May 15, 2012 ... DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list
except by the designated district .... No Promises in the Wind. 1100.
POLK COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS MIDDLE SCHOOL APPROVED INSTRUCTIONAL READING LIST WITH GUIDELINES Revised: May 2012
Dr. Sherrie B. Nickell Superintendent David Lewis Associate Superintendent, Division of Learning
Paula Leftwich Senior Director of K-12 Curriculum and Instruction Jackie Baldwin Senior Coordinator of Secondary Reading Diane Conley Senior Curriculum Coordinator of Secondary Language Arts Chairperson – Approved Instructional Reading Selection Committee
School Board Hazel Sellers, Board Chair District 3 Frank J. O'Reilly District 1
M35/1
Lori Cunningham District 2
Dick Mullenax District 4
Debra S. Wright District 6
Tim Harris District 7
Kay Fields District 5
5/15/12
Table of Contents
Title
Page
Guidelines .................................................................................................................................. 3
Approved Reading Lists Grades 6–8 .................................................................................................................... 5
M35/2
5/15/12
GUIDELINES PURPOSE for the Approved Instructional Reading List The purpose of the “Approved Instructional Reading List” is solely to assist teachers in selecting reading materials that can be used in their classrooms for the purpose of INSTRUCTION. Books included on this list provide teachers with a variety of CHOICES of classroom reading material which can be matched, most importantly, to their students’ levels of content and maturity, and secondarily, to the lexile range of the written text. No teacher should select books for instruction without considering student diversity. It is requested that teachers honor the designated levels (middle, 9-12 and AP) to avoid repetition of instruction. However, if your students inform you that they have already read this selection, please view it as an opportunity for a reread without having to emphasize elements of plot. The Instructional Reading Selection Committee is comprised of an equitable representation of middle, high and advanced placement teachers who are highly knowledgeable and well versed in literature. ~ EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CLASSROOM TEACHER ~ It is the district’s expectation that a book MUST be on this list in order to be used for instructional purposes. Teachers are expected to submit, to their Language Arts and/or Reading Department heads, by August 31st of each year, a list (maximum of ten books) that they are considering teaching during the upcoming year. A copy of each list will then be forwarded from the department head(s) to the school’s Assistant Principal of Curriculum. The books submitted must be on the Approved Instructional Reading List. ~ CHANGES TO THIS LIST ~ If teachers wish to suggest changes to this list, they must complete the “REQUEST FOR CHANGE TO APPROVED INSTRUCTIONAL READING LIST” (available by link in Public Folders/Learning) and submit it to the current COMMITTEE CHAIR; that is designated at the bottom of the template. This form can be submitted by email and/or hard copy to the committee chair. ~ CRITERIA FOR SELECTION ~ It is expected that a minimum of five members of the Approved Instructional Reading Selection Committee will read any book recommended for addition, deletion or level change. Their recommendation will then be sent to the Senior Curriculum Coordinators of Secondary Reading and Language Arts. The Senior Curriculum Coordinators will then confer with the appropriate Senior Director (of middle or high school) who will make the final decision. The teacher submitting the request will then be notified of the Senior Director’s decision. All submissions, deletions and level changes will be noted in the district document.
DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
READING SELECTION COMMITTEE Special appreciation to the many language arts and reading teachers/coaches that served on this committee, led by co-chairs, Elvira Randall and Diane Conley.
M35/3
5/15/12
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF BOOKS
1. The book is a work of literary merit that represents a common genre, a literary period, and/or a noted author. 2. The book is well written. 3. The book is on reputable lists for recommended reading, such as Newberry, American Library Association, NCTE, ALAN, and state depository. 4. The book deals with contemporary and/or universal problems and issues. 5. The book encourages respect, compassion, and love for one's fellow man. 6. The book celebrates the worth and dignity of the individual. 7. The book shows fundamental truths and conditions of humanity. 8. The book is appropriate for the maturity level of the students. 9. The book is selected for its total effect. 10. The book and recommended grade level(s) are matched by approximate lexile levels.
M35/4
5/15/12
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 5
Author
Adler, C.S. Alcock, Vivien Alcott, Louisa Mae
Alexander, Lloyd Andersen, Hans Christian Annixter, Paul Appleman-Jurman, Alicia Armstrong, W. H. Asher, Sandy Avi Babbitt, Natalie Bach, Richard Bagnold, Enid Barrett, William E. Barry, Dave & Pearson, Riddley Bauer, Marion Dane Beach, Edward L. Benary-Isbert, Margot Blanton, Catherine Blinn, William Blume, Judy
Bonham, Frank Boyd, James Bradbury, Ray
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Title
Lexile
Aesop's Fables Arabian Nights Arthurian Tales The Bible With Westie and the Tin Man Footsteps on the Stairs Cuckoo Sister Eight Cousins Little Men Little Women *The Kestrel Andersen's Fairy Tales Swiftwater Alicia: My Story Sounder Just Like Jenny Fighting Ground, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle Tuck Everlasting Jonathan Livingston Seagull National Velvet The Lilies of the Field Peter and the Starcatchers
780 970
On My Honor Run Silent, Run Deep The Ark Hold Fast to Your Dreams Brian's Song Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Blubber Iggie's House Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself Then Again, Maybe I Won't Tiger Eyes Durango Street *Drums *Fahrenheit 451 *Illustrated Man
750
Additions/Deletions
1150 700 700 600 1260 1200 1200 710 860 880 900 580 740 770 700 770 770
5-12 11-08
11-08
NP 590 660 540 590 700 590 650 640 900 890 680 Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/5
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 6
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
Bridgers, Sue Ellen
All Together Now Home Before Dark Deep Summer *Jubilee Trail Find Debbie *The Good Earth
NP
A Little Princess The Secret Garden The Incredible Journey The Computer Nut The Summer of the Swans Alone Accent on April Going on Sixteen Dear Mr. Henshaw Dust of the Earth Grover The Kissimmee Kid Me, Too Where the Lilies Bloom The Whys and Wherefores of Litta Belle Lee Sadako & the Thousand Paper Cranes Why Me? Motorcycle Racer On the Far Side of the Mountain The Little Lame Prince Jurassic Park The Children of Dickens Boy–An Autobiography Charley and the Chocolate Factory James and the Giant Peach Charley and the Great Glass Elevator Seventeenth Summer The Cat Ate My Gym Suit Daniel Boone *Miracle on 34th Street Fishman and Charly A Dog of Flanders and Other Stories Tumble, the Story of a Mustang *A Christmas Carol *Great Expectations
930 970 1320 620 830
Bristow, Gwen Brown, Roy Buck, Pearl Burnett, Frances Hodgson Burnford, Sheila Byars, Betsy Byrd, Richard E. Cavanna, Betty Cleary, Beverly Cleaver, Vera & Bill
Coerr, Eleanor Conford, Ellen Covington, John P. Craighead-George, Jean Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock Crichton, Michael Crothers, Samuel Dahl, Roald
Daly, Maureen Danziger, Paula Daugherty, James Davies, Valentine Davis, Gibbs De la Ramee, Louise Dennis, Wesley Dickens, Charles
1530
Additions/Deletions
Moved from high school 8-18-08
910
920 630
3-08
760
12-07
710 1090 810 870 720 1130 610
1080 1230 Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/6
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 7
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
Additions/Deletions
Dodge, Mary Mapes Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates *The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes *The Hound of the Baskervilles Copper Sun *My Cousin Rachel *Rebecca The City of Ember Joni A Step Further The Matchlock Gun Black Stallion April Morning Hot Rod Decathlon Men: Greatest Athletes in the World Path of the Pale Horse The Whipping Boy Johnny Tremain Mama's Bank Account The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Came Trail of the Lonesome Pine *The Slave Dancer *The Diary of a Young Girl Mrs. Mike Homesick My Side of the Mountain The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo: An Ecological Mystery Julie of the Wolves (recommended for 8th grade only) The Miracle Worker Belles on Their Toes Cheaper By the Dozen Old Yeller Savage Sam The Wind in the Willows Phillip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon, Maybe *Death Be Not Proud Shadow Children Series The Planet of Junior Brown M.C. Higgins the Great House of Dies Drear Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
1020 1080 1090 820
3-08
880 670
12-07
Draper, Sharon Du Maurier, Daphne DuPrau, Jean Eareckson, Joni Edmonds, Walter D. Farley, Walter Fast, Howard Felson, Henry G. Finlayson, Ann Fleischman, Paul Fleischman, Sid Forbes, Esther Forbes, Kathryn Fox, John Jr. Fox, Paula Frank, Anne Freedman, B. & N. Fritz, Jean George, Jean Craighead
Gibson, William Gilbreth, Frank B. & Carey, Ernestine G. Gipson, Fred Grahame, Kenneth Greene, Bette Gunther, John Haddix, Margaret Peterson Hamilton, Virginia
860 680 1050
570 840 820
970 1080 710 860 810 740
NP 890 890 910 940 1140 900 1060 730 620 670 550 Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/7
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 8
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
Hemingway, Ernest Henry, Marguerite
*The Old Man and the Sea Justin Morgan Had a Horse King of the Wind The Day They Came to Arrest the Book All Creatures Great and Small All Things Wise and Wonderful All Things Bright and Beautiful Dog Stories The Lord God Made Them All *Kon-Tiki Hoot *The Outsiders That Was Then, This Is Now Rumblefish Farewell to Manzanar Across Five Aprils *The Lottery Rose No Promises in the Wind Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Raising Demons Redwall The Bridge Between Gabriel's Girl The Keeping Days Myself and I The Swallow's Song The Wishing Star The Acorn People Voice of Bugle Ann *The Story of My Life If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? Little Little Son of Someone Famous Flowers for Algernon Westward Ho! *Captain Courageous Just So Stories *Kim *The Man Who Would Be King *Toast Stop, Camp 7 Lassie Come Home
940 880 830 890 990 940 1070
Hentoff, Nat Herriot, James
Heyerdahl, Thor Hiaason, Carl Hinton, S.E.
Houston, Jeanne Hunt, Irene
Ishmael, Beah Jackson, Shirley Jacques, Brian Johnston, Norma
Jones, Ron Kantor, McKinlay Keller, Helen Kerr, M. E.
Keyes, Daniel Kingsley, Charles Kipling, Rudyard
Kirst, Hans Knight, Eric
Additions/Deletions
990 1310 750 780 680 1040 1100 1070 930 920
12-08
800
1000
720 1150 970 760 910 1020 1060 940 1100 780 Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/8
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 9
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
Konigsburg, E. L.
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler To Race the Wind *Tales from Shakespeare Let the Hurricane Roar Carry On, Mr. Bowditch *To Kill a Mockingbird A Wrinkle in Time A Wind in the Door A Swiftly Tilting Planet Pharaoh’s Daughter *The Chronicles of Narnia *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe *The Spirit of St. Louis The Contender The Call of the Wild *The Sea Wolf *White Fang In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson A Night to Remember Gathering Blue The Giver The Messenger Number the Stars Dragonsong Character Is Destiny Chinese Cinderella Sarah, Plain and Tall *The Guns of Navarone *Ice Station Zebra Teacup Full of Roses Taking Terri Mueller Gone With the Wind Save Queen of Sheba Anne of Green Gables Gentle Ben Fallen Angels Monster The Keeper The 25¢ Miracle Name of the Game is Murder Octagon Magic
700
Krents, Harold Lamb, Charles Lane, Rose WiIder Latham, Jean Lee Lee, Harper L'Engle, Madeline
Lester, Julius Lewis, C. S. Lindbergh, Charles Lipsyte, Robert London, Jack
Lord, Bette Lord, Walter Lowry, Lois
McCaffrey, Anne McCain, John Mah, Adline Yen MacLachan, Patricia MacLean, Alistair Mathis, Sharon B. Mazer, Nolma Fox Mitchell, Margaret Moeri, Louise Montgomery, Lucy Maud Morley, Walt Myers, Walter Dean Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds Nelson, Teresa Nixon, Joan Lowery Norton, Andre
Additions/Deletions
1390 770 570 870 740 790 850 10-10 890 940 940 760 1120 1020 970 730 950
10-07
670 960
12-07
960 560
10-07
560 570 1100 1070 990 740 650 1070 730
5-07
890
12-07
5-12 3-08
Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/9
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 10
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
O'Dell, Scott
Island of the Blue Dolphins Zia My Friend F1icka Green Grass of Wyoming Bob, Son of Battle Island on Bird Street *Animal Farm
1000 790 960
Bridge to Terabithia Come Sing, Jimmy Jo The Great Gilly Hopkins Jacob Have I Loved *Hatchet Ghosts I Have Been Something for Joey A Day No Pigs Would Die Freak the Mighty *The Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear *Tales and Poems True Grit Robin Hood The Story of King Arthur And His Knights The Yearling Where the Red Fern Grows *Light in the Forest Esperanze Rising Holes Small Steps
810 760 800 880 1020 830 860 690 1000 810 1200 800 1270 1430 750 700 870 750 660 Not determined
O'Hara, Mary Olivant, Alfred Orlev, Uri Orwell, George Paterson, Katherine
Paulsen, Gary Peck, Richard Peck, Robert Newton Philbrick, Rodman Platt, Kin Poe, Edgar Allan Portis, Charles Pyle, Howard Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan Rawls, Wilson Richter, Conrad Ryan, Pam Munoz Sachar, Louis
Sands, Bill Schaefer, Jack Sewell, Anna Silverstein, Shel
Sherburne, Zoe
Shura, Mary Francis Snyder, Zilpha Kentley Sook, Nyul Choi
My Shadow Ran Fast Shane Black Beauty A Light in the Attic Where the Sidewalk Ends The Giving Tree *Almost April *Jennifer *Why Have the Birds Stopped Singing? The Josie Gambit The Egypt Game Years of Impossible Goodbyes
690 1170
Additions/Deletions
Moved from high school 12-1-11
2-09
11-08 10-5-11 5-1-11
870 900 NP NP 530
740 1010 840 Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/10
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 11
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
Speare, Elizabeth
The Sign of the Beaver Witch of Black Bird Pond Call It Courage Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key Maniac Magee Heidi The Red Pony *Black Arrow *Kidnapped Treasure Island Airs Above the Ground Moon Spinners *Dracula The Noonday Friends Goodbye, My Lady Hie to the Hunters The Thread That Runs So True Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Let the Circle Be Unbroken The Road to Memphis The Cay The Hiding Place It Must Be Love 'Cause I Feel So Dumb *The Hobbitt *Fellowship of the Rings *Lord of the Rings *Return of the King *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn *The Adventures of Tom Sawyer *A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court *The Prince and the Pauper Pudd'nhead Wilson Banner in the Sky *Around the World in 80 Days *Journey to the Center of the Earth *Mysterious Island *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Homecoming Dicey's Song Izzy, Willy-Nilly Jackaroo J.T.
770 850 830
Sperry, Armstrong Spinelli, Jerry Spyri, Johanna Steinbeck, John Stevenson, Robert Louis
Stewart, M. Stoker, Bram Stoltz, Mary Street, James Stuart, Jesse Taylor, Mildred
Taylor, Theodore Ten Boom, Corrie Thomas, Allison Tolkien, J.R.R.
Twain, Mark
Ullman, James R. Verne, Jules
Voight, Cynthia
Wagner, Jane
820 550 810 980 990 1100 990
Additions/Deletions
12-08 10-08
990 790 860 880 920 850 670 860 900 1000 860 920 990 950 1080 1160 1130 680 1080 1000 1030 630 710 790 840 730 Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/11
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
APPROVED READING LIST GRADES 6–8 Page 12
NP = Non-Prose text – at least 50% nonstandard prose
Author
Title
Lexile
Wells, H. G.
*The Invisible Man *Island of Dr. Moreau *Time Machine *War of the Worlds Cress Delahanty Friendly Persuasion Deathwatch Torpedo Run Up Periscope *The Sword in the Stone Little House on the Prairie The Castle in the Attic Shadow of the Bull Happily Ever After . . . Almost *The Swiss Family Robinson Dragon Wings Devil’s Arithmetic Confessions of a Teenage Baboon I Never Loved Your Mind Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball *The Pigman *The Pigman's Legacy *The Undertaker's Gone Bananas
980 990 1070 1170
West, Jessamyn White, Robb
White, T.H. Wilder, Laura Wintrop, Elizabeth Wojciechowska, Maia Wolkoff, Judie Wyss, Johann Yep, Lawrence Yolen, Jane Zindel, Paul
Additions/Deletions
970 990
1120 760 750 740 740 1260 870 730 980
12-07
960 950 1010 1050
Latest revisions made on: 5/15/12
M35/12
*Advanced level reading DISCLAIMER WORDING: No additions or deletions can be made to this list except by the designated district committee with the approval of the Senior Directors of Middle and High Schools.
