June 13, 2016 CL Teaching Strategies Notice & Note, CL Seasonal Activities Summer, ELA K-5, ELA Focus - Reading, ELA Seasonal - Summer, Core Literacy
By: Erin Lynch
While it may be tempting to spend all summer at the beach or by the pool, it's important that emerging readers practice their reading skills over the break. Picking a few books from a 2nd grade summer reading list can help kids keep their reading skills in tip-top shape.
Below are a list of books you may want to order online, download onto a mobile device, or check out from your local library. These books range from easy to more difficult. If your emerging reader finds one particular book on the list challenging to read alone, read it aloud together!
2nd Grade Summer Reading List Recommendations
Pink and Rex Go To Camp by James Howe
Pinky and Rex are going to camp for the first time. Rex keeps telling Pinky how much fun they're going to have, but Pinky just wants to stay home where he belongs. Can the "Dear Arnie" column in the newspaper help Pinky figure out what to do? Arnie give Pinky some good advice, and so does Pinky's mother. But it's his best friend Rex who tells Pinky what he really needs to know.
Pinky and Rex Go To Camp is the perfect story for kids who are heading to summer camps or even day camps!
The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant
In a rainbow-colored station wagon that smelled like a real car, the relatives came. When they arrived, they hugged and hugged from the kitchen to the front room. All summer they tended the garden and ate up all the strawberries and melons. They plucked banjos and strummed guitars.
When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer.
Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag
Children everywhere have enjoyed past adventures of Nate the Great... and they are sure to like this sun and sand adventure!
It's gone! Oliver's boring blue beach bag is gone. Inside are his clothes, shoes, and a special seashell. All he has left is his beach ball. This is a perfect case for Nate the Great and his trusty dog Sludge. But they don't find many clues in the sand and surf. What trail should they follow next? Follow the leader to find out!
Best Holiday Ever by Orison Carlile
This unique book for six to eight year olds, tells two stories at the same time. The boy describes his best holiday ever but the illustrations reveal a series of hilarious disasters.
Enjoy how children and parents sometimes see things differently.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
This Newbery Honor book features magic, adventure, friendship, and even a dragon who can't fly!
In the valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli lives in a ramshackle hut with her parents. In the evenings, her father regales her with old folktales of the Jade Dragon and the Old Man on the Moon, who knows the answers to all of life's questions. Inspired by these stories, Minli sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man on the Moon to ask him how she can change her family's fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest for the ultimate answer.
What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry
During summer break its common for kids to battle boredom. The long, lazy days that were a novelty at the start of summer can quickly lose their charm. So when kids start asking "what do people do all day?" this is the perfect book to pull out!
An illustrated panorama of the animals of Busytown at work, describing the occupations and activities of many of her citizens through detailed drawings with labels indicating processes and equipment used as they perform their jobs.
My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish by Mo O'Hara
When Tom's big brother decides to become an Evil Scientist, his first experiment involves dunking Frankie the goldfish into toxic green gunk. Tom knows that there is only one thing to do: Zap the fish with a battery and bring him back to life!
But there's something weird about the new Frankie. He's now a BIG FAT ZOMBIE GOLDFISH with hypnotic powers . . . and he's out for revenge!
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles
Set in Mississippi during the summer of 1964, Wiles's affecting debut children's book about two boys –one white and the other African-American–underscores the bittersweet aftermath of the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
Joe and John Henry are a lot alike. They both like shooting marbles, they both want to be firemen, and they both love to swim. But there's one important way they're different: Joe is white and John Henry is black, and in the South in 1964, that means John Henry isn't allowed to do everything his best friend is. Then a law is passed that forbids segregation and opens the town pool to everyone. Joe and John Henry are so excited they race each other there...only to discover that it takes more than a new law to change people's hearts.
Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne
Get ready for a world of adventure with the first four titles in the beloved Magic Tree House series!
Jack and his little sister Annie are just two regular kids from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania. Then they discover a mysterious tree house packed with all sorts of books...and their lives are never the same! Soon they are traveling through time and space in the magic tree house and having amazing adventures. Whether it's watching baby dinosaurs hatch, finding a secret passage in a castle, helping a ghost queen in an Egyptian pyramid, or finding pirate treasure, readers won't want to miss a single story!
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
My Father's Dragon--a favorite of young readers since the 1940s and a Newbery honor book--captures the nonsensical logic of childhood in an amusingly deadpan fashion.
The story begins when Elmer Elevator (the narrator's father as a boy) runs away with an old alley cat to rescue a flying baby dragon being exploited on a faraway island. With the help of two dozen pink lollipops, rubber bands, chewing gum, and a fine-toothed comb, Elmer disarms the fiercest of beasts on Wild Island. The quirky, comical adventure ends with a heroic denouement: the freeing of the dragon.
Now that you have your 2nd grade summer reading list recommendations, download a printable Summer Reading Strategies Bookmark for kids.
