A while back, I asked for Book Hooks that teachers could read to help hook a
student on books. I have expanded my search to 1st - 12th, so if you know of any
passages and/or chapters that will grab them please send them my way. Below, I
have included the original post plus the compilation of results. I would love more.
Thanks,
Dawn VanLerberghe
Librarian
Baraga Area Schools
Baraga, MI 49908
dlvl_02@hotmail.com
Original Post: I would like to compile a list for
everyone to use that would share the "best" parts of a book that
would help hook the kids into reading it.
If you have favorite books for 1st-6th graders and like to read a
particular passage or chapter that helps draw the students in and get them
wanting to check it out, then will you please send them to me? We probably all
have our favorites, but I
think it would be a great resource to share.
Suggestions
from others:
For my school
visits this spring to promote SRP, I read part of the first chapter of Skeleton
Man by Joseph Bruchac. 4 months later I
still have kids coming in and asking for it.
The book was never on the shelf the entire summer. It's scary and gross and
perfect for 3-5th
graders. They especially loved the part
about the skeleton man eating his own fingers and toes. Perfect gross out factor.
The Ink drinker by
Éric Sanvoisin flies off the shelf when I retell the first part of the story.
I read the third
chapter (I think it's the 3rd...) called Dictionaopolis from The Phantom
Tollbooth by Norton Juster to the third
graders before we start our dictionary unit and they absolutely LOVE it and
then I can't keep the book on the shelf for the rest of the fall.
Please share your HIT when you compile the responses!
I love to read the
gross part from Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, a section where the boy
wakes up and birds are picking at bits of flesh...it's not as gory as it
sounds, but it's definitely an attention getter! Along the same lines,
when I booktalk Guts by Gary Paulsen, I read a section towards the end where he
describes the disgusting things he's eaten.
I love
to read a chapter from Lois Lowry's All About Sam to 4th graders, as we study
the genre of humor. I believe it's chapter 3; it begins "where does
the water go?" and Anastasia's little brother Sam flushes her
goldfish down the toilet. We laugh out loud, and they want to read all
the other Lois Lowry books on my shelves.
I use the first 2
paragraphs from Phillip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke, ending with, "and in
15 minutes she was going to kill a man."
I LOVE to read the
first chapter or two of Donna Jo Napoli's The Prince of the Pond aloud to fifth
graders. I call up about three kids and
hand them floppy stuffed frogs. I have
them sit beside me facing the group and try to make their frogs do what the
main character does. We all end up in
stitches, it acclimates the kids to the way the book reads (which is not easy),
and all of my copies fly off the shelves.
Frindle by Andrew
Clements--read the end of the first chapter when he gets socked with the extra
assignment.
I've started
reading Clementine to our 3rd graders, and the very first page is hilarious.
All of the kids "get it" immediately, and all have begged me to keep
reading. I Love that!
Book Hooks from
archives, may be more but
this was all I could find
There are a couple
of gripping paragraphs in "All Quiet on the Western Front" (p.70-73
in the Little, Brown 1958 edition).
Here are some
that I do:
Kit’s Wilderness
by David Almond – read chapter 1 – 6th grade
Klipfish Code by
Mary Casanova – read chapter 1 – 6th grade
Hey, New Kid by
Betsy Duffey – read chapter 2 – 3rd grade
Bunnicula by James
Howe – read description and chapter _ - 3rd grade
Face on a Milk
Carton by Caroline B. Cooney – read p. 8-12 – 5th grade
Ruins of Gorlan by
John Flanagan – background info about book up to page 37, then read 37-41 – 5th
grade
Thanks again,Dawn
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