Now that the school year has settled into a steady routine, the weather is doing the same thing. In southern California, we do not start to feel consistently cold (relatively speaking) until the end of October. After the crazy fun of Halloween, the month of November feels like a happy, cozy, cold month, and I like to lean into that feeling in my classes.
Here is a list of what my classes are reading this November.
3rd Grade: O, My Best Beloved
O, My Best Beloved is a compilation of short stories (edited by yours truly) that I most love sharing with my students. It contains heart-warming stories, rife with topics for discussion. I love cramming my whole class into the cozy reading corner of my classroom so I can read Rikki Tikki Tavi aloud to them. I love watching their faces light up with joy, and sometimes with fear, as that brave mongoose defends his family.
I devote time to a short story unit in November mostly because it is great for my students to be exposed to the wonderful short stories this world has to offer. And November, being the cozy month between two very busy ones, is the perfect time to sit together and enjoy read aloud time.
However, there is another benefit to reading short stories that is a bit sneakier. Short stories, if chosen well, encourage students to talk much more than they normally would. They can hear the whole story in one sitting, and while it is still fresh in their minds, they discuss it with me. Then they do it again the next day. And again the day after that. If reading is like exercise for the mind and soul, short stories are some of the best, easiest, most enjoyable ways to get in a bunch of extra reps. All while sitting on the floor with friends!
4th Grade: The Long Winter
I love the Little House on the Prairie series, and The Long Winter is my favorite one of them all. November is a perfect time to share it as we get closer to our own version of winter.
Not only is The Long Winter a great opportunity for my little southern Californians to see what weather is like, this novel is one of the best ways to showcase the power of the human soul. The Ingalls family, horsewhipped by the cruelest winter on record to this day, perseveres admirably by finding solace in their shared love of poetry, in the power of community, and most of all, in their love for each other. It is an inspiring read any time of year, but the onset of our mildly cold weather underscores it perfectly for us and helps us to feel even more grateful for what we have.
5th Grade: A Single Shard
A Single Shard is a perfect November read because of its pacing. It is slow and deliberate, and each page fills the reader’s mind with images of calm beauty. The story pulls readers along gently, but consistently. This book is always a favorite with my students, and well-remembered long after their 5th grade year is over. I have written a lot about A Single Shard over the years, and it remains one of my top favorite books in my curriculum.
Side note: I traveled to South Korea two years ago and had the pleasure of seeing in person many of the works of pottery that are mentioned in this book. It was a dream come true.
Twenty weeks pregnant in hanbok at a palace… in 100 degree weather!
6th Grade: Dracula
Dracula is long, and we start it in October to go along with Halloween. It extends into November, and just about that time, we always reach the point in the story when it stops being so much about monsters and starts being about the heroic human response to evil in the world. I love watching the change in the seasons alongside the change of focus in Dracula. We have our spooky fun, and then we find the beauty and heroism that banishes the fear. As the heroic and wonderful Mina says, “‘The world seems full of good men—even if there are monsters in it.’”
In my personal time, I am enjoying the challenge of reading Don Quixote with thoughtful friends. I am also reading Mark Twain’s charming Joan of Arc and Nevil Shute’s On the Beach. When I am not reading, I am chasing my beautiful children around and tickling them mercilessly.
What are you reading this fall?