In case you missed it last month, myself and some of my blogger buds at Focused on Fifth, host a monthly linky party talking all about books for upper elementary teachers.
For this month's post I am focusing on High Noon books. I have posted a number of times this year about my students' reading struggles. Four of my kiddies have been classified with dyslexia and are in need of intense reading intervention.
If you are an upper elementary SpEd teacher, or even a Gen. Ed. teacher with struggling readers, you understand full well how difficult it is to get your guys reading.
Books they are interested in are too hard. Books they can read are too "babyish". The result? They will.not.read. Period. End of story.
Perhaps I am a little late to the party?? Nonetheless, I am just discovering High Noon books. These books are decodable chapter books for older students.
They come in both fiction and nonfiction. They are phonics-based chapter books written at low reading levels, but with a high interest level.
I like that these books are broken down by sequential level. There is enough variety to keep my students engaged and building their confidence prior to moving on to more complex children's literature.
I know the expression goes, "never judge a book by its cover", but let's face it...a bunch of 5th/6th grade students most certainly will. I love that these books actually LOOK interesting. These are covers that will grab my kids' attention. I know they won't feel "babyish" picking up many of these stories.
I am looking into purchasing the Red Rhino Chapter Books Set. These books were written specifically for the struggling upper elementary reader (grades 4-6) who need age appropriate subjects, but on a lower reading level.
Are there any of you who have had success using High Noon books before? If so, please leave your comments below. I would really love to hear about your experiences.
Also, this fun little link up is open to any teacher blogger, so please join in on the fun! The more the merrier! You can write about any book you want, whether it be for read alouds, professional development, or even just personal enjoyment. If it's a good piece of writing, we want to hear about it.
Now, click on the button to head on over to Focused on Fifth and see what other books my bloggy friends are reading this month.
Finding high interest/easy readability is so hard at this age. Great suggestions. If you are looking for nonfiction texts, National Geographic for Kids publishes their magazine in several different levels but they all look exactly the same. So you can put your higher level or lower level on the bottom of a stack and pass them out with no one knowing the difference. The articles are all on the same topic with the same pictures and format, but the readability differs. One class discussion, one topic, and differentiation. Works so great.
ReplyDeleteBrandi
The Research Based Classroom
I had no idea that National Geographic for Kids published in different levels. That's fantastic. Need to check that out.
DeleteAhh, great to know, Brandi. Thanks for sharing! Action Magazine by Scholastic is another resource where you can obtain multiple copies of the text at various reading levels.
DeleteI need to get these book on my shelves. I teach a number of ELL students who would so benefit from these novels. Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNo problem, Kim. I am really excited to get these in my library as well.
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