KidBibs Grow-a-Reader List for 5-6 Year Olds

Language and Literacy Development:	By the time children have reached the age of five, they have learned a lot of language. They are continuing to add a lot of words to their vocabulary, experiment with more complex sentence structure, and use language in more sophisticated ways. They are delightfully imaginative and continue to make-up stories when they play. They enjoy picture books, predictable books, and books with fun rhyme and rhythm. Toward the end of first grade, some first graders enjoy venturing into books with chapters (chapter books). Now they feel more comfortable writing their ideas down. In the beginning writing of four-year-olds, there's no apparent relationship between the letters they've written down and the words they're saying as they read---they just appear to be random letters on the page. But, with book and writing experience, the child's awareness of sound-symbol relationships, also called phonics, starts to be refined. Initially, much of this occurs when they start to generalize from the signs and labels that they can read---Burger King, Barney, Blockbuster Video, Taco Bell, etc. When children know that they can invent their spellings in their stories, they are more willing to write and become much more aware of printed language. They notice because they want to use that information to write their stories. As a result, the child will write a string of letters representing some of the sounds in the story s/he is writing. Over time, they will include more "sounds" in their writing; one letter to represent nearly every word; this is often the first sound that they hear in the word--usually a consonant. Then they'll start adding another letter--usually the last sound that they hear in the word--often a consonant. There are typically no spaces between the words, but the child can read his/her story to an adult and point to the letters representing the sounds in the words. They use their understanding of phonics to invent spellings so that they can write their ideas and stories down. These spellings are temporary; they will become more refined as the child learns more sounds and has more experience with writing. With exposure to books, opportunities to write, and appropriate instruction, children start to solidify their understanding of phonics and refine their spelling strategies to move closer to standard spelling. In fact, they are learning the spelling processes (spell it how it sounds, see if it looks right, etc.) that adults use while they are writing. These children are also learning standard spellings and reading books. Their writing experiences support their reading development! And their reading experiences support their writing development!

Reading Interests:	pop-up books books with songs/tapes bright colorful pictures asking questions fantasy stories that teach lessons

Children's Books:	Owl Moon by Jane Yolen Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst; Audio cassette; Spanish version: Alexander y el dia terrible, horrible, espantoso, horroroso The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper; Spanish version: La pequeńa locomotora que sí pudo Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes Quick as a Cricket by Audrey and Don Wood Q is for Duck: An Alphabet Guessing Game by Mary Elting Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett Amos and Boris by William Steig; Spanish version: Amos y Boris Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey; Spanish version: Abran paso a los patitos Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter; Audio Cassette; Spanish version: El Cuento De Pedro, El Conejo Tomorrow's Alphabet by George Shannon and Donald Crews (illustrator) Koala Lou by Mem Fox and Pamela Lofts (illustrator) Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas (illustrator) Stone Soup by Marcia Brown; Spanish version: Sopa de piedras Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino Spanish version: Tu mamá es una llama? If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff; Spanish version: Si le das una Galletita a un Raton In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins; Spanish version: Llaman a la puerta If You Were a Writer by Joan Lowery Nixon. Author: A True Story by Helen Lester. The Bossy Gallito/El gallo de bodas by Lucía M. González and Lulu Delacre Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott; Spanish version: Flecha al sol "Stand Back," said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze" by Patricia Thomas and Wallace Tripp Something BIG Has Been Here by Jack Prelutsky and James Stevenson (illustrator); Audio cassette Lunch Money and Other Poems About School by Carol Diggory Shields and Paul Meisel (illustrator) Popular Series: Arthur books by Marc Brown Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant Horrible Harry by Suzy Kline Informational Books: Scholastic First Discovery Books Books written by Gail Gibbons: Magic School Bus Books Reference Books: My First Dictionary Roget's Children Thesaurus The New Puffin Children's World Atlas The Kingfisher First Encyclopedia