Second grade independent reading

[Sarah0000]

My oldest is now second grade and has been a fluent reader for several years. He usually reads a few hours every day, all fun fiction. Lately he's been reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Romana Quimby, for example. He'll randomly also read guides, manuals (adult), magazines, picture books, poetry, etc.

This past semester (first grade) he did a MBTP unit in which he independently read two longer picture books and answered comprehension questions. I gave him the assignments and guided him. One time I gave him a shorter novel to read in a week and he filled out a very basic book report template. I think this school year I'd like to introduce the idea of regular assigned reading, but not necessarily tied to a big unit and preferably without me having to give him specific time frames or reports to complete. I anticipate doing that kind of thing once a semester, separately.

So my question is, what works for your kids when introducing assigned reading? Do you give a timeframe then check in every week? Do you have a set daily reading time slot that must be assigned reading? Do they orally report each day, at the end of the book? Keep a reading log? Any and all tips and experiences welcome.

My primary goal is fun while covering common grade level literature. I intend to start with easier below level but not twaddle books to set the routine then work up to on level lit. But I do want to start roughly how I want to finish because this kid doesn't react well to change.

[HomeAgain]

I started assigning reading in 3rd, but in 2nd there was assigned reading through a book club.  In third, I picked a list of books I wanted to expose him to.  Every other one was an independent read, with the ones in the middle being read alouds or tandems. I would assign a chapter of a book per day, and then when he was done we'd talk about what went on in the chapter.  Sometimes we did activities or extension projects.  And yes, I kept a reading log.  The independent reads were much easier than his capability and that was for two reasons: I wanted to establish the habit of reading chapter books and I wanted to keep it non-scary.
This year, 4th, he's starting to read his way through the Mensa For Kids booklist.  Some I have already read aloud to him but he'll get a chance to read on his own.  Some are new.  Rather than a chapter we're doing 1/2 hour a day and working up to an hour by next year.

[wendyroo]

In second grade is when I introduce simple written sentence narrations.  Each child has a bin of literature books. I fill the bins with fiction, non-fiction, poetry, short stories, even an occasional speech or play, etc.  In second grade my kids choose a book from the bin and read from it for at least 20 minutes per day until it is finished. They have a literature notebook, and they write one narration sentence about anything they learned or found interesting per chapter (or whatever makes sense).  I provide whatever spelling help they need (though now they typically just ask Google how to spell things), and afterwards I help them edit grammar issues.  At the beginning of second grade I am happy with something like “Mr. Popper likes penguins.”  As time goes by I nudge them to flesh out their sentences with adjectives, stronger verbs, details and reasons, etc.  But the end of second grade I’m looking for sentences like, “The rats of NIMH decided to move away from their comfortable home because they did not like stealing food and electricity.”

I do sometimes informally discuss the books with the kids as they read (some I have read and others I haven’t), but at that age I avoid book reports/comprehension questions/paperwork or even too many questions that might put them on the spot. If they read a couple chapters, write a couple sentences about it, and maintain their love of reading, then I call it a win.

Wendy

[Sarah0000]

Thanks everyone. He seems to respond much better to direct comprehension questions rather than open ended narrations. We did work on oral narrations for awhile this past year but it was like pulling teeth to get him use to it. But that is a skill I should probably have him work on anyway. He might actually do better, in terms of resistance, with written because then he's not performing.

[Momto6inIN]

For 2nd grade my DD is going to read daily for 30 minutes whatever she wants. I don't require output for that at all. I also have books tied to history that are not twaddle that we will buddy read together as we do her history lessons, again no narration, just enjoy the stories together. I can easily tell if she's comprehending as we read together. We don't really do anything else for literature until about 5th grade.

[hollyhock2]

I don't do anything formal at that age. I just provide the books and let them go. Sometimes I keep a list of what they've read, just for reference. I don't actually assign reading until much older.

[Sarah0000]

9 hours ago, mms said:

How old is he?  My first was a natural narrator, but my 7 year old needed lots of scaffolding.  We do narrations as part of LA daily but not from her independent reading and usually with me reading the selection.

FWIW, I started off with picture study (tell me what you see on the picture), then picture narrations (draw a picture of what you hear) and gradually eased into being able to narrate a very short fable (like Fox and the Grapes) with an illustration nearby to prompt her.  It took several months of work but these days we alternate between Aesop, picture study and short Bible/devotional stories and it is usually not pulling teeth.  She also does not like "performing" (unlike her sister) so we would do things like tell the story to the baby (or the cat or Teddy Bear) and reciting poetry to get her more comfortable with the idea that there is oral output that is not just answering questions expected for school-work and yes, she has to talk, lol.

YMMV and my oldest could certainly do this at around 7 but I would not expect even an advanced reader 7/early 8 year old to be able to narrate from a longer reading (like a chapter of a book) beyond maybe the one-sentence that Wendy mentioned.

Honestly, at this age when the books he'd read are really short it wouldn't be hard to just read the same books he does and formulate your own comprehension questions if that is what you want.  Make a booklist, assign a daily "15 minutes reading from the booklist time" and then talk about what he read, maybe during lunch or as part of your LA time.  Or, get a lit program like MP that has study guides: have him read the selection independently and then go through the guide orally.  The point is that at the beginning if you want output for his reading it has to be daily.  Over time you'll be able to move towards him reading one day and output the next and by about 9-10 most children are ready for a weekly discussion time frame the way a book club would work.

He's 7. He is able to do many of the things you've described but is often very oppositional. We've just started therapy for him and he's being screened for ADHD and I'm trying to...be more purposeful in what I do for school for him. A routine might help him so I'm looking to establish one in this area for educational reasons yes, but also because he enjoys reading, enjoys being alone, and does better when he knows what the expectations are exactly.

[Sarah0000]

We read aloud a lot but he complains about nearly everything. If I just sit down and start reading to the other kids he will join us happily even though he just said he hated that book. His brothers purposefully block his view or touch his leg, you see. I set aside read aloud time just him and me but first he's too old for read aloud and then he wants read aloud exactly when HE wants read aloud regardless if it's convenient timing for anyone else so now he won't participate ever, ever again (but he actually does) He does listen to Audible many hours each day, but only to the same book for a year straight. Last book also for a year. Both books he vehemently refused but I made him at least try.

The oppositional behavior has increased dramatically in the last few months. But I was surprised when he did so well, comparatively, with the MBTP unit. 

[LMD]

I put a stack of appropriate books in their school box and they have an assigned reading time during the school day. Usually starting in 2nd/3rd ish depending on ability.

[Sarah0000]

2 hours ago, mms said:

Hmm, is ASD a possibility?  If it's possibly ADHD and a very strong will there are various strategies that can be used to help smooth days and relationships but ASD is a whole 'nother story.  What does his therapist say?

A regular routine is good in any case so are clear, predictable expectations.  But may I gently suggest that for a strong-willed child letting him feel some control over the situation might be better than just imposing a completely new way of doing things?  If reading from a particular book list is important to you (and I totally understand and agree!) then just implementing 10-15 minutes a day of you read from these choices first before reading/listening to what you like might work better than a once a semester unit with comprehension questions (the initial success might be because you caught him by surprise).

Also, YMMV, but in our home the only requirement for read aloud time is that you're present and reasonably quiet.  Nobody has to listen: they just have to be in the room.  This usually means DD7 is drawing and DS is playing with legos or knights while the toddler makes as big a mess as she can.  The only one paying attention is DD10.  But, they are all listening because when they think I'm not looking/listening it comes out in their imaginative play and conversations.

We only just started the screening process and he does have a couple markers for ASD but so far the therapist doesn't think its that. But it hasn't been ruled out completely.

All three of my kids gather around during read alouds. The age spread is difficult though because if I choose something more geared towards the 7yo the 1yo starts wrestling him. Higher level picture books I can squeeze in during snacks/meals so those get covered but we're definitely slacking on novels.

But I can try a basket with a few choices for independent reading and super simple oral narration. 

Anyone, would you require him to finish the one he picks, at least read one full chapter before switching, or let him switch around at will? Because I can see him reading just a couple pages of each choice then being unable to pick one to stick with or complain they are all bad.

[Syllieann]

We have generally done 30 minutes of book basket (a variety of things that aren't "twaddle" to choose from), and  I also use mbtp la.  I really liked the bravewriter ideas, but I found that such open-endedness brought about some of the negative, oppositional behavior you're describing.  I think you should just go with mbtp.  It worked well before.  It's structured, but it also has room to adjust to the child.  My oldest started with 7-9 and continued through the 10-12 level.  I've been pretty happy with it.  I don't ask for any output from book basket books or anything beyond mbtp for literature.  We do some narration for science or history readings.

I read a great article awhile back about the merits of comprehension questions or multiple choice questions.  I had been pretty firmly on the all-narration band wagon, but the article convinced me that I need to still include the other things.  Good questions can force clarification of subtleties that are side-stepped during narration.  They are also good prep for essay thinking if they ask kids to commpare/contrast, explain, or predict.  Anyway, all this to say that it sounds like your son can narrate but hates it.  Let it drop to a minimal level and be satisfied with all the great thinking that is happening with the other types of questions if you decide to go with mbtp or some other lit units.

[Cake and Pi]

I've got a few thoughts.

You could get a quickie reading comprehension program that he could complete independently, like Critical Thinking Co.'s Reading Detective, or Evan-Moor's Daily Reading Comprehension, and then just back off of assigned reading. Let him read whatever he wants. You might have to incentivize the assignment, but I don't have qualms about things like that. (FTR, my kids often get a chocolate chip, earn 5 minutes of screen time, or some other small treat for completing short, undesired tasks like handwriting.) 

You could let him pick from the book lists in Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus and ask him the corresponding comprehension questions (right there in Suppose the Wolf Were an Octopus). 

You could sign him up for an Athena's book club type class. Think Books, I believe it is called. I'd only do this if you can get him excited about it, but moving the assignment online, where he can interact with other kids and you are not the instructor may be the motivation he needs. Might be worth looking into.

Or check your local library for an in-person book club.

You could split the boys up for read aloud time. It becomes special when it's a one-on-one thing with mom and there's no sibling rivalry over who can see the pages, who gets to sit on mom's lap, who gets to pick the story, etc. The needs of a 1yo and an advanced 7yo are so very different. Reading the same book to both will probably serve neither well. Since your DS 7 seems to need to feel like he has some control, you could collaborate with him about exactly when he wants to have his special time with you, then stick to it. Make sure he sees that his needs are being prioritized and the siblings have to wait during this time. Add some cuddles, tea, treats, or whatever else would sweeten the deal and make it a rewarding experience for him.

You could put on audio books for any literature you'd really like him exposed to but he might balk at reading himself. We listen to *so* many audio books in the car. If you provide him with a hard or ebook copy, he can choose to read along if he so desires. I pause the audio book to point out vocabulary, ask questions, probe for predictions/causes/etc. I don't worry about narrations written or otherwise of our car audio books, but they still get quite a bit out of them.

On the line of audio books, you could even let him pick out whatever he wants to listen to on his own, especially if your library has Playaways or something similar (preloaded audo book player that only plays the one book. You just add batteries and a headphones).

You could set aside 20 minutes (or however long works for your family) as "quiet time" or whatever you want to call it where everyone sits and reads/looks at books/draws/writes quietly in their own space, and just make sure quality literature is available.

At 7yo I had nothing in the way of required reading for DS#1. DS#3 is 7 now and enjoying an online lit class through RFWP, but I think a lot of that has to do with his excitement to be working directly with MCT. He usually only reads math books and Minecraft how-tos. I don't push because he reads along with our car audio books and so is exposed to plenty of diverse quality literature.

I personally wouldn't worry about making a 7yo finish a book if he's not into it at this age. I don't ban twadle, either. I just have a requirement about variety in library check outs - no more than 2 books from any particular series/set, no more than two graphic novels, at least one fiction and one nonfiction, at least one that would be considered at their reading level, that kind of thing. They end up with some crap books, but they blow through them quickly and then eventually move on to the others. I want my kids to enjoy reading. Not everything they read needs to be at their level, high quality, or of educational value. A love of reading is my goal, even if that includes a little "book candy," lol.

FTR, my very oppositional kid (ADHD, ODD, and anxiety officially) requires a lot of say in his day. He needs a ton of structure, but wants to be the one in charge of that structure. He responds well to a reward system and cannot be *made* to do anything. If I said "You have to read now. Would you like to read X or Y?" he'd just get surly and refuse to read. He can dig in his heels like no one else I know and only gets more oppositional and defiant the harder authority pushes back. Negative consequences, natural or not, do not work with him. We're finding that most of his undesirable behaviors boil down to anxiety and feelings of helplessness. He feels out of control, and so insists on control whenever and wherever he can.

You might also want to read Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults by James Webb, if you haven't already.