The Common Core in Grades 4-6

Top Nonfiction Titles from School Library Journal and The Horn Book Magazine

Edited by Roger Sutton and Daryl Grabarek

The Classroom Go-To Guide for the Common Core is the first in a series of comprehensive tools to tap into the vast flow of recently published books for children and teens, offering recommendations of exemplary titles for use in the classroom. Currency meets authority, brought to you by the editors of the highly regarded review sources, School Library Journal and The Horn Book Magazine.

This guide includes approximately 200 selections published since 2007 for grades 4-6 recommended by The Horn Book Magazine. The titles are grouped by subject and complemented by School Library Journal’s “Focus On” columns, which spotlight specific topics across the curriculum.

Providing context for the guide, and suggestions on how to use these resources within a standards framework, is an introduction by Common Core experts Mary Ann Cappiello and Myra Zarnowski. These experts provide perspective on the key changes brought by the new standards, including suggestions on designing lessons and two samples plans. Following the introduction, you’ll find a wealth of books, by category.

Each section includes a listing of the top titles with brief, explicit annotations, and key bibliographic data. “Focus On” articles are appended to appropriate categories to support in-depth curricular development. Each of these articles includes a topic overview and list of current and retrospective resources (including some fiction), and multimedia, that will enable educators to respond to Common Core State Standards call to work across formats.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 170 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4422-3608-0 • Hardback • April 2014 • $83.00 • (£64.00)

978-1-4422-3609-7 • Paperback • April 2014 • $33.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4422-3610-3 • eBook • April 2014 • $31.00 • (£25.00)

Series: Classroom Go-To Guides

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / School Media, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Collection Development, Education / Elementary / Language Arts, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / School Librarianship

The Common Core in Grades 4-6

Top Nonfiction Titles from School Library Journal and The Horn Book Magazine

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

The Classroom Go-To Guide for the Common Core is the first in a series of comprehensive tools to tap into the vast flow of recently published books for children and teens, offering recommendations of exemplary titles for use in the classroom. Currency meets authority, brought to you by the editors of the highly regarded review sources, School Library Journal and The Horn Book Magazine.

This guide includes approximately 200 selections published since 2007 for grades 4-6 recommended by The Horn Book Magazine. The titles are grouped by subject and complemented by School Library Journal’s “Focus On” columns, which spotlight specific topics across the curriculum.

Providing context for the guide, and suggestions on how to use these resources within a standards framework, is an introduction by Common Core experts Mary Ann Cappiello and Myra Zarnowski. These experts provide perspective on the key changes brought by the new standards, including suggestions on designing lessons and two samples plans. Following the introduction, you’ll find a wealth of books, by category.

Each section includes a listing of the top titles with brief, explicit annotations, and key bibliographic data. “Focus On” articles are appended to appropriate categories to support in-depth curricular development. Each of these articles includes a topic overview and list of current and retrospective resources (including some fiction), and multimedia, that will enable educators to respond to Common Core State Standards call to work across formats.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 170 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4422-3608-0 • Hardback • April 2014 • $83.00 • (£64.00)

978-1-4422-3609-7 • Paperback • April 2014 • $33.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4422-3610-3 • eBook • April 2014 • $31.00 • (£25.00)

Series: Classroom Go-To Guides

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / School Media, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / Collection Development, Education / Elementary / Language Arts, Language Arts & Disciplines / Library & Information Science / School Librarianship

Author

Roger Sutton has been editor in chief of the Horn Book Magazine since 1996. He is the author of A Family of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Children's and Young Adult Literature with Martha V. Parravano. He has an M.A. from the Graduate Library School, University of Chicago.

Daryl Grabarek is the editor of School Library Journal's enewsletter Curriculum Connections and its app column, "Touch and Go," and a member of its book review team. She is also a school librarian in lower Manhattan.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Putting Nonfiction to Work in Schools: The Challenges and Opportunities of Implementing CCSSby Mary Ann Cappiello (Lesley University) and Myra Zarnowski (Queens College, CUNY)
Arts
Business & Technology
Folklore
Language & Literature
Focus on Charles Dickens
Happy Birthday Mr. Dickens! by Jill Maza
Poetry
Religion & Myth
Focus on Greek Mythology
OMGS! by Joy Fleishhacker
Science
Focus on Ocean Life
Going Deep by Kathy Piehl
Focus on Scientific Exploration
Quantum Leaps and Bounds by John Peters
Sports
U.S. History
Focus on Westward Expansion
California Bound by Mary Mueller
Focus on Politics
We the People by Jennifer S. Prince
Focus on Civil Rights
Everyday Heroes by Rhona Campbell
World History
Focus on the Holocaust
Rescue and Resistance by Rachel Kamin
Title Index
Author Index

Reviews

This guide contains about 200 recommended books for students in Grades 4-6 that would be great to use in the classroom. Pairing nonfiction and fiction titles, the guide is organized around the various disciplines. With several of those subject areas, there are some focused topics such as Charles Dickens, ocean life, politics, and the Holocaust. All the books featured were published since 2007. An introduction by Common Core experts gives the context for choosing quality and current literature. This is a nice place to start when librarians are looking for recommendations to give to teachers in supporting the Common Core.
— School Library Connection

The Common Core in Grades 4-6 provides two invaluable gifts to teachers, parents, and public librarians. Its pages are filled with informative reviews of a wide range of recent, well-written, well-researched, and engaging nonfiction titles. A tour through these reviews is the perfect guide to either enhance or explore a nonfiction collection. But the grace note is the wise and informed introductory essay by two experts, Drs. Myra Zarnowski and Mary Ann Cappiello. Here you have the right books, with the right framing notes, and the right road map for using them in a classroom. What more could you want in a Common Core guide?
— Marc Aronson, lecturer, School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University and host of the first joint Common Core training for librarians, teachers, and principals