annoyed1. At 3rd grade, 9 of the top 25 titles are from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
2. At 4th grade, the top 10 out of 25 titles are Diary of a Wimpy Kid series books.
3. Grade 5, top 9 of 25 titles are (you guessed it) Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
4. Grade 6 includes 9 Diary of a Wimpy Kid titles and THE FAULT IN OUR STARS and DIVERGENT.
5. Grade 7 has those same 9 Diary of a Wimpy Kid titles plus FIOS and The Lightning Thief.
6. Grade 8 has only 3 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid titles and THE TELL TALE HEART.
7. High school lists are about 30-40% classic titles plus a couple of Nicolas Sparks' books.
So, what do we make of this? Some further observations:
a. It is interesting to see Dairy of a Wimpy Kid cross grades 3-8 for a couple of reasons. One has to do with reading levels. Normally, kids are not permitted to read books well below their grade level. And no one can take a test on a book they have already read. So...
b. Why are kids reading THE FAULT IN OUR STARS in 6th grade? Yep, reading level is 5.5. DIVERGENT, on the other hand, is 4.8. So I am still a bit puzzled.
c. THE TELL TALE HEART is not a book but apparently it counts. There are a few more short stories in upper high school lists.
And a final observation: the only NF included in the charts are articles from the AR program. Few NF titles appear on the lists of the top 25. I think of all the wonderful NF out there and wonder why it did to make the top 25 lists? Is it not being promoted, discussed, recommended, purchased?
And I guess my final thought has to do with those individual classes and classrooms. It is fine to know what some kids are reading. But what are the needs and interests of your kids and your classes?