YOUNG LEARNERS PROGRAM

is a class for third graders that meets

 once per 6-day cycle.

We have two sections with

ten students in each class.

Our current assigned reading is

Show me the money: how to

make cents out of economics

by Alvin Hall, DK Pub., 2008

Students should read the first chapter by April 19. 

Go further if you wish.  Please be prepared to discuss the reading. 

*******

Interested in a good read?

Look below for some suggestions at RAS grade levels!

For 6th grade:

Taken by Edward Bloor

From Booklist
Bloor sets his latest novel in Florida, 2035, in a world sharply divided by wealth and race. Kidnapping has become a "major growth industry," and everyone knows the rules: pay up within 24 hours, and the child is returned. Thirteen-year-old Charity's rich family lives in the Highlands, a tightly secured gated community; they have a butler who doubles as a heavily armed security guard. Even so, Charity is "taken." But for some reason, the payoff goes tragically wrong, and Charity is forced to step outside the rule book and fight for her life. Although many of the secondary characters are flat, Charity is an appealing observer who looks beyond class and begins to think for herself. Her calm recounting of the kidnapping scenario increases the tension, while interspersed flashbacks provide believable details of her disturbing world. This page-turner will grab readers at the outset, and its unexpected twist at the close will send them back through events to look for embedded clues. --Rutan, Lynn

Gossamer by Lois Lowry

From Booklist

Littlest One is a delicate, invisible spirit who is in training to be a dream-giver, learning to blend fragments of happy memories with fragile details of daily life for people as they sleep. She helps a tormented foster child at night, bestowing healing memories in his dreams. He remembers a button, a broken seashell on a shelf, a book left open, images that fight the sinister Hordes that torment him with nightmares of his father's vicious abuse. Lowry's plain, poetic words speak directly to children about the powerful, ordinary things in everyday life, such as the boy's memory of a baseball game ("the curved line of stitches on the ball and then the high thwacking sound of the hit"); the feel of his dog's silky, warm fur; and the thump of the dog's tail against the floor. Pair this fantasy with Valerie Worth's All the Small Poems (1995) and with Katherine Paterson's realistic novel, The Great Gilly Hopkins (1978), about an abused child in loving foster care. --Hazel Rochman

Cyberia by Chris Lynch

From Booklist
Zane lives in a future flooded with wireless data. A biochip in his ankle keeps his computers (and, by extension, his parents) in constant awareness of his activities, mood, and blood pressure. He can’t even pass gas without the Scent-o-Com adjusting the ingredients of his breakfast. After receiving the Gizzard, a gadget that synchronizes these feeds, Zane’s earpiece picks up a little something extra: the voice of his dog, Hugo. And it’s not just Hugo—soon Zane’s ears are bombarded by a veritable zoo, and their chief complaint is Dr. Gristle, an experimental veterinarian hoping to harness their abilities for government use. This very funny book occasionally strikes notes of unexpected poignancy, as when Zane dubs a dog-racing track “the saddest place on Earth.” The plot, however, moves in confusing fits, with characters materializing from nowhere and major events rushed to conclusion. Lynch, perhaps better known for daring YA works like Inexcusable (2005), may not be entirely successful combining cautionary tales of both virtual reality and animal abuse, but the planned sequel could help fill some of the gaps. --Daniel Kraus

The graveyard book by Neil Gaiman

From Bookmarks Magazine
Neil Gaiman's fantasies have entranced both younger readers and adults; this gothic fantasy, a coming-of-age story modeled after The Jungle Book and with slight nods to Harry Potter, will appeal to all ages. By juxtaposing the world of the dead with the world of the living, Gaiman creates a fantastical world where the thoughtful protagonist comes to understand the power of family as he experiences the fear, pains, confusions, and joys of growing up. Critics praised each illustrated chapter as its own little gem, with moments both tender and terrifying—and each equally exciting. The Graveyard Book is sure to become a book to last the ages.

The brain book - H.P. Newquist

From Booklist
With an appealing, colorful design and a flashy cover, this in-depth introduction to the human brain and its remarkable powers will attract browsers, but strong readers are its best audience. Newquist begins with the brain in history, from the ancient Egyptians (who thought the brain was so worthless they scooped it out of corpses before mummifying them) up to Wilder Penfield's work in the 1950s, which proved that the brain was the source of human memory. The book goes on to discuss, in impressive detail, the structure and inner workings of the organ--glia, neurotransmitters, hypothalamuses, etc. Pencil drawings and color illustrations (many of them deliciously icky) help to lighten the weight of the vocabulary. The clever, kid-friendly anecdotes amid the anatomy lessons also enhance accessibility: the one about a man whose personality changed after a steel rod shot through his brain, and the real cause of brain freeze. John Green

For 5th grade:

The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

From Booklist
*Starred Review* The ever-versatile Lowry offers what she calls an “old-fashioned story,” complete with stock elements such as a baby left on a doorstep and a nanny who transforms her initially ill-behaved charges. Sly humor and a certain deadpan zaniness give literary conventions an ironic twist, with hilarious results. The Willoughby family consists of bossy elder brother Tim, twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, little sister Jane, and their parents, who are despicable. Mrs. Willoughby insists that the twins share one sweater, and Mr. Willoughby abruptly stops reading aloud “Hansel and Gretel” one evening because the mother in the story has given him an idea—abandon the children! The parents take a vacation and, while away, sell their house, leaving the children and nanny to shift for themselves. Meanwhile, the children plot how to become orphans, “like children in an old-fashioned book.” Many are the ways used by children’s novelists to get their protagonists’ parents out of the way, but Lowry’s solution here is particularly inventive and wickedly amusing. A glossary humorously defines words seldom seen in newfangled books (the new nanny: villainous, lugubrious, or odious?), and an annotated bibliography comments on 13 old-fashioned children’s books referenced within the story. Great fun. --Carolyn Phelan

From School Library Journal

Dave Packer's fifth-grade classmates are so boisterous and difficult to quiet down that the teachers have dubbed them "The Unshushables." Dave has just read about Mahatma Gandhi and learned that the man practiced silence one day a week to bring order to his mind. Though Dave likes to talk nonstop, he's determined to give the idea a try. An encounter with Lynsey, another chatterbox, sparks the boys and girls into challenging each other to a no-talking contest for 48 hours. They can answer direct questions from adults with three-word sentences but must otherwise remain silent. The teachers are bewildered at the extreme change in the kids until several of them figure out what's going on. Principal Hiatt demands that the quiet students return to their normal behavior. When the children continue with their silent ways, Dave finds himself at the center of the controversy. This is an interesting and thought-provoking book, similar to Clements's Frindle (S & S, 1996). The plot quickly draws readers in and keeps them turning pages. The author includes the viewpoints of both the students and the teachers, and the black-and-white pencil drawings add immediacy to the story. This lively offering would make a great book-group selection or classroom discussion starter.—Elaine Lesh Morgan

Go big or go home by Will Hobbs

From Booklist
When a meteorite crashes through the roof of Brady’s home in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the young astrophile is excited beyond belief. He names it Fred (for “Far Roaming Earth Diver”) and calls his cousin Quinn over to check it out. The two are enamored of anything extreme or insane and deem this space rock “extremely insane” before setting out for a headlong series of bicycling, fishing, and caving adventures. When Brady starts to surpass his normal physical limitations, it becomes apparent that the meteorite might have brought along some hidden visitors with it from outer space. Hobbs captures young teen dialogue well, and the characters are all easy to like in this solid adventure. Reluctant readers who’d rather be airborne than chairbound will appreciate the two young boys’ penchant for pushing the envelope, and the postulations involving extremophile organisms is a neat twist with just a hint of science behind it, even if it leads to a few mildly preposterous situations by the end.

--Ian Chipman

Bronte's book club by Kristiana Gregory

From Booklist
Bronte, 12, is lonely when her family moves to a small town on the California coast, so she starts a book club, and slowly makes friends with four girls as needy as she is. The first book she chooses is Scott O’Dell’s classic Island of the Blue Dolphins. The book is set off the coast where Bronte now lives, and like O’Dell’s castaway character, Karana, Bronte loves surfing with the wild seals and dolphins. The four girls quarrel, cry, laugh, and enjoy the snacks together; in fact, Bronte gets irritated when, instead of talking about the book, they talk about personal stuff (Does Willow have trouble reading? Why is Jessie so angry?), until Bronte finds herself revealing her loneliness. Back matter includes suggestions for starting a book group; but more than just about creating a club, this book shows how talking about a great story can spark connections. -Hazel Rochman

Lawn boy by Gary Paulsen

From Booklist
This short and hilarious tale pitches an ordinary preteen with an old riding lawn mower into a dizzying ascent up the financial ladder. His sights set no higher than a new inner tube for his bike, the young narrator is thrilled to make $60 in one day, mowing his neighbors' lawns. Just as demand for his services skyrockets, he meets Arnold, an honest, home-based stockbroker who becomes his business manager . . and less than a month later, the lad has a dozen migrant laborers in his employ. The legality of these workers is left vague, but their young employer treats them fairly, and the thousands of dollars he earns goes into some wildly successful investments--including sponsorship of a rising prizefighter whose help comes in handy when the burgeoning enterprise attracts a shakedown artist. Thanks to quick lessons in, to quote some of the chapter heads, "Capital Growth Coupled with the Principles of Product Expansion" and "Force of Arms and Its Application to Business," the young tycoon ends up smarter than when he started out, and worth half a million dollars. When it comes to telling funny stories about boys, no one surpasses Paulsen, and here he is in top form. John Peters