Creating and maintaining a reading plan can be really challenging and intimidating, but we’re here to help! Let’s go through a year of reading, and indicate great plans for different age groups!
Month 1: Introduction to Classic Children’s Literature
- “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White (Ages 8-12)
- “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame (Ages 8-12)
Month 2: Fantasy and Adventure
- “The Chronicles of Narnia” series by C.S. Lewis (Ages 8-12)
- “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll (Ages 8-12)
Month 3: Folktales and Fables
- “Aesop’s Fables” (Ages 6-10)
- “The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales” by Brothers Grimm (Ages 8-12)
Month 4: Historical Fiction
- “Little House on the Prairie” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder (Ages 8-12)
- “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry (Ages 9-12)
Month 5: Mystery and Detective Stories
- “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” by Arthur Conan Doyle (Ages 10-14)
- “The Westing Game” by Ellen Raskin (Ages 10-14)
Month 6: Science Fiction
- “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle (Ages 10-14)
- “The Giver” by Lois Lowry (Ages 10-14)
Month 7: Classic Poetry and Rhymes
- “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein (Ages 6-10)
- “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson (Ages 6-10)
Month 8: Biographies and Memoirs
- “Who Was? Series” (Various biographies) (Ages 8-12)
- “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl” (Ages 12 and up)
Month 9: Multicultural Literature
- “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Muñoz Ryan (Ages 9-12)
- “The Birchbark House” by Louise Erdrich (Ages 9-12)
Month 10: Animal Stories
- “Black Beauty” by Anna Sewell (Ages 8-12)
- “Watership Down” by Richard Adams (Ages 10-14)
Month 11: Classic Picture Books
- “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak (Ages 4-8)
- “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats (Ages 4-8)
Following this reading plan is not required or necessary, but it is a great way for teachers to rely on a plan for the different aged school children they teach. Following this can provide some support and stability, especially when first introducing classic literature into the classroom.