Flowergirl159 Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Not sure if I should cross post this. I am in the process of preparing a book list for my oldest. She is currently 11 and will be 12 when she enters grade 7 in January. What books would you recommend for her before then? Assuming that she will be reading the Great Books in upper High School. Independent Quiet Reading Listen to Read Alouds What books do you recommend a child should have been exposed to before they reach grade 7? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 What is she studying this year? Are you trying to align her literature with history or are you just trying to hit good kids books in general to prepare for more advanced reading? My daughter's "must read" list leading up to 7th grade included: Little House on the Prairie Little Women The Secret Garden Anne of Green Gables (the whole series) Harry Potter (the whole series) The Chronicles of Narnia The Hobbit There was also lots of historical fiction and, once she hit 5th & 6th grades, lots of classical adaptations. Our must-do adaptations included: Black Ships Before Troy The Wanderings of Odysseus In Search of a Homeland (Aeneid) The Sword and the Circle Thousand & One Arabian Nights (McCaughrean) Outlaws of Sherwood The Canterbury Tales (McCaughrean) Tales from Shakespeare Dd also read several easier classics in 6th & 7th grades: Romeo & Juliet Robinson Crusoe Treasure Island A Christmas Carol Tom Sawyer Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde The War of the Worlds The Time Machine Pride and Prejudice 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowergirl159 Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 Thanks MinivanMom, your list helps me. I had actually just thought of great literature. But for our history we are studying Ancients this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Wondering about this too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Our Ancients list is a mix of historical fiction and classical adaptations, and we actually covered all the way up to the Middle Ages that year. Here's our full list: Boy of the Painted Cave Gilgamesh: The Hero The Golden Bull Tales of Ancient Egypt (Green) The Golden Goblet Mara: Daughter of the Nile Sita's Ramayana (this is a graphic novel adaptation of the Ramayana from Sita's viewpoint) The Ch'i-lin Purse Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Twenty Jataka Tales Hittite Warrior Greek Myths (Coolidge) The Golden Fleece Theras and His Town Black Ships Before Troy The Wanderings of Odysseus In Search of a Homeland Eagle of the Ninth The Bronze Bow Children of Odin Anna of Byzantium Thousand & One Arabian Nights (McCaughrean) Son of Charlemagne The Canterbury Tales (McCaughrean) A Proud Taste of Scarlet and Miniver I Rode a Horse of Milkwhite Jade Outlaws of Sherwood Adam of the Road I then filled it out with whatever great literature was interesting to my kids. So dd also read Little Women, Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, A Christmas Carol, Romeo & Juliet, etc. Ds has very different taste in books so he read Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, Sword in the Stone, etc. I want my kids to be reading great literature in middle school, but I also want that first experience to be enjoyable and positive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 My dd is a book-a-holic and she has actually been getting into the classics as she has "read out" all of the (non twaddle, non sex, non violent) books at our library. So far she has really enjoyed: a bunch of Jane Austen 3 Musketeers (yes she really loved this! She said it was a swash-buckling adventure) Tom Sawyer Huck Finn Story of My Life by Helen Keller Prince and the Pauper Hope this helps. She tried Dickens and was not ready emotionally for Dickens...I think Les Mis, is a little too harsh...etc. So the above seem to be appropriate for the age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Great lists ☺ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinivanMom Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 *snip* She tried Dickens and was not ready emotionally for Dickens...I think Les Mis, is a little too harsh...etc. So the above seem to be appropriate for the age. We also tried Dickens, and dd was just not ready. She loves A Christmas Carol, but she tried to start Oliver Twist and it was just too heavy. I told her to just set it aside and move onto something else, and I think that was the right choice. Not every author has to be covered in middle school; she has her entire life to read. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 (edited) Minivan Mom gave you some great lists -- and also shared what she did and why, and that some things do or DON'T click -- it is okay to set things aside if a student is not ready. There is SO much great classic literature, you will not run out, and there is no "set in stone" list of what a student "should" read… ;) More good ideas in these past threads: - "Which 20 books help prepare for reading the Great Books?" - "Must read and discuss books for middle school?" ...I am in the process of preparing a book list for my oldest. She is currently 11 and will be 12 when she enters grade 7 in January. What books would you recommend for her before then? Assuming that she will be reading the Great Books in upper High School. Independent Quiet Reading Listen to Read Alouds What books do you recommend a child should have been exposed to before they reach grade 7? Not so much a list of books (although I will list some below), but 7th/8th grade is typically when the shift in goals happens and you help guide the student in making the shift from "just reading" and listening to read alouds, to more formal high school Literature studies with learning about topics in Literature, reading a variety of types of Literature (novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, plays, essays), learning about literary elements and then using them in discussing, analyzing, and writing about the Literature. NOTE: this is a SLOW (multi-year), gradual transition, that continues into the early high school grades. :) So, in addition to you wanting book ideas for independent reading and read alouds, I'd recommend picking a few books -- maybe 1 book per quarter, and try out a little formal Literature study -- gentle, guided discussion, learning about literary elements, beginning literary analysis, as that is what you will be more heavily doing in high school with the Great Books. High school Lit. studies also have the student writing about the Literature (short 1-3 paragraph responses to discussion questions, reader responses, longer literary analysis essays), so you may want to look into that along about 8th/9th grade, whenever your student is ready. For 7th grade, perhaps list some goals for yourself to help transition slowly over the next 2-3 years from "Reading" to "Literature". Goals for Literature in the middle school grades to help prepare for a Great Books study in high school might include: - continue to independent read / read aloud classic children's and young adult books for exposure to great writing, but also for "cultural literacy" to understand the references in our culture to Greek myths and epics, Shakespeare plays, King Arthur, the Bible, etc. - start to gently "dig deeper" and discuss Literature with some of these young adult classics and good books - exposure to / familiarity with older/Victorian works with older vocabulary, language use, and complex sentence structure - exposure to a variety of types of work: novels, short stories, plays, poetry, essays (as you will encounter all of these for the Great Books used in high school Literature, and poetry and plays esp. are very different to read than novels or short stories) - read some "young person adaptations" of a few classics in preparation for tackling the full translations or versions in high school (examples: Black Ships Before Troy as advance exposure of The Iliad; Shakespeare for Children as advance exposure of actual play; etc.) - read aloud a few good "beginner" classics that are longer works, or are non-fiction, or deal with philosophical/theological ideas and gently discuss resources - Figuratively Speaking -- for learning about literary elements - SWB on "What Is Literary Analysis And When To Teach It" -- short article; longer downloadable audio conference talk - slowly incorporate a small amount of discussions, and begin to look for things like: * how literary devices are present (esp. things like character, plot, setting, conflict, mood…) * character choices/consequences * see / describe similarities/differences* look for cause and effect* make connections with current events in the story with what has gone before -- and connections with other stories, movies, history events * predict/guess what WILL happen, based on what has already happened, and why you think that … I had actually just thought of great literature. But for our history we are studying Ancients this year. Good adaptations of ancient classics, perhaps as read-alouds, and to go along with your Ancient History: - Gilgamesh the Hero (Epic of Gilgamesh) -- McCaughrean - Black Ships Before Troy (the Iliad) -- - Wanderings of Odysseus (the Odyssey) -- Sutcliff - In Search of a Homeland (the Aeneid) -- OR -- The Aenied for Boys and Girls -- Alfred Church - Wonder Book, and, Tanglewood Tales (Greek myths) -- Hawthorne young adult historical fiction to go with ancient history, and for "digging deeper": - Eagle of the Ninth -- Progeny Press guide - The Bronze Bow -- Progeny Press guide ______________________ good young adult books for discussion/beginning analysis - Redwall -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide; Progeny Press guide - My Side of the Mountain -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide - Tuck Everlasting -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide - The Horse and His Boy -- Progeny Press guide - Sounder -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide - The Cay -- Progeny Press guide - The Westing Game -- Blackbird & Co. guide - The Witch of Blackbird Pond -- Blackbird & Co. guide; Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Progeny Press guide - Johnny Tremain -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Progeny Press guide - Amos Fortune, Free Man -- Progeny Press guide - Island of the Blue Dolphins -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide; Progeny Press guide - Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide - Maniac Magee -- Progeny Press guide - The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide - A Wrinkle in Time -- Blackbird & Co. guide; Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Progeny Press guide - Where the Red Fern Grows -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide; Progeny Press guide - Bridge to Terebithia -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Progeny Press guide - The Giver -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide; Portals to Lit. guide; Progeny Press guide - Across Five Aprils -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Blackbird & Co. guide; Progeny Press guide - I Am David -- Blackbird & Co. guide - Julie of the Wolves -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide - Walk Two Moons -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide - Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (O'Brien) - Enchantress from the Stars (Engdahl) - The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (Velde) - Bull Run (Fleischman) - Below the Root (Snyder) classic short stories for a middle school student - The Monkey's Paw (Jacobs) - Rikki Tikki Tavi (Kipling) - The Open Window (Saki) - The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Thurber) - Story Without an End (Twain) - The Red-Headed League (Doyle) - A Scandal in Bohemia (Doyle) - The Lady or the Tiger (Stocken) - The Most Dangerous Game (Connell) - Lamb to the Slaughter (Dahl) - There Will Come Soft Rains (Bradbury) - A Sound of Thunder (Bradbury) poetry - Art of Poetry guide -- poems, and beginning guided discussion good beginning classics - The Outsiders -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide - Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery) -- Progeny Press guide - Call of the Wild (London) -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide, Portals to Lit. guide - The Hobbit (Tolkien) -- Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain) -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Portals to Lit. guide; Progeny Press guide - Treasure Island (Stevenson) -- Blackbird & Co. guide - Animal Farm (Orwell) -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Portals to Lit. guide - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson) -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide - To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) -- Glencoe Lit. Library guide; Garlic Press Discovering Lit. guide - A Christmas Carol (Dickens) -- Portals to Lit. guide - The Time Machine (Wells) -- Portals to Lit. guide - Little Women (Alcott) - Christie (Marshall) - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll) - Around the World in Eighty Days (Verne) - Ivanhoe (Scott) - Howard Pyle books (Robin Hood, King Arthur…) - White Fang (London) - Murder on the Orient Express (Christie) Edited July 2, 2016 by Lori D. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Thanks Lori! Some great ideas there! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 My 7th grader will be using the book list from The Classical House of Learning Literature blog, logic stage ancient list. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 (edited) Between MinivanMom and LoriD you have some great lists! I'll just mention the "light" classics that my dd really enjoyed in 7th and 8th grades: The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, Time Machine - HG Wells Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde - Stevenson Frankenstein - Shelly The Hobbit Anne of Green Gables Sherlock Holmes (many) Agatha Christie (many) The Maltese Falcon We read quite a bit of Shakespeare, but we always buddy-read it aloud - take turns reading characters/parts. Have fun! This is such a great age, where they really start to read books that are deep and meaty and lend themselves to great discussions. ETA: I had to run yesterday in the middle of this. Here are a few more "beginner classics" that Shannon has read and enjoyed, all pre-high school. Tom Sawyer Huckleberry Finn (read and discussed together) To Kill a Mockingbird (read and discussed together) The Outsiders Animal Farm Alice in Wonderland Around the World in 80 Days Journey to the Center of the Earth Treasure Island (audio) Peter Pan I mention beginner classics that she has actually read specifically, because like others, she hasn't been ready for some of the meatier classics yet - she tried and put aside Jane Eyre the summer after 7th grade, though i'm sure she will come back to it. I didn't have her try Austen or Dickens yet. I'm really trying to be careful not to push things too early and turn her off to them. She'll read really, really long fantasy novels, but with the more archaic writing style of some of the older classics, I've wanted her to start with shorter works and really build up an enjoyment of the style, and faith in her own abilities to understand them, and stamina as well. She read Frankenstein in 8th grade, and I think that's the most difficult book she's read, in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure, as well as deep themes. She did really well with that, and enjoyed it. It's short, and the chapters are short. Now I think she's ready for some more challenging, longer books. All this is to say that it's fine to start with shorter and more straightforward works - as wise women here have said, 8th grade is not 12th grade, and it's fine to work up to more challenging works. As far as things to read aloud or listen to, I think writers like George Macdonald, E Nesbit, Stevenson etc. are all great, great things to have kids listen to in the elementary grades to get them used to the language and vocabulary in more challenging works they will tackle on their own later. My kids listened to Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Around the World in 80 Days as audio books, and I read aloud tons of Nesbit and other "old" children's books as bedtime stories. I think all that has really helped their reading abilities to develop. Edited July 3, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowergirl159 Posted July 5, 2016 Author Share Posted July 5, 2016 Thanks so much! I really appreciate all of your ideas and suggestions. I will go through this list again to pick the titles I will add to her list. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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