4th grade read aloud books?

Question

I am taking classes this summer and have to read a short, picture book to a couple of 4th grade students in a reading camp. I am not looking for a long chapter book, I will only be reading to them one day for a short amount of time. What are some good books that I could use that they would be interested in?

Answer 1

I like some of these suggestions, but you want to stick with something upbeat and fun, and hopefully -- nothing that they have heard 10 times already.  Patricia Polacco books are amazing - yes, but they are pretty deep, in my opinion. Plus, for 4th graders you would have to throw in some history to help explain the story.

What about fairy tales -- from different points of view?  For example - "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" or

"The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs". Both very good, and lots of humor. 4th graders love humor.

There are also various versions of Cinderella and Red Riding Hood, most of them from other cultures. There is a Cinderella from the "country" -- Cinderelly; There is a Cinderella Skeleton.   There is even one book containing several different stores -- It is called "the Stinky Cheese man" (takeoff from Gingerbread Man). It is pretty funny...

You can google "fractured fairy tales", "fairy tale versions", "Cinderella stories", etc. to give you some choices.

Answer 2

"A Hunger Artist"

"In the Penal Colony"

"The Judgment"

All by Franz Kafka

Make these kids think at young age...since we have too many stupid people already.

Answer 3

Holes

Answer 4

There is an AMAZING picture book about Harry Houdini with the equally as powerful illustrations.  It's written and illustrated by Brian Selznick (illustrator of Frindle, and many other Andrew Clements books) and it is called -The Houdini Box-.  I highly recommend it.  We read it every year during snack during our annual reading camp.  It takes about 15 minutes at most to read aloud.  I suggest reading it to yourself first, that way, you know where to raise/drop your voice, speed up, pause, etc.

Another fun picture book is -Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm- - I don't know who the author is, but it is classic!  It's about a farmer who grows these amazing balloons in his garden.  Yes, balloons!  Scientists spy on him to see if they can figure out his secret.  

You can also read -Tops and Bottoms- (again, I apologize that I don't recall the author's name)  It's about a rabbit and a bear who share a garden.  The rabbit does the planting and the bear gets to choose whether he wants the tops of the crops or the bottoms of the crops.  It's a great lesson in hard work and slick thinking.

If you're looking for a lesson on teamwork and accepting differences you'll love -The Araboolies of Liberty Street- (again, no author in my memory!)  A quiet street is ruled by  General Pinch - all the houses are the same, kids are scared to play outside, and all is quiet.  Then, the Araboolies move in.  They paint their house with wild colors and sleep under the stars... great, great story.  I generally read it at least once during the school year to my students, if not twice!

Anything by Chris Van Allsburg would be a great read, again, all his books have amazing illustrations.  In particular, -Just A Dream-, -Two Bad Ants- and The Wreck of the Zephyr.

Similar to Chris Van Allsburg, David Weisner has some amazing books.  Try -Tuesday- or -Ben's Dream- or one of my personal favorites, -June 29, 1999- (the latter being one that might captivate 4th graders the most)

Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith have an array of books, including many fractured fairy tales.  -Balony (Henry P.)- is a great book by the duo.  A bunch of excuses and a blown up story about why he wasn't in school again... :)

Lastly, and on a slightly more serious, yet educationally fun side is a book called -Voices in the Park- (author escaping me) which is a simple story of a day in the park told from 4 different points of view.  A boy, his dad, a girl, her mom.  (boy and dad are related, girl and mom are related, but they are not one family)  I use this story to introduce the concept of writer's voice.  The children are then challenged to re-write the story from 2 other characters points of view - both the boy and the girl have dogs... you can imagine how that gets!

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 5

the three lil' pigs!!!>..

Answer 6

What about the book "caps for sale"? I know it's for slightly younger kids but you can include them into the book by making hats out of construction paper.Use the same colors as in the book. So when the man falls asleep you can pass the hats. Near the end when the man throws down his cap and than in sequence the monkeys do. In yellow, red and a few other colors. It's fun and entertaining.

I love Dr. Susse! Why not the lorax! It's about ecology! The lorax is the voice for all the animals that can't talk and tell the other main character who is cutting down their forest for the tops of the trees. It's a great book to teach kids at any age about how important it is to conserve resources.

If you need more help my Email is [e-mail]

Good luck and have fun!

Answer 7

umm my brothers in 4th he said dirt bike or umm go to the library pick something childish but mature

Answer 8

harry potter

Answer 9

Any picture books by Patricia Polacco...the pictures are gorgeous and they are written for older students to enjoy. Go to this website to see all of her books and a description of each. There are a variety of topics. http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/ind...

Eve Bunting also writes some fantastic picture books for older students. Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney would be a good selection as well if you want tie in something in current events, the environment.

Answer 10

well my mom is a 3rd grade teacher which is pretty colse to fourth grade: they love to laugh instead of a sad story, also when you are animated in your voice. i cant give you certain names but i hope at least that helped you catergorize your story to choose!