Tag Archive for second grade readers

Zoe’s Room (No Sisters Allowed)

Written and Illustrated by Bethanie Deendy Murgia

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This wonderful read aloud explores family dynamics as the little sister, still in a crib, is moved into Zoe’s room. Now Zoe cannot turn on the light and continue to play after she is sent to bed. At the same time it is listened to, it will be modeling voice inflection, fluency and dialogue.

Her play is wildly imaginative as she is the queen of the universe, explores uncharted territory and sets the table for morning royal tea. Until the sister arrives and every little thing wakes her up and sends Mom and Dad running into the room.

Finally, it is during a scary thunderstorm when the queen hops into the crib for safety and comfort. It is a good example of a main character solving her own problems, and in this case, it is with the help of an unwitting sibling.

Literacy skills such as picture clues, context clues and dialogue can be taught and strengthened for first grade readers, second grade readers and third grade readers just starting to enjoy books independently.

  • Zoes RoomTitle:  Zoe’s Room
  • Author/Illustrator: Bethanie Deendy Murgia
  • Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, Inc. 2013
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 32 pages
  • ISBN:  978-0-545-45781-1
  • Genre: Fiction, family

Jo MacDonald Hiked in the Woods

Written by Mary Quattlebaum

Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

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This delightful picture book uses a favorite children’s song to accompany a little girl and her grandfather on a hike through the woods. Each time they come upon a new animal, the song’s repetitive E-I-E-I-O ends with a fun twist related to the animal. For instance, the chipmunk ends the verse with chomp, chomp.

The active verbs in the story are related to different actions or sounds that people and animals can make, for example, walk, pad or shuffle, shuffle. A fun reading activity would be to have students “hike” around the classroom changing their steps to match their new vocabulary words.

Many literacy skills can be strengthened and practiced with this story. Rhyming words, sequencing, rhythm and reading for details are just a few.

The illustrations are correct so students will learn about the animal habitats and habits from the picture clues.  In-depth information about each of the animals can be found in the end notes and read aloud with explanations for the younger students.

Second grade readers will greatly enjoy reading this book on their own. Young readers will enjoy hearing it read aloud over and over as they sing the song along with you. Reading games will be fun to create using the information Mary included in the back of the book. There are nine animals included in the books and three of them are nocturnal. There is a great opportunity here for cross curricular activities and to meet the core curriculum science and nature requirements.

The information in the back, meant for grown-ups, provide activities related to science, being a naturalist, and being a courteous hiker.

This is the third in a series of books about Jo MacDonald. Her first two adventures included: Jo MacDonald Saw a Pond and Jo MacDonald Had a Garden.

Extras:  End pages provide multiple activities, more are available for downloading at www.dawnpub.com

  • jo mcdonald hikedTitle: Jo MacDonald Hiked in the Woods
  • Author: Mary Quattlebaum
  • Illustrator: Laura J. Bryant
  • Publisher: Dawn Publications, Nevada City, 2013
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Paperback/32 pages
  • ISBN:  978-1-58469-335-2
  • Genre: Creative Non-fiction
  • Lexile: NA

Dodsworth in Tokyo

Written by Tim Egan

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Dodsworth in Tokyo is the newest installment in Tim Egan’s series about two characters, Dodsworth and a duck, traveling around the globe. Egan introduced readers to Dodsworth in The Pink Refrigerator, and though many fans consider the character of Dodsworth to be a mouse, the author himself is unsure. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly that can be found online, Tim Egan said, “I think he’s a mouse. I’ll never declare it.”

Whatever animal Dodsworth happens to be, he’s a delight in each of his books as he travels with his companion, a misbehaving duck. Prior to traveling to Tokyo, Dodsworth and the duck visited New York, Paris, London, and Rome in other books of similar names.

In the adventure in Tokyo, late first grade or second grade readers will delight and giggle as the duck bumps into a rickshaw while busily looking at the signs along the crowded street, and falls into a koi pond. The duck has to be rescued by Dodsworth. Who knew a duck couldn’t swim? This in turn, causes a lady to send a tray of wagashi (Japanese desserts) flying through the air. But the duck redeems himself by returning a little girl’s favorite toy, a kendama.

Author Tim Egan succeeds effortlessly in teaching readers about Japanese culture and introducing Japanese words, like, arigato, rickshaw, bonsai trees, karate, kendama, wagashi, sumi-e paintings, Zen temple, Taiko drummers, and sushi.

Because some of the words do not follow phonetic rules, this book would be best for skilled first or second grade readers if the children are reading the book alone. Even skilled readers may need pronunciation help with many of the words. However, this book would make an excellent addition to a geography lesson about Japan, as a read aloud by the teacher. A class might enjoy reading the Dodsworth books in order of completion, with a world map displayed on a board. Place flags on the map of the various places Dodsworth visits and encourage the kids to learn to recognize the cities and countries Dodsworth and his misbehaving duck visit.

  • Dodsworth in TokyoTITLE: Dodsworth in Tokyo
  • AUTHOR: Tim Egan
  • PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  • REVIEWER: Julie Lavender
  • FORMAT: Hard Cover, 48 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-547-87745-7
  • GENRE: Humor
  • LEXILE: 400

Little Red Hot

Written by Eric Kimmel

Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith

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I love a tale where the young heroine can take care of herself. In this retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, Little Red Hot is a hot-pepper-loving, horse-riding, quiche-baking, big-bad-wolf-talking dynamo who figures out her own solutions. She is not perfect, but she figures out her mistakes and still finds a solution. Set in Texas, the story has the pace of a tall-tale, but one where we already know the story. We know Red will go to Grandma’s. We know there will be a Big Bad Wolf, or Señor Lobo. And we know everyone will come together at the end. What we didn’t know was how they do it in Texas. Suffice to say, the cuisine enjoyed by Little Red Hot, is not one that can be wolfed down. The pictures are as active as the character and give the feel of wide-open, cactus-filled landscape, where Little Red Hot seems both at home and in command.

This will be an ideal read aloud for younger students. However, as a retelling, it also perfect for emerging second grade readers. If the students have heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood, they will be able to make accurate predictions about this story, aiding their reading comprehension, while still enjoying the differences. I would even recommend this fun book for third, fourth and even fifth grade readers who might be working on comparative literature themes. Fractured fairy tales provide plenty of room to compare and contrast the well-known plot with the new one. Kimmel’s other picture books offer more fairy tale hijinks and more chances to compare and contrast.

Extras:

Visit Eric A. Kimmel’s web page and see what he is up to now.

www.ericakimmel.com/

  • Little Red HotTitle: Little Red Hot
  • Author: Eric Kimmel
  • Illustrator: Laura Huliska-Beith
  • Publisher: Amazon Children’s Publishing
  • Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen
  • Hardcover 32 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-4778-1638-7
  • Genre: fiction, picture book
  • Lexile Score: 750

 

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