Week 8 Second Grade
The World of Ants (Non-fiction, Level 6, Stage 2) by Melvin Berger
Water Liquid, Solid, Gas (Non-fiction, Level 6, Stage 2) by Fay Robinson
The Carters Help Out (Non-fiction, Level 8, Stage 2) by Emma Rose
Holiday Histories: Presidents’ Day (Non-fiction, Level 8, Stage 2) by Mir Tamim Ansary
This week I found myself in awe over my 2nd grader. Just 8 weeks ago at the start of 2nd grade I was nervous that he would have a hard time reading independently and completing the AlphaSkills activities I knew were coming, but now he is soaring through like a champ. I am simply amazed! As an added bonus, it seems like he can read nearly any word I put before him these days, and he’s even started reading alone for fun too – what a change a few weeks can make! It really is amazing how reading clicks like that for different kids at different times, and I’m certain I have AlphaSkills to thank for Malachi’s growth this year so far!
The activity I want to highlight this week is the vocabulary development for Holiday Histories: Presidents’ Day. For this activity, Malachi read the following basic sight words before trying the book: ended, long ago, still far away, day off, by the people, again, after, sometimes, your, were, other, many, from, to pay, won, kind, their sons, place, someone, almost always, took over, try, something new, choose, in fact, asked, twice, few have done, third, told, began, together, became, lost their jobs, in line, for food, our. Then he read the following meaning words as we talked about definitions for the new ones: middle, February, Christmas, vacation, summer, thank goodness, Presidents’ Day, holiday, third Monday, honor country’s leader, person, chosen, every four years, grown-ups, vote, elect, more than, else, turn, grandparents, born, celebrated, every state, George Washington’s Birthday, February 22, Abraham Lincoln, falls, February 12, sixteenth, United States, country, group, thirteen colonies, colonists, Europe, leader, king of England, money, obey, rules, soldiers, tired, agree, Revolutionary War. As usual with this activity each week, reading the words before trying to read the entire book makes such a difference for my little guy! This book was a level 8 – a little more difficult that the books he’s been reading, and he wasn’t fearful at all. He just read these words (with my help on a couple), and then went right on to complete the other activities and read the book as well. That makes learning the content just that much more fun too!
For more information about the AlphaSkills Read with Sarah curriculum and our family, see the AlphaSkills Blog Introduction.