If your fourth grader scored more than 280 in MAP-R, what does s/he read at home?
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Anonymous
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My fourth grader scored 288 in MAP-R. He mostly reads nonfiction books and feels it is getting harder to find books in the library.
Please share the books your kids at a similar level are reading in any genre. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| Relax... he's doing fantastic |
Anonymous
| Your kid doesn't need to read anymore as 300 is the highest score so either he's a genius or you have the score wrong. |
Anonymous
There can't be many or any other 4th graders with that score. There are roughly 12k kids in the 4th grade. That score is 1 in 1,000,000+ according to the NWEA calculator. Nobody has advice for this. |
Anonymous
| I haven’t heard of any kid scoring that high on MAP-R at that age, and I have two kids that attended a gifted center. If he enjoys nonfiction, I would have him read books like “Founding Fathers” and “The Wright Brothers.” |
Anonymous
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That's an insanely high score -- I just went and checked my kid's MAP from 4th grade and it was 237. He has an IQ in the 140s, went to the CES program in MCPS, taught himself to read before K, spent 5-10 hours a day reading in grade school, etc. So 280 is insanely high.
But here are some suggestions of non-fiction books he liked at that age and thereafter: the Wright Brothers biography Oh Ranger! (NPS rangers memoirs) Guiness Book world records Randall Munroe books (What If?) A Walk in the Woods National Geographic Book about National Parks a really thick encylclopedia type book about North American Animals (can't remember the publisher) Atlas Obscura Steve Sheinkin history books Basically anything and everything about mythology, so we bought many different reference books about different types of mythology -- greek, norse, egyptian, native american, etc. Some of those stories are pretty rough though! Also, my kid wasn't into them, but maybe the James Herriot All Creatures Great and Small series, or The Right Stuff. I think the trick is just to figure out what your kid is interested in, and then find good books on those topics -- for my kid, it was mythology, travel, nature, and weird science. Also, if you want to branch out from non-fiction, both Historical Fiction and Science Fiction are natural next steps. The Martian might be a good pick if he likes science. There is some REALLY great middle grades historical fiction about there -- the Nathan Hale books will be too easy for him, but that's okay, because they are fun and informative and he can chat about them with his fourth grade friends. If he likes baseball, tehre is a great series about historical baseball players. (Babe and Me, Jackie and Me, etc.) IN general, I wouldn't push him into adults books too soon on the fiction front, because the middle grades literature is really fantastic now, and there is a lot of great stuff. Once you get into YA stuff, it's mostly crap. And there's honestly not that much really good "adult" literature that is relatable and appropriate for kids. I prefer a lot of the cleverly written middle grades books to a lot of "adult" fiction (which tends to be depressing and very cynical nowadays). If he skips the middle grade books, he will have missed out on some really fabulous literature and themes that are developmentally appropriate for his age. Look at the stuff that is geared to kids in 4th to 8th grade and you'll find it (or start another post and we can recommend a bunch of different series.) If you want to find stuff that is slightly more challenging, look to some of the older books, or books that are British, as the syntax and vocab will be somewhat different (e.g., the original Paddington books, Secret Garden, E. Nesbit books, etc.). |
Anonymous
OP here. Thank you very much for the time you spent on writing this. This is very helpful. |
Anonymous
If this is real, he doesn't need to find books at a particular level. He is like a well-educated adult. He has learned to read. Now he can read whatever he is interested in in order to learn about it. |
Anonymous
| ^^ To add quickly, I would feel differently if he was interested in fiction. Obviously there is a lot of adult fiction that would still not be appropriate for him, and matching a reading level that high to literature appropriate for a smarth 4th grader could be difficult. But non-fiction? Literally anything he's intersted in. |
Anonymous
He doesn’t have to read book that max out his reading ability. I have an incredibly gifted first grader and we encourage reading for FUN. With that said it’s very hard when your child is very far ahead grade level to make sure they stick with books that are not too mature emotionally. So have some conversations about what to do if a book is making him uncomfortable or he has questions (talk to you, obviously!) and some books are just meant for adults even if he can read them. |
Anonymous
This. Sounds like he's ready to pick out whatever he wants rather than lists his mom finds on the internet that match standardized scores. |
Anonymous
+1 What's your goal in asking this question OP? The answer is that no one on this board will likely have a good answer except that his MAP-R score should matter not at all in his choice of books. You should steer him towards more concentrated reading in the topics interest him. He might want to read the whole section on the history of aviation or about rocks or whatever he's fascinated with these days. If you have a question about certain fiction books check Common Sense Media to make sure there's no inappropriate content based on your family's personal views. |
Anonymous
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Why are people giving OP a hard time? I am the PP that provided the long list of books and I often got really good suggestions on this website for book suggestions (although I think more often in the tweens forum, or the entertainment forum -- the MCPS forum is generally toxic). I think the Sheinkin books were suggested on this website, for example, and I got some great recommendations for middle grades fantasy and sci fi books.
If you search the Entertainment forum for book suggestions, you will see many people asking about suggestions for advanced readers, or suggestions that would appeal to 10-14 year old boys. If there is an older boy in the neighborhood who is a big reader, you can also ask him for suggestions. My son will often give book suggestions to friends or neighbors that ask what they should read next, and has even given suggestions to random kids in the library when a mom asked me for suggestions and I called him over to advise. People who love books usually really want to share their favorites with others! I would just post again in a different forum asking for suggestions for an "very advanced reader" in late ES and see what suggestions you get. If you post samples of things he has enjoyed, people will have ideas of things that might be similar. |
Anonymous
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Ulysses by James Joyce.
Should be an easy read for your kid if you are telling the truth. |
Anonymous
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I have no idea what my kid got in that test, but my 7th grader’s Lexile score jumped from a 1719 to a 2003 (970 being proficient) this year without reading one book. The difference is just that she learned a lot during that time from YouTube videos and Wikipedia and maybe from school too.
Reading comprehension is primarily about how much you know, not how much reading skill you have. |