Middle Grade Read Alouds for ELLs

This is part 2 of my read aloud series of posts. In part 1 I talked about high school read alouds. I picked these middle grade read alouds for ells specifically because I have used them before or I have seen someone else use them with ELLs.

Great Books to Read Aloud to Middle-Grade ELLs

The Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout	730L Intermediate to advanced	This is science fiction, but it is short and relatively unknown. I like it for kids who enjoy fantasy but can’t linguistically access it quite yet.
*Alabama Moon* by Watt Key**	710L Beginner to advanced	See above note.
*Dirt Road Home* by Watt Key**	HL540 Beginner to advanced	Heavy and darker than Moon, but more linguistically accessible
*Wonder* by RJ Palacios**	790 Beginner to advanced	See note in newcomers.
*Auggie & Me* by RJ Palacios**	680L Beginner to intermediate	This one isn’t nearly as good as Wonder, but typically kids are so engaged with Wonder they want to know what happens next.
*Pax* by Sarah Pennypacker	760L Intermediate to advanced	This one came out in 2016. The language is pretty poetic, making it a little tough for beginners, but it is such a moving story. You will cry at least once. It’s an animal story, which is universally loved by kids. A fox and his boy. Love.
*Between the Shades of Gray* by Ruta Sepetys	HL490L Intermediate to advanced	I adore reading this book aloud. It’s great for teaching about a little-known side of WWII. Very sad story about the Lithuanian genocide by the USSR. The lead character is a very relatable. Minor love story which middle school girls love.
*Out of My Mind* by Sharon M. Draper	700L Beginner to advanced	This is a great book for teaching tolerance. The premise is very interesting. The protagonist is in elementary school, but middle school students like because it deals with disability and not judging people based on their appearance.
*Copper Sun* by Sharon M. Draper	820L Advanced	8^th grade. This is a stretch for a middle school ELL, but the story is very engaging and pretty visceral. It also really gets kids thinking. Caution that there is a lot of language they might not understand— so heavily scaffold and support the vocabulary and the background information before and while reading. Pre-teaching about the slave trade is critical for success.
The Maze Runner** by James Dashner	HL770 advanced	6^th or 7^th grade is good place for this. Great for boy heavy groups. You can watch the movie afterwards and do a compare and contrast.
*Small as an Elephant* by Jennifer Jacobson	790L beginner to intermediate
*Shipbreaker* by Paolo Bacigalupi	HL690 advanced	Very dense language, but such a good book, would be worth a read to the right group of students.
*A Long Walk to Water* by Linda Sue Park	720 beginner to advanced	See note in newcomer post.
*Becoming Naomi Leon* by Pam Muñoz Ryan	Beginner to intermediate	Great for sixth grade, girls in particular. I love the multi-cultural aspect of this.
*The One and Only Ivan* by Katherine Applegate	570L beginner to intermediate	See note in newcomer post.
*Fablehaven* by Brandon Mull	advanced	6^th grade. This is a younger read, but has great world building á la Harry Potter.
*Stargirl* by Jerry Spinelli**	Intermediate to advanced	Nice 7^th grade read. It is a little dated now, but still a very quality story.

**Part of a duology or series.

Don’t forget to check out part 3 where I discuss read alouds for newcomer ELLs and also give a list of read alouds for elementary ELLs. Also here’s part 1, in case you missed it!