Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Books He Read in 2nd Grade

Last year I was contemplating a way to guide my 2nd grader to be's reading choices.  I did not want to dampen his joy of reading, but I did want to expand his reading choices a bit.  If it were completely up to him, he would fill his library bag with A to Z Mysteries and Boxcar Children books every week...not that these are necessarily bad choices but I knew that he was ready to move on (or at least I was ready for him to move on :). 

So I created a list that contained 50 books that I wanted him to read for 2nd grade.  First on the list were all of his Sonlight Readers (Readers 2 and Readers 2 Intemediate).  I also dog-eared my Veritas Press catalog...choosing books that would be interesting to him, yet also stretch him a bit.  I finished up the list with a couple books from the Ambleside Online Year One curriculum and others that I had on my shelf.

I created a chart that listed all of these books, plus a place to list the date the book was completed and a rating for each book and posted the chart on the refrigerator.  He was also required to give me a brief summary (or narration) of each book once he read it.  And just to sweeten the deal a bit, I rewarded him with an item from the "goody box" everytime he finished ten books from the list :). 

 Now, this is not a list of ALL of the books that ds8 read during the 09-10 schoolyear...but rather a list of all of the books that I required him to read for "schooltime".  He has read many others of his own choosing this past year. 
Greg's Microscope
Hill of Fire
Pompeii Buried Alive
The Sword in the Tree
Titanic: Lost and Found
Wagon Wheels
The Night the Bells Rang
The Chalk Box Kid
Clara and the Bookwagon
Cora Frear
The House on Walenska Street
Balto and the Great Race
Jake Drake Bully Buster
Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie
Barry the Bravest St. Bernard
Absolutely Lucy
The Littles
The Long Way to a New Land
The Long Way Westward
The Paint Brush Kid
The Last Little Cat
Eleanor
Prairie School
A Question of Yams
Riding the Pony Express
The Secret Valley
Owls in the Family
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain
Third Grade Detectives #1
Third Grade Detectives #2
Third Grade Detectives #4
Third Grade Detectives #10
Tippey Lemmey
Tornado
Viking Adventure
Lessons from the Farmyard
Ben and Me
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
The King of the Golden River
Tom Sawyer, Detective
The Hundred Penny Box
Charlotte's Web
St. George and the Dragon
How to Eat Fried Worms
Hank the Cowdog: The Case of the Twisted Kitty
Hank the Cowdog: Slim's Goodbye
Kneeknock Rise

Not only did ds8 end up reading all of the books that *I* wanted him to read during this past schoolyear...I also have a handy dandy chart of all of the books that he read (with the dates he completed them) to add to his 2nd grade portfolio (which our state requires us to keep).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a neat reading list! Just wanted to stop by and welcome you to the Crew!

Lisa C. from the Crew
www.teachthemhisways.blogspot.com

Catherine (Alecat Music) said...

My daughter is enjoying many of the books on that list.
I like the idea of keeping the list with a date alongside. We're not required to do such recording-keeping in Australia, but I'll start doing it so we have that sense of achievement. :)
Catherine (aka alecat)

JACQUELIN said...

Stopping by from the Crew. What a great way to mark a great achievement of reading all those books. I recognize many of those books as we are making our way through the Readers 2 this summer and continuing into the new school year. I plan on making a list for each of my girls too.

Beverly said...

We love Hank the Cowdog. I usually wind up doing as read-alouds on trips to Grandma's -- 700 miles away! And, if I dare stop for a drink of water -- watch out! I also plan to look at the lists that the library keeps for ps kids. I guess the schools have assigned reading lists too and they are in a binder in the children's section.

 

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