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Phonics K-5

Kindergarten Phonics & Reading List

Kindergarten Curriculum-based Reading List:

  • The Snowy Day (Keats) [Picture]

  • Last Stop on Market Street (de la Peña) [Picture]

  • We Are Water Protectors (Lindstrom) [Informational]

  • Aesop’s Fables (selected) [Short]

  • Poetry Pack: nursery rhymes & Nikki Grimes mini-set

  • Media: simple photo-essay (class-made)

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Kindergarten Supplementary Reading:

  • Ada Twist, Scientist — Andrea Beaty 

  • The Day You Begin — Jacqueline Woodson 

  • Kitten’s First Full Moon — Kevin Henkes 

  • Not a Box — Antoinette Portis 

  • Rosie’s Walk — Pat Hutchins 

  • Press Here — Hervé Tullet 

  • Bear Snores On — Karma Wilson

  • My Papi Has a Motorcycle — Quintero 

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1st Grade Phonics & Reading List

Grade 1 Curriculum-Based Reading List:

  • Frog and Toad Are Friends (Lobel) [Stories]

  • Henry and Mudge (Rylant) [Early Chapter]

  • The Name Jar (Choi) [Picture]

  • Grace for President (DiPucchio) [Picture/Informational]

  • Poetry Pack: Poems to Learn by Heart (sel.)

  • Media: National Geo Kids “Readers” (A–B levels)

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Supplemental Reading List:

Grade 1 (emerging readers)

  • Little Bear — Else Holmelund Minarik [Early Reader]

  • Amelia Bedelia (orig.) — Peggy Parish [Early Reader]

  • Nate the Great — Marjorie Sharmat [Mystery]

  • Poppleton — Cynthia Rylant [Early Chapter]

  • Mercy Watson — Kate DiCamillo [Early Chapter]

  • Biscuit — Alyssa Capucilli [Early Reader]

  • Elephant & Piggie — Mo Willems [Early Reader]

  • Ling & Ting — Grace Lin [Early Reader]

  • Mia Mayhem — Kara West [Early Chapter]

2nd Grade Phonics & Reading List

Grade 2. Curriculum-Based Reading List:

  • Magic Tree House #1 (Osborne) [Chapter]

  • Judy Moody (McDonald) [Chapter]

  • The Paper Bag Princess (Munsch) [Picture]

  • Who Was…? (one biography) [Nonfiction]

  • Poetry Pack: Where the Sidewalk Ends (sel.)

  • Media: simple infographic (class-made)

 

Supplemental Reading List:

Grade 2 (transition to chapters)

  • Clementine — Sara Pennypacker [Chapter]

  • My Father’s Dragon — Ruth Stiles Gannett [Adventure]

  • Ivy + Bean — Barrows [Chapter]

  • The Year of Billy Miller — Kevin Henkes [Realistic]

  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins — Atwater [Classic]

  • The Magic School Bus (sel.) — Cole [NF]

  • The Tale of Despereaux — DiCamillo [Fantasy]

  • Jasmine Toguchi — Debbi Michiko Florence [Series]

  • The Princess in Black — Hale [Hybrid]

3rd Grade Phonics & Reading List

Grade 3 Curriculum-Based Reading List:

  • Grade 3

  • Charlotte’s Web (White) [Novel]

  • Because of Winn-Dixie (DiCamillo) [Novel]

  • The Wild Robot (Brown) [Novel]

  • Aesop / Pourquoi tales (global) [Short]

  • Nonfiction: Who Was…? (choice)

  • Poetry Pack: two-voice poems (Joyful Noise, sel.)

  • • • Media: nature article + chart (DK / NatGeo Kids)

 

Supplemental Reading List:

Grade 3

  • Frindle — Andrew Clements [Realistic]

  • Wishtree — Katherine Applegate [Fable]

  • The One and Only Ivan — Applegate [Novel]

  • Matilda — Roald Dahl [Classic]

  • Sarah, Plain and Tall — Patricia MacLachlan [Historical]

  • Bunnicula — Howe [Humor/Mystery]

  • Sideways Stories from Wayside School — Sachar [Humor]

  • The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street — Karina Yan Glaser [Realistic]

• • NF set: DK Eyewitness Kids (one topic) + simple chart

4th Grade Phonics & Reading List

Grade 4 Curriculum-Based Reading List:

  • Grade 4

  • The Phantom Tollbooth (Juster) [Novel]

  • The Birchbark House (Erdrich) [Novel]

  • Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt) [Novel]

  • Nonfiction: Hidden Figures (Young Readers) [NF]

  • Poetry Pack: Love That Dog (Creech) + haiku set

  • • • Media: historical map + photo set (Library of Congress)

 

Supplemental Reading List:

Grade 4

  • City of Ember — Jeanne DuPrau [Dystopian]

  • Fish in a Tree — Lynda Mullaly Hunt [Realistic]

  • One Crazy Summer — Rita Williams-Garcia [Historical]

  • Front Desk — Kelly Yang [Realistic]

  • The Fourteenth Goldfish — Jennifer Holm [Sci/Realistic]

  • A Long Walk to Water — Linda Sue Park [✳️ NF/Novella]

  • Among the Hidden — Margaret Peterson Haddix [Dystopian]

  • Harbor Me — Jacqueline Woodson [Realistic]

• • Poetry mini-set: haiku + Nikki Grimes pairings

5th Grade Phonics & Reading List

Grade 5 Curriculum-Based Reading List:

  • Grade 5

  • Esperanza Rising (Ryan) [Novel]

  • Hatchet (Paulsen) [Novel]

  • The Crossover (Alexander) [Novel-in-Verse]

  • Nonfiction: I Am Malala (Young Readers) or Brown Girl Dreaming (Woodson) [Memoir/Verse]

  • Poetry Pack: Langston Hughes + Naomi Shihab Nye (sel.)

  • • • Media: science feature w/ timeline (Smithsonian Tween Tribune)

Supplemental Reading List:

Grade 5

  • The War That Saved My Life — Kimberly Brubaker Bradley [Historical]

  • When You Reach Me — Rebecca Stead [Speculative]

  • The Girl Who Drank the Moon — Kelly Barnhill [Fantasy]

  • Ghost — Jason Reynolds [Sports/Verse]

  • Amina’s Voice — Hena Khan [Realistic]

  • Wonder — R. J. Palacio [Realistic]

  • El Deafo — Cece Bell [Graphic Memoir]

  • Bridge to Terabithia — Katherine Paterson [✳️ Classic]

• • NF pick: Who Was? biography (student choice)

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