Lower Township Elementary Schools
Reading
Grade 2
Adopted August 28, 2024
Lower Township Elementary Schools
English Language Arts
Grade 2
Lower Township Board of Education
Gary Douglass, President
Monica DiVito, Vice President
Tricia Ryan, Secretary
Cindy Baldacchini
Lauren Cox
Lauren Randle
Lindsey Selby
Patrica Smith
Joseph Thomas
Jon Vile
Lower Township District Administration
Jeff Samaniego, Superintendent
Sarah Bowman, Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction
Christina Granero, Supervisor of Academic Achievement
Debra Keeler, Supervisor of Special Services
Interdisciplinary Connections |
Social Studies: 6.1.2.Geo.HE.3: Identify cultural and environmental characteristics of different regions in New Jersey and the United States. Activity: Read a nonfiction text about major cities and explain how nonfiction text features help to explain information as well as connect to what we know about NJ. Science: 2-LS4-1 Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats. Activity: Read a variety of nonfiction texts about plants and animals and their habitats. |
Integration of Technology |
Career Ready Practice: Consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of decisions. 9.4.2.DC.6: Identify respectful and responsible ways to communicate in digital environments. 9.4.2.IML.1: Identify a simple search term to find information in a search engine or digital resource. 9.4.2.TL.6: Illustrate and communicate ideas and stories using multiple digital tools (e.g., SL.2.5.). Activity: Explore a variety of topics for nonfiction reading. |
21st Century Skills |
Career Ready Practice: 9.4.2.GCA:1: Articulate the role of culture in everyday life by describing one’s own culture and comparing it to the cultures of other individuals (e.g., 1.5.2.C2a, 7.1.NL.IPERS.5, 7.1.NL.IPERS.6). Activity: Use nonfiction books to understand and discuss cultures. |
Career Education |
Career Awareness, Exploration, Preparation, and Training: 9.2.2.CAP.1: Make a list of different types of jobs and describe the skills associated with each job. Activity: Explore a variety of topics for nonfiction reading and discuss personal likes and dislikes. Discuss how this relates to job selection. |
Unit 1 Becoming a Big Kid Reader |
SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Reading GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade UNIT TITLE: Unit 1 - Becoming a Big Kid Reader LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days |
Unit Learning Goals |
Bend I: How do second graders regain automaticity, drawing on all they can already do as readers to read with stamina and fluency, returning to and renewing their knowledge of good reading habits? Bend II: How do readers draw on a knowledge of story structure to read a series of books with strong literal and also inferential comprehension? Bend III: How do readers rely on their knowledge of vowel flexing, vowel teams, and r-controlled vowels to decode with flexibility? |
Materials | |
Primary | Supplemental |
Mentor Texts:
Materials/Tools
|
|
Reading- Daily Targets | Instructional Activities |
Bend I | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
High leverage table conferences to teach: Reading Identity/Stamina/Engagement
Habits of Reading
|
Session 1: “Today I want to remind you that it’s super important to remember to do all the things you already learned to do. It can help to give yourself a little checkup sometimes, asking, ‘Am I doing the things I already learned to do?’” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that second-grade readers get stronger and stronger as readers by reading more and more, and for longer and longer.” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that in second grade, you can pick up a text and try to read it smoothly, right from the start. Big Kid Readers don’t need to read it first, word. by. word. Instead, you can scoop words up into phrases, reading them smoothly, right from the start.” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to remind you that Big Kid Readers solve words by breaking them into parts, and then putting the parts back together to make a word, and then Session 5: checking that the word makes sense. You use everything you know from phonics to do this work.” | |
Session 6: Video Session | |
Session 7: “Today I want to teach you that Big Kid Readers notice the directions authors leave for them. They know that when authors insert punctuation and use a special font, those authors are giving them directions for how to read the text.” | |
Session 8: “Today I want to teach you that to get skilled at reading aloud, it can help to notice how other people read aloud and to think, ‘I could try that too.’” | |
Bend II | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: High leverage small groups to teach: Chapter Book Reading
|
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that almost all stories have the same elements. If you know what these elements are, you can look out for them when you take a sneak peek and while reading. This helps you to understand better any story you read.” | |
Session 2: Video Session | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that when you read a whole series of books, you get to know the main character as well as you know your best friend. You can use the pictures and the words to learn what the character looks like, what he or she does, cares about, and feels strongly about, and likes (or doesn’t like) to do.” | |
Session 4: Video Session | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that to understand a character in your book, you want to do more than just notice what they say and what they do. It helps to also think about how they are feeling and why they might feel this way.” | |
Session 6: “Today I want to teach you that readers use the picture and the words to bring the story to life. You can envision/picture/imagine the characters, the setting, and how things are happening from page to page.” | |
Bent III | |
Session 1: “Today I want to remind you that the vowels are usually the trickiest part of a word. If you’re having trouble figuring out a word, you may need to try another vowel sound, especially if that word has a vowel team.” | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: High leverage small groups to teach: *Continue small groups from Bends I and II Decoding *Use Decodable Texts
|
Session 2: “Today I want to remind you that some vowel teams work in special ways. Some vowel teams work together to make a whole new sound. Big Kid Readers like you need to just learn their special sounds and remember them. For now, you can use a chart to help you, but after a bit, you just learn these like you learn some snap words.” I snapped my fingers. | |
Session 3: Video Session | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that after you have figured out a word in your book, you can go back and learn from that word. You can study it carefully to understand how each sound is spelled. That way if you see that word again, or another word like it, you’ll be able to read them in a snap.” | |
Session 5: Celebration Students look through their book baggies and select their favorite texts. Students then partner up and give one another book recommendations, sharing their favorite books and explaining why they love those books. |
Standards Priority Standards are in bold* |
RL.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. RL.2.2. Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message/theme, lesson, or moral. RL.2.3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges using key details. RL.2.5. Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action identifying how each successive part builds on earlier sections. RL.2.6. Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud. RL.2.7. Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot. RL.2.10. Read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, at grade level text complexity or above with scaffolding as needed. RF.2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. A. Know spelling-sound correspondences for common vowel teams. B. Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels. C. Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes. D. Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences. E. Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. A. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. B. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. C. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. SL.2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. A. Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions B. Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their explicit comments to the remarks of others. C. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. SL.2.2. Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally. SL.2.3. Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. SL.2.4. Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences. SL.2.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification |
Accommodations and Modifications | |
Special Education |
|
Multilingual Learners |
|
Students At Risk Of School Failure |
|
Gifted and Talented |
|
Students With 504 Plans |
|
Assessments | |
Formative | ● Informal running records ● Phonic Decoding Assessment: special vowels and two-syllable words |
Summative | ● Conference notes ● Reading Progressions |
Benchmark | |
Alternative | |
Unit 2 Becoming Experts |
SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Reading GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade UNIT TITLE: Unit 2 Becoming Experts LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days START OF UNIT: END OF UNIT: |
Unit Learning Goals |
Bend I: How do nonfiction readers use what they know about a topic to help them understand more about it? Bend II: How do readers look at many nonfiction text sets to develop knowledge and vocabulary about a topic? Bend III: How do readers look across multiple nonfiction genres to help them understand more about a topic? |
Materials | |
Primary | Supplemental |
Mentor Texts:
Materials/Tools
|
|
Reading- Daily Targets | Instructional Activities |
Bend I | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Table Conferences to support comprehension strategies
High leverage small groups to teach: Orienting to Nonfiction / Activating Background Knowledge
Vocabulary
Determining Main Topic/Central Idea
|
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that nonfiction readers are people who are fascinated by the world. They are experts in observation and curiosity. They pay close attention, they wonder, and they learn from the details they see and notice as they read.” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to remind you that it’s important to take a sneak peek, to get ready to learn. To do this, you look over the book. You don’t only think, ‘What will this book probably teach me?’ you also think, ‘What do I already know about that?’” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that readers of nonfiction texts know that the pictures, or graphics, in their books can be just as important as the words. It pays off to study everything the author included on the page and to think about the ways the graphics work with the words to teach even more.” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that when you bring background knowledge to your reading, you need to use that background knowledge as you read. You use it to help you think more about what you are learning to make connections and raise new questions.” | |
Session 5: “Readers, today I want to emphasize that readers read nonfiction to learn more. So after you read a part, it’s really important to think, ‘What do I know now? What new things did this teach me?’ Sometimes you retell bits of what you know in your mind.” | |
Session 6: “Today the all-important thing I want you to learn is this: when reading nonfiction, you need to ask, ‘What do I most need to remember? What’s important here?’ To do that, it helps to pay attention to what seem to be the big parts, the subtopics in the text.” | |
Session 7: “Today I want to teach you that when you read nonfiction, you are given the chance to learn some of the language of the topic. To learn that language, you want to notice it, to collect it, and above all, to use it.” Mini Celebration: Partners will rehearse what they have learned using their palms to talk about the main topic and their fingers to discuss the important details. Then, they will share their learning with another partner. | |
Bend II | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
High leverage small groups to teach: *Continue small groups from Bends I Vocabulary
Cross Text Synthesis
|
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that nonfiction readers go through life with a pocket full of rubber bands. When we find a book that fascinates us, we often decide to search for another book on the same topic—two books with a rubber band wrapped around them make for a text set. And the important thing is that you read the second book differently because you carry over what you have already learned.” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that when we read nonfiction and learn about a topic, we make snowballs in our minds. As we read more and learn more, some of what we learn will stick to one of those original snowballs. It’s as if we roll those snowballs around in the new information, and they get bigger.” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that there are a few predictable ways that information is connected within a nonfiction text. Noticing those predictable connections can help you hold on to what is most important.” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to remind you that when you are reading and you come across a long, tricky word, you can tackle the word part by part. You can think, which one of my strategies will help me read this word? And if that strategy doesn’t work, then you can try another strategy.” | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that when you build knowledge about a topic, you learn the words that are important to that topic. To get yourself ready to learn even more, you can sort your words into categories. Then, when you learn new words, you can think about how those words fit with what you already know.” | |
Session 6: Video Session | |
Session 7: “Today I want to teach you that readers of nonfiction do more than just collect information about a topic. When they’ve learned a bunch about a topic, they find ways to share their thinking and learning with others and to get those people to care about those topics too.” Mini Celebration: Students will share their learning with students from another classroom, perhaps first graders, and teach them about their topic | |
Bend III | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
High leverage small groups to teach: Adjusting thinking based on genre
|
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that when reading browsable nonfiction, you often start by browsing through a book as you browse through a store. But just as you often end up settling on a thing or two to buy, you often settle on a part or two to read closely.” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that reading browsable nonfiction asks for the reader to do more brainy work—more thinking—than the average reader does when reading a chapter book. All the white spaces on the page in browsable nonfiction are places where the reader is supposed to almost fill in the words. This kind of reading is more, not less, brainy.” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that to be a great reader of how-to or procedural texts, you need to let those texts teach you how to cook or make or fix or build the thing. It’s almost like the text becomes your teacher and you need to listen keenly to everything the teacher says and to do as you are told. You try to be a methodical, careful reader and learner.” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that readers of any kind of nonfiction text try to learn as much as they can as they read. And to do that, they approach the text thinking, ‘I need all the help I can get.’ They use all the help that authors give by drawing on all the parts of the page.” | |
Celebration: Reviewing their text sets and notes, students will think about all they’ve learned about a topic. Then, they will get to share what they’ve learned with visitors. You’ll coach readers to sound like expert reporters using pictures and new vocabulary learned about the topic. |
Standards Priority Standards are in bold* |
Reading RI.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. RI.2.2. Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text. RI.2.3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. RI.2.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area. RI.2.5. Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently. RI.2.6. Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. RI.2.7. Explain how specific illustrations and images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text. RI.2.8. Describe and identify the logical connections of how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text. RI.2.9. Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic. RI.2.10. Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at grade level text complexity proficiently with scaffolding as needed. RF.2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension RF.2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. A. Know spelling-sound correspondences for common vowel teams. B. Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels. C. Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes. D. Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences. E. Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. A. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. B. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. C. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. SL.2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. A. Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions B. Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their explicit comments to the remarks of others. C. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. SL.2.2. Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally. SL.2.3. Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. SL.2.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification |
Accommodations and Modifications | |
Special Education |
|
Multilingual Learners |
|
Students At Risk of School Failure |
|
Gifted and Talented |
|
Students with 504 Plans |
|
Assessments | |
Formative | ● Informal running records ● Phonic Decoding Assessment: special vowels and two-syllable words |
Summative | ● Conference notes ● Reading Progressions |
Benchmark | |
Alternative | |
Unit 3 Tackling Longer Words and Longer Books |
SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Reading GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade UNIT TITLE: Unit 3 - Tackling Longer Words and Longer Books LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days START OF UNIT: END OF UNIT: |
Unit Learning Goals |
Bend I: How can readers use their phonics skills to solve tricky words when reading more complex texts? Bend II: How can readers use knowledge of story elements, such as characters, plot, and setting, to understand and track longer, more complex texts? Bend III: How can readers read fluently, especially paying attention to phrasing and expression, to make more meaning from texts? |
Materials | |
Primary | Supplemental |
Mentor Texts:
Materials/Tools
|
|
Reading- Daily Targets | Instructional Activities |
Bend I | |
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that readers love nothing more than to arrange books in new ways. When you do that, you get tons of ideas for what you want to read next. The best is if you can arrange books with friends, because then you can find new books you didn’t know about, and you can fill your bins with books you want to read!” | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Word Solving High leverage small groups to teach: Students who need more phonics practice
|
Session 2: “The book says this,” and I read: “‘When you want to be brave and do something extra challenging. . . .” Here I added, “like tackling longer words!” I then resumed reading the book, “It helps to first do it with a friend. Not just any friend, but a helpful friend.’” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that word solvers use self-talk to remind themselves to try everything they know when they get to a tricky word, especially ones with tricky vowels! When words have tricky vowels, they try the sound one way, then another . . . then another!” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that readers don’t just read, they set up their lives so reading works. Sometimes that means asking a brother or sister or grandma or friend to be your reading partner, and then showing that person how to help.” | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you a new way that vowels can help you read words. When you are trying to read words and nothing else has worked, you can count the vowels and use that count to figure out how many syllables there are. Then you can tackle that longer word, syllable by syllable, part by part. | |
Session 6: “Today I want to teach you that when you want to read a syllable in a two-syllable word—say, robot— and you aren’t sure if the vowel is long or short, it can help to notice if the vowel is at the end of the syllable or if it is tucked between two consonants. If it is at the end of the syllable like in ro, it is usually long. If it is tucked between two consonants, it is usually short, like in bot.” | |
Session 7: “Readers, today I want to teach you that the most important part of being a brave reader is learning about yourself. You can look across all of the strategies for solving longer words and figure out which strategies are the ones that work best for you.” Mini Celebration: Students will be encouraged to identify word-solving strategies that work especially well for them and then use them to read longer words. | |
Bend II | |
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that as books get longer, it can be hard to hold onto the whole story. It helps to focus on the most important parts: the main character and the main problem. You can jot on sticky notes to keep track of the problem and what the character does to solve it.” | Everyday students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Word Solving Narrative Comprehension High leverage small groups to teach: Chapter Book Reading
|
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that the author often tells readers what is happening, but readers need to ask why as they read, and use what they already know to understand why things happen. It helps to use what you know about a character and to think back to earlier parts of the story to answer your why questions.” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that readers notice and stop when they don’t understand the story. Then, they reread to fix it up, thinking about how this part connects to the whole story, making sure to keep track of how the problem and characters are changing.” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that when you tell someone about a story you’ve read, it helps to retell only the most important parts, not every little detail. Readers can highlight the problem and solution to anchor their retellings.” | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that in longer books, the main character usually learns an important lesson near the end of a story. When you finish a book, you can stop and retell what happened, and then think, ‘What lesson did the character learn?’” Mini Celebration: Students will receive a bookmark that lists their new strategies for reading longer books and a longer book that matches their reading level. Students will then use all that they know to read the book with accuracy, fluency, and comprehension | |
Bend III | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Word Solving Narrative Comprehension Fluency High leverage small groups to teach: *Continue small groups from Bends I and II Fluency
|
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that, while readers of longer books spend most of their time reading in their heads, they also know that sometimes it’s helpful to read out loud. It can be particularly helpful to reread certain parts out loud to make sure that your ‘reading voice’— the one in your head—is smooth and fluent.’” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to remind you that you can make your reading voice just as smooth as your singing voice by reading in longer phrases. You can scoop up more words at a time by noticing the punctuation. Then, you can check that your reading sounds right.” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that when you are reading dialogue, make your voice, or the voice in your head, match how the character would talk. Sometimes there are dialogue tags to tell you who is talking and sometimes there aren’t, but you always know. If it’s an old man, the voice has a little bit of an old man feel. And if the character is whining, the voice whines.” | |
Session 4: Video Session | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that reading a story fluently so it can be understood requires that you adjust your speed. If you go too fast, your words/all/blur/together, and . . . if . . . you . . . go . . . too . . . slow, it’s hard to make sense of the text. Readers learn to adjust their speed so it’s just right.” | |
Session 6: Celebration “The class will write a letter to the first graders who are starting to read chapter books. To do so, the second graders will think about what word-solving tips and words of encouragement their teacher can record in a whole class letter. Then, the first graders will join the second graders for some reading. Your second graders will read their books and offer important advice to their first-grade friends for reading longer words and longer books. The class letter will be gifted to the first graders.” |
Standards Priority Standards are in bold* |
RL.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. RL.2.2. Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message/theme, lesson, or moral. RL.2.3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges using key details. RL.2.5. Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action identifying how each successive part builds on earlier sections. RL.2.6. Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud. RL.2.7. Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot. RL.2.10. Read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, at grade level text complexity or above with scaffolding as needed. RF.2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. A. Know spelling-sound correspondences for common vowel teams. B. Decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels. C. Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes. D. Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences. E. Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. A. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. B. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. C. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. SL.2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. A. Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions B. Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their explicit comments to the remarks of others. C. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. SL.2.2. Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally. SL.2.3. Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. SL.2.4. Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences. SL.2.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification |
Accommodations and Modifications | |
Special Education |
|
Multilingual Learners |
|
Students At Risk of School Failure |
|
Gifted and Talented |
|
Students with 504 Plans |
|
Assessments | |
Formative | ● Informal running records ● Phonic Decoding Assessment: special vowels and two-syllable words |
Summative | ● Conference notes ● Reading Progressions |
Benchmark | |
Alternative | |
Unit 4 Stepping into the World of the Story |
SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Reading GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade UNIT TITLE: Unit 4 Stepping into the World of the Story LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days START OF UNIT: END OF UNIT: |
Unit Learning Goals |
Bend I: How can readers enter a world of characters and settings and make them come alive by using all they know about characters? Bend II: How can readers see characters as friends, making sure they notice how they are feeling, who they are, and what they care most about? Bend III: How can readers read and talk about fiction books as part of a club, using all they know about characters and their stories to help them talk and understand? |
Materials | |
Primary | Supplemental |
Mentor Texts:
Materials/Tools
|
|
Standards Priority Standards are in bold* |
Reading- Daily Targets | Instructional Activities |
Bend I | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
Narrative Comprehension High leverage small groups to teach: Developing a Knowledge of Genre - Realistic Fiction / Mystery / Fantasy
Envisioning
Monitoring for Sense
|
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that the best way to let reading take you to the world of the story, is to find books you love.” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to remind you when you start a story, answering questions like who the characters are, where the story takes place, and what the problem is, matters. But at the start of a story, it also matters that you feel like you are stepping into the world of that story, imagining that you are part of that other world.” | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that when you step into the world of your story and picture what’s happening, you don’t just see characters standing in one spot, frozen. Instead, you make your characters move. You add their expressions—what their faces look like—and their exact movements to what you’re picturing.” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that when readers are in the world of their story, they’re constantly thinking about what will happen next. Readers predict how the story will go, based on what has already happened and on what they know about how stories usually go.” | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that when you’re stepping into the world of the story, it helps to see the whole story in your mind—and that means thinking about where the characters are and noticing when they move from one place to another.” | |
Session 6: “Today I want to teach you that part of stepping into a story is not just seeing the movie in your mind and stepping through, but also, having and noticing your reactions too.” | |
Session 7: Video Session | |
Session 8: Mini Celebration “Beginning a reading scrapbook that documents their reading lives. Students can include their favorite books, genres, and characters. They can reflect on their reading partners and the things that are most important to them in a reading partnership. These scrapbooks carry students through the rest of the unit and the year.” | |
Bend II | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Narrative Comprehension High leverage small groups to teach: *Continue small groups from Bends I Vocabulary
Thinking Deeply About Characters
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Session 1: “Today I want to remind you that one way to get to know the characters in stories better is to know more about their feelings. You can pay attention to tiny clues, like what characters say, or what happens to their bodies, that are hints about the characters’ feelings.” | |
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that when trying to understand a character’s feelings, it is helpful to keep in mind that characters—just like people in the world—often feel more than one thing at the same time. This means that when you think about character feelings, you might ask yourself, ‘What are all the feelings the character might be having right now?’” | |
Session 3: “Readers, when you’re thinking and talking about characters’ feelings, you can choose words from a collection of possibilities—like a bunch of words that mean mad, or that mean happy, but each has a different intensity. And then you can think, “What’s the exact right word to describe my character’s feelings? Is my character really mad, as in furious, or just a little mad, as in annoyed?” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that when you find yourself noticing that your character has strong feelings, it’s worth asking, ‘What’s causing those feelings?’ Characters, just like people in the world, feel things for a reason.” | |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that you can think about the way a character is acting, paying attention to what the character says and does, how the character acts, reaching for the right word to describe the character.” | |
Session 6: “Today I want to teach you that characters in stories are like people in real life—their feelings change. It’s always interesting to not only notice when a character’s feelings change but to investigate and figure out what causes that feeling to change.” | |
Session 7: “Letter to Teachers: Readers Share Books and Characters pages 122-123” | |
Session 8: Mini Celebration: “Add to scrapbook” | |
Bend III | |
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that in a book club, you can take a sneak peek together and then read the all-important start of the text together. Then, you can chat about what you’re understanding, wondering, and picturing.” | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Narrative Comprehension Talk and Collaboration High leverage small groups to teach: *Continue small groups from Bends I and II Coaching Book Clubs
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Session 2: Video Session | |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that you can think about the ways you are the same and different from the character in your book. Is your life similar? Are your feelings and traits similar?” | |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that books can stay with you for a long time. One way to think about this is to wonder, ‘What big life topic is this book about—family, new things, moving, friendship, mistakes, bravery—and what might this book make me think about that topic?’” Celebration: adding to their reading scrapbook and creating a “shelfie” for the important texts that they’ve read. Then, students will share their shelfies in little clubs on the rug. |
Accommodations and Modifications | |
Special Education |
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Multilingual Learners |
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Students At Risk of School Failure |
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Gifted and Talented |
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Students with 504 Plans |
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Assessments | |
Formative | ● Informal running records ● Phonic Decoding Assessment: special vowels and two-syllable words |
Summative | ● Conference notes ● Reading Progressions |
Benchmark | |
Alternative | |
Unit 5 Growing Knowledge Together and Writing Research-Based Nonfiction |
SUBJECT: English Language Arts - Reading and Writing GRADE LEVEL: Second Grade UNIT TITLE: Unit 5- Growing Knowledge Together and Writing Research-Based Nonfiction LENGTH OF STUDY: 35 days START OF UNIT: END OF UNIT: |
Writing Unit Learning Goals | Reading Unit Learning Goals |
Bend I: How do writers take notes on a topic and then use those notes to research? Bend II: How can writers lift the level of their research-based writing and use peer feedback to help them get ready to study a new topic? Bend III: How can writers use their knowledge of forms of texts to enhance their writing? | Bend I: How can readers talk with partners before, during, and after reading nonfiction texts to deepen their understanding of a topic? Bend II: How can a reader build knowledge around a topic by reading across a text set, collaborating with book club members, talking and thinking about that topic together, and leaning on executive-functioning skills to utilize nonfiction reading strategies? Bend III: How can a reader build knowledge of interest-based topics with club members by making plans to read that match a reader’s interests and by considering why a topic matters to or affects a reader’s life? |
Materials | |
Writing Mentor Texts:
Materials/Tools
| Reading Mentor Texts:
Materials/Tools
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Writing- Daily Targets | Reading- Daily Targets |
Bend I **Always teach writing lesson BEFORE reading lesson to keep reading/writing alignment | |
Bend I | Bend I |
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that if you are researching a new topic so you can write about it, you’ll need to find a way to collect and hold onto what you learn. It can help to keep a research notebook, filled with sketches and notes. | Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that when scientists want to learn about a new topic, they observe closely to notice tiny details. All that noticing gets them curious, and they often say, ‘I wonder . . .’ or ‘How does . . . ?’” |
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that when you are learning about what your topic—your subject, actually—does, it can help to collect information in sequential or chronological order, collecting what the topic does first, then next, then next.” | Session 2: “Today I want to remind you that when you are curious and want to learn about a new topic, you get an easy-to-read, start-here book and preview it, thinking, ‘What will this book probably teach me?’” |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that when you research a topic, you want to push yourself to use the specific vocabulary words that are important to that topic in your notes. It helps to jot definitions for the terms so you can remember to use the terms and teach the reader about them in your writing.” | Session 3: “Readers, today I want to remind you that it’s important to pause after you read a chunk of your text—perhaps a chapter, or a section—and ask, ‘What did this part teach me? What do I know now?’ To answer that question, you can retell the important things you’ve learned. Then you can read on.” |
Session 4: “Writers, today I want to remind you that when you go to write a nonfiction chapter book, whether it’s about a topic you’ve been researching or a topic you already knew a ton about, it’s important to make a plan before you begin writing. Once you have a plan, you can jump right into writing, using all you already know as a writer of information books.” | Session 4: “Today I want to remind you that readers of nonfiction texts know that the illustrations, or graphics, in their books can be just as important as the words. It’s important to study everything the author includes on the page and to think about the ways the graphics work with the words to teach even more.” |
Session 5: “Today I want to remind you that when you’re trying to write a lot, it’s important to be a flexible speller by using everything you know to tackle challenging words as you write. When one strategy doesn’t work, don’t give up—try a different one.” | Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that when you come to a tricky long word, or you read a word and it doesn’t sound right, you want to do something to figure out how to pronounce it. It can help to think, ‘Which parts sound right? Which parts don’t?’ Then, you can use strategies to figure out those tricky parts.” |
Session 6: “Today I want to remind you that nonfiction writers aim to paint a picture of their topic in their readers’ minds. They can do this by including detailed descriptions and comparisons for how something looks, acts, or sounds.” | Session 6: “Today I want to teach you that when you’re researching and writing about a topic, you can use rereading to help you learn more about subtopics of your topic that you don’t know enough about yet. That focused rereading can help you learn more so you can write and teach more!” |
Session 7: “Today I want to teach you that information writers think about the way they want their pieces to be read. They use capital letters and ending punctuation to give their readers clear signals on where to pause when they are reading. That helps readers think about one idea and be ready for another.” Share/ Mini Celebration: Sets students up for the next bend. Students gather together in mixed-topic groups and share places in their writing that showcase their newest writing skills and share information about the insect that they researched. This allows students to select an insect to study for the next part of the unit. | Session 7: “Today I want to teach you that when you pause your research, it’s helpful to think over everything you’ve learned and prioritize what’s most important to share. Then, you can choose important graphics and talk long about them, sharing what you know.” |
Bend I High Leverage Small Groups/Conferences | |
Writing | Reading |
Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
High leverage small groups/conference to teach: Research Notebooks
Drafting
Skill | Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
Word Solving Fluency Nonfiction Comprehension page 6-9 High leverage small groups to teach: Main Topic/Central Idea
Synthesis within and across texts
Word level pronunciation and meaning
Supporting partners:
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Bend II **Always teach writing lesson AFTER reading lesson to keep reading/writing alignment | |
Bend II | Bend II |
Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that when you start a new research project, you bring with you and use all your knowledge about the topic of your research and the process of research.” | Session 1: “Today I want to remind you that whenever you research a new topic, you bring all you know about being a researcher to that work. It’s almost like you keep your anchor charts, with their reminders of your strategies, right at your elbow as you do new research.” |
Session 2: “Today I want to remind you that as researchers study more and more sources, they discover more and more information that they then try to layer into their notes. When you discover new information, it helps to think, ‘Where are my notes should this go?’ | Session 2: “Today I want to remind you that whenever you’re learning about a new topic, it helps to ask, ‘What do I already know about this topic in general?’ That can help you realize that you know a lot from research you’ve already done.” |
Session 3: “Today I want to remind you that if you want to make your writing the best it can be, it helps to study materials that help you imagine what your writing could be. Lists of qualities of good writing help, as do examples of good writing.” | Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that as you notice fascinating characteristics of your insect, you’ll also find yourself wondering and asking questions. When that happens, you can read to investigate those questions, and find answers to why insects are the way they are.” |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach that you can introduce readers to each chapter, just like you introduce them to your whole book. You can use all the strategies you know for writing introductions to books to write introductions to each of your chapters.” | Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that one of the lucky things about researching with a club is that when you have an especially big and important question, your club can help investigate that question. By working together, you and your club can learn more than you would alone.” |
Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that if you observe something closely—whether in life or a video—you will discover all kinds of new information about your topic. For example, you can discover more about how the topic moves and what it does.” | Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that researchers are constantly collecting words related to their topics. Looking across those words and discussing how they connect can help you learn even more about your topic.” |
Session 6: “Today I want to teach you that one way writers teach about their topics is by telling about how things compare to each other. To do this they often use the suffixes -er and -est.” | Session 6: “Today I want to teach you when you come to an unfamiliar word in your reading, it helps to think, ‘Is this word a thing, a noun? Or is it an action, a verb? Or is it something else?’ Once you figure out what kind of word it is, you can ask, ‘What might the word mean?’ and come up with words that could fit.” |
Session 7: “Today I want to teach you that writers work to make sure that each page and each sentence has as much teaching power as possible. When they want to add new information, writers can add new sentences but they can also add more to the sentences they already have.” Mini Celebration: Invite guest students into the classroom to learn about the insects students researched and position second-grade students as researchers and experts on their insects. | Session 7: “Today I want to teach you about an important question researchers often ask. As they read a nonfiction book, they’ll ask, ‘Why did the author write this book?’ Usually, the author has their point of view about the topic that they want to share.” |
Bend II High Leverage Small Groups/Conferences | |
Writing | Reading |
Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
High leverage small groups/conference to teach: Research Notebooks
Drafting
| Every day students will:
Voiceovers/coaching at tables: Word Solving Fluency Nonfiction Comprehension page 6-9 High leverage small groups to teach: Determining Importance
Vocabulary
Text Structure
Supporting Students in Research and Habits
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Bend III **Order does not matter for alignment - Choose what is best for your schedule | |
Bend III | Bend III |
Session 1: “Today I want to remind you that nonfiction comes in lots of shapes and sizes. When a nonfiction writer has important information to teach, the writer takes a little time at the start of writing to think, ‘How do I want my text to go?’ Writers might even use other nonfiction texts as models to imagine possibilities for their writing.” | Session 1: “Today I want to teach you that sometimes your research is so important that you need to teach others. When you have an important idea, one you want to convince others of, it helps to make sure you have reasons and evidence to back up your ideas. Rereading can help you find those reasons and evidence.” |
Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that one way nonfiction writers set themselves up to write a ton is by figuring out the spelling of complicated words that are central to their topic, beforehand. You can build yourself a sort of personal word wall, so then when you are writing, those words almost become your own snap words.” | Session 2: “Today I want to teach you that there are a bunch of special text features that can help you find the information you need in most nonfiction. Depending on the book, you might use captions or bold print or subheadings or the table of contents or even indexes to help you find information.” |
Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that learning to write well involves trying new things, learning new things; yes. But learning to write well also involves remembering to do everything you learned earlier. And it can be helpful to take time to remind yourself of the things you already know to do.” | Session 3: “Today I want to teach you that it’s really powerful to read about other topics that are similar to your topic. This kind of reading helps you see important ways that your topic is similar to or different from that other topic, which can teach you a lot.” |
Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that one way to write a new type of book is to study examples of that kind of writing and say, ‘I think I could write like that.’ To write a really good book, you want to keep in mind everything you know about strong nonfiction writing.” | Session 4: “Today I want to teach you that when researchers teach others, they jot down what they want to say so they can make sure the information is organized and so they can remember all of the information they want to share.” |
Session 5: “Today I want to remind you that nonfiction writers use pictures to help their readers envision important parts of what they are teaching. And then they use those details to teach more in the words too.” | Session 5: “Today I want to teach you that whenever you are preparing to teach others, it’s important to think about what you’ll say, and also how you’ll make your talk interesting. It helps to study a mentor, asking, ‘What does this presenter do that I can do too?’” |
Session 6: Celebration “Transform the classroom into an insect museum and invite guests to take a gallery walk and admire the different formats and insects students decided to write about.” | |
Bend III High Leverage Small Groups/Conferences | |
Writing | Reading |
Every day students will:
Text Structures
| Every day students will: Voiceovers/coaching at tables:
Word Solving Fluency Nonfiction Comprehension page 6-9 High leverage small groups to teach: Point of View
Additional
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Standards Priority Standards are in bold* |
Reading RI.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. RI.2.2. Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text. RI.2.3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. RI.2.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area. RI.2.5. Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently. RI.2.6. Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. RI.2.7. Explain how specific illustrations and images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text. RI.2.8. Describe and identify the logical connections of how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text. RI.2.9. Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic. RI.2.10. Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at grade level text complexity proficiently with scaffolding as needed. RF.2.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. A. Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. B. Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression. C. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. SL.2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. A. Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions B. Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their explicit comments to the remarks of others. C. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. SL.2.2. Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally. SL.2.3. Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. SL.2.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification Writing W.2.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use evidence-based facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a conclusion, W.2.5. With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed through self-reflection, revising and editing. W.2.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations). W.2.8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. |
Accommodations and Modifications | |
Special Education |
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Multilingual Learners |
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Students AtRisk of School Failure |
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Gifted and Talented |
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Students with 504 Plans |
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Assessments | |
Formative | ● Nonfiction Reading Performance Assessment ● Running Records ● Phonic Decoding Assessment (as needed) |
Summative | |
Benchmark | |
Alternative | |