Junior Great Books Series K and 1
These series for kindergarten and first grade are interactive read-aloud programs focused on helping young learners develop three key Shared Inquiry skills—listening, wondering, and sharing. They provide the literature, challenge, and critical thinking elements essential for “best practice” early literacy instruction. This booklet contains two texts for you and your students to explore:
- “Those Shoes,” a story by Maribeth Boelts
- “The Land of Nod,” a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
NEW! Junior Great Books Inspire for Grades 2–5
Empower your students with high-quality literature and engaging discussions that build confidence, stamina, and a love of learning—because meaningful conversations create lifelong learners. Junior Great Books Inspire:
- Improves reading comprehension
- Builds fluency
- Increases vocabulary and background knowledge
Download these sample lesson plans to see an overview of all the interpretive activities and classroom materials in our new program. Enjoy reading these selections with your students:
- How to Paint a Donkey, a poem from Series 3, by Naomi Shihab Nye
- The Secret Kingdom, a narrative nonfiction text from Series 5 by Barb Rosenstock
NEW! Junior Great Books Nonfiction Inquiry, Inspire for Grades 2–5
The new Junior Great Books Nonfiction Inquiry, Inspire Edition engages students with rich nonfiction texts and inquiry-driven learning to build curiosity, insight, and real-world understanding.
JGB Nonfiction Inquiry, Inspire Series 2–5 includes:
- Nine nonfiction units per series with updated research, statistics, and current information
- Five brand-new selections in each series
- Line numbers that make text citation easy for focused discussion
- Text-to-text connections to JGB Inspire selections
- Expanded teacher resources that support planning, discussion, and reflection
- Increased alignment with NGSS and NCSS grade-level standards
Junior Great Books Series 6–8
This new series for middle school, first published in 2020, includes:
- High-quality texts in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry: 10 stories, 8 nonfiction texts, and 2 poems at each grade level
- In-depth reading, critical thinking, and writing activities
- Note-taking options focused on author’s craft
- Differentiated instruction for every core activity
- Formal and informal assessment options
- Teacher support and online resources
Download the sample lesson plans today and see the complete activities and texts for one nonfiction selection, “Friends of the Hide” by Timothy Egan, and the poem “At work with my father” by Eve L. Ewing!
Learn More
Would you like to implement Junior Great Books in your classroom? Contact your K–12 partnership manager to plan Shared Inquiry training and discuss the right classroom materials for your setting!