Reading Corner

• Set up a cozy corner in the room for reading group time. Fill the corner of the classroom with a few lamps, a small rug, pillows, short bookshelves and other odds and ends like stuffed animals or figures. You can also use a theme, such as a jungle theme, to decorate the reading corner. At a given time each day, ask students to gather in the reading corner. Each student can be assigned to a group of three or four students to start reading the "book of the week" assigned at the beginning of the week. Let the second graders read silently to themselves or to their small groups for 30 minutes to an hour. Make sure to include a wide range of books at different ability levels, or "leveled texts," some right at the second-grade level and some above, in the third- or fourth-grade level. This way, you can choose which books to present, and your students may choose which books to read.
  
  

Reading Buddies

• Pair each second grader with a fifth or sixth grader in the same school to read together. Reading buddy programs help young students develop a love of reading and, according to a Teacher Vision report by educators, "a greater motivation to read." Because younger students also read to their older partners every week, they also develop self-esteem and build reading fluency. When the partners meet each week, the older student can read to the student, and then have the student read to her. Practicing pronunciation, speed and articulation are key in this reading group exercise.
  
  

Reading and Creative Writing

• Ask students to read a book and come up with a way of transferring the story, or borrowing from the story, to put in their own words. A student may read a Beverly Cleary novel and get an idea for a character like one in the book. (See Resource 1). Another student may opt to try writing a poem based on the characters or setting in a story. Allow each student to share his work, or work in progress, with the class.
  
  

Music and Reading

• Students can bring in a song they love, read the lyrics and hear it played back.Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
  
  Combine music class and reading group time. Mix reading group time with music class lessons. Encourage a student to bring in her favorite song that has a lot of lyrics. The student can practice reading the song lyrics he brought in and then, with the help of the class, turn the lyrics into the song form. This will teach students about music and bring words even more to life, as do pictures. Students can also bring in a passage from a book or story they like and transform the passage into song. Maracas, tambourines, piano, guitar and symbols all make ideal accompanying instruments.