My Favorite Read Alouds for Upper Elementary ELA and Social Studies

Kirsten 0:36

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Hello, and welcome back. This is going to be a fun episode because I'm sharing with you my favorite read alouds for upper elementary. And I've been teaching upper elementary for six years with a focus on ELA and social studies. So I have done a ton of read alouds. And I love incorporating especially chapter book read alouds. So even up in fifth grade, I would read 10 to 15 minutes a day, a chapter or a several pages of a chapter book. And students loved the books that I picked out for them. And they loved the books that I had for them to vote on. And so it was really a really great way to increase vocabulary and comprehension and spark discussion with those books that we would be reading. So it was just a fun way for students to listen, sometimes they would eat their snack during the read aloud. And it was just really fun for them. So I'm going to be sharing with you my 10 favorite read alouds for upper elementary that I highly recommend that you check out and take a look at. And I have a combination of chapter books and picture books that you might be interested in.

Alright, so the first read aloud that I just have to mention is there is a boy in the girls bathroom. I first had this book read to me by my third grade teacher way back when and it's been a favorite ever since it was one of my favorite books growing up. And a lot of students still love the book. They love the character changing in the story. So they love seeing the main character Bradley and how he develops as a character. So it's about a boy named Bradley shockers and he fights with girls. He has behavior problems. He's sitting last seat last row in his classroom doesn't care about school in general. And not a lot of people like him. And then a new counselor comes her and her name is Karla. And she kind of changes some ideas and things to think about for him and it's just a really great story. And it's funny and it does involve boys going into the girls bathroom. So I definitely recommend this book for upper elementary. So there's a boy and the girls bathroom is written by Lewis Satcher.

My third recommendation would be Esperanza Rising. This is written by Pam Munoz Ryan, and it's about a girl who thought she would always be privileged in her life on the ranch in Mexico, and she had an enormous amount of wealth. And then a sudden tragedy and her family forces her mom and her to flee to the United States to California. And they ended up on a Mexican farm labor camp. So this is another historical fiction book, it kind of takes place in the Great Depression era. And I love how each chapter is a fruit or vegetable. And there's some symbolism in that. But it is a fruit or vegetable in Spanish. Those are the names of the chapters. And it's just a really great story of how they overcome some sudden changes in their lives. This book would I would think, be great for third, fourth and fifth grade.

Book number four, in my list of recommendations is a picture book called The name jar. This is written by a young Sook Choi, and it's about a girl who comes from Korea. And she's unsure of how American kids will like her. And she says she chooses not to share her name. And because she's afraid people won't like it. Because people in the West were making fun of her a little bit and teasing her about the name, wasn't sure how to pronounce it. And so students kind of, they add into a jar a bunch of different names that they could choose. And so it just goes through the journey of you know, discovering her self, her real name and its meaning. And it has a nice ending and theme regarding being grateful for who you are and embracing who you are. So this is a really nice chapter book for the beginning of the year for any upper elementary grade.

My fifth read aloud that I recommend is the lemonade war. We read this book towards the end of the year, it was actually coinciding with our economics unit, and with my third graders, and this is kind of you know, as it sounds, it's, it's all about this lemonade stand that this brother and sister originally like to do buy together, but then some conflicts happen. And they end up trying to outdo the other with their own lemonade stands. And so it kind of goes into different aspects of running a lemonade stand running a business. And it's in a funny way, you know, that's engaging for students in upper elementary. So they go through the process of having these competitions and they're trying to see who can make the most money in a certain amount of time. So it's a fun little narrative. That is a great discussion starter if you're teaching math especially or social studies related to economics.

Book number six that I have, that I recommend is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, the young readers edition. I know they have two versions. They have the picture book version. And then there's also the young readers edition. So what I'm referring to is the young readers edition. This is a auto biography. So it's a true story written by William Kamkwamba, and it's about a time during his life when he was living in the village of Milan. We, his family went through a really bad drought. And there were no crops for them, they could not, it was hard for them to even eat, there was hard, it was hard for them to sell anything. So during this time during this famine in his life, William was really interested in science. He was interested in physics and thinking of ways he could help change his family's life. And one of the ways would be to build a windmill, so that they could bring electricity to his home, because at the time, they did not have electricity in their village, it was too expensive. And so it was a really great memoir, it was really great for the students to really kind of see what life was like in that time. And the really interesting thing is that it wasn't taking place too long ago, this, you know, he was William Kamkwamba currently is only in his 30. So this is really taking place only about 20 years ago. And it's just a really great way for students to connect with his story and kind of just look at similarities and differences in their own communities. So this was something I read with my fifth graders, and they really enjoyed it. And I highly recommend this book.

All right. The next book I have for you is creature features. This one is a picture book, and it's written by two people. It's written by Steve Jenkins and Robin page, and it's about 25 animals that explain why they look the way they do. It's kind of written in a disk mode and the questions the way they answer the questions, it kind of highlights their features. And then they explain why they have certain adaptations and certain features on their body that might look a little interesting or odd. So that's just kind of one of my favorite books to read, especially during the nonfiction genres, time, whenever we're talking about text features, and all of that kind of stuff.

The next book I have that I recommend is called out of my mind, this is absolutely hands down. One of my favorite books, and it's written by Sharon Draper. It's about a girl named melody Brooks. She's in the fifth grade. And she has so many things to say. And she knows so much information. She's very, very bright. But she also has cerebral palsy. And she actually cannot speak without assistance. So she has a soundboard on her tray, she can't walk or move as much. And she has to communicate by pointing to things. And so she, you know, is able to leave her self contained classroom and actually be in a classroom with other fifth grade students. She goes through this whole process of almost trying to prove herself that she's more than her disability. And she's more than what other people see her as. And so it's just something that is a really great, powerful, impactful story that can be read with third graders all the way up and above. So I've read it with my third graders and my fifth graders, both grade levels loved this book. So it's definitely on my must read list. Students are really usually interested when I read the synopsis, and they usually vote on this book. So I definitely recommend taking a look at it.

Book number nine that I have for you is wonder. And this one is a really great beginning of the year book to read to your students. This is written by RJ Palacio. And it's kind of similar to out of my mind, but it's about a boy who was born with a face that may look a little different from other people. And he hasn't gone to a mainstream school until fifth grade. And all he wants to do is fit in and be just treated like a normal kid. But his new classmates have a lot of struggle with that. And I love how each section or chapter goes into the point of view or perspective of a different character. So sometimes it'll be in the perspective of a friend of his or his sister or somebody else in the story. So it's a really great beginning of the year book to read to your students. And it's a really great way to spark discussion about kindness and empathy and all of those things we always want to reinforce with our students at the beginning of the year. So wonder is a definitely great book to check out.

And book number 10 that I have for you is a picture book called each kindness. This is a wonderful short story about kindness and another one of inclusion and empathy. And this is another first week book that you must be reading with your students. It's about a girl who is new, and she doesn't quite fit in, or she just the other students kind of look at her differently because of what she's wearing and what she's saying, and why is she so happy and all of that kind of stuff. And so the students go through the process of, you know, trying to see how they can even like, what to deal with the situation. And then it ends with this twist. And it's something that is a really great lesson to think about has a really great theme about being kind to others who may be different from you. So I definitely recommend that book as well.

So I'm going to just quickly go over those top 10 favorite read alouds as a recap, the ones that I highly recommend, there's a boy in the girls bathroom, Number the Stars, Esperanza Rising, the name jar, the lemonade war, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, creature features out of my mind, wander, and each kindness. So here's your creative action tip for today, I want you to start with some light and fun books that allow discussions about multiple characters and traits and conflicts and themes that can help set up your students for success at the beginning of the year. And some books in this list would be something like ah, kindness out of my mind, the name jar wonder, and there's a boy in the girls bathroom. These all have really great themes that are wonderful to refer to throughout the year. And it helps to build a positive classroom community. I love to save historical fiction and nonfiction books such as number, the stars and Esperanza, rising and creature features, or The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind for later on in the year. So save those for later, as you get into the year.

I also want you to consider aligning the genres of your scope and sequence and allow for choice. So pick a few of your favorites, but ultimately have your students vote on the book after reading the synopsis for each one. So that's a really great way to build engagement with your students, students will have more buy in if they had a choice or say and the type of book that they're reading.

So I do have a few of these books that I mentioned on my list as book companion. So, of course, not the actual book. But I do have some vocabulary and comprehension activities that are a great complement to the actual books themselves. So I've got book companions for each kindness, creature features and the name jar among a host of others. But I just wanted to mention those three book companions that are available. I'll link those in the show notes. So if you're interested in those books, you can not only purchase the book, but you can also get that book companion that goes along swimmingly well with it, it's a really great way to implement either at the beginning of the year or whenever you go through a certain genre.

So that is what I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed this top 10 list. I am excited to be able to read these with my students. I love seeing the reactions on these books every year. I have had most of my students really enjoy these books. So I recommend them to your classrooms as well. All right, well, that's it for today. I'm so glad you were able to connect with me and I'll see you again soon. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies