels and a couple of other novels, which names escape me now(oops!). He likes otherwordly books but really most anything. I always check various book lists for age appropriate classics but that isn't all we read, there are also so many newer books that are really good as well, also ds just loves to read and not every book has to be a great book. 

[Soror]

I would say as well as too hard or not hard enough I was just contemplating this yesterday at the library, ds reads a wide range. I was just planning on going through Scholastics site to pick him some books a little bit higher as he has been reading easy books as of late BUT then again I think it helps with fluency and confidence to read the easier books, so I'm ok with the fact that he reads easy books at times, sometimes he reads hard books and then I often stretch him wtih read-alouds not always with complexity of words but sometimes complexity of ideas and that works for our goals.

[Pen]

My ds clarified that Hakim's Story of Science was not too hard--he just did not like it and the way it was organized (I did rather like it though, I should add).    He apparently prefers to read sci-fi and then newer science that relates more to that, such as recent popular bio of Albert Einstein, the title of which we are not sure of right now, but which he liked a lot for both history and science aspects (though it is modern, of course).  Ender's Shadow recommended.  Since he is also fond of Harry Potter, possibly his ideas would also resonate with your dd.

[Soror]

My ds clarified that Hakim's Story of Science was not too hard--he just did not like it and the way it was organized (I did rather like it though, I should add).    He apparently prefers to read sci-fi and then newer science that relates more to that, such as recent popular bio of Albert Einstein, the title of which we are not sure of right now, but which he liked a lot for both history and science aspects (though it is modern, of course).  Ender's Shadow recommended.  Since he is also fond of Harry Potter, possibly his ideas would also resonate with your dd.

My ds is enjoying Story of Science, he keeps telling me, "Did you Know?" and then last week he was looking up about something he seen in there. Now the Archimedes and the Door to Science we tried it last year I think and ds didn't care for it at all. You remind me to look at Ender's Game again, I don't think he has read it or any of the follow-ups, I know I don't have it, it seems I considered it last year but thought it should wait.

[PeachyDoodle]

My ds clarified that Hakim's Story of Science was not too hard--he just did not like it and the way it was organized (I did rather like it though, I should add).    He apparently prefers to read sci-fi and then newer science that relates more to that, such as recent popular bio of Albert Einstein, the title of which we are not sure of right now, but which he liked a lot for both history and science aspects (though it is modern, of course).  Ender's Shadow recommended.  Since he is also fond of Harry Potter, possibly his ideas would also resonate with your dd.

 

Thanks for the update. If you think of the Einstein bio, let me know. DD read one over the summer (can't remember that title either, but it wasn't new). I think she might enjoy another one. She finds him fascinating.

 

Is Ender's Shadow Orson Scott Card? I haven't read any of his stuff, but she might really like it. Is it a children's book? Seems like it was assigned in a sci-fi class I took in college. (Different groups got different books, so I didn't read it.)

 

[PeachyDoodle]

My ds is enjoying Story of Science, he keeps telling me, "Did you Know?" and then last week he was looking up about something he seen in there. Now the Archimedes and the Door to Science we tried it last year I think and ds didn't care for it at all. You remind me to look at Ender's Game again, I don't think he has read it or any of the follow-ups, I know I don't have it, it seems I considered it last year but thought it should wait.

 

{Sorry for the multiple posts; multiquote isn't working.}

 

This is the kid who read the Usborne Science Encyclopedia from cover to cover, so I do think she will like Story of Science. And I expect to get a lot of "did you know??" myself. :) I don't think we will try to do it in one chunk like I previously thought, though. Since we'll have to borrow it from the library, I'll have to see how to make it work.

 

Now that we're dividing up literature and history, I think I will use SoS as a history/science read and let her work it in over those two blocks. It should line up nicely with our science study. Same with Archimedes, although I'm not married to that one. If she hates it, it can go.

 

[Soror]

{Sorry for the multiple posts; multiquote isn't working.}

 

This is the kid who read the Usborne Science Encyclopedia from cover to cover, so I do think she will like Story of Science. And I expect to get a lot of "did you know??" myself. :) I don't think we will try to do it in one chunk like I previously thought, though. Since we'll have to borrow it from the library, I'll have to see how to make it work.

 

Now that we're dividing up literature and history, I think I will use SoS as a history/science read and let her work it in over those two blocks. It should line up nicely with our science study. Same with Archimedes, although I'm not married to that one. If she hates it, it can go.

 

fwiw ds is reading it in one go, he is not much for reading chunks here and there and it was just easier for me. I needed something to get him started for the year and he wasn't giving me  his opinion so the plan is to start with it and then hopefully figure out a new direction after we finish(I'm browsing some open courses now looking for something that might interest him!)- I'm counting it as our Science reading, although I know it is heavy into the history as well, I'm ok with some science being the history aspect.

[Pen]

Thanks for the update. If you think of the Einstein bio, let me know. DD read one over the summer (can't remember that title either, but it wasn't new). I think she might enjoy another one. She finds him fascinating.

 

Is Ender's Shadow Orson Scott Card? I haven't read any of his stuff, but she might really like it. Is it a children's book? Seems like it was assigned in a sci-fi class I took in college. (Different groups got different books, so I didn't read it.)

 

 

 

multiquote not working for me either, but at least seeing when others have quoted me is now working!

 

 

Ender's Shadow is by Orson Scott Card.  It is not a children's book, but since major characters are children, it and Ender's Game have become popular with some tweens and teens. Probably as with some other books originally intended for adults what is understood by children is different than what might be understood by adults.   It has a lot of violence in it, but then so does Harry Potter.  My son was in 6th when he first read it, I believe. I think Ender's Shadow is better than Ender's Game.  The author was older and I think more mature when he wrote the latter.  They both cover the same events but from different perspective.  You do not need to read the one to read the other.  My son saw the Ender's Game movie, but I do not recall if that was before or after coming to the Ender's Shadow book.  I think after.

[Farrar]

When Ender's Game was originally published, YA didn't really exist as a publishing brand. Books that today are sold as YA were back then niche books within adult lit or adult genre lit. If it was published today, I'm sure Ender's Game would be labeled YA and, in fact, I'm pretty sure that the more recent editions are packaged as YA. Basically, yeah, totally appropriate for about 5th grade and up.

[Pen]

ETA Amazon is listing Ender's Shadow as being for r.l. grade 5 and up, and age 12-18.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Shadow-The-Series/dp/0765342405

[Pen]

When Ender's Game was originally published, YA didn't really exist as a publishing brand. Books that today are sold as YA were back then niche books within adult lit or adult genre lit. If it was published today, I'm sure Ender's Game would be labeled YA and, in fact, I'm pretty sure that the more recent editions are packaged as YA. Basically, yeah, totally appropriate for about 5th grade and up.

 

 

I would say that Ender's Shadow while not a children's book like say the Archimedes one is, nonetheless, is much more suited to my son at any rate for his upper elementary/middle school years than a lot that is classed as "YA."  E.S. has more mature philosophical themes, but a lot less of dating and issues like that, than say something like, my title may be a bit off, The Fault in Our Stars

[Pen]

http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Life-Universe-Walter-Isaacson/dp/0743264746

 

the Einstein one

[Farrar]

I would say that Ender's Shadow while not a children's book like say the Archimedes one is, nonetheless, is much more suited to my son at any rate for his upper elementary/middle school years than a lot that is classed as "YA."  E.S. has more mature philosophical themes, but a lot less of dating and issues like that, than say something like, my title may be a bit off, The Fault in Our Stars

 

I haven't read Shadow - only Ender's Game (I wasn't much of a fan, TBH). But I'll just stick up for YA and say that a lot of the best YA is not at all focused on romance and dating. Sure, some is. And some is not appropriate for upper elementary. But I can name dozens of YA books where romance is not a part of the story or is only a marginal part of the plot. For all the Twilights and Faults in Our Stars there are books like The Book Thief or Octavian Nothing. And philosophical themes are a big part of a lot of YA books.

[Pen]

I haven't read Shadow - only Ender's Game (I wasn't much of a fan, TBH). But I'll just stick up for YA and say that a lot of the best YA is not at all focused on romance and dating. Sure, some is. And some is not appropriate for upper elementary. But I can name dozens of YA books where romance is not a part of the story or is only a marginal part of the plot. For all the Twilights and Faults in Our Stars there are books like The Book Thief or Octavian Nothing. And philosophical themes are a big part of a lot of YA books.

 

 

I think Shadow is much better than Game.

 

Maybe I will start a new thread for YA books that are more philosophical and less romantic.