Second Grade Literature List

This has been the most difficult book list for me to put together. I had two big problems. The first is that there are way too many good books! The second is that while The Kid is capable of reading anything in front of her, she still has a strong preference for a high pictures-to-text ratio. Her pleasure reading currently consists of really good picture books and meh chapter books. Her picture books have more complex stories, cover some history, and have amazing language. Her preferred chapter books, well, don't. After some thought and a lot of hours in the library, I decided that this year would focus on a big stack of the best picture books I can find, with a few chapter books thrown in near the end of the year.

Poetry to add to our shelves for Poetry Teas
Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa
Several selections from the Poetry for Young People series

Picture Books
Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou (poetry)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Mary Jane Begin
Kid Blink Beats the World by Don Brown
Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein by Don Brown
Behind the Mask by Yangsook Choi
Midsummer Night's Dream adapted by Bruce Coville
Fairy Tales by e.e. cummings
Bat Boy and His Violin by Gavin Curtis
My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers by Christine King Farris
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman
Storyteller's Candle by Lucia Gonzalez
Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes (poetry)
Sami and the Time of the Troubles by Florence Parry Heide
Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
Island of the Skog by Steven Kellogg
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky
Erandi's Braids by Antonio Hernandez Madrigal
Escape of Oney Judge by Emily Arnold McCully
Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patricia C. McKissack
Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia C. McKissack
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki
Passage to Freedom: the Sugihara Story by Ken Mochizuki
My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa M. Mollel
Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen
Capyboppy by Bill Peet
Eli by Bill Peet
The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco
Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco
Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Bend by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud
The Apple-Pip Princess by Jane Ray
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone by Katheryn Russell-Brown
Sukey and the Mermaid by Robert D. San Souci
Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci
Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
Johnny on the Spot by Edward Sorel
The Old Man and His Door by Gary Soto
Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff
Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Uegaki
Suki's Kimono by Chieri Uegaki
Garden of Abdul Gasazi by Chris Van Allsburg
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Freedom on the Menu by Carole Boston Weatherford
Stories for Children by Oscar Wilde
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life With Chimps by Jeanette Winter


Longer Books with Few/No Pictures
Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen
26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie de Paola
Stone Fox by John R. Gardiner
Pearl Verses the World by Sally Murphy (poetry)
Tales From the Odyssey by Mary Pope Osborne
Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donal J. Sobel

Family Read Alouds
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm translated by Lucy Crane
Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dagliesh
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
Wonder Book for Boys and Girls by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang
Gooney Bird Green by Lois Lowry
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
The Princess and Curdie by George McDonald
The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit
The Borrowers by Mary Norton
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (there is a phenomenal pop-up version of this!)
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

BFSU: Physics Unit

Prerequisites: Energy Unit and Time and Maps Unit

Resources: Magic School Bus episodes

Lesson 1: BFSU C-5: Inertia, part 1
Lesson 2: BFSU C-5: Inertia, part 2
Lesson 3: Magic School Bus Revving Up
Lesson 4: BFSU C-6 Friction, part 1
Lesson 5: BFSU C-6 Friction, part 2
Lesson 6: BFSU C-6 Friction, part 3
Lesson 7: BFSU C-6 Friction, part 4
Lesson 8: Magic School Bus Plays Ball
Lesson 9: BFSU D-7: Gravity II: Rate of Fall. Weightlessness in Space. Distinction Between Weight and Mass, part 1
Lesson 10: BFSU D-7: Gravity II: Rate of Fall. Weightlessness in Space. Distinction Between Weight and Mass, part 2
Lesson 11: BFSU D-7: Gravity II: Rate of Fall. Weightlessness in Space. Distinction Between Weight and Mass, part 3
Lesson 12: BFSU C-7: Push Pushes Back
Lesson 13: Magic School Bus Gets a Bright Idea

This post is part of my series on using BFSU as a science unit study.

First Grade Wrap Up

It's about that time to review what went well and not over the last year.

First, the good:

• Science. Wow, the level and amount of science! We finished the first volume of Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. As we moved into more child-led studies, there hasn't been a session go by without The Kid choosing a science topic. While we haven't left BFSU behind, we've added a lot of other resources - Ellen McHenry has especially been a hit.
• Handwriting. Finally, after much struggle, The Kid has legible handwriting. Not awesome, but legible. I'm calling it good for now. At the end of last year, I wrote, "But we're still nowhere near being able to do copywork and dictation to start first grade." It took us the whole #@%& year, but she can now do copywork. And I might even attempt dictation in the near future.
• Changes to our school subjects. I wrote in this post about our six-week blocks of four subjects at a time. The Kid feels that she has real power in her school choices now. I have gained clarity about my educational priorities for her. It's been good.

The not so good:

• Math. This is really coming back around, but we went into full math meltdown last winter. Over the last five months, we have done no formal/required math. Slowly, slowly, the love of math has been creeping back and our math break is looking a lot mathier.  But I suspect we'll have a balancing act on our hands as we incorporate more math into our days again.
• Executive Functioning. This wasn't even a term I knew until the last couple years, but oh boy, do I know it now. It includes a pile of abilities that The Kid struggles mightily with and make me want to pull my hair out. We've been focused on the basics of emotional regulation for months now, and are just barely starting to edge into more focus on time management and focus. This category is going to be a major part of goals for second grade.

I hope the next year has some great things in store for us!