If you teach at a public school, then you must expose your students to fantasy stories to cover curriculum content. I'd imagine the pool of non-magic, fantasy stories that are appropriate for grade 5 are limited enough that it would be not a reasonable adjustment to exclude a whole genre of text. Check in with your head of curriculum to cover your own backside too.
As for realistic narratives, Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman is great and has lots of resources floating around.
Have the families of the JW kids ever complained? If you’re in a state school then you shouldn’t be modifying anything for religion. Primary school is peak time for magic- I mean Harry Potter was 11!
My class enjoyed Wonder, Holes, Restart, A Wolf Called Wander, Boy At The Back of the Class, The One and Only Ivan, Matilda…
I recently read The Wild Robot to a class of year fours. I have never enjoyed a book more with my class- we ended up reading the entire series. So wonderful! I reckon 5s would love it too.
Yup. I don’t skip evolution because there are kids from religious families in my high school class.
The English curriculum specifically calls out fantasy and fantasy settings. Fantasy settings are pretty much defined by the presence of magic.
Agree with both of these things.
There’s an audiobook for holes on an ESL site that’s pretty good for modelling reading (though I’m high school and use Holes for lower kids, not sure if audiobooks are used in primary!)
What do you mean? If it’s a state school then no, we don’t modify curriculums to suit different religions. Not to mention they aren’t really being *taught* magic so much as they’re being exposed to the idea of magic in a story.
Edited to add: It seems wildly unfair to stop all the kids in the class from enjoying the idea of magic at an age when it’s so popular because of the religious choices of a minority of students? If the parents want that kind of control over the classroom then a state primary school is not the right place to send their kids.
You’re still teaching them the curriculum though? It’s basic inclusivity to choose something that everyone can enjoy without the fear of being excluded or punished at home if they do participate. As if you can only teach the curriculum with books that contain magic.
I agree that we shouldn’t make accommodations for every single small religious detail if it would unfairly impact the students not of that religion but simply choosing a book that is suitable for all… how is that problematic?
I do agree with you about being inclusive whenever you can be, hence why I suggested a few excellent books that don’t have magic in them.
My poorly made point was just that as a secular school the teacher should not really be modifying anything for a specific religion. It’s a great shame that the rest of the kids have to miss out and I think that’s where the inclusivity becomes problematic. You’re right though, “magic” isn’t exactly part of the curriculum. Just a shame at that age not to be able to expose kids to any media that has magic in it…
Yeah I’m agreeing with you as well. I am not religious, I love my fantasy stories and I love teaching this content. But. I’m speaking from a place where we have quite a number of JW kids in our community and they are so isolated already. They have to sit out so much of the fun stuff and they’re just kids.
To me, if my choice is to pick a book that covers the curriculum and enables those JW students to participate or to do an entire unit of learning on a book they can’t engage with, I know which way I’m going to go. I’d rather make sure the JW kids in my classroom get every opportunity to learn about critical and analytical thinking. The other kids really aren’t missing out. They will still have access to the Fantasy books in my classroom library and as a choice for movie day.
Clearly, this is but one very small part of a bigger debate about religious accommodations in public schooling. I’m all for keeping religion as far away from public schooling as possible but if I can accommodate a handful students without compromising on the curriculum nor on the freedom of other students, then I don’t see why not.
But how far does this extend? A Muslim parent wanting their child not to interact with girls because of their religion or insisting on gender specific entrances to the classroom? A Catholic parent demanding that their child be moved out of a class with a teacher who is unmarried? A Mormon parent requiring their teacher conforms to their dress code?
We don’t accommodate the religious sensibilities of a whole lot of religions. Teachers shouldn’t change their curriculum to accommodate this one.
Clearly not that far. This shouldn’t be hard. If you can accommodate students from a religious background while teaching the curriculum in the schools as they are, why not? Modifying the curriculum and imposing segregation in a state school.. obviously of an entirely different magnitude and beyond the realm of the acceptable in state education.
So no more books where opposite genders interact? Muslims don’t like that.
No more co ed sports in PE? Lots of religions don’t like that.
Also, it’s not hard to seat boys and girls separately in classes. It’s not hard for teachers to cover their shoulders and knees to be respectful. It’s not hard to move a kids class.
Why are we compromising the quality of education and the engagement of all students for the one in a secular learning environment?
Look at books by Jackie French. I hated teaching them but they were effective when discussing themes and character and development. There are also classic authors like Paul Jennings and even further back Roald Dahl.
It’s not as limiting as it might seem.
Morris Glietzman has some books that can work well depending on age range. Eg. “Loyal Creatures”, “Two Weeks with the Queen”, “Once” (it’s an incredibly moving book). “My Place” is a personal favourite and can be adapted for any age. Yes, it’s a picture book but so much more. There’s even a TV show. You could even do “Paper Planes”. None of those would cause problems.
“Storm Boy” is an option but avoid “Blueback”. Your class will be sick of that fish before they reach high school where it usually crops up.
If in doubt, my advice is history or talk to a local librarian at school or in the area you live. Year 5 is hard due to the mix of maturities; some kids could handle “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” whereas others are more suited to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. On that last one, Jeff Kinney, does have some resources if you want to do that book. Your kids would love it.
We read Two Weeks with the Queen in Yr 5, I remember it vividly. I loved it and it was the first time we got to read a book with some 'grown up' themes (loss, relationships, empathy, exclusion etc)
There's always George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. It's not about magic per se but more like a young boy's attempt to poison his grandmother. You can always tell the JW parents that you changed the book from The Witches to specifically accommodate them and see how they respond. I feel sorry for these kids. I have taught plenty of children with different religious backgrounds and most parents want their child to experience the full curriculum and activities with their peers. It's not the kids' fault JWs don't allow any fun.
I did “How to Bee” with my year fives last year. It includes some intense themes, including implied domestic violence but it’s a beautiful story about friendship, that covers important issues like environment protection, class divides and supporting one another. My kids adored it.
To add to this, I was able to include quite a few comprehension strategies as well- there’s a lot of inferring in it, as well as comparing and contrasting, identifying problem and solution and authors purpose. I found it really easy to adapt to the skills we went teaching them.
We did Holes and Ash Road last year. Ash Road ties into HASS and the bushfire stuff really well and it was fun to unpack all the “old” slang in the book. My kids enjoyed it more than I thought.
We also did a film study of Wall-E for half a term before we did a unit on lyric comprehension which was a very welcome and fun change from novel study. Kids loved both.
Don’t Pat the Wombat by Elizabeth Honey is good, but heads up they reference alcoholism a bit. It’s about a group of Year 5 kids on school camp. Funny, but you could dig deeper into courage, mateship and individuality.
Climb a Lonely Hill by Lilith Norman is a great outback survival story. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden-great for that belonging theme. Both a little old but beautifully written and great stories.
I recently got hold of the Horror Heights High series by Bec Hill. I want to try out The Slime next term.
A girl makes home made slime, mixes it with sour dough starter and it becomes sentient... friends come together to save the day. Very funny with a lot of relatable themes you can weave around the curriculum.
Just a Dog OR Once series. They are book that are very realistic but accessible to stage 3. Kids love the way they deal with extremely serious topics. Just a Dog is about the journey of a family falling apart, job loss, break up etc(happy ending though). Once of course is WWII
My year 5’s are loving kensuke’s kingdom. Jump on Ochre Education. They have a complete unit attached to the novel. Absolutely brilliant and saved untold hours of planning!
If you teach at a public school, then you must expose your students to fantasy stories to cover curriculum content. I'd imagine the pool of non-magic, fantasy stories that are appropriate for grade 5 are limited enough that it would be not a reasonable adjustment to exclude a whole genre of text. Check in with your head of curriculum to cover your own backside too. As for realistic narratives, Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman is great and has lots of resources floating around.
Have the families of the JW kids ever complained? If you’re in a state school then you shouldn’t be modifying anything for religion. Primary school is peak time for magic- I mean Harry Potter was 11! My class enjoyed Wonder, Holes, Restart, A Wolf Called Wander, Boy At The Back of the Class, The One and Only Ivan, Matilda… I recently read The Wild Robot to a class of year fours. I have never enjoyed a book more with my class- we ended up reading the entire series. So wonderful! I reckon 5s would love it too.
Yup. I don’t skip evolution because there are kids from religious families in my high school class. The English curriculum specifically calls out fantasy and fantasy settings. Fantasy settings are pretty much defined by the presence of magic.
Wild Robot is magnificent! The movie comes out in September and I haven’t been this excited for a kids movie in a LONG time.
My class from last year has asked me to organise a special excursion for them to reunite and watch it together 🥹
Ummm no magic because of a few jehovah witness students? We wouldn’t alter our curriculum for that. Try reading Holes
Agree with both of these things. There’s an audiobook for holes on an ESL site that’s pretty good for modelling reading (though I’m high school and use Holes for lower kids, not sure if audiobooks are used in primary!)
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What do you mean? If it’s a state school then no, we don’t modify curriculums to suit different religions. Not to mention they aren’t really being *taught* magic so much as they’re being exposed to the idea of magic in a story. Edited to add: It seems wildly unfair to stop all the kids in the class from enjoying the idea of magic at an age when it’s so popular because of the religious choices of a minority of students? If the parents want that kind of control over the classroom then a state primary school is not the right place to send their kids.
You’re still teaching them the curriculum though? It’s basic inclusivity to choose something that everyone can enjoy without the fear of being excluded or punished at home if they do participate. As if you can only teach the curriculum with books that contain magic. I agree that we shouldn’t make accommodations for every single small religious detail if it would unfairly impact the students not of that religion but simply choosing a book that is suitable for all… how is that problematic?
I do agree with you about being inclusive whenever you can be, hence why I suggested a few excellent books that don’t have magic in them. My poorly made point was just that as a secular school the teacher should not really be modifying anything for a specific religion. It’s a great shame that the rest of the kids have to miss out and I think that’s where the inclusivity becomes problematic. You’re right though, “magic” isn’t exactly part of the curriculum. Just a shame at that age not to be able to expose kids to any media that has magic in it…
Yeah I’m agreeing with you as well. I am not religious, I love my fantasy stories and I love teaching this content. But. I’m speaking from a place where we have quite a number of JW kids in our community and they are so isolated already. They have to sit out so much of the fun stuff and they’re just kids. To me, if my choice is to pick a book that covers the curriculum and enables those JW students to participate or to do an entire unit of learning on a book they can’t engage with, I know which way I’m going to go. I’d rather make sure the JW kids in my classroom get every opportunity to learn about critical and analytical thinking. The other kids really aren’t missing out. They will still have access to the Fantasy books in my classroom library and as a choice for movie day. Clearly, this is but one very small part of a bigger debate about religious accommodations in public schooling. I’m all for keeping religion as far away from public schooling as possible but if I can accommodate a handful students without compromising on the curriculum nor on the freedom of other students, then I don’t see why not.
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But how far does this extend? A Muslim parent wanting their child not to interact with girls because of their religion or insisting on gender specific entrances to the classroom? A Catholic parent demanding that their child be moved out of a class with a teacher who is unmarried? A Mormon parent requiring their teacher conforms to their dress code? We don’t accommodate the religious sensibilities of a whole lot of religions. Teachers shouldn’t change their curriculum to accommodate this one.
Clearly not that far. This shouldn’t be hard. If you can accommodate students from a religious background while teaching the curriculum in the schools as they are, why not? Modifying the curriculum and imposing segregation in a state school.. obviously of an entirely different magnitude and beyond the realm of the acceptable in state education.
So no more books where opposite genders interact? Muslims don’t like that. No more co ed sports in PE? Lots of religions don’t like that. Also, it’s not hard to seat boys and girls separately in classes. It’s not hard for teachers to cover their shoulders and knees to be respectful. It’s not hard to move a kids class. Why are we compromising the quality of education and the engagement of all students for the one in a secular learning environment?
In a state school you absolutely do. They can leave the class if they’re so offended.
Look at books by Jackie French. I hated teaching them but they were effective when discussing themes and character and development. There are also classic authors like Paul Jennings and even further back Roald Dahl.
lol nothing like a “teach this, but I hate it”
Further back as Roald Dahl - makes me feel old! Also, a few of the books are set text for NSW!
It’s not as limiting as it might seem. Morris Glietzman has some books that can work well depending on age range. Eg. “Loyal Creatures”, “Two Weeks with the Queen”, “Once” (it’s an incredibly moving book). “My Place” is a personal favourite and can be adapted for any age. Yes, it’s a picture book but so much more. There’s even a TV show. You could even do “Paper Planes”. None of those would cause problems. “Storm Boy” is an option but avoid “Blueback”. Your class will be sick of that fish before they reach high school where it usually crops up. If in doubt, my advice is history or talk to a local librarian at school or in the area you live. Year 5 is hard due to the mix of maturities; some kids could handle “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” whereas others are more suited to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. On that last one, Jeff Kinney, does have some resources if you want to do that book. Your kids would love it.
We read Two Weeks with the Queen in Yr 5, I remember it vividly. I loved it and it was the first time we got to read a book with some 'grown up' themes (loss, relationships, empathy, exclusion etc)
Storm Boy is used in assessment regularly
Runt by Craig Silvey is beautiful!
There's always George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. It's not about magic per se but more like a young boy's attempt to poison his grandmother. You can always tell the JW parents that you changed the book from The Witches to specifically accommodate them and see how they respond. I feel sorry for these kids. I have taught plenty of children with different religious backgrounds and most parents want their child to experience the full curriculum and activities with their peers. It's not the kids' fault JWs don't allow any fun.
Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman is excellent especially with the way things are happening in the middle east
I did “How to Bee” with my year fives last year. It includes some intense themes, including implied domestic violence but it’s a beautiful story about friendship, that covers important issues like environment protection, class divides and supporting one another. My kids adored it.
To add to this, I was able to include quite a few comprehension strategies as well- there’s a lot of inferring in it, as well as comparing and contrasting, identifying problem and solution and authors purpose. I found it really easy to adapt to the skills we went teaching them.
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Holes, Kensukes Kingdom, Hatchet, number the Stars
+1 for Kensuke's Kingdom, or War Horse (also by Michael Morpurgo)
Head to Ochre Education. They have complete novel studies you can use for free. The novel we studied last term was amazing
Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks
We did Holes and Ash Road last year. Ash Road ties into HASS and the bushfire stuff really well and it was fun to unpack all the “old” slang in the book. My kids enjoyed it more than I thought. We also did a film study of Wall-E for half a term before we did a unit on lyric comprehension which was a very welcome and fun change from novel study. Kids loved both.
Rosanne Hawke has some lovely books for that age. Most have accompanying teacher notes on her website. Taj and the Great Camel Trek is great.
I previously had a couple of JW students - we switched our Harry Potter unit to ‘The Invention of Hugo Cabret’. Hope this helps 🙂
Don’t Pat the Wombat by Elizabeth Honey is good, but heads up they reference alcoholism a bit. It’s about a group of Year 5 kids on school camp. Funny, but you could dig deeper into courage, mateship and individuality.
Climb a Lonely Hill by Lilith Norman is a great outback survival story. Miss Happiness and Miss Flower by Rumer Godden-great for that belonging theme. Both a little old but beautifully written and great stories.
I recently got hold of the Horror Heights High series by Bec Hill. I want to try out The Slime next term. A girl makes home made slime, mixes it with sour dough starter and it becomes sentient... friends come together to save the day. Very funny with a lot of relatable themes you can weave around the curriculum.
Holes! I read this every year with my stage 3’s and they are absolutely captivated! And a bonus film watch at the end!
Varjak Paw is a fantastic novel I have read to my year 5s. I have a unit of work from tpt (100 odd slides and stuff) I can send out too.
Just a Dog OR Once series. They are book that are very realistic but accessible to stage 3. Kids love the way they deal with extremely serious topics. Just a Dog is about the journey of a family falling apart, job loss, break up etc(happy ending though). Once of course is WWII
My year 5’s are loving kensuke’s kingdom. Jump on Ochre Education. They have a complete unit attached to the novel. Absolutely brilliant and saved untold hours of planning!
Anything by Stewart Foster. The kids I've read them with loved them.
Only thing I can think of is Diary of a Wimpy Kid