Reading Comprehension Workbook: Reading for Comprehension, Level B - 2nd Grade Paperback – December 31, 2007

I used to use these books when I taught ESL overseas and so I have had a lot of experience with them. I think I have taught 5 out of 6 levels as well as some of the pre-level A early, early reader levels (Reading for Comprehension Readiness, Books 1-3). I particularly like them for using interesting topics with very accessible sentence structures at the earliest levels. Back in America, I am currently using books A-D with my own kids in grades 2,3, and 4 for our unplanned foray into homeschool.Level B starts with relatively short readings like Level A, but has considerable longer readings towards the end. For example, the second story "Why do skunks smell bad?" has three paragraphs with 4-5 sentences each. The story as the American flag always been red, white, and blue?" near the end has four paragraphs and is 20 sentences long. The sentences throughout are fairly simple in structure even in the longer stories, which is great for second graders. It would also work well to build confidence of older students who are not as good at reading. The topics are not at all babyish.There are 46 stories in the book, with each followed by five straightforward reading comprehension questions and a sixth open-ended on-topic question that can be used either for writing or discussion. They are all non-fiction readings. The titles are questions that give the main idea of the paragraph. My kids find the topics pretty interesting, and they will occasionally refer back to what they have learned in these books or reread them. Some examples of titles from Level B are "Why did Abraham Lincoln grow a beard?", "What is in a camel's hump?", "How do frogs grow?", "Who was the first African American pilot?", "How are tulips different from other flowers?", and "What is origami?".The only downside is the lack of an answer key. There are only five straightforward questions and the readings are pretty easy for an adult to skim, so it's not that much of a downside. It does get annoying when I let the grading slide too long or they work ahead and do many stories at a time. On the other hand, since my kids are close in age, I am beginning to have kids in levels that siblings have already done so I can use the old books as answer keys. I wouldn't let the lack of answers be a deal breaker. These books really are excellent.

I've used these books (Readiness levels 1-3 and Reading levels A-E) for so many years with students, that the covers are all worn off. We have a set of 6 books for each level and do not write in them so they can be used year after year. I often find a brief youtube clip to go with the topic of the article and pique students' interest. They enjoy a couple of minutes of introduction and discussion before reading the article independently, and then aloud. We often use a Kagan structure to answer the questions as a group. Each article also has a question that we use as a writing prompt. The content is a balance of natural science, history, and geography. My primary focus is on teaching reading, but it's great to have interesting content that builds knowledge as we build reading skills.

This is a great supplement for my son in second grade. We do it every night as homework, but he asks to do his homework because he enjoys this! The stories are short and the questions aren't difficult, so it's building his confidence. The last question is always asking the child to relate something in their own opinion about the story. My son always gets excited when it's time for the last question because it's all about him at that point. This book has made him more interested in actually focusing on what he's reading. The stories are interesting and we've both learned from them!

Most of the stories were fine but there were too many PC subjects and some I didn't have my child read. My child could do the book independently and that gave me a break to get ready for the next subject. Not sure if I would have bought this book if I had been able to view the whole book first.

I bought this for my second grader for homeschooling. It’s his absolute favorite subject, he asks me to do that one even when we aren’t scheduled for it. It has lots of fun facts and interesting history. We are only 3 months into the school year and he’s almost done with the book, I have to remind him to pace himself but I may just go ahead and order the next level since he loves it so much.

This is exactly what I was looking for my son. He is having difficulty with reading comprehension where you read a paragraph and answer questions. Many of the other reading comprehension books had spelling and grammar, which he doesn't have a issue with. He has been doing a lesson a day and we have seen a big improvement on his reading comprehension at school

GREAT book. We ordered another, and the samples in this book are far superior. No answer key, but it takes about a minute for adults to read each passage. Better if you read together anyway. Would highly recommend for readers in the 2nd grade struggling with comprehension.

Exceptional book, works well. Showed his teacher what he was working on, she was impressed with it. Forcing him to read and understand, not just guess from pictures. Highly recommended.