Adventure

Adventure stories are generally dominated by fast-paced action; they involve danger, risk, and excitement. The events that take place are more remarkable and extraordinary than they would be in everyday life. this genre is often most defined by a protagonist that takes on a heroic quest where they must prove their own worthiness or a dire consequence will occur. There is always an unlikeable antagonist, or villain, that is trying to stop the protagonist from completing their adventure task. In the best stories, the adventures have a transformational impact on the hero of the story, who is usually likeable and most commonly male. Even though the hero always wins, sometimes the villain can also change for the better. The setting is usually changeable in adventure books as the reader follows the protagonist through their journey; but it is typically one of the most important elements of the story since it underlies the sense of danger and the obstacles that must be overcome. There is always a resolution at the end of the quest. The adventure genre commonly overlaps with other genres as well.


When searching for books, I will look for stories that can teach lessons which connect to the standards. They should also be on topics that I know the students in my classroom are interested in. Adventure books are a good way to start talking about other content areas such as history. They help students travel places within the books and "see" places they might not otherwise ever see. Students will get to feel like they are part of the excitement and adventure and can learn important historical information.


Awards:
Beverly Hills Book Awards 
Newbery Medal and Honor Books 

Author or Text Resources:
Adventure Books for Kids 
Choose Your Own Adventure Books 

General Resources:
Cross-Genre Adventure Writing 
Adventure Fiction 

Quality Teaching Ideas:
Magic Tree House Teacher's Club 
Guide to Using Dav Pilkey's Books in the Classroom 

Some of my favorite book choices:

Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark
By: Mary Pope Osborne

The Magic Tree House series has lots of different books on many different topics and they are high reader interest books. They are very helpful when teaching about history and culture, and they have excellent storytelling aspects. There is a website that includes many teaching resources, activities for students, and connections to the standards. The books are translated in several languages which can be great if you have a student in the classroom whose second language is English. 

Osborne, Mary Pope. (1992). Magic tree house: dinosaurs before dark. New York, New York: Random House.

Grade level span: K-1, Lexile Level: 240L, Grade Level: 2.6
Grade level span for class read aloud: 1-3
Major themes addressed: each book addresses a different theme; mainly historical contexts
Qualities of the writing: engaging for students, addictive series
Connections to local, national, or global issues: appreciating our past and different cultures
Facets that might require support: some of the books' content may require prior knowledge
Support that might be needed: if using as a class read aloud, give students some background information


Choose Your Own Adventure: Princess Island
By: Shannon Gilligan

Princess Dirt has the manners of a gentlelady but the kneecaps of a troll. Her mother sends her off to princess camp for some outdoor adventure and a bit of polishing up on her royal skills, but her heart is in the wilds of nature. YOU can decide to behave like a royal or embrace the dirt within you. These books allow children to have some control over the way the story ends and get to help write the story. They help show students how they can work on endings in their own stories to make them better, and can also teach organization. Students can re-read them for a different ending. These books might be fun to do as a class read-aloud and can allow students to take turns choosing which direction to go. 


Gilligan, Shannon. (2015). Choose your own adventure: Princess island. Waitsfield, Vermont: Chooseco LLC.
Grade level span:  n.a., Lexile Level: n.a., Grade Level: n.a.
Grade level span for class read aloud: K-2
Major themes addressed: embrace true self, royalty, expectations
Qualities of the writing: unique format
Connections to local, national, or global issues: expectations of your behavior within your community
Facets that might require support: Organization can be confusing
Support that might be needed: use as a class read aloud or model for the students how to use

Realistic Fiction/Sports Stories

Realistic Fiction books tell untrue stories that could really happen, and they take place in a believable setting. They occur in the present or in the recent past. They depict our world and society, and help us feel like we are getting to know real people. The characters in the stories deal with events and issues that resemble real life. Since students can often relate to the characters within these stories, they are able to easily make connections to the text and have an easier time comprehending the story. Sports stories are one of the most common genres to get reluctant readers reading. These books are not necessarily written to teach a moral message, but more so that students can react to the characters. Realistic Fiction is of high interest to students because they can usually find something in these books to relate to in their personal lives. It helps kids to know that there are other kids that exist that are just like them.

When looking for books to add to my classroom library, I consider stories that my students will be able to relate to or that are about topics that are of interest to them. I also look for popular author's names that I know the students like. These books can serve as excellent mentor texts in the classroom for teaching characterization, setting, plot, theme, style, tone, and point of view. Most importantly, though, they give students books that they can relate to.


Awards:
Newbery Award Winners 
Award-Winning Children's Realistic Fiction Books 

Author or Text Resources:
Popular Children's Realistic Fiction Books 
Scholastic Teacher Resources 

General Resources:
Story Elements and Quality Characteristics 
Contemporary Realistic Fiction 

Quality Teaching Ideas:
Lessons and Activities for Realistic Fiction 
Realistic Fiction: Bringing Words to Life

Some of my favorite book choices:

Family Farm
By: Thomas Locker

Family Farm is the story of a rural family working hard to save their farm. This is easy for a lot of students to relate to because we live in a farming community. The children worry so much about what is going on at home that they have a hard time concentrating in school. The kids in the story are from a small community and they may have to close their school and join with another. All of us in the Midwest can relate with this since all of the surrounding small communities have had to join together. The family in the story tries a new business venture, which teaches the lesson to never fear the unknown but instead to keep trying.
Locker, Thomas. (1988). Family farm. New York, New York: Dial Books.  
Grade level span:  n.a., Lexile Level: n.a., Grade Level: 4.0
Grade level span for class read aloud: 1-4
Major themes addressed: problem solving, family, money, community
Qualities of the writing: realistic illustrations, slightly complex text for a picture book
Connections to local, national, or global issues: farming communities, school consolidation
Facets that might require support: If not from the Midwest, some of the themes in this book might be harder to relate to
Support that might be needed: give background information on why farming can be difficult at times, and also about why school consolidations occur


The Storm
By: Marc Harshman

The story starts with Jonathan, who is a boy confined to a wheelchair that feels singled out. He doesn't see that other people also have difficult life issues . Jonathan gets left home alone on the farm when a big storm rolls in and he has to find inner strength to be able to save the horses. He hoped that people would now see more to him than his wheelchair. This book has many different layers and can be used to teach about supporting details. It can also give students with disabilities a book that they can relate to and help them see their disabilities in a more positive way.


Harshman, Marc. (1995). The storm. New York, New York: Dutton Books.
Grade level span:  4-5, Lexile Level: 860L, Grade Level: 4.8
Grade level span for class read aloud: 2-5
Major themes addressed: disabilities, inner strength
Qualities of the writing: unique storyline
Connections to local, national, or global issues: weather patterns
Facets that might require support: there might be too much text to keep some students entertained
Support that might be needed: read in chunks and discuss in sections

Poetry

Poetry is divided into three main forms: lyric, narrative, and dramatic. Each form can then be divided into many subdivisions, each consisting of a rhyme scheme, rhythm, and/or style. With poetry, there can be an endless amount of styles using endless amounts of techniques. Lyric poetry focuses on thoughts and emotion and can consist of a song-like quality. It doesn't attempt to tell a story. The lyric poem has been around for centuries and has played a large role in literature history. Narratives are poems that tell stories. Many narrative poems are performance pieces. They hold oral traditions in which poetry was used as a way of memorization. Without narrative poetry, many of the stories we love may not exist today. History and much of what we know about ancient life, politics, and warfare would only be left to our imagination. Dramatic poetry is any drama written in verse which is meant to be spoken, usually to tell a story or portray a situation.

Students should have access to various styles of poetry so that they can see all of the many different forms. With poetry, there isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to write it, so it can give students more freedom to express themselves. Children need to be introduced to poetry at a young age so that they learn to understand it. Many times older kids don't like poetry because they weren't taught how to understand it when they were younger. It can also have many educational purposes in the classroom. Poetry can be a great way to teach students voice, and also that they should be picky about the words they choose to carry their ideas. It can help them be conscious of choosing one word over another. Using poems to help remember information is also very effective. Poetry is also an excellent method to teach rhyming and sentence fluency, because poetry generally has an easy flow to it.


Awards: 
Poetry Society of America Annual Awards 
Poetry Foundation Awards 

Author or Text Resources:
Robert Frost 
Slam Poems 

General Resources:
poem-a-day 
Can Poetry Matter? 

Quality Teaching Ideas:
Lesson Plans 
Tips for Teaching Poetry 
5 Poetry Teaching Tips for New Teachers 

Some of my favorite book choices:

Mirror Mirror
By: Marilyn Singer

This book of reflection poems when read in reverse tell a new story and make sense read both ways. There are two other books in the series: Follow Follow and Echo Echo.  These poetry books can help to teach fluency, but is also a cool concept to teach students and have them try to write their own poem doing the same.

Singer, Marilyn. (2010). Mirror mirror: A book of reverse poems. New York, New York: Dutton Books.  


Grade level span:  n.a., Lexile Level: n.a., Grade Level: 3.2
Grade level span for class read aloud: 1-4
Major themes addressed: various subject matter
Qualities of the writing: very unique format, mind-bending poetry
Connections to local, national, or global issues: various subject matter
Facets that might require support: understanding how poems can be read two different ways
Support that might be needed: show students how the poems are mirror images of themselves


You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together
By: Mary Ann Hoberman


This book is full of stories written in poem form. Each poem is designed for two readers to read together. They would work really well for two students to practice partner reading, or for a teacher and student to read together.

Hoberman, Mary Ann. (2006). You read to me, I'll read to you: Very short stories to read together. New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Grade level span:  K-1, Lexile Level: 330L, Grade Level: 1.9
Grade level span for class read aloud: K-2
Major themes addressed: various subject matter
Qualities of the writing: work well for partner reading
Connections to local, national, or global issues: various subject matter
Facets that might require support: organization
Support that might be needed: model for students what the read aloud should look like