[LIT] Books for sixth graders

[David Hoh]

> What can you folks who have taught sixth grade tell me about favorite 
> books
> you have used with students? I do plan on using a Reader's Workshop 
> approach
> and allow for student choice.

My stronger 6th grade boys loved either the Cirque du Freak series or the 
Alex Rider books (Horowitz). Diary of a Wimpy Kid caught the lower ones, and 
for the sports guys, the most circulated were Rick Wallace's Winning Season 
series and Dan Gutman's books.

The girls were harder to peg -- Wendolyn van Draanen was popular (Flipped, 
especially,  and the Sammy Keys books), but others favored the Stephanie 
Meyers books (Twilight, New Moon) and other series like Clique and some of 
those animal-based fantasies. I finally got one reluctant girl reader to 
finish Van Draanen's Swear to Howdy, which took a couple of months of 
procrastinating. When she finially read the ending, she was raving about it 
being the best book she ever read and recommending it to everyone.

Which brings up your other question (different post)...


> What do you do with the student who can never
> find the right book? Is always wanting to change from book to book?

I tried to live by Nanci's Reading Zone this past year, and that type of 
student was most happy with and more likely to stay with books that their 
friends recommended, not me. Sure, there were still quite a few 
abandonments, but they read more than they ever had before, and that has to 
be good.

Dave Hoh -- 6th/ Logan Township, NJ