2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 5 of 12
Book Explorers
Titles, captions and kinds of texts
What your child practices
Book words (author, illustrator, title, chapter, table of contents, caption, heading, diagram), fiction and non-fiction, and what letters, recipes, maps and lists are for.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 11 · information from titles, captions and pictures
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The title and the author's name are usually on the front cover.
- The author writes the words; the illustrator makes the pictures.
- Different texts do different jobs: a letter shares news, a list helps you remember.
Example: Who writes the words in a book? The illustrator draws the pictures. The author writes the words. Answer: the author
Book Explorers in Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 5 of 12 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Word Power and before Joining Sentences.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 2nd grade guide for Maine parents
- Printable 2nd grade English Language Arts sheet
- Maine report cards explained
Source: Maine Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
A list says: milk, eggs, bread. Why is it written this way?
📝- it explains how to bake bread
- it tells a long story
- it is quick to read and remember
it is quick to read and remember
Hint: Lists are short on purpose. Each line is one thing.
Question 2
Which title sounds like a made-up story (fiction)?
- 🦌Facts About Deer
- 🌧️How Rain Forms
- 🫖The Talking Teapot
🫖 The Talking Teapot
Hint: Teapots can't really talk, so the author made it up.
Question 3
A story about a dragon who bakes cakes is…
🐉- fiction
- non-fiction
- a recipe
fiction
Hint: Fiction is made up by the author. Dragons who bake are pretend!
Question 4
Where in a story do you meet the characters and the setting?
📖- the beginning
- the back cover
- the very last word
the beginning
Hint: Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning introduces who and where.
Question 5
You see a page number at the bottom of a page. What does it help you do?
📄- find your place in the book
- know who drew the pictures
- know how the story ends
find your place in the book
Hint: Page numbers help you find a page and keep your place.
Question 6
Who writes the words in a book?
- ✍️the author
- 📖the reader
- 🎨the illustrator
✍️ the author
Hint: The author is the person who writes the words.