Thursday, May 17, 2012

Need Book Recommendations for 3rd/4th grade Girls

Well...44 lacrosse games down and one to go and my coaching season will come to an end. Then I can focus on taking my mom duties back from my fabulous husband, enjoy the last couple weeks of school and get back to my bloggin' best...after a few naps.

 Looking ahead to summer, I'm planning a summer book club for my daughter and a few of her friends. The girls are finishing up 3rd grade and heading off to 4th. We are going to do some journaling, discussing and crafty stuff during our book club meetings. Just a small problem... selecting books for 3rd and 4th graders is out of area of expertise (ha! I said that like I have one).

 I'm hoping some of you can help. The girls are all strong readers (their moms and some of their dads are all teachers). Seriously, who plans a book club without books? And...I can't exactly admit to the other parents (teachers) that I can't seem to think of a good book for the girls.

 Any suggestions for good books and/or series for me to check into? I'd be super grateful for any recommendations...help please!

8 comments:

  1. Hey there!
    If your group of girls is interested in a series, I have had a great deal of success with the fairy books by Scholastic (titles are something like "Ruby the Red Fairy." One girl in my class read ALL of them! Another popular set are the books in the Puppy Place series. Jut recently, my most voracious reader tried the new series, also by Scholastic, about the Goddess Girls.Hope this gives you a place to start. Of course, Junie B. Jones, the Littles, and Geronimo Stilton are great sets, but probably would not be as appropriate for Gr. 4. You could try Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing/SuperFudge/Double Fudge by Judy Blume.
    Good luck!
    sherrymatheson@gmail.com

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  2. The Mysterious Benedict Society is FABULOUS! It seems to have a slow start, but it's SO worth it! I used it as a read aloud when I taught fourth grade and my class couldn't' get enough. Surprise twist ending too! The kids in the story learn morse code so I used to write messages to my students in morse code! http://www.mysteriousbenedictsociety.com/

    Also, the whole Series of Unfortunate Events is very cool! Plus you could do a big slumber party after they finished the first couple of books and watch the movie! Let me know if you need any more suggestions :-)

    Rowdy in First Grade

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  3. When I taught third, the kids rally liked Judy Moody books. There area always the classic from Beverly Cleary- Romona Quinby

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  4. Some books that my 3rd and 4th girls have liked are the Amber Brown books, Judy Moody, Ramona books by Beverly Cleary, Shiloh, Out of the Dust, Love That Dog, Hate That Cat, The Chocolate Touch. The summer book club sounds like so much fun! My girls were always interested in horses as well!

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  5. My niece and I are borrowing all the Beehive Book Award nominees for 2012 and 2013 from our school librarian for the summer (nice is going into 4th grade). We're excited to read 2012 books that we missed during the school year, and my niece is REALLY thrilled to get a jump on the rest of the school for the 2013 books! You can use this link to a school district here in Utah to access lists of winners/nominees for 2011 - 2013. Maybe you'll get some good ideas for your book club.

    http://www.granitemedia.org/2012/04/clau-announces-2012-beehive-book-award-winners/

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  6. When I taught 3rd, my kids loved "Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge" (my all-time favorite!). Judy Moody books are great, Ramona books, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Black Beauty, The Indian In the Cupboard, Charlotte's Web, Little House in the Big Woods, and The Secret Garden, off the top of my head.

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  7. My third graders loved the Clementine series!

    LindaC

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