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Cayuga Reading Department June 2009
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Sachem Central School District |
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Below are several book titles for a range of ages and reading levels. Feel free to browse through and find something special to read with your family! |
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How I Spent My Summer Vacation , Mark Teague |
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Starting School with an Enemy, Elisa Carbone |
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The First Day Jitters, Julie Danneburg |
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Book Recommendations |
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First Day Jitters is an excellent picture book for an elementary school student (or first-time teacher) who is apprehensive about starting school. This is a funny book, with a surprise ending that will cause the reader to laugh out loud and then go back and read the entire story again. |
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This intermediate chapter book is about Sarah, who’s first few days of fifth grade at a new school aren't going too well. First before school even begins, she manages to make an enemy of the school bully. As he tries to make her life miserable, she explores various hilarious and sometimes painful ways to deal with the pressures of trying to make new friends and being tormented by a bully. |
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In this picture book, a young boy delivers an oral report on that classic topic, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. His parents have sent him out West for a reason: "'Your imagination,' they said, 'is getting too wild. Told in rhymed verse, it is a tall tale that primary students will appreciate. |
The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily Ordinary First Day of School, Albert Lorenz |
Kindergarten Rocks!, Katie Davis |
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PreSchool-K–According to Dexter, he is totally calm about starting kindergarten, but his stuffed dog, Rufus, is fearful about the bus finding the way to school, getting lunch, being tagged as the only one who can't read, and getting a mean teacher. Once Dexter starts school, he is having such a great time that he forgets about his stuffed friend until he realizes that Rufus is LOST! A succession of cartoon illustrations and speech bubbles follows the large-eyed child through his first day of school. A gentle, humorous read to calm the anxiety of younger students. |
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On the first day back to school from summer vacation, John is the new kid. When the librarian asks him if the school is any different from his last one, he begins a wildly imaginative story about what it was like. What follows are hilarious scenarios—his old school bus was a safari jeep pulled by wild creatures, the school was a castle, and the lunch menu included worms! His imagination wins him the attention and awe of his librarian and peers, setting the tone for a compelling story about conquering the fears of being a new kid, as well as the first-day jitters that many children experience.
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Fifth-grader Anthony Madison, a.k.a. Tony Baloney, can't get enough of The Late Show with David Letterman. He loves the jokes, the silly routines, and most of all the top ten lists-and Tony will stop at nothing to get himself on the program. He's even devising his own repertoire of Stupid Human Tricks and top ten lists sure to put him next in line as Dave's replacement. But to get all the way from Kansas to the big time in New York City, he will have to pull out all the stops. Tony Baloney takes his friends, family, and teachers on an uproarious and wild ride to remember. |
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Top Ten Ways to Ruin the First Day of School, Kenneth Derby |
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No Copycats Allowed!, Bonnie Graves |
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In this chapter book, a young girl is a starting a new school. She tries to make friends by trying to change to be more like her peers. Her father counsels her to be herself, but her older brother advises her, "Be like everybody else...or you won't make friends." She copies a hairstyle from one girl, and switches her interests to match her classmates. All of this backfires, however; dubbed "Copycat," she runs away from school in humiliation. A sensitive teacher and her father convince her to return to her class and be herself. |
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I Don’t Want to go Back to School , Marisabina Russo Eastman |
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This is another great picture book for primary students. The story tells of a young boy who has no interest in beginning second grade, no matter what assurances his parents offer. His sister is full of disastrous memories and predictions. A tug-of-war proceeds between his parents' support and his sibling's taunts. |
