Hello everyone, my name is Mrs. Micek and I am a fifth-grade teacher at my local elementary school. I created this blog in order to help students and parents discover high quality, new, and exciting books for reading, entertainment, and learning. Working with students every day, I constantly see students choosing books that are too easy, or too hard for them. I also see students grabbing whatever book they see first when visiting the library, instead of learning to read the synopsis of a book before choosing to read it in order to make sure the book will interest them.
I hope that in creating this blog, I will be able to offer quality resources for parents and students in order to help them make great choices regarding the books they read! One way I hope to achieve this is by submitting a book of the week. This will include my own review and suggestions for grade and reading levels as well.
Book of the Week: Stargirl
Grade Level Recommended: 5th
Reading Level: V
Lexile: 590
Stargirl arrives at a quiet Mica High and changes everything simply by being herself. She is a firecracker and nobody at school ever knows what to expect from her. From her crazy name to her genuine free-spirit, she is able to capture the interest of an entire school, and one boy in particular. He struggles to understand this new girl and everything that comes with her! Get ready to read about first loves, being yourself versus "fitting in", and what it looks like to be Stargirl!
I love this book because it is a great example of learning acceptance of others even though they are different from you. It is a celebration of individuality and innocent first love. I have used this book in the classroom to introduce the idea of acceptance of others and how our school is a community that should work together to support and appreciate one another. I also use it as a lesson in unkind words and how we can choose to not let others' opinions of us affect how we feel about ourselves.
I highly suggest this book for any 5th or 6th graders to read before they fall into the chaos that we all know as the dreaded middle school. Students should know what it looks like to be confident in themselves and this book does a great job at teaching that! Students need to understand that life isn't always going to be easy or simple and this book is a great way to introduce this concept to them. I recommend parents using this took as a way to prepare students for what is to come. Something to consider from Literature and the Child, "it is crucial that children have books that offer them varied depictions of what it is to be human and the tools to understand that there are many ways of being for all people." (Galda, Llang, & Cullianan, 2015, p. 34).
References
Galda. L.. Liana. L. A.. & Cullinan. B. E. (2015). Literature and the Chila (9th ed.). Cenaaae Learning.
