The New Kid on the Team

The New Kid on the Team is a realistic and humorous fiction story about a boy recounting the time a new kid joined his boys softball team. The new kid was very small but turned out to be very good at softball. While playing the Cobras, the new kid was their team’s last batter. The new kid hit a homerun, and the team was so happy! The new kid’s big hat fell off, and the team realized the kid was a girl! The story is narrated from the boy’s perspective with dialogue between characters and illustrative text.

The New Kid on the Team is a simple recount story. Critical thinking questions are provided to guide the reader. Illustrations match the text. A visual information guide is provided for teachers to draw students’ attention to the font styles, layout, and design. There is an infographic at the end of the book outlining the parts of a recount including the who, where, when, sequence of events, and conclusion. An activity on drawing their own visual map of a recount is provided for teachers to extend students’ learning.

Readers develop vocabulary such as nouns (team) and verbs (lifted). Focus some attention on homonyms, antonyms, and synonyms. Opportunities arise to discuss apostrophes to show possession (batter’s box) and apostrophes within contractions (aren’t). Focus on short and long vowel a, suffix er (faster), base words (baggy), and silent letters (whistled).

This title is from the Sails Literacy series. Hook readers and ignite their curiosity - over 850 levelled texts with bright, colourful, sophisticated designs.

Guided reading: K

DRA: 20

Grade: 2