TEA Presentation on January 9th about Required Readings

TEA gave this presentation to the SBOE so they'd have the background they needed to preview the draft language. 

Staff worked diligently to do what they were asked to do by the legislature. They tried to do a good job. 

Be aware of WHAT they did and HOW they supported the work. 

https://tea.texas.gov/academics/instructional-materials/house-bill-1605/sboe-tea-proposed-literary-works-list-pre-read-to-support-review.pdf 

Alert: Draft Language for Required Reading in High School: English I -4

My adolescent hell: A Sic 'em. 

Required Readings in English I

1. Animal Farm George Orwell
1. ├-- Federalist Papers No. 10 James Madison
2. ├-- Federalist Papers No. 51 James Madison
3. ├-- I, Pencil Leonard E. Read
4. ├-- Ozymandias Percy Bysshe Shelley
5. └── The Clever Teens' Guide to the Russian Revolution Felix Rhodes
2. Antigone Sophocles (2005th Publishing Edition)
1. ├-- Thanatopsis William Cullen Bryant
2. └── The Monkey's Paw (excerpt from The Monkey's Paw and Other Stories) W. W. Jacobs
3. Great Expectations Charles Dickens
1.  ├-- Love Is Not All (excerpt from Fatal Interview) Edna St. Vincent Millay
2. └── A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain (Chapter 1 "Symbol of an Age", Chapter 2 "The Masses". and Chapter 6 "Religion") Michael Paterson
4. The Odyssey Homer (translated by Robert Fagles)
1. ├-- David and Goliath (Book of 1 Samuel, Chapter 17) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans. NIRV)
2. └── Odysseus W. S. Merwin
5. Night Elie Wiesel
1. ├-- Lamentations 3 (Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans. JPS Tanakh 1917)
2. ├-- The Perils of Indifference (excerpt from White House Official Transcript of Remarks at Millennium Evening) Elie Wiesel
3. └── The Survivor Primo Levi

Required Readings in English II

1. Beowulf Unknown Poet (translated by Burton Raffel)
1. ├-- The Charge of the Light Brigade Alfred Lord Tennyson
2. └── Twelve Angry Men Reginald Rose
2. Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
1. ├-- Dear Mr. McCarthy, I Am Very Real (excerpt, Section 1 from Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage) Kurt Vonnegut
2. ├-- What is Capitalism? (excerpt, Section 1 from Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal) Ayn Rand
3. ├-- Flattering Unction (excerpt, Chapter 1 from The Vision of the Anointed) Thomas Sowell
4. └── The Veldt (excerpt from The Illustrated Man) Ray Bradbury
3. Frankenstein Mary Shelley
1. ├-- Prometheus Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
2. ├-- The Tower of Babel (Book of Genesis, Chapter 11 Verses 1-9) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans. NIRV)
3. └── Why Frankenstein Matters Audrey Shafer
4.  A Separate Peace John Knowles
1. ├-- The Necklace Guy de Maupassant (translated by Johnathan Sturges)
2. ├-- The Scarlet Ibis James Hurst
3. └── The Soldier Rupert Brooke
5. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar William Shakespeare
1. ├-- Eulogy for President Reagan Margaret Thatcher
2. ├-- Pericles’ Funeral Oration (excerpt of Book 2 from Chapters 34 - 46 of History of the Peloponnesian War) Thucydides (edited by M.I. Finley and translated by Rex Warner)
3. └── The Raven Edgar Allen Poe

Required Readings in English III

1. The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
1. ├-- To Build a Fire (excerpt from To Build a Fire and Other Stories) Jack London
2. -- We Choose to Go to the Moon John F. Kennedy
3. └── Ithaka C.P. Cavafy
2. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
1. ├-- To Everything There is a Season (Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans. KJV)
2. ├-- First Inaugural Address Franklin Delano Roosevelt
3. ├-- I’d Rather Not Be on Relief Lester Hunter
4. ├--The Chrysanthemums (excerpt from the Chrysanthemums and Other Stories) John Steinbeck
5. └── To a Mouse Robert Burns
3. The Crucible Arthur Miller
1. ├-- Federalist Paper No. 78 Alexander Hamilton
2. ├-- Lyceum Address Abraham Lincoln
3. ├--Democracy in America (Chapter XVII: Principal Causes Maintaining the Democratic Republic – Part IV – First & Second Section) Alexis de Tocqueville
4. └── Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne
4. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald
1. ├-- Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress Franklin Delano Roosevelt
2. ├-- Labor Unions in A Free Market Ernest van den Haag
3. ├--Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s – A Classic Chronicle of Scandal, Prosperity, and the Great Depression (Chapter I “Prelude: May, 1919,” Chapter VII “Coolidge Prosperity,” and Chapter XII “The Big Bull Market”) Frederick Lewis Allen
4. └── We Wear the Mask Paul Lawrence Dunbar
5. The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
1. ├-- If Rudyard Kipling
2. └── The Minister’s Black Veil Nathaniel Hawthorne

Required Readings in English IV

1. Hamlet William Shakespeare
1. ├-- Hamlet and His Problems (excerpt from The Sacred Wood: Essays on Poetry and Criticism) T. S. Elio
2. ├-- The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy (translated by Robert Nisbet Bain)
3. └── The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T. S. Eliot
2. Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
1. ├-- “Hope” is the thing with feathers Emily Dickinson
2. ├-- The Parson’s Daughter of Oxney Colne Anthony Trollope
3. └── When I Was One-and-Twenty A. E. Housman
3. The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri
1. ├-- The Book of Job (Book of Job, Chapters 1-7, 11, 14, 19, 28, 38- 42) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans. NIRV)
2.  ├-- I’ve Been to the Mountaintop Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. └── The Middle Ages: A Very Short Introduction (Chapter 1 “The 'Middle' Ages?,” Chapter 2 “People and Their Lifestyles,” Chapter 3 “The Big Idea: Christian Salvation,” and Chapter 4 “Kingship, Lordship, and Government”) Miri Rubi
4. Up From Slavery Booker T. Washington
1. ├-- Everyday Use Alice Walker
2. ├--Frederick Douglass Robert Hayden
3. ├-- Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (Chapter 1) Frederick Douglass
4. └── A Psalm of Life Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
5. Walden Henry David Thoreau
1. ├-- Autobiography (Part One) Benjamin Franklin
2. └── The Open Boat Stephen Crane

Alert: Required Readings in Texas for Middle School (6-8)

See previous post for background and commentary:https://roseshona.blogspot.com/2026/01/alert-texas-required-readings-by-grade.html 

The big change for middle school is this: 

Some texts are associated thematically or topically with required full length texts. These linked texts do not have to be read in their entirety. 

Um. I'm a Christian - love me some Jesus. But, um. Have you ever heard some of us talk about the issues with versions of the bible? Not fun. And, Christian Nationalism is a thing. A problematic thing to a lot of people. 

And ermergersh - have you read Johnny Tremaine and Across Five Aprils? BARF. And 6th grade is about WORLD CULTURES, not Civil War stuff from American History. That's studied in 5th and 8th. I'm so confused. 

And...some of these texts...conceptually....for diverse cultures and backgrounds and languages and personalities and lived realities and families and...and...not a good idea for everyone. This is the best we could come up with? I mean, come on...no way. 

Shakespeare? DO NOT get me started on that pedagogical and liguistic mishap. Love him. Love the texts. But geeze what a mess of wrongdoing to kids most of the time. 

And oh boy - wait till the 8th grade and 9th grade teachers start fighting over To Kill a Mockingbird. And when the college folks weigh in about developmental capacity for that text. Katie bar the door. People goin' to war. 

Required Readings for 6th Grade: 

1.  Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes
1. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Dylan Thomas
2. Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death Patrick Henry
3. Paul Revere’s Ride Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
2. The Prince and the Pauper: A Full Length Play Anne Coulter Martens
1. ├-- Seventh Grade (excerpt from Baseball in April and Other Stories) Gary Soto
2. └── The Selfish Giant Oscar Wilde
3. Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story about Brain Science John Fleischman
1. ├-- The Hippocratic Oath (Modern) Dr. Louis Lasagna
2. └── The Human Abstract William Blake
4. Across Five Aprils Irene Hunt
1. ├-- Abraham Lincoln, A Man of Faith and Courage: Stories of Our Most Admired President (Chapter 7 “The Road Back to God”) Joe Wheeler
2. ├-- The Blue and The Gray Francis Miles Finch
3. └── The Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln
5. All Creatures Great and Small James Herriot
1. ├-- The Power of the Dog Rudyard Kipling
2. ├-- A White Heron Sarah Orne Jewett
3. ├-- Do Not Be Anxious (Book of Matthew, Chapter 6 Verses 25- 34) New Testament (trans. ESV)
4. └── The Peace of the Wild Things Wendell Berry 

Required Readings for 7th Grade: 

1. A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L’Engle
1. ├-- A Sound of Thunder (excerpt from The Golden Apples of the Sun) Ray Bradbury
2. ├-- Jonah and the Whale (Book of Jonah) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans. NIRV)
3. └── Kindness Naomi Shihab Nye
2. The Miracle Worker: A Play William Gibson
1. ├-- The Definition of Love (Book of 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13) New Testament (trans. ESV)
2. ├-- Helen Keller’s Speech in 1925 at the International Convention Helen Keller
3. └── Reflecting on Braille Literacy Month: A Look at the History of Braille in the United States Aaron Preece
3. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Original Edition Anne Frank, translated from the Dutch by B.M. Mooyaart
1. ├-- Blessed is the Match Hannah Szenes
2. ├--Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust (Part One “The Realization,” Part Two “Saving the Future,” and Part Three “In the Ghettos”) Doreen Rappaport
3. └── Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport George Washington
4. The Outsiders S. E. Hinton
1. ├-- Nothing Gold Can Stay Robert Frost
2. └── Thank You, M’am Langston Hughes
5.  Watership Down Richard Adams
1. ├-- Duty, Honor, Country (General MacArthur's Farewell Speech Given to the Cadets at West Point, 1962) Douglas MacArthur
2. ├-- Ulysses S. Grant’s General Order 108 to the “Soldiers of the Armies of the United States” Ulysses S. Grant
3. └── The Shepherd's Psalm (Book of Psalms, Chapter 23) Hebrew Bible / Old Testament (trans KJV)

Readings for 8th Grade: 

1. Isaac’s Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History Erik Larson
1. ├-- The Hurricane José María Heredia
2. └── The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge
   
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ("A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League", and "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle") Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
1. ├-- The Celebrated Jumping Frog Mark Twain
2. └── The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe
3. The Giver Lois Lowry
1. ├-- Harrison Bergeron (excerpt from Welcome to the Monkey House) Kurt Vonnegut
2. ├-- The Man in the Arena Passage (excerpt from Citizenship in a Republic speech by Teddy Roosevelt in 1910) Teddy Roosevelt 
3. └── O Me! O Life! Walt Whitman
4. The Tempest William Shakespeare (edited by Barbara A. Mowat
1. ├-- Speech to the Troops at Tilbury Queen Elizabeth I
2. └── The Lady, or the Tiger? Frank R. Stockton
5. To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
1. ├-- Harlem: A Dream Deferred Langston Hughes
2. ├-- I Have a Dream Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. -- Inaugural Address John F. Kennedy
4. ├-- The Eight Beatitudes (Book of Matthew, Chapter 5 Verses 1- 12) New Testament (trans. KVJ)
5. └── What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Frederick Douglass

Alert: Texas Required Readings by Grade Level for Elementary (K-5)

Y'all. Better get to know your SBOE representative and legislative leaders in Texas. What a can of worms. 

In HB 1605 (88R) the legislature said that Texas had to create a required reading list for all grades.

Some Facts:

• 5,700 Texas teachers completed the survey. (Texas schools employ around 380,000 teachers. So 374,300 didn't have a voice.) 
• No teacher committees have reviewed the lists. And there is no plan to do so. 
• TEA folks considered a bunch of stuff (9 areas)  and made lists for each grade. Read more here.  https://tea.texas.gov/academics/instructional-materials/house-bill-1605/sboe-tea-proposed-literary-works-list-pre-read-to-support-review.pdf 
• Final adoption is expected this April. April of 2026. Then, instructional materials cycle through and full implementation begins in the school year of 2030-2031. In FOUR years. 
• Some texts are expected to be read in their entirety. And recommended in printed, physical copies. Some texts can be consumed in excerpts or portions of the texts. 
• Some texts must be read aloud.
• Specific versions of text are required. 
• Specific TEKS are associated with each text. 
• Cross curricular connections are aligned and associated with other subject area IMRA cycles. 

Here is the RULE DRAFT TEXT: file:///Users/shonarose/Downloads/draft-rule-text-for-agency-recommendations-to-the-sboe-for-literary-works-list.pdf 

Some questions: 

• Why aren't teachers, schools, and curriculum departments at the local level involved in the process? 
• What about alternative campuses that teach a whole year in one semester? 
• Isn't there a law somewhere that says Texas Legislature can't get involved in pedagogy? Text selection is a key component of meeting the needs of diverse populations. 
• Has anybody done a feasibility study on how much time it would take to complete all required readings? 
• In looking at the research to support the decision, the research and match came after the legislative process and requirements. Isn't that backwards? I'll need to do some more digging on the research.
• Why are we prioritizing some versions, authors, and publishers over others? There are good and bad answers for that.
• Will all students have an opportunity to see themselves in these texts? NOPE
• Will these texts represent diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and economic realities? Lived experiences?  Doesn't look like it. 
• Why aren't kids "required" to read anything for themselves until 3rd grade? 
• What's NOT there and should be or doesn't exist? 
• Of ALL the things that have ever been written and will be written, THIS is what we are selecting? 
• Why is The State of Texas listed as an author? Have you read their constitution? Convoluted mess.
• Why do the read alouds become fewer over time? Where is the multimedia stuff? 
• After looking at the lists - ooooo....there's a LOT more questions that we OUGHT to be asking. 
• Why are we reading Texas History crap in 5th grade? Isn't that an American History survey course? 
• Some adults can't handle the fantasy and weird world of The Phantom Tollbooth - how will all 5th graders understand that level of abstraction when we know what brain research and development say about cognition at those ages? 
• What socio-emotional needs have been considered for life in this century? 
• I mean - I own and have read most of these texts. I would buy and read them over and over. Good stuff, most of it. But is this REALLY what the legislature had in mind...what it actually means for what happens to our kids? 

Required Texts for Kinder: (all texts are to be read aloud)

1. Anansi the Spider: A Tale from the Ashanti Gerald McDermott
2. April Rain Song Langston Hughes
3. Are You My Mother? P. D. Eastman
4. The Bald Eagle Norman Pearl
5. Blueberries for Sal Robert McCloskey
6. The Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss
7. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
8. Cinderella Marcia Brown
9. Classic Nursery Rhymes (selected excerpts: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hey Diddle Diddle, Hickory Dickery Dock, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Little Boy Blue, Little Miss Muffet, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Old King Cole, One Two Buckle My Shoe) Nicola Baxter (compiler)
10. George Washington and the Cherry Tree (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
11. The Golden Rule State of Texas
12. The Grasshopper and the Ant Jerry Pinkney (retold from Aesop)
13. Goldilocks and the Three Bears Jim Aylesworth
14. The Keeping Quilt Patricia Polacco
15. L is for Lone Star: A Texas Alphabet Carol Crane
16. The Little Red Hen (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
17. The Lion and the Mouse (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
18. Luna Loves Art Joseph Coelho
19. A Picture Book of George Washington David A. Adler
20. A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison David A. Adler
21. The Runaway Bunny Margaret Wise Brown
22. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Fairytale Classics) Anne Bowles
23. The Snowy Day Ezra Jack Keats
24. Three Billy Goats Gruff Paul Galdone
25. The Three Little Pigs Paul Galdone
26. The Tortoise and the Hare (excerpt from Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
27. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Eric Carle
28. You Are Special Max Lucado

Required Texts for First Grade: (all are designated as read alouds)

1. Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books Kay Winters
2. Ada Twist, Scientist Andrea Beaty
3. Amelia Bedelia First Day of School Herman Parish
4. Exploring America’s Symbols State of Texas
5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (selected excerpts: Won't You Be My Neighbor, I Like You As You Are, Children Can, Smile in Your Pocket, Take My Time, What Can You Hear?, I'd Like to Be Like Mom and Dad, Summer Rain, Are You Brave?, The King and the Ocean, Then You Heart is Full of Love, The Truth Will Make You Free, You're Special, Perfect Day, I'm Proud of You) Fred Rogers 
6. The Boy Who Cried Wolf (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Ben
7. Classic Nursery Rhymes (selected excerpts: Jack Be Nimble, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, Simple Simon, Sing a Song of Sixpence, There Was an Old Woman, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Yankee Doodle) Nicola Baxter
8. Curious About the White House Kate Waters
9. Daniel Boone (excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
10. Danny and the Dinosaur Syd Hoff
11. Davy Crockett (excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
12. The Hare in the Moon (excerpt from A Year Full of Stories: 52 classic stories from all around the world (Volume 1)) Angela McAllister
13. The Fox and the Grapes (excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
14. The Frog Prince (excerpt from A Year Full of Stories: 52 classic stories from all around the world (Volume 1)):  Angela McAllister 
15. Invitation (excerpt from Where the Sidewalk Ends) Shel Silverstein
16. Jack and the Beanstalk Thomas Nelson
17. The Legend of the Bluebonnet Tomie dePaola
18. The Life of Paul Revere Maria Nelson
19. The Little Engine That Could Watty Piper
20. Lowly Worm meets the Early Bird Richard Scarry
21. Madeline Ludwig Bemelmans
22. Medio Pollito/Half Chicken: A Folktale in Spanish and English Alma Flor Ada
23. Millions of Cats Wanda Gág
24. Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin Gene Barretta
25. The Parable of the Prodigal Son State of Texas
26. A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass David A. Adler
27. Pocahontas (Excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
28. Rapunzel (excerpt from Usborne Illustrated Grimm's Fairy Tales) Gill Doherty
29. Red Riding Hood James Marshall
30. Rumpelstiltskin (Excerpt from Usborne Illustrated Grimm's Fairy Tales) Gill Doherty
31. Swimmy Leo Lionni
32. The Tale of Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter
33. The Ugly Duckling Hans Christian Anderson (adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
34. Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (Excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)

Required Texts for 2nd Grade: (all are designated to be read aloud)

1. America Is… Louise Borden
2. Beauty and the Beast Marianna Mayer
3. Bluebonnet at the Alamo Mary Brooke Casad
4. Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds David A. Adler
5. Clara Barton: Angel of the Battle Field Tamara Hollingsworth
6. The Courage of Sarah Noble Alice Dalgliesh
7. The Donkey in the Lion’s Skin (excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
8. Follow The Drinking Gourd Jeanette Winter
9. Falling Up (excerpt from Falling Up) Shel Silverstein
10. Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure! Jeff Brown
11. James Madison: The 4th President Josh Gregory
12. John Henry Julius Lester
13. Johnny Appleseed Steven Kellogg (retold and illustrated by)
14. The Legend of the Dipper (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
15. Paul Bunyan Steven Kellogg (retold and illustrated by)
16. Pecos Bill Steven Kellogg (retold and illustrated by)
17. The Magic Tree House #22: Revolutionary War on Wednesday Mary Pope Osborne
18. Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom Carole Boston Weatherford
19. The Mouse and the Motorcycle Beverly Cleary
20. The Patchwork Quilt Valerie Flournoy
21. Riding the Pony Express (Chapter 1 “St. Joe,” Chapter 2 “The Pony Express,” Chapter 3 “The Stagecoach,” Chapter 4 “Owl Creek Station,” Chapter 5 “The Kelly Family,” Chapter 6 “The Stable,” Chapter 7 “Work at the Stable”) Clyde Robert Bulla
22. Sam The Minuteman Nathaniel Benchley
23. Stellaluna Janell Cannon
24. Susan B. Anthony Laura K. Murray
25. The Swing Robert Louis Stevenson
26. Teammates Peter Golenbock
27. The Thanksgiving Story Alice Dalgliesh
28. Try, Try Again (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
29. We the Kids: The Preamble of the Constitution of the United States David Catrow
30. Winnie-the-Pooh (Chapter 1 "In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Stories Begin" and Chapter 2 "In Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets Into a Tight Place" A. A. Milne

Required Readings for 3rd Grade (some for designated read alouds) 

1. Abraham Lincoln (excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
2. Archimedes and the Door of Science (Chapter 1 "Who was Archimedes?", Chapter 4 "Archimedes and his Lever", Chapter 9 "Archimedes and Numbers") Jeanne Bendick
3. Charlotte’s Web E. B. White
4. Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective Donald J. Sobol
5. Enemy Pie Derek Munson
6. The Fisherman and His Wife Rachel Isadora
7. George Washington (excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
8. Hercules and the Wagoner (excerpt from The Children's Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor)
9. Icarus and Daedalus (excerpt from Classic Myths to Read Aloud: The Great Stories of Greek and Roman Mythology) William F. Russell
10. Inside Ancient Rome L.L. Owens
11. King Midas and the Golden Touch Charlotte Craft
12. The Librarian Who Measured the Earth Kathryn Lasky
13. Miss Rumphius Barbara Cooney
14. Mistakes that Worked: 40 Familiar Inventions & How They Came To Be (Section 2 “Doctor, Doctor” and Section 4 “All Kinds of Accidental Things”) Charlotte Foltz Jones
15. The Road to Damascus State of Texas
16. Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs James Rumford
17. Smart (excerpt from A Light in the Attic) Shel Silverstein
18. The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf (excerpt from Aesop's Fables) Aesop (adapted and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney)
19. Stone Soup Marcia Brown
20. The Story of Benjamin Franklin: An Inspiring Biography for Young Readers Shannon Anderson
21. Thomas Jefferson (excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét
22. The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse (excerpt from Aesop's Fables: The Classic Edition) Aesop (illustrated by Charles Santore)
23. What Do You Do With a Problem? Kobi Yamada
24. The Wind in the Willows (Chapters "The River Bank", "The Open Road", "The Wild Wood", and "Mr. Badger") Kenneth Grahame

Required Readings for Fourth Grade (fewer  read alouds) 

1. The Ant and the Dove (excerpt from Aesop's Fables) Aesop (adapted and

   illustrated by Jerry Pinkney) 

2. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Picture Book Edition) William Kamkwamba and

   Bryan Mealer 

3. Brave Irene William Steig 

4. The Door in the Wall (Chapter 1) Marguerite de Angeli 

5. Dreams Langston Hughes

6. Marquette in Iowa (excerpt from Stories of Great Americans

   for Little Americans) Edward Eggleston 

7. Number the Stars Lois Lowry

8. Old Stormalong, The Seafaring Sailor Carol Beach York

9. The Road Not Taken Robert Frost

10.  Robinhood and the Golden Arrow (excerpt from The Children's

    Book of Virtues) William J. Bennett (editor) 

11. Saint Francis of Assisi Tim Ladwig 

12. Sea Fever John Masefield

13. The Spirit of the Renaissance State of Texas

14. St. George and the Dragon (excerpt from The Children's Book

    of Virtues William J. Bennett (editor) 

15. Stone Fox John Reynolds Gardiner

16. The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Part 1 "The Winning

    of Kinghood" Chapters 1 and 2) Howard Pyle (adapted by

    Tania Zamorsky) 

17. Sundiata: The Lion King of Mali David Wisniewski 

18. Thunderstorm in Church Louise A. Vernon 

19. Treasure Island (Classic Adventures) Robert Louis Stevenson

    (adapted by Jacqueline

    Dembar Greene)

20. Who Was Leonardo Da Vinci? (Chapter 1 "Who Was Leonardo DaVinci?", Chapter 2 "The Unwanted Boy", Chapter 3 "The Art

    Studio" and Chapter 4 "The Wider World") Roberta Edwards 

21. The Wreck of the Zephyr Chris Van Allsburg 

Required Readings for 5th Grade (no designated read alouds - I'm crying. Are you crying?)

1. Adventures of Don Quijote (Dover Children's Thrift Classics) Argentina Palacios 

2. Journey to America (excerpt "Are You My Papa?") Sonia Levitin 

3. Casey at the Bat Ernest Lawrence Thayer

4. A Christmas Carol (Children’s Version) Charles Dickens (Adaptation by Gil Tavner) 

5. The Colonization of Texas: Missions and Settlers Stephanie Kuligowski 

6. Declaration of Independence in Translation: What It Really

   Means Amy Jane Leavitt 

7. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe C. S. Lewis 

8. Mark Twain (excerpt from A Book of Americans) Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét 

9. The Mayflower Compact William Brewster, William Bradford, Edward Winslow

10. The Monkey and the Camel (excerpts from Fables) Arnold Lobel 

11. A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution Betsy Maestro 

12. The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 

13. Sam Houston: A Fearless Statesman Joanne Mattern

14. The Village Blacksmith Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

15. Who was Davy Crockett? (Chapter 1 "Who was Davy

    Crockett?") Gail Herman

16. The Wright Brothers: Pioneers of American Aviation (Chapter

    2 "Get It Right On Paper," Chapter 11 "In the Bicycle Business,"

    and Chapter 15 "Kitty Hawk")

    Quentin Reynolds