I am so excited to start the independent reading project next week! Students are starting to get their permission slips in. Below is a list of books students have chosen so far.
The Role of Fiction in Our Lives:
We first come to reading through poetry, picture books, and stories. These experiences are our first way of making sense of the world. These works of fiction, the products of imagination, carry for us truths that throughout our lives not only entertain us but sustain us. They offer us a chance to think about human issues that concern us all: love, hate, hope, fear, and the other emotions, problems, situations, and experiences of living.
A good book does more than entertain and pass the lazy hours on a beach or the boring hours of a long plane ride; it can change us. Current research shows that reading fiction affects the way we interact with one another. According to recent research, as we read fiction, we not only learn about the characters but also more about ourselves, others, and how we might relate to one another.
Source
I look at this list of classics and know that students will benefit from reading these books. Even if they do not fully understand the depth of author's message at their current age, the students will have read a book whose message will evolve with them as they grow older.
I first read 1984 in high school. Then I taught it in my student teaching. I am now 45 and have read the book numerous times. Over 25 years, I have come to understand the strengths of the book's message and some of its misconceptions... so far.
| As I Lay Dying |
| Carrie |
| Catch 22 |
| Dante's Inferno |
| Diary of Anne Frank |
| Farenheit 451 |
| Frankenstein |
| Frankenstein |
| Kafka |
| Kafka |
| Little Women |
| Little Women |
| Little Women |
| Lord of the Flies |
| MacBeth |
| Red Badge of Courage |
| Shindler's List |
| The Color of Water |
| The Great Gatsby |
| The Great Gatsby |
| The Hobbit |
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame |
| The Life of Pi |
| The Sound and the Fury |
| The Time Machine |
| To Kill a Mocking Bird |
| To Kill a Mocking Bird |
| To Kill a Mockingbird |
| Twelfth Night |
