5th graders love war…absolutely love it. If I place a war book in front of one of my boys, they’ll either (1) fight over it (2) read in 2-3 days and ask for another one. Don’t believe be? We have three entire book bins about war, and they stay empty most of the time.
In addition to war books, one staple in our classroom library are book displays. From bullying to banned literature, we love welcoming new books into our classroom and learning about difficult topics through books. With the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks, I decide it would be the perfect time to do a war book display!
Since I am introducing text structure this week, we will spend the week learning about the attack on Pearl Harbor and WWII through texts that use cause/effect, problem/solution, and description. We’ll start out by watching FDR’s famous address to Congress and spend a few moments meeting Dale and Johnie Gauno (on Scholastic) who witness the attack.
To make the actual display, I used my SMART board as a projector to trace the USS Missouri and a few smaller kamikaze planes. For my letters, I using KG’s What the Teacher Wants font on red paper, and then, spent a million years putting tape on everything! 🙂
In preparation for making the display, I asked
my kids for their Top 10 favorite war books. Each table worked together and
made a top 20 list. We compromised, and I choose a top 15 list….This is how 5th grade works. I say 10. They say 20. We
compromise on 15. Anyways, here are our favorite war books. If wanted to read
only two of these books, I would choose Shooting the Moon and Shadow.
Incredible, incredible books.
my kids for their Top 10 favorite war books. Each table worked together and
made a top 20 list. We compromised, and I choose a top 15 list….This is how 5th grade works. I say 10. They say 20. We
compromise on 15. Anyways, here are our favorite war books. If wanted to read
only two of these books, I would choose Shooting the Moon and Shadow.
Incredible, incredible books.
2 weeks ago, I order a few new books to add to our war collection. I am really excited to introduce Byrd & Igloo, Civil War Spies, and Courage Has No Color to my class! Over the course of the summer, I picked up picture stands (from Hobby Lobby with a 40% coupon) to act as stands for our books.
After about 2.5 ish hours, the display comes together to look like this! I am excited for my kids to see it. 🙂
So, what war books do your kids love?? Please tell me! I am always in the market for more books.
Friends, I hope you have a wonderful
evening! I’ll see you tomorrow and share with you all the goodies on my TPTshopping list! 🙂
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Melissa says
December 2, 2013 at 2:05 amOoh, war books are always a winner! I have a few favorites set during war time, but I haven't read many that are actually "war books". I'll have to check out your suggestions!
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Deb Hanson says
December 2, 2013 at 1:55 pmThat bulletin board is awesome! Thanks for the list of good war books. Now I am feeling motivated to sign up to help with the large spring book order for my school's guided reading leveled book room. I know our fifth grade boys would love to read many of these books.
~Deb
Crafting Connections
Krystyn Richards says
December 29, 2013 at 8:51 pmI just saw your post! Your bulletin board is awesome! When I was in 6th grade I loved the book "Under the Blood Red Sun." It is based in Hawaii right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The book is told from the point of view of a kid that comes from a Japanese family. It is very good.
Krystyn
Ms Richards's Musings
Kaitlyn says
June 29, 2014 at 2:04 amHave you ever tried Split History (shows both sides of a conflict) books or Choose Your Own Adventure? My boys loved those (as did some of my girls!). Choose Your Own Adventure is also good for read alouds because of the discussions they have when they come to a choice. Happy hunting!
🙂 Kaitlyn
Smiles and Sunshine