MP3460
Includes
Assessment
Pages!
Reading Well 2–3
Milliken’s Reading Well reading series provides teachers and parents
with a wide variety of activities to use at home or in the classroom to enhance your
reading program.
Reading materials and styles of writing include realistic fiction, biography, poetry,
fantasy, informational articles, myths, legends, tall tales, and plays or skits.
The comprehension activities have been selected to provide opportunities for students
to practice a variety of reading skills. A list of comprehension skills for all grade levels is
included on the Reading Comprehension Chart on page 1.
A variety of assessment rubrics helps you track progress in achieving those skills.
Each book in the series is sequential, allowing students to build on skills previous
learned. The various levels available allows you to select the one most appropriate for
an individual student or class.
Reading
Well
Grades 2–3
written by
Cindy Barden
illustrated by
Corbin Hillam
Author
Cindy Barden
Illustrator
Corbin Hillam
Book Design and Production
Good Neighbor Press, Inc.
Copyright © 2002
Milliken Publishing Co.
All rights reserved.
The purchase of this book entitles the individual teacher/purchaser to reproduce copies
by any reproduction process for single classroom use. The reproduction of any part of
this book for use by an entire school or school system or for any commercial use is
strictly prohibited.
Table of Contents
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
24
25
26
28
30
32
33
34
36
38
40
41
Reading Comprehension Skills
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Using Student Assessments
Individual Activity Assessment
Oral Reading Assessment
Story Summarizing Assessment
Student Reading Comprehension Skills Assessment
Student Reading Log and Assessment
A Trip to the Farm
The Four Seasons
Terrible Lizards
Recipe for Lemonade
Color Coded
More House Work
Katie Goes Hopping
What Will Happen Next?
He Had a Dream
Happy Holidays
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Cause and Effect
The Rest of the Story
City or Country? Which Is Better?
Alligators and Crocodiles
The Land Down Under
How About a Parakeet?
Gingerbread Houses
Devan’s Letter
Hurray for the Red, White, and Blue!
Crispy Waffles Cereal
Two Great U.S. Presidents
Yi-Fei’s Hobby
Jeremy to the Rescue
A New Story
Answers
ii
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Reading Comprehension Skills
Activities provide opportunities for students
in grades 2 and 3 to practice these reading
comprehension skills.
Skill
Page numbers
Relate pictures to text
9, 10, 12, 17, 25, 32
Distinguish between reality
and fantasy
15
Detect cause and effect
20, 39
Recognize the main idea
9, 18, 30
Compare and contrast
14, 23, 24, 31, 32, 35
Identify significant details
11, 25, 30, 32, 35, 37, 39
Recognize rhymes
15
Sequence events
12, 16, 19, 23
Follow instructions
9, 12, 13, 14, 25, 28, 29, 37
Use context clues
15, 26, 29, 31, 36
Predict outcomes
16, 21
Draw conclusions
11, 23
Classify
26
Distinguish between fact
and opinion
33
Identify supporting details
11, 26, 31, 37, 39
Make judgements
25
Increase vocabulary skills
29, 36
1
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy, developed by Benjamin Bloom,
divides cognitive objectives into six categories
ranging from simple to complex. Milliken’s Reading
Well series provides opportunities for children to
meet these six objectives.
Knowledge is the ability to memorize information
and recall specific facts.
Skills include recording, outlining, listing, discriminating between facts and opinions,
classifying items, distinguishing between definitions and examples, and summarizing
material.
Comprehension is the ability to grasp the meaning of what has been learned rather
than simply memorizing facts.
Skills include comparing and contrasting like and unlike items, identifying steps in a
process, interpreting charts and graphs, translating verbal material to mathematical
terms, estimating consequences, patterning, and predicting outcomes.
Application is the ability to use material previously learned in new situations.
Skills include inferring, estimating, applying concepts to new situations, ordering,
sequencing, understanding changes in word meanings, and constructing graphs and
charts.
Analysis is the ability to understand both the content and structural form of material
and the ability to break material into its component parts.
Skills include writing analogies, decoding, using logic, drawing conclusions, predicting
sequences, making inferences, and distinguishing between cause and effect.
Synthesis is the ability to put parts together to form a new whole.
Skills include planning, deductive reasoning, creative thinking, testing hypotheses,
drawing conclusions, problem solving, and planning a project.
Evaluation is the ability to use definite criteria to judge the value of material for a
given purpose.
Skills include developing and evaluating criteria, determining appropriateness and
relevancy of information, discovering common attributes, and evaluating material for
extraneous information.
2
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Using Student Assessments
Assessment forms can measure student progress on a variety of reading comprehension
skills. They also enable you to track a child’s literary development over time. Completed
forms can be shared with students and their parents, used as motivational tools, and
used as guides when completing report cards.
Individual Activity Assessment
Most activities in the Reading Well series provide opportunities for students to sharpen
several reading comprehension skills.
The Individual Activity Assessment form can be used as a follow-up for any activity in this
book. A copy of it can be attached to the completed activity for students to take home.
Oral Reading Assessment
This form allows you to track students’ oral reading skills. It can be used on a monthly or
quarterly basis and will be a helpful reference tool at parent/teacher conferences.
Story Summarizing Assessment
This form provides a means to assess a student’s reading comprehension level through
oral or written summaries completed by students.
When used to assess an oral summary, the form can be completed with the student at
the end of the summary.
For written summaries and/or book reports, this form can be attached to the student’s
work and sent home for parent review.
Student Reading Comprehension Skills Assessment
This form allows you to assess a student’s overall level on many reading comprehension
skills. It can be used on a quarterly basis to track progress and provides valuable
information for parents about their child’s progress.
Student Reading Log and Assessment
This form is a self-assessment tool for students as well
as a progress report. It provides an opportunity to
learn at what level a student is comfortable reading
and to suggest appropriate reading material for the
future, providing input for both students and parents.
3
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Individual Activity Assessment
Student’s name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________
Activity title: ______________________________________________________________________
Skill Level
4
3
2
1
Student
Student
Student
Student
has mastered this skill
shows high level of proficiency
has basic understanding of this skill
needs improvement on this skill
Skills needed to complete this activity.
Check all that apply.
Skill level
_____ Relate pictures to text
_____
_____ Distinguish between reality and fantasy
_____
_____ Detect causes and effects
_____
_____ Recognize main idea
_____
_____ Compare and contrast
_____
_____ Identify significant details
_____
_____ Recognize rhymes
_____
_____ Sequence events
_____
_____ Follow instructions
_____
_____ Summarize material
_____
_____ Use context clues
_____
_____ Predict outcomes
_____
_____ Draw conclusions
_____
_____ Synthesize
_____
_____ Determine point of view
_____
Suggestions to help student improve these skills: ____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
4
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Oral Reading Assessment
Student’s name: ___________________________________________________________________
Skill Level
4
3
2
1
Student
Student
Student
Student
has mastered this skill
shows high level of proficiency
has basic understanding of this skill
needs improvement on this skill
Dates of assessment
Reading Skill
Skill Level
Recognizes when words do not
make sense or sound right
_____
_____
_____
____
Self-corrects if word doesn’t
make sense or sound right
_____
_____
_____
____
Pays attention to end punctuation
_____
_____
_____
____
Reads fluently
_____
_____
_____
____
Reads with expression
_____
_____
_____
____
Understands what he/she has read
_____
_____
_____
____
Overall assessment
_____
_____
_____
____
Notes to help student improve: _____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
5
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Story Summarizing Assessment
Student’s name: _____________________________________________ Date: _______________
Story Title: ________________________________________________________________________
Scoring
3 detailed
1 fragmentary
2 partial
0 inaccurate
Story elements
Description of setting (time and place)
Score: ____
Description of main characters
Score: ____
Description of problem(s) encountered
Score: ____
Sequencing of major events
Score: ____
Resolution of problem
Score: ____
Total score: ________
Scoring Guide
Level
Total Score
Proficient
13–15
Capable
9–12
Developing
5–8
Unsatisfactory
0–4
6
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Student Reading Comprehension Skills Assessment
Student’s name: ___________________________________________________________________
Skill Level
4
3
2
1
Student
Student
Student
Student
has mastered this skill
shows high level of proficiency
has basic understanding of this skill
needs improvement on this skill
N/A not applicable at this time
Dates of assessment
Skill
Level of Skill (1–4)
Relates pictures to text
_____
_____
_____
_____
Distinguishes between reality and fantasy
_____
_____
_____
_____
Detects causes and effects
_____
_____
_____
_____
Recognizes the main idea
_____
_____
_____
_____
Compares and contrasts
_____
_____
_____
_____
Identifies significant details
_____
_____
_____
_____
Recognizes rhymes
_____
_____
_____
_____
Sequences events
_____
_____
_____
_____
Follows instructions
_____
_____
_____
_____
Summarizes material
_____
_____
_____
_____
Uses context clues
_____
_____
_____
_____
Predicts outcomes
_____
_____
_____
_____
Draws conclusions
_____
_____
_____
_____
Determines point of view
_____
_____
_____
_____
Overall assessment
_____
_____
_____
_____
7
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Student Reading Log and Assessment
Student’s name: ___________________________________________________________________
Title of Book
Check one box
Easy
Just right
Hard
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
____________________________________________________
_______
_______
_______
The book I liked best was: __________________________________________________________
because __________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Assessment of Student Reading Log
_____ Student is reading above level expected.
Keep up the great work!
_____ Student is reading at level expected.
Good job!
_____ Student is reading below level expected.
He/she needs to work harder.
Suggestions for books student might enjoy are: _____________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
8
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
A Trip to the Farm
Last week Jay’s class went to visit a farm. They saw many animals.
Three pigs played in a mud puddle. Two ponies ate hay. A cow tried to
jump over the fence! They saw a chicken and four baby ducks. The
farmer also had a striped cat and a spotted dog.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
This story is about
.
Draw the animals Jay’s class saw at the farm.
9
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
The Four Seasons
Write a title for each picture. Color the pictures.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
My favorite season is
because
10
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Terrible Lizards
Dinosaurs lived millions and millions of years ago. Some ate plants and
some ate meat.
Tyrannosaurus was the largest meat-eater. Its teeth were six inches long.
Stegosaurus was a
plant eater. It had
sharp points on its tail.
The word dinosaur
means “terrible lizard.”
Some dinosaurs were
as large as whales,
while some were
as small as chickens.
Write the answers.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Stegosaurus was a
It had sharp
eater.
on its tail.
Tyrannosaurus was the largest
eater.
Its teeth were
long.
Dinosaur means “terrible
All dinosaurs were very large.
.”
YES
NO
11
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Recipe for Lemonade
Lemonade
Ingredients:
1
⁄2 lemon
sugar
2 teaspoons
1
Add sugar
.
⁄3 cup water
ss
la
g
a
to
in
1
n. Pour juice
1 serving.
s
e
k
2 lemo
⁄
a
e
M
z
s.
e
e
e
b
u
Sq
cu
Add four ice
r.
ti
S
r.
te
a
w
and
Number the pictures in order from 1 to 5 to show how to make lemonade.
________
________
________
________
________
Ask an adult to help you make lemonade.
12
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Color Coded
Use the code to color each house the right colors.
H = HOUSE
G = GREEN
R = ROOF
Y = YELLOW
W = WINDOW
B = BLUE
D = DOOR
P = PURPLE
Examples: H/Y means color the house yellow.
R/P means color the roof purple.
H/G
R/Y
W/B
D/P
H/Y
R/G
W/P
D/B
H/P
R/B
W/G
D/Y
H/B
R/P
W/Y
D/G
13
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
More House Work
Look at the houses you colored on the last page. Follow the directions.
Dave’s house is blue with a purple roof. Draw Dave standing by the door.
Leah’s house has blue windows and a purple door. Put a sun in the sky by
Leah’s house.
Toby lives in a purple house with a yellow door. Draw a tree by
Toby’s house.
Jo’s house is the only one with a green roof. Put the number 1 on the
door of her house.
Fill in the chart. In the first column, write the colors of your house.
What if you could paint your house any colors at all? In the second
column, write the colors you’d like your house to be.
My house is
I’d like my house to be
house
roof
windows
doors
bedroom walls
bedroom floor
kitchen walls
kitchen floor
14
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Katie Goes Hopping
One day Katie, the kangaroo,
Went exploring at the City Zoo.
She started off to see the frogs
Then visited with the three wart hogs.
She hopped into the lion’s den,
But quickly hopped back out again.
She hopped some more and found herself
Face to face with the rhino, Ralph.
She saw an ostrich, a wallaby,
And three koalas high in a tree.
She jumped so far she went ker-plunk
And landed on the elephant’s trunk.
When she hopped into the gorilla’s lap,
She reached in her pocket and pulled out a map.
“I’ve seen the giraffes and the buffalo,
But now I think it’s time to go
Back to the place where kangaroos
Are safe and happy in the zoo.”
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Could this really happen?
Why or why not?
Write the rhyming words from the poem.
kangaroo
frogs
den
\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\ \\\\\\\\\
wallaby
lap
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
buffalo
15
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
What Will Happen Next?
A robin searched for food for her babies.
She found a large tasty worm.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
What do you think will happen next?
Shamara and her friends raked all the leaves into
huge piles. Then they put their rakes away.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
What do you think Shamara and her friends will do next?
Cal dumped the cake mix into a bowl. He added
eggs and water and mixed it all together. Then he
put the batter in a pan.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
What do you think Cal will do now?
Tasha was excited about the new computer
game her friend gave her. She turned on the
computer and put in the disk.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
What do you think Tasha will do next?
16
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
He Had a Dream
Martin Luther King, Jr. was
born in Atlanta, Georgia on
January 15, 1929. As a boy, he
enjoyed baseball, basketball,
football, and other sports. He
also read many books.
Draw a picture for each heading.
Young Martin
When he grew up, Dr. King
spoke to people about
changing unfair laws. He said
it was his dream that
someday skin color would not
matter. Everyone would be
treated equally.
In 1986, the third Monday in
January became a national
holiday to honor the birthday
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King’s Dream
A Hero Remembered
17
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Happy Holidays
Write a topic sentence that states the main idea for each story.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
After dad cut off the top, I took out the squishy
middle part. Then I drew a face on the pumpkin.
Dad cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth. On
Halloween, we put a candle inside and lit it.
We had the best jack-o-lantern of all!
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
We watched the parade in the morning.
Then we had a picnic and played baseball.
When it was dark, we watched the fireworks
explode in the sky. It’s the only holiday in
the middle of summer!
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Molly cut hearts from red and pink paper.
She added glitter and stickers. Then she wrote
a special message on each one. Everyone
thought Molly’s hearts were beautiful.
18
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Baa, Baa Black Sheep
At one time, pioneers made their own clothing from wool. Making
cloth from wool takes much work.
First the sheep must be sheared. Their wool is cut off in spring. Then the
cut-off wool is washed and carded. Carding wool removes all the tangles.
Next the wool fibers are spun. Spinning twists the fibers into yarn. After
that the yarn is dyed. Yarn can be dyed any color of the rainbow. Some
people use yarn for knitting sweaters, scarfs, and other items.
Another way to make clothing from wool is to weave the yarn into
cloth. Once the cloth is made, it can be cut and sewn to make coats,
dresses, skirts, hats, sweaters, and other warm clothing.
At one time, people sheared their sheep and made their own wool.
Today, few people make their own cloth. Only the shearing is still done
by hand.
Number the six steps in order for making wool cloth.
_____ weaving
_____ dyeing
_____ washing
_____ shearing
_____ carding
_____ spinning
19
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
Cause and Effect
Draw lines to connect the sentences that tell what happened and why.
The lamp fell
off the table
and broke.
Josh ran a twomile race.
Josh taught his puppy a
new trick.
His puppy howled when he
heard the noise.
Josh and his
puppy went
for a walk in
the woods.
He got a good
grade on his test.
Josh played basketball in
the house.
His puppy chased a squirrel.
Josh studied hard for his
spelling test.
His puppy
rolled over.
The first time
Josh played the
violin, the sound
was terrible.
He was very thirsty.
20
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460
Name: ______________________________________________________ Date: _______________
The Rest of the Story
Write an ending sentence for each story.
Shaque saw a black cat. “Oh no,” he thought. “Black cats are bad
luck.” He was so busy thinking about the black cat that
he didn’t see what was in the middle of the sidewalk.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Tina baked a cake for her mom’s birthday. Her aunt and uncle came
for the birthday party. Tina’s aunt sat on the cake.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Rachel closed her eyes. She threw a penny in the wishing well and
made a wish. The next day her wish came true.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Brett liked to sleep. He slept late every morning. He took naps at school.
He slept in the car, at movies, anywhere and everywhere. One day Brett
suddenly woke up.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
21
Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.
reproducible
MP3460