Charleston Day School
Summer Learning Challenge
for Rising First Graders
Dear Friends,
Summer break is here! Can you believe it? You are on your
way to first grade! Guess what! We have a summer
learning challenge especially for you! The challenge
contains one activity for you to do each day of your summer
break. See how many you can do, but remember to play,
have family time, and read, read, read! Some activities you
will need a partner for, and some you will do by yourself.
The goal is to have fun and keep learning. We can’t wait to
see you at Charleston Day School in August!
With great excitement,
The First Grade Team
Glossary/Key Phrases
Ten Frame
6
Tens Rod and Ones
RAINBOW WRITE
Write the word in pencil, then
trace the word using 3 different
colors.
Rising First Grade
Suggested Summer Reading
Bestselling author Brandon Mull has been quoted as saying,
“While growing up, some of my most memorable experiences
during those long summer breaks happened inside the pages of
a book.” What better way to pass the time than peeling open
the cover, smelling the print as it wafts off the page, putting
your nose right up to the illustration, and not coming up for air
until you have made it to the very last page! We know we plan
to escape with a good book in our hands and maybe our toes in
the sand this summer. To help you with your child’s reading
escape, we have put together a suggested reading list. The
books are divided into genres and contain some of our favorite
reads! There are books for your child to read independently,
books for you to read together, and books for you to read to
your child. The list is by no means complete or exhaustive of
ALL the good books out there, but rather a guide to help you
both get started! Feel free to choose other books. The goal is to
read! While we are not requiring a set number of books or
certain types of books to be read over the summer, we do
encourage you to make reading a DAILY, fun part of your child’s
summer experience. We can’t wait to see you in August!
Happy summer and happy reading,
The First Grade Team
How to Books:
How to Teach a Slug to Read
How to Find a Fox
If Your Monster Won’t Go to Bed
Caring for Your Lion
How to Wash a Woolley Mammoth
How to Read a Story
When Grandma Gives You Lemon Tree
Alliteration:
Some Smug Slug
The Great Fuzz Frenzy
Double Trouble in Walla Walla
Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut
Many Marvelous Monsters
The Worrywarts
Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke
Betty Burgled Bakery
Wordless Picture Books:
The Chicken Thief
Roosters Revenge
Pancakes for Breakfast
The Lion and the Mouse
A Ball for Daisy
Beaver is Lost
Wave
Sidewalk Flowers
Flotsam
Winter in the Snow
Rhyming:
Giraffes Can’t Dance
E I E I O How Old McDonald Got His Farm
A Moose that Says Moooooo
The Gruffalo
The Fleas Sneeze
Frog on a Log
High Five
Which Way to Witch School
Billy Bloo is Stuck in Glue
The Rooster Crows
Pets:
Bark George
Wolf Camp
Paul Meets Bernadette
Madeline Finn and the Shelter Dog
The Perfect Pet
Alfie the Disappearing Turtle
Truman
They All Saw a Cat
Mrs. Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Kittens
Stripes the Tiger
Children Make Terrible Pets
Charlotte and the Rock
The Summer Nick Taught his Cat to Read
Bob Not Bob
Sparky!
Picture Book by Dog
Melissa Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets
Can I be Your Dog?
I want a Dog
Spring:
It’s Springtime Mr. Squirrel
Rose’s Garden
Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden
A Perfect Day for Digging
Too Many Carrots
When Spring Comes
------------------------------------
Winter:
Waiting for Winter
Shelter
The Tea Party in the Woods
Winter Dance
Willow’s Snow Day Dance
Claudia and Moth
Owl Moon
Is That You Winter?
The Snowy Day
The Snow Dancer
Dinosaurs:
Dinosaur Farm
Brontorina
Dad and the Dinosaur
The Dinosaur Expert
In the Past
How Do Dinosaurs Series
Hattie and Hutson
-------------------------------
Fairytales:
Cinderella
Prince Cinders
The Three Silly Billies
Little Red Riding Hood
Look Out Jack the Giant is Back
Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion
Goldilocks and just the One Bear
Rapunzel
Falling for Rapunzel
Weather:
The Big Umbrella
The Storm Book
Cloudette
Come on Rain
Thunder Cake
The Rain Came Down
Pignic
May I Come In?
On a Magical Do-Nothing Day
Feel the Wind
-------------------------------------
Nature:
Our Tree Named Steve
The Curious Garden
Miss Rumphius
The Wump World
The Tin Forest
Fishing in the Air
Butterfly Park
The Tiny Seed
Families:
Grandpa Green
Make Way for Ducklings
Thank you, Omu
The Relatives Came
Listen Buddy
Excellent Ed
One Family
Gaston
Mrs. Biddlebox
Holidays:
Room on a Broom
Turkey Trouble
Uncles and Antlers
The Little Reindeer
Auntie Clause
Turkey Clause
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree
Little Red Ruthie
Dusk
Love from Giraffes Can’t Dance
Monsters:
There’s a Nightmare in my Closet
Leonardo the Terrible Monster
Most Loved Monster
I Need my Monster
Even Monsters Need Haircuts
Where the Wild Things Are
Quit Calling Me A Monster
Smarter Than a Monster
Grumpy Monster
Friendship:
Gordon and Tapir
The Bear and the Piano
Strictly No Elephants
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
Baabwaa and Wollian
Recess Queen
When Charley Met Emma
Sweety
Bear Came Along
The Rabbit Listened
Ocean:
A House for Hermit Crab
The Pout Pout Fish
Peanut butter and Jellyfish
Smiley Shark
Sports
On the Ball
The Goalkeeper Goof
I Got It
Allies Basketball Dream
Caldecott Medals:
The Last Stop on Market Street
Sam Bangs and Moonshine
One Cool Friend
Sleep Like a Tiger
South Carolina Book Awards:
This Way, Charlie
Facts vs Opinion Vs Robots
Your Place in the Universe
Swish! The Slam Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-
The Rainbow Fish
Clumsy Crab
Commotion in the Ocean
Mister Seahorse
------------------------------------
Space:
A Moon of My Own
Zelda’s Big Adventure
Papa, please get the moon for me
Hey Ho, to Mars We’ll Go!
Mousetronaut
There’s No Place Like Space
Roaring Rockets
Astronaut Handbook
How to Catch a Star
Max and Marla
Olympig
-----------------------------------
Non-Fiction:
Giggle and Learn Books
Gail Gibbons Series
Exploring the Elements Series
Cat in the Hat Learning Library Series
Whoosh!
The Crayon Man
Thirsty, Thirsty Elephants
I Hear the Pickle
Hidden Figures
Who Would Win?
All the World
What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?
Tops and Bottoms
Officer Buckle and Gloria
This is Not My Hat
Zen Shorts
Flying Harlem Globetrotters
The Camping Trip
Eyes that Kiss the Corners
Watercress
Math Concepts:
The Doorbell Rang
Sheep Won’t Sleep
Pigeon Math
One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller
Seeing Symmetry
Equal Schmequal
Counting on Frank
------------------------------------
ABC (alphabet books):
What Pete ate A-Z
A Was Once an Apple Pie
Q is for Duck
Old Black Fly
Click Clack Quackity Quack
A Busy Creature’s Day Eating
ABC I Like Me
Ellsworth’s Extraordinary Electric Ears
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Tomorrow’s Alphabet
Poetry:
Forest Has a Song
A Light in the Attic
One Minute Till Bedtime
I’m Just No Good at Rhyming
Today at the Bluebird Café
Runny Rabbit Returns
--------------------------------------
Onomatopoeia:
Slop Goes the Soup
Tiny Little Fly
Listen, Listen
Hush!
The Emperor Lays an Egg
The Rain Stomper
Blueberries for Sal
One Duck Stuck
Diversity:
Chrysanthemum
The Sandwich Swap
Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon
We’re All Wonders
Hooray for Wodney Wat
The Name Jar
Milo Imagines the World
Alma and How She Got Her Name
Freedom Soup
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed
Series:
Charlie and Mouse
The Confetti Kids
Mo Jackson
Mercy Watson
The Princess in Black
Cam Jenson
Fly Guy
A-Z Mysteries
Jack Books
Detective Gordon
Adventures of Otto
Pig and Wig
Penguin Young Readers
The Very Fluffy Kitty Papillon
Memoirs of a (hamster, tortoise, goldfish, etc.)
Fox and Chick
Sight Word Fun
Attached is a list of high frequency words. Please continue
to practice reading and writing these words over the
summertime. Here are some suggestions to make it fun!
o Rainbow write!
o Make a scavenger hunt around your house!
o Unscramble letters
o Make a Bingo board with sight words. Play Bingo!
o Write sight words with a white crayon on a piece of
white paper. Water paint over them to reveal the
word!
o Pick one day to go over all of the words flashcard style.
Pick the words that were missed and use them for the
rest of the week to review.
o Play Sight Word War-each player turns over a sight
word, and whoever reads the sight word first, wins both
cards.
o Make an extra set of cards and play Go Fish.
o Make a Tic Tac Toe board with sight words. Play Tic Tac
Toe.
Sight Word Practice
went
us
big
mom
purple
had
down
I
look
yes
five
blue
brown
get
like
who
tan
but
ten
any
in
at
came
you
are
her
your
it
want
all
said
up
many
six
yellow
make
Sight Word Practice
his
green
how
to
she
him
here
this
out
do
we
my
gray
be
when
three
orange
and
can
dad
does
our
goes
very
nine
from
then
of
go
see
four
have
if
now
will
has
Sight Word Practice
am
got
they
red
was
black
one
good
help
put
were
seven
not
these
that
pink
with
no
those
me
for
some
eight
play
two
so
find
away
he
saw
gone
by
white
is
on
the
