Quick Engaging Read Aloud: Cabin Creek Mysteries (grades 2-4)

Have you guys heard of the Cabin Creek Mysteries? Great mystery series!

Here's the back story... I  ordered these books from Scholastic as they came out, but I never read one.   It is relatively new series that I think first came out around 2008.  I flipped through the pages and thought it was just another beginning reader chapter book...perfect for 2nd and 3rd graders... but lacking any kind of depth for a more sophisticated reader. Honestly, I thought I get bored. 

But, this year, I needed a read aloud that would only take a few weeks and would engage all my kids... especially my lower readers.  I randomly choose this book out of my classroom library and was more than pleasantly surprised.  The books (written with a lexile range of 570L to 630L) are fast paced with lots of cliffhangers.  My 4th graders (high and low readers) were hanging on every word.  They loved the intrigue and the spooky factor (ooo...ghosts), and they were paying close attention to clues as we read.  Kids were inferring, asking questions, making predictions, using context clues to figure out new vocabulary...it was great! They kept saying, "It's just like Scooby-Doo!" They really enjoyed it.

.  For many of my 4th graders these are the perfect books for them to be reading independently.  Many of my students are reading just at 4th or slightly below 4th grade level.  The beauty of reading this aloud is that now all the books from this series are in book boxes and getting read (start to finish). They are super excited about the books and I'm excited to hear "Can we read just a little longer?"

So, if you haven't read one... check them out and share them with your class.  You won't be disappointed and it may be the book that hooks one more reluctant kid on reading!