ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

What are they reading?

In order to instill a good reading habit into the students, my son's teacher, a 2nd grade teacher, requested that the students read at least 15 minutes per day.  The students get to color a bug on their communication sheet as they complete their assignment each time to show their reading progress.  Each bug counts as 15 minutes of reading.  I think that it is a very good idea.  Though it is not much, it is better than nothing.  I have had trouble in the past asking my son to read.  Since it is a school assignment, he can still complain about it but cannot find the excuse not to do it. 

I thought that you might be interested in finding out what an average 2nd grader in the US is reading.  His teacher did not pick the books for the students.  They are free to choose whichever book they like to read. 

Listed below are the limited books that he has read so far since he entered 2nd grade.  Oh, well, I can’t push him to read.  You have probably noticed that our kids are as stubborn as I am.     

My son's reading list so far: 

1.        Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot

2.      Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure!

3.      Invisible Stanley

4.      Stanley Flat Again

5.      Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #4: The Intrepid Canadian Expedition

6.      Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #3: The Japanese Ninja Surprise

7.      Flat Stanley's Worldwide Adventures #1: The Mount Rushmore Calamity

8.      Stanley In Space

9.      Stanley and the Magic Lamp

10.   Framed (by Gordon Korman)

11.     Christmas in Camelot, Magic Tree House #29

12.    Haunted Castle On Hallow’s Eve, Magic Tree House #30

13.    Sunset of the Sabertooth, Magic Tree House #7

14.   Pirates past Noon, Magic Tree House #4

15.    Night of the Ninjas, Magic Tree House #5

16.   Guardians of Ga’Hoole #1: The Capture

17.    The Adventures of Ook and Gluk, Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future

18.   Hot Dog and Bob Series, #1: Hot Dog and Bob and the Seriously Scary Attack of the Evil Alien Pizza Person

19.  Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets (Book 2)

20.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth

21.  The Missing Mummy (A to Z Mysteries Series #13)

22.  A to Z Mysteries Super Edition #4: Sleepy Hollow Sleepover

It is interesting to see how peer influence works on reading.  I don’t know if it was peer influence or the storyline or maybe the combination of both that sparked his interest in reading the Harry Potter book series.  One of his best friends bought “Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets” at the school’s book fair like we did and they are competing with each other on how many pages each person has read.  Maybe it wasn’t completely due to peer pressure.  Knowing that another best friend of his read “The 39 Clues” books, I borrowed one from the library but he showed no interest.  If you know of any interesting book suitable for a 7-year-old, 2nd grade boy, please let me know.  My colleague recommended the book series of “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “The Chronicles of Narnia”.  I don’t think that my son would like “A Series of Unfortunate Events” since he is somewhat timid.  Ha!  Don’t ask me why he is not scared of reading the Harry Potter books or watching the Harry Potter movies.  I thought about some classic literature but failed miserably in an attempt to introduce “Charlotte’s Web” to him.  Maybe, I should try “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” or “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.   Another book series I thought of was “The Lord of the Rings” but my colleague thought that the storyline might be too complex for kids at my son’s age.       

You might have noticed from his reading list that he has a love for the Magic Tree House book series.  He actually has a collection of the Magic Tree House book series from 1 to 20, a complete set of the Harry Potter book series, Flat Stanley collection set: book 1 to 3, and the Guardians of Ga’Hoole book series from 1 to 3.  I know.  He is spoiled.    

By the way, he didn’t always finish the books he read.  If the story is funny and interesting, he will keep on reading for hours such as “Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets” and the Magic Tree House book series.  The books that he didn’t finish reading are “Framed” and “Guardians of Ga’Hoole #1: The Capture”.  We thought that the storyline of “Framed” might not be fascinating enough to keep a 7-year-old boy’s attention.  As for “Guardians of Ga’Hoole #1: The Capture”, he told us the reason that he didn’t continue reading was the foul language in the book.  That wasn’t a response I would expect.  It turns out that there is an owl calling the other owl stupid.  Well, at least, he knows that “stupid” is a bad word.