Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy 2nd grade reading level question and PT conference

It seems silly, but I realize that I don't really have a good idea of what a typical non-gifted 2nd grader would be reading. Magic Tree House?

The reason I am thinking about it is that my very mathy DS8 has finally gotten the reading bug, just at the point where I was becoming concerned about how far his reading lagged behind his math (although I have always been told that his reading is at or slightly above expectations). Over the course of the last month, my kid who would resist reading anything with more than 4-5 lines on one page has suddenly started reading Osborne's version of the Odyssey and just told me that he checked out the Lightning Thief from the library and read the first 20 pages right away (yep, here's the Greek mythology obsession!). I am thrilled that he is starting to read books that are closer to his comprehension level, which has always been very high. However, I don't really know how this fits with what typical 2nd graders do. I have a p/t conference in a week and I had planned on going in with a request for more math differentiation, but now I am wondering about reading. Should ask for something in that area or will he be ok with the typical curriculum? I'm just not sure? I don't want to go in with too many demands, but I also want to make sure he is getting what he needs. TIA for any ideas on this.

The middle 50% of typical non-gifted second graders are reading at Lexile levels between 150L and 500L.

http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/grade-equivalent/grade-equivalent-chart/

Henry and Mudge, the Star Wars books, the Animorphs books, and Ricky Ricotta's Giant Robot are around the top end of that range.

ETA: The Lightning Thief is Lexile level 740L, around the middle of the average Lexile range for sixth graders.

Some other books late second early third grade for boys..

Stink (Judy Moody's brother), Geronimo Stilton, Captain Underpants.

Also for early second grade I would suggest Fly Guy (series)

Oh my, I guess I should say something then, huh! lol I knew these books were above grade level, but I didn't know by how much.

Thanks for that link aculady, our school does not use lexile levels (that I know of) so this is an interesting site to browse. It looks like the level for the Odyssey is actually a bit higher than the Lightning Thief, although they are much shorter. And the Magic Tree House books, which I thought were maybe average are still above that Lexile level. Very interesting.

I am visiting his class this afternoon for a party and I think I am going to sneak a peak at the books in his bin. I am guessing they are probably not at this level, but I wonder what they are giving him to read.

FWIW, my DD zoomed through the Mary Pope Osborne version of the Odyssey about 6 months before she was willing to tackle Percy Jackson. The length makes a big difference.

Yes, it will be interesting to see if he yet has the stamina to get through the entire Lightning Thief.

From what I read on the Lexile website, I guess their measure are about language complexity rather than length of book or content level, which still can make a big difference?