reading to second graders

[SnowyShiloh]

I just wanted to share what happened today. I am an elementary education major and have a year and a half to go before I do my intern year (student teaching). Until then, a lot of my elementary ed classes at the college require 2 hours each week in an elementary classroom. This semester, I was assigned to a second grade class (7-8 year olds). Today is the second week I've gone in to be with them. It's for my Children's Literature class, which means I'm supposed to read some books to them. I love kids books, so this is great! Today was the first time I read a book to them, and actually the first time I read a book to students at all. I thought long and hard about what book to read, and chose Thidwick the Big Hearted Moose by Dr. Seuss. I introduced the book and read it to them asking them a few questions as I went along, then asked them a couple more questions at the end and they asked me some questions. It went so well! The kids loved the book and were completely enthralled. They didn't want to get into their winter gear for recess. When we were done, one of the little boys came up to me, gave me a hug, and said "You're my favorite teacher." How cute is that? It's certainly not true, since I'm only with them a couple hours a week and this is the first time I've "taught" them, but it was very sweet and something I'll always remember.

So, what was your favorite book when you were around second grade? Other books I have lined up to read are Maggie and the Pirate by Ezra Jack Keats (my favorite picture book), The Amazing Bone, Amos and Boris, and Shrek by William Steig (what can I say, I love Steig), Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg, The Marshmallow Incident by Judi Barrett, Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs, George and Martha stories by James Marshall, and a couple others.

 

[Pipp]

:great:

And one thing about 2nd graders is they're honest, so I bet you ARE their favourite teacher. You might get knocked off the podium tomorrow, mind you, they're honest but fickle. But you'll get the title back next round.


sas (in the land of the Olympics) :laughsmiley:

 

[aurora369]

I loved all books by Bill Peet
http://www.billpeet.net/

The Pinkish, Purplish, Bluish Egg is a really good one.

-Dawn

 

[NorthernAutumn]

I always adored anything by Stephen Cosgrove... fantastic art.
The Wheedle on the Needle was a big fav!

I get to volunteer every week with a little grade 1 girl. We read aloud, and I always do voices. They LOVE voices .

Any phrase that repeats, that they can read along with you, is always great .

Amelia Bedelia's (Peggy Parish) literal interpretation of metaphor usually gets the kids cracking up

The Stinky Cheese Man: http://www.amazon.com/Stinky-Cheese-Fairly-Stupid-Picture/dp/0140548963/ref=cm_syf_dtl_txt_26

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie... (Laura Numeroff... number of books in series).http://www.best-childrens-books.com/if-you-give-a-pig-a-pancake.html

Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day.

Robert Munsch is a fab Canadian author! Love his stuff! Especially Thomas' Snowsuit http://www.robertmunsch.com/booklist.cfm

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Dawn, thanks for the suggestion! I'm adding "Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent" to the list I don't think I've ever read any books by Bill Peet, but they look great.

Autumn, I picked up an Amelia Bedelia book because I loved her when I was a kid. I thought about "The Stinky Cheese Man" and other Jon Sciezka books, I'll surely get some of his books at some point but don't know if I'll read that one to the kids this semester. I love the Alexander books but I figure a lot of kids have read "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" so I got "Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move" instead. It is a cute book. 90% of the kids at the elementary school have a parent in the military, which means they move every couple of years. I was a military kid too and I hated moving, so I think that book is a good choice.

I also have "If You Give a Moose a Muffin"- I like it more than "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" though all those books are good. I think for older kids, those books would be a great part of a lesson where the kids write their own "If You Give a ____ a _____" stories. I "wrote" one called "If You Give a Bunny a Bagel" while trying to stay awake in a class the other day

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! And Pipp, that is a good thing about little kids- you know they're telling the truth if you ask them what they think about something!

 

[Elf Mommy]

Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch is a BIG favorite. I can give more suggestions tomorrow when I'm at school

 

[Bassetluv]

I can barely remember back that far! That's like a lifetime and a half ago, or sumthin'. I do remember though, a series of books that I borrowed from the local library when I was in my pre-teens, and just loved them. The author was (hold on...have to go look it up): C.W. Anderson. He wrote a number of "Billy and Blaze" books, stories about a young boy named Billy and his horse, Blaze. Not only did I love reading the stories, but even moreso, I loved the sketches that were included by the author. Here's a pic of one of his sketches (he did many many equine drawings):

And one of my most favorite children's books of all time was, and will always be, "The Velveteen Rabbit".

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Oh, and for whoever had mentioned Bill Peet...one of my son's most favorite books when he was little was "Big Bad Bruce". Stephen would sometimes absolutely refuse to go to sleep unless I read that book from cover to cover for him. That's the only Bill Peet book I know, and it is one of the only childrens' books that my son adored. :hug:

 

[nermal71]

The kids on my bus are hooked on the Junie B Jones books...think its cause they know that she does all of the stuff they could never get away with. I personally love her Stinky Smelly School bus one....it was given to me as a gift and the kids love that I've read it

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I went in to the second grade class again today. They had a substitute teacher and everything was so hectic! Things were by far the most peaceful when I read to them. I chose "Teach Us, Amelia Bedelia" because I knew they were going to have a substitute that day. The book went over pretty well! I think next week is going to be "The Marshmallow Incident" by Judi Barrett. I'm toying with the idea of making homemade marshmallows for the kids to have while I read (or after I read in case they would be too distracting). The characters in the Amelia Bedelia book ate caramel apples and the kids got really excited about that, so I think they'd love marshmallows.

 

[PepnFluff]

Phoebe and the hot water bottles, hands down my most favourite book ever read as a child. I've been hunting for a copy for years, printed in 1977 and amazons out of it and I can find a collectors one for $299

 

[hartleybun]

my two childhood favourites have to be The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, and Ludo and The Star Horse by Mary Stewart.