I need a short picture book to read to a fourth grade class to assess their comprehension. Any good ones they might enjoy?
2007-03-21 13:51:00 · 7 answers · asked by cupcake 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
Stellaluna; The Empty Pot; Babuska's Doll, Stone Soup; The Dot; I'm Coming to Get You; Giggle, Giggle Quack; The King's Road, The Lorax, Sneeches. Fairly short picture books that are interesting enough to capture a fourth grader's attention but require some interpretation for the deeper meanings.
2007-03-21 16:08:01 · answer #1 · answered by Maia 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here are several that could fit for different aspects of comprehension. "Bub, or the Very Best Thing" by Natalie Babbitt hinges on a key inference that students must make. Many kids are drawn away from the meaning by the illustrations, so you could see who is bringing all of their thinking to the story. "Trouble on the Tracks" by Kathy Mallatt is a cute story that tricks the reader into assuming one thing (a regular train) but ends up with a totally different thing (a toy train). You could get a good feeling for how the kids are comprehending by trying to get them to pinpoint where they changed their thinking about the book. "Fly Away Home" by Eve Bunting can assess some inferences as well--the characters are homeless and living in an airport, and there are hints of what has happened in their past. There's a nice theme to this one as well, symbolized by a bird that is caught briefly in the airport but gets free. (Really, anything by Eve Bunting could probably work.)
For really, really short, try "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear" by Audrey Wood. This is a simple story, but some kids will realize: there is no bear, but there is a really tricky narrator! (Another neat one by this author is "King Bidgood's in the Bathtub"--good for problem/solution, as the little page finds an answer to their problem!)
Enjoy!
2007-03-21 21:50:53 · answer #2 · answered by snowberry 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stick to simple picture books. There are a lot of out there with heavey themes. They will engage the child and help you gain a more accuracte listening comprehension reading level. Anything from Patricia Pollaco is a good way to go.
2007-03-25 01:05:42 · answer #3 · answered by angiepooh 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you can do it without crying, I'd choose The Faithful Elephants.
It is about what happened at the Tokyo zoo when they were worried about wild animals getting loose when we bombed them during WWII. The Japanese were preparing for regular bombs--not the atomic one. The zookeepers euthanized the animals, except for the elephants who were too smart to eat poisoned food and so they starved. There is a memorial at the Tokyo zoo commemorating these elephants.
2007-03-21 21:00:30 · answer #4 · answered by franklyn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Treasure Island
2007-03-21 20:58:19 · answer #5 · answered by patryksko 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about "I'm gonna like me" by Jamie Lee Curtis.
or "Where do balloons go " They are both cute books. The first deals with self esteem in a fun way. My kids really enjoy the rhyming.
2007-03-21 20:59:38 · answer #6 · answered by lonijean 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a homeschooling mom & one of my children is doing 4th grade work. We follow the Charlotte Mason method which uses living books. Kids learn from the books because they teach history & stuff like that in true living style not text book.
One of my favorite places online is called: Main Lesson. They have old classic childrens books online. We use a lot of their books in our homeschool. Just print them out. My girls love them.
Here is a link to the site: http://www.mainlesson.com it opens up to the main page & still shows Christmas themed books. lol But if you go here: http://www.mainlesson.com/displaybooksbygenre.php they have them sorted by genre.
Some of my girls favorite books found here are:
Fifty Famous People - Offers stories about real persons who actually lived and performed their parts in the great drama of the world's history.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=baldwin&book=people&story=_contents
Aesop for Children - timeless classic. My 10yr old loves me to read these short stories to her.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=winter&book=aesop&story=_contents
There are so many wonderful old fairy tales. I don't think kids ever get tired of those. You will see tons of those on the site I shared with you.
I just noticed that you mentioned picture books & the site I suggeted to you isn't picture books so I am not sure if what I suggested would be helpful.
But do take a lot around. My 10yr old loves a lot of the books at Mainlesson.com and asked for us to buy her some the bound books they have up for sale she loves them so much. I think though that kids in the 4th grade would think of picture books at boring or for babies. I have heard my 10yr old make remarks like that. lol
good luck
2007-03-21 21:12:28 · answer #7 · answered by Faith 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Paddington Bear
Telegraph are distributing them free all next week
2007-03-22 06:33:27 · answer #8 · answered by ~*tigger*~ ** 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋