Encouraging Independent Reading With Unit Themed Books

3rdgradeknowledge
Jun 25, 2024
2 min read

Due to the lack of time for self-selected reading in the CKLA curriculum, I have my students read to self as soon as they enter the classroom each morning AND it's the only fast finisher activity we use. Over the last 3 years of teaching CKLA, I have noticed my students' enthusiasm when they discover a book in my classroom or the school library that aligns with the topics we are studying. So this summer, I made it my mission to collect as many books as I can to go along with each of the CKLA units.

So far, I have scoured 3 placed:

My own classroom library.
A local bookstore offering free books to teachers.
A half priced book store.

I have been pretty successful in finding great books to go with our units! Some units are tougher, so I've had to get creative and think beyond the unit. I also don't think our students' knowledge needs to be limited to exactly what is in our Reader or Listening portion.

Below are the criteria I used when selecting books for each unit:

Unit 1: Classic tales, Fairy tales, Fables, My favorite books, Back to school books

Unit 2: Any non-fiction animal book

Unit 3: Books about any part of the human body, not limited to the systems we learn about, staying healthy, being active, illnesses

Unit 4: Rome, Roman gods, Greek gods, Structures, mythology

Unit 5: Light, sound, rainbows, inventions, inventors, sight, hearing, shadows

Unit 6: Vikings, Norse mythology, natural resources

Unit 7: Space - this one is easy to find books for

Unit 8: Any Native American group, not limited to what we learn in the unit, types of homes

Unit 9: Explorers - this one is tough! Ships, sailing, geography

Unit 10: Colonial Times - also a tough one. The American Girl books are great - look for Felicity!

Unit 11: Earth, nature, insects, compost (we don't get to this unit, but I'm still collecting books incase we decide to swap it out for a different unit)

Most books I've found are pictures book, but I'm trying to find chapter books as well! Those I've found so far include:

Magic Tree House #9: Dolphins at Daybreak

Magic Tree House #11: Lions at Lunchtime

Magic Tree House #19: Tigers at Twilight

Magic Tree House #15: Viking Ships at Sunrise

Magic Tree House Fact Tracker: Space

Magic Tree House Research Guide: Polar Bears & the Arctic

Magic Tree House Research Guide: Penguins & Antarctica

Magic School Bus #3: The Wild Whale Watch

Magic School Bus #4: Space Explorers

American Girl: Meet Kaya

American Girl: Meet Felicity