Hearth & Story Second Grade Brain Food: Tales from the Back Seat

Some of the best family conversations start with, “Did you know…?”

And lots of those conversations happen in the car!

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This year, your student will explore strange animal facts, surprising moments in history, and stories that sound almost too weird to be true. Inspired by the stories he told to keep his family entertained on road trips, Jackson Sodano’s Tales from the Back Seat gives curious kids lots to read, think about, and share.

Hearth & Story Second Grade Brain Food helps students grow as readers, thinkers, and beginning researchers.

What’s Inside?

Tales from the Back Seat

From fish that jump through mud to a famous spaghetti tree prank, students will read short, engaging nonfiction texts about all things weird and unusual. They’ll practice finding key details and identifying main ideas.

Tackle this Text

Each reading passage helps students practice remembering, understanding, applying information, and analyzing the text. Through both written answers and conversations with a parent or peer, students will compare ideas, look for patterns, and compare and contrast readings.

Home Sweet Habitat

This year’s research project starts with students touring animal homes through Home by Isabelle Simler. Then students will practice using text tools such as captions, indices, glossaries, and more to tackle research texts. Finally, students will choose an animal to research using two nonfiction books.

Create & Explain

To share their discoveries, students will create a project showing their animal’s home. This could be a a model, diorama, poster, poem, or another idea of their own. Then, students will write an informational paragraph explaining how the home is built and how it keeps the animal safe.

Hearth & Story Second Grade Brain Food: Tales from the Back Seat is targeted to second grade Common Core standards, but it is also appropriate for third and fourth graders. You will need a copy of Home by Isabelle Simler, as well as two nonfiction books your child will choose for research. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.