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ELA Grade 5 Required and Recommended Texts

Note: MetaMetrics® made changes to the Lexile® levels in June 2017 in order to provide more accurate measures for early readers. These changes affected 32% of all previously assigned Lexile® levels, including some texts for elementary and middle grade readers. The Lexile® levels listed on EL Education materials were added before this shift and do not reflect updated Lexile® levels.

Module 1

Texts to Buy

Texts that need to be procured. Please download the Trade Book List for procurement guidance.


Text or Resource Quantity ISBNs
A Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World
by DK Publishing
1 per classroom
ISBN: 9780756618032
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
1 per student
ISBN: 9780439120425

Recommended texts for independent reading

Optional texts for students to read on their own to learn more about the topic. You can also download a PDF of this list.

Text Genre Lexile Measure
Todos Iguales/All Equal
by Christy Hale
Informational 1 100
That’s Not Fair!
by Carmen Tafolla and Sharyll Teneyuca
Informational 650
Dreams of Freedom
by Amnesty International
Literary
Rise Up! The Art of Protest
by Jo Rippon
Informational 1 130
Soldier for Equality
by Duncan Tonatiuh
Informational 860
The Undefeated
by Kwame Alexander
Poetry
Side By Side
by Monica Brown
Literary 760
La Frontera
by Deborah Mills and Alfredo Alva
Informational
Refugee 87
by Ele Fountain
Literary
Stella by Starlight
by Sharon Draper
Literary 740
Return to Sender
by Julia Alvarez
Literary 890
Refugee
by Alan Gratz
Literary 800
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick
Informational 830
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March
by Linda Blackmon Lowry and Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley
Informational 780
Sylvia & Aki
by Winifred Conkling
Literary 760
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation
by Duncan Tonatiuh
Literary 870
Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai
by Claire Nivola
Informational 1 030
Iqbal
by Francesco D’Adamo
Literary 730
I Have a Right to Be a Child
by Alain Serres
Informational
How I became a Ghost: a Choctaw Trail of Tears story
by Tim Tingle
Literary 480
Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
by Kadir Nelson
Informational 1 050
Boys without Names
by Kashmira Sheth
Literary 670

Module 2

Texts to Buy

Texts that need to be procured. Please download the Trade Book List for procurement guidance.


Text or Resource Quantity ISBNs
The Most Beautiful Roof in the World
by Kathryn Lasky
1 per student
ISBN: 9780152008970
Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace
by Jen Cullerton Johnson
1 per class
ISBN: 9781600603679
The Great Kapok Tree
by Lynne Cherry
1 per class
ISBN: 9780152026141

Texts included in the module

Texts that are included in the lesson materials.

Text Quantity Publisher
“Bite at Night!”
by Created for instructional purposes by EL

Recommended texts for independent reading

Optional texts for students to read on their own to learn more about the topic. You can also download a PDF of this list.

Text Genre Lexile Measure
Who Needs a Jungle?
by Karen Patkau
Informational
Margarito’s Forest
by Andy Carter
Informational
Rainforests
by Yvonne Franklin
Informational 670
The Amazon (DK Eyewitness Books Series)
by DK Publishing
Informational
A Walk in the Rain Forest
by Rebecca L. Johnson
Informational
Mez’s Magic
by Eliot Schrefer
Literary
My Home in the Rainforest
by J. Patrick Lewis
Poetry
Rain Forest Relay
by Kristin Earhart
Literary 650
Life in the Amazon Rainforest
by Ginjer L. Clarke
Informational
The Explorer
by Katherine Rundell
Literary 600
Amazon Adventure: How Tiny Fish are Saving the World’s Largest Rainforest (Scientists in the Field)
by Sy Montgomery
Informational 1 050
Rainforest Food Chains
by Molly Aloian and Bobbie Kalman
Informational 860
No Monkeys, No Chocolate
by Melissa Stewart and Alan Young
Informational 740
The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure
by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini and Rachel Crandell
Informational 950
Tropical Rainforests
by Seymour Simon
Informational 1 060
Breakfast in the Rainforest: A Visit with Mountain Gorillas
by Richard Sobol
Informational 1 180
One Day in the Tropical Rain Forest
by Jean Craighead George
Informational 880
Journey to the River Sea
by Eva Ibbotson
Literary 860
Animal Poems of the Iguazú: Animalario del Iguazú
by Francisco X. Alarcón
Literary
Jaguar
by Roland Smith
Literary 690
Silver People: Voices from the Panama Canal
by Margarita Engle
Literary

Module 3

Texts to Buy

Texts that need to be procured. Please download the Trade Book List for procurement guidance.


Text or Resource Quantity ISBNs
Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America
by Sharon Robinson
1 per student
ISBN: 9780439425926

Recommended texts for independent reading

Optional texts for students to read on their own to learn more about the topic. You can also download a PDF of this list.

Text Genre Lexile Measure
Go for the Goal
by Mia Hamm
Informational
Mighty Moe: The True Story of a Thirteen-Year-Old Women’s Running Revolutionary
by Rachel Swaby and Kit Fox
Informational
Black Brother, Black Brother
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Literary
Pelé
by Eddy Simon
Informational
Muhammad Ali Visual Encyclopedia
by DK Publishing
Informational
Roberto Clemente
by Dona and William Rice
Informational 930
Proud (Young Readers Edition)
by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Informational
The Story of Olympic Swimmer Duke Kahanamoku
by Ellie Crowe
Informational
The Story of Tennis Champion Arthur Ashe
by Crystal Hubbard
Informational
The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team’s Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics (Young Readers Edition)
by Daniel James Brown
Informational 1 000
Rising Above: Inspiring Women in Sports
by Gregory Zuckerman
Informational 1 070
Rising Above: How 11 Athletes Overcame Challenges in Their Youth to Become Stars
by Gregory Zuckerman
Informational 1 010
Patina (Track #2)
by Jason Reynolds
Literary 710
Olympic Gold 1936: How the Image of Jesse Owens Crushed Hitler's Evil Myth
by Michael Burgan
Informational 1 080
Jim Thorpe: Original All American
by Joseph Bruchac
Informational 950
Ghost (Track #1)
by Jason Reynolds
Literary 730
Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Raymond Obstfeld
Informational 990
Growing Up Pedro: How the Martinez Brothers Made It from the Dominican Republic All the Way to the Major Leagues
by Matt Tavares
Informational 820
America’s Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle
by David A. Adler
Informational 580
Louis Sockalexis: Native American Baseball Pioneer
by Bill Wise
Informational 920
Catching The Moon: The Story Of A Young Girl’s Baseball Dream
by Crystal Hubbard
Informational 760
Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman
by Kathleen Krull
Informational 730
Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion
by Russell Freedman
Informational 1 060
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
by Kadir Nelson
Informational 900
Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII
by Marisa Moss
Informational 800

Module 4

Texts to Buy

Texts that need to be procured. Please download the Trade Book List for procurement guidance.


Text or Resource Quantity ISBNs
Eight Days: A Story of Haiti
by Edwidge Danticat
1 per student
ISBN: 9780545278492

Texts included in the module

Texts that are included in the lesson materials.

Text Quantity Publisher
Job
by Kwame Dawes
1 per student
National Women's History Museum ,
O’ Beautiful Storm
by Gian Smith
1 per student
In the Water Where the City Ends
by Simone White
1 per student
youtube ,
Know the Facts, Be Empowered!
by FEMA
Ready.gov, 2017
How Well Is Your Community Prepared?
by Scholastic
Scholastic , 2017

Recommended texts for independent reading

Optional texts for students to read on their own to learn more about the topic. You can also download a PDF of this list.

Text Genre Lexile Measure
Volcano & Earthquake
by Susanna Van Rose
Informational 1 060
Quake
by Gail Langer Karwoski
Literary
Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World
by Ashley Herring Blake
Literary
I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980
by Lauren Tarshis
Literary 640
I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011
by Lauren Tarshis
Literary 710
I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, 79 A.D.
by Lauren Tarshis
Literary 700
I Survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2011
by Lauren Tarshis
Literary 650
I Survived the Children’s Blizzard, 1888
by Lauren Tarshis
Literary
Hurricane & Tornado
by Jack Challoner
Informational 1 090
Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World
by Keltie Thomas
Informational
Eye of the Storm: NASA, Drones, and the Race to Crack the Hurricane Code (Scientists in the Field)
by Amy Cherrix
Informational
Natural Disasters
by Claire Watts and Trevor Day
Informational 1 220
Inside Tornadoes
by Mary Kay Carson
Informational
When the Earth Shakes: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis
by Simon Winchester
Informational 1 290
Wildfires
by Seymour Simon
Informational 990
Hurricanes
by Seymour Simon
Informational
Earthquakes
by Seymour Simon
Informational 1 010
Volcanoes
by Seymour Simon
Informational 880
Finding Someplace
by Denise Lewis Patrick
Literary 680
Escaping the Giant Wave
by Peg Kehret
Literary 750
Earthquake Terror
by Peg Kehret
Literary 690
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
by Laurence Yep
Literary 510
Serafina’s Promise
by Ann E. Burg
Literary
Ninth Ward
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Literary 470
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach
by Brenda Woods
Literary 660

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