Encourage your students to join our book groups, where they’ll expand their reading list and discuss their favorite books with other students!
December Book Selections
Younger Students
Mieko and the Fifth Treasure* (please read the book notes)
by Eleanor Coerr
Read by: December 18
Discussion: December 19 at 11:00 am
Older Students
Hatchet** (please read the book notes)
by Gary Paulsen
Read by: December 18
Discussion: December 19 at 1:00 pm
BOOK NOTES
MIEKO AND THE FIFTH TREASURE
*Please note that this book is at a higher reading level than some of our previous books for the younger group. It may be too advanced for our youngest readers and would be enjoyed by some students who normally enjoy books in our older group, so use your best judgement about suitability for your student.
According to the publishers, it’s around grade 4-7. The listening level is probably around grades 2 and up, so plan to do this as a read-together, read-aloud, or audiobook if your student is younger.
HATCHET
According to the publishers, the reading level is grades 5 and up. The listening level is about the same. **However, due to content (death, survival, divorce, infidelity), I recommend this book for grades 6 and up. It’s a great survival book, but can be intense for some children.
LISTENING AND READING LEVELS:
Children can listen and comprehend books at a younger age, so I try to include listening levels in addition to publisher-suggested reading levels. Regardless, students can read books themselves or listen to them as read-alouds from a parent, an older sibling, or in audiobook format. Reading is reading – regardless of the method.
Discussions are conducted via Zoom.
Books are selected based on interest/listening level (not just reading level) for these age groups. Some books may seem a little “young” to the older children in each group, but hopefully they’ll enjoy them anyway.
Students can listen to the audiobook version, if they prefer that format. (Check to see if your local library has OverDrive, CloudLibrary, or Hoopla – these services provide downloadable audiobooks free on loan to patrons.)
The goal for both groups is to encourage a love of reading. Our discussions will focus on the characters, story, and plot and the students’ thoughts about the book. I won’t try to sneak in a grammar lesson, or literary analysis, or promote any agendas. We’ll just read good books, chosen from a variety of genres. If students don’t like one book, hopefully they’ll like the next!