Wild Reading® Level 2

Wild Reading® level 2 is a nature-inspired, hands-on curriculum that gives children a strong foundation in phonics, reading, and writing skills.

By integrating multisensory and nature-based learning activities with explicit, sequential phonics instruction based on the Orton-Gillingham method, Wild Reading® Level 2 will help your child become a proficient reader without being dry or boring.

Wild Reading® Level 2 teaches children the skills they need to progress from reading short vowel words to reading words with long vowels, two-syllables, vowel teams, and R-controlled vowels! Children learn how to break up words into their components, identify syllable patterns and types, and syllable division which helps support decoding and spelling skills.

Students learn each phonic skill at the word level, then work on reading and writing these words at the sentence level, before finally reading them in longer decidable texts. Each week includes two hands-on word activities, a sentence activity, fluency review, and multisensory dictation.

The Wild Reader is a new feature in Level 2. It includes 22 original nature-inspired decodable stories for independent reading.

Another new feature of Level 2 is the Fluency Word Cards, which are perfect for quickly reviewing and practicing word reading skills. When laminated these cards are great for throwing in your backpack for outdoor learning!

Reading comprehension skills are introduced through reading quality picture books outloud, relaxed discussions, and activities. The goal is to build background knowledge, language skills, and begin the introduction of key comprehension skills. The comprehension skill topics covered include characterization, problem and solution, point of view, perspective, making connections, summarizing, inferencing, and more. Extensive book lists are included.

Weekly nature inspired writing activities help children practice their emerging skills. Activities include writing your own seed catalog, thank you notes to nature, and telling the story of animal tracks.

Wild Reading® is designed to offer families flexibility in the amount of outdoor instruction incorporated. Most core activities can be done indoors or out with slight modifications. Two weekly nature enrichment activities make learning fun and help children learn more about the natural world. Highlights include a study of bird communication, decomposition experiments, and experiencing how seeds spread by walking around outside in your socks to see what sticks to them!

In addition, there are five informal assessments that help you track your child’s progress and target skills that may need further review.

Check out the full scope and sequence for Wild Reading® Level 2 below.

Final-scope-and-alt-book-choices Download

Wild Reading® Level 2 is recommended for children who have completed Wild Reading® Level 1 or are ready to read words beyond short vowels.

Your child is ready for Wild Reading® Level 2 if:

They can read short vowel words and simple sentences.

They know the sounds common digraphs and blends make and can read them.

They can read words with open syllable such as: me, sky, go, and my.

They know the high frequency words included in Wild Reading Level 1

They can write a sentence containing short vowel words and basic high frequency words.

Read my post about readiness for level 2 (including an assessment) HERE.

Sequential phonics instruction based on the Orton Gillingham method.
High frequency words are introduced based on the week’s phonics skill or appearance in texts. This approach supports children’s orthographic mapping development.
Weekly nature-inspired writing activities.
Hands-on, nature-inspired reading and writing activities support a variety of learning styles.
Independent reading skills are developed by reading decodable stories in the Wild Reader, as well as through decodable books.
Fluency word cards make it easy to quickly review each phonics skill and practice word reading inside or outside!
Reading comprehension skills are taught using quality picture books and interactive activities.
Nature enrichment activities allow your child to dive deeper into nature, science, and survival skills.
Explicit instruction is provided on how to break words into their components to help children develop solid decoding and orthographic mapping skills.
Each week follows a familiar rhythm, which alongside weekly plans and material lists, makes planning easy.
Assessments are given throughout the year to monitor progress before moving on to new material. The fluency rate may also be monitored monthly using the Wild Reader. These are both optional.
Most activities are flexible and can be done indoors or outdoors with slight modifications.

No. While Wild Reading® Level 2 picks up where Level 1 left off in terms of reading and writing skills development, it is a completely separate program and can be used independently. Wild Reading® Level 2 is appropriate for any child meeting the readiness criteria discussed above under target ages.

Below is a list of essential supplies used in many of the activities in Wild Reading® Level 2. Each week contains a list of specific materials and books needed. Additional materials for the chosen nature enrichment activities are listed alongside each activity.

List of Materials Used All Year

• Two folders with the middle section that holds hole-punched paper or thin three-ring binders

• Blank paper

• The Alphabet Series Volume 2 by Frances Bloom and Mary Geiger (Books 19-29) (available at Rainbow Resources, School Specialty, and Christian Book all have international shipping) (See below about a digital alternative if these are unavailable or out of your budget)

• Index cards

• Binder ring

• 3 ring hole puncher

• Sticky notes

• Chalk: chalkboard chalk and sidewalk chalk

• Chalkboard: I have a 12 x 20 inch one that works well outdoors.

• Movable alphabet (purchased or DIY)

• Permanent marker

• Highlighter

• Variety of nature field guides local to your area

• Library access for suggested read aloud books. There is a complete book list in Appendix.

• Colored pencils or markers

• Playdough or clay

• Two folders to store book pages

• Salt tray or a DIY salt tray (a small shallow box filled with salt)

• Field guides local to your area

Print and Prepare These Materials

• Wild Reader (print and bind/staple)

• Worksheets

• Fluency Cards (print, cut, laminate, single hole punch, add binder ring)

• Assessments

Many of these materials can be found on the Wild Learning® Amazon Store at: www.amazon.com/shop/wildmathcurriculum

If you are unable to source the Alphabet Book Series or they are out of your budget, I suggest these digital readers instead. Please be aware that these are not a perfect substitution, the sight words and skills may not align perfectly and are shorter than the Alphabet Book Series.

I suggest the following digital readers from Grade School Snapshots on the Teachers Pay Teachers Website. The four sets of readers are approximately $24 plus printing costs.

Set 7, 8, 11, 12, and 14 of the Decodable Readers to Support the Science of Reading by Grade School Snapshots found at: https://www.teacherspayteachers .com/Store/Grade-School-Snapshots/Category/Decodable-Books-487112

See the alternative reader sequence here

Wild Reading® Level 2 is a digital curriculum. You will receive four PDF files with your purchase: the main curriculum and appendices (276 pages); the Wild Reader (56 pages), the fluency cards (34 pages); and the worksheets (74 pages). You can print it at home, at a print shop (online or brick and mortar), or use it digitally (only printing the printable resources).

Shops such as Hardcopy HQ specialize in printing for homeschoolers and typically are less expensive than print shops/office stores.

While the color version of the curriculum is lovely, printing in black and white is a great way to stretch your budget.

Full printing instructions are included in the downloads.

You may also choose to print off one chapter each week (about 6-10 pages). This can be a great strategy to print at home while not overworking your printer!

The main focus of Wild Reading® Level 2 is on developing students’ reading and writing skills.

Wild Reading® Level 2 does not continue the Matilda the Mouse read aloud story from Level 1. Instead, Level 2 includes 22 nature-based decodable stories in the Wild Reader and decodable books by Francis Bloom and Mary Geiger that students read each week.

Weekly nature-themed writing activities help beginning writers gain confidence.

Reading comprehension skills are supported through reading quality picture books that build background knowledge and language skills, discussion, and activities.

Level 2 contains two nature enrichment activities each week. This provides enrichment activity choices for families, while not being overwhelming!

We are working on adding videos to support parents and teachers with teaching some of the elements of Wild Reading® that may be new such as syllable division. You can see our current videos at https://www.youtube.com/@discoverwildlearning/videos

Click here for Sample Pages and product listing