Summer 2014

Hello, to all of my students! I hope you have all been having a wonderful time during your holidays, playing outside, travelling, and visiting places of interest in Toronto or wherever you may be right now.

Spelling City

I have added 3 new lists to Spelling City - 2nd Grade Homophones List 1 & 2, and a list entitled, Words To Use Instead Of 'Said'. The last list will help you to make your writing more descriptive. The voice in Spelling City is computer-generated, as a consequence, the sentences in, Words To Use Instead Of 'Said' are not all spoken with the correct intonation to express the meaning intended. See if you can figure out which ones should be read with different expression. Try to write your own sentences using the words in the list. This will help you with your writing in Grade 3. (Word #11(lied) is read correctly in the list, but mispronounced in the sentence - I am unable to change that, sorry.)

Reading

I hope you have been reading out loud and silently, every day. When you read out loud, you can hear your own voice and practise using expression to convey the meaning of the words you are reading. When you are young and start to learn how to read, you concentrate very hard on just working out the words and you aren't able to add expression. As you increase your sight word vocabulary, and develop reading strategies for solving new words, you become increasingly able to add the correct expression to your reading to show that you clearly understand what you are reading from your intonation and voice inflections.
Below, you will find readings of some popular children's picture books. Try to go to the library and get copies of the books. Listen to the presenter read the story with the correct expression and phrasing, then try to read the story yourself with expression and fluency. You should reread the story MANY times. You could listen to the presenter read one page, stop the video, then read that page out loud yourself to ensure you are conveying the meaning of the words. Not only is this fun to do, but you will improve your reading skills and be ready for Grade 3!

* There's An Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer, click here.
* The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, click here.
* The PaperBag Princess by Robert Munsch, click here.
* Thomas' Snowsuit by Robert Munsch, click here.
* Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar, click here. (This is a more difficult chapter book. Only part of it is read out loud on the video, but I read this funny novel to you at school, and being familiar with the stories will help you to read the book independently.)
There are many books read on YouTube and I suggest you find some you like, get copies of the books from the library and work on improving your oral reading.

Just listening to stories also improves your ability to speak and read English. Below I have listed just one fairy tale, but from that resource you can find many more fairy tales on YouTube.
The Frog Prince, click here.

I will post more resources and ideas for you during the rest of the summer. Don't forget to check in every now and then. Bye for now.
Mrs. Kuld