Summer Reading and Writing Pack
Second Grade
Reading Guide and Comprehension Questions
Reading Guide and Comprehension Questions
AGES 7-9
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Second Grade
About this Book
In this heartwarming story, Ms. Alex asks the class to write an essay about their heroes. Unsurprisingly, classmates announce famous people as their subjects. Yasmin loves to write, but she can’t decide on a hero. While Yasmin is struggling to write her essay, her mother is cooking dinner, answering calls, finding lost pajamas, and offering comfort. It isn’t until her mother “saves” her from an empty stomach that Yasmin realizes who her hero is. Ms. Alex agrees: “Heroes don’t have to be famous people. Sometimes they are ones closest to us.”
We are excited to share a beginning chapter book, Yasmin The Writer, our Learning Without Tears Writing Journal, and our Building Writers student activity book with your second grader. Here are some strategies to encourage your student to reach for literacy success.
Tips for Reading to and with Your Young Reader
Dedicate 30 minutes for reading each day. Several studies indicate students’ reading abilities decline or stall during the summer because of a lack of exposure to literacy. However, students who read at least 30 minutes each day encounter more vocabulary and reinforce essential reading skills.
Pay Attention to Prefixes and Suffixes
When your learner uses a word with a prefix or suffix, occasionally stop to talk about it. Break down the word and say what the prefix or suffix and root word mean when they’re put together, and brainstorm other words that have the same suffix or prefix.
During Reading
Yasmin The Writer is one book in a wonderful series of beginning chapter books to share with your young reader. Beginning chapter books are stories that are long enough to be divided into chapters, but not as extensive or complicated as a novel. These chapter books still feature illustrations, but fewer than early readers’ picture books. While your young reader is doing some independent reading, it is still very important to continue to read aloud with them. Read-aloud time boosts their reading comprehension and build vocabulary.
Make a “W” Chart: While you and your learner read books together, make a chart filling out the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the book as you both discover them.
After Reading
This reading and writing pack also includes resources to help your learner practice foundational writing skills while responding to reading in fun and creative ways.
Commit to 10–15 minutes of writing, 3 times a week. All it takes is 30–45 minutes per week to help students improve letter and sentence formation.
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Writing Journal
The Writing Journal provides space for your child’s responses to the provided prompts, or their own reactions and descriptions of the story and its connection to their life.
Writing and Conversation Prompts
Help your reader respond to these prompts in their Writing Journal.
• If you could be any character in the book, which would you be and why?
• What do you like or dislike about this book?
• What lesson is this story teaching you?
• How did Yasmin solve the problem in the story?
• What do the illustrations tell you about where Yasmin lives?
• If you could rename the title, what would you call it?
• Why did the author write this text (to persuade, entertain, inform, etc.)?
• Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
• What part of the book surprised you the most?
• Write about your hero and three reasons why that person is your hero.
Pay Attention to Handwriting
After enjoying and talking about the content of their writing, look for any letters in the Building Writers or Writing Journal that are less legible. Point out a model of that letter in Building Writers and coach your learner to write a line of that letter in the Writing Journal, with coaching as needed, to improve legibility. To access the Handwriting Without Tears Letter Formation Charts go to LWTears.com/letter-number-formation-charts
CursiveCapitalsFormationChart
Building Writers
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©2020LearningWithoutTears
©2018LearningWithoutTears
Continue to help your child improve their writing ability by using Building Writers. Building Writers helps children develop key narrative, informational, and opinion writing skills by providing a step-by-step model to build confidence. Building Writers includes an easy-to-follow writing checklist to help children develop good writing habits.
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Additional Activities
Learn about Pakistan through books from your local library or by doing an online search together. There is a short glossary at the end of the book with words in Urdu, one of the languages used in Pakistan, as well
For free story resources (e.g., interview with author, book guides, activities and lessons with cultural
In addition to our Summer Reading and Writing Packs, we also have free resources to support your students. Be sure to visit our site for letter and number formation charts, strategies to build sight word automaticity, and much more!
LWTears.com/resources/summer-learning
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