2nd grade English Language Arts
12 units matched to the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards. Kids see this subject as “Reading & Writing”.
Focus areas
- Reading: decoding longer words, main ideas, and comparing stories
- Writing, speaking and listening: writing opinions, information and stories, and asking questions
- Language: building vocabulary and using grammar, spelling and punctuation
Units
Unit 1
Rhyme Time
Hearing rhymes and spotting word families (-at, -ig, -op). Both help with reading and spelling new words.
Benchmark: 2.1.1.1 · hearing, blending and changing the sounds in words
Unit 2
Sound Detectives
Letter teams that make one sound (sh, ch, th, wh, ee, ai, oa) and clapping syllables.
Benchmark: 2.1.1.2; 2.2.1.2 · syllables, digraphs and vowel teams in reading and spelling
Unit 3
Story Builders
Reading short stories, then naming the character and setting, explaining why things happened, and retelling events in order.
Benchmark: 2.1.4.3 · the characters, setting, conflict, resolution and events of a story
Unit 4
Word Power
Building compound words, finding opposites and spelling plurals (-s and -es).
Benchmark: 2.1.8.1; 2.1.8.2 · compound words, multiple-meaning words and working out new words
Unit 5
Book Explorers
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.
Benchmark: 2.1.5.2; 2.1.5.3 · captions, bold print and pictures in information texts
Unit 6
Joining Sentences
Joining two short sentences into one compound sentence with and, but, so or or, and putting a comma before the joining word.
Benchmark: 2.2.1.3; 2.2.6.2 · joining ideas in sentences and using words that signal what happens next
Unit 7
Grammar Gears
Using the right form of the verb “to be”, choosing pronouns, comparing with -er and -est, and picking joining words like but, or and because.
Benchmark: 2.2.1.3 · common, proper and plural nouns, and regular and irregular verbs
Unit 8
Word Pictures
Spotting similes (comparisons with like or as) and repeated consonant sounds, and what they add to a text.
Benchmark: 2.1.8.1 · how words and phrases shape the meaning and tone of stories and poems
Unit 9
Reading Detectives
Reading short texts to work out who is telling the story, what will happen next, how characters feel, and how things are the same and different.
Benchmark: 2.1.4.1; 2.1.6.1 · asking and answering who, what, where, when, why and how questions, and who tells a story
Unit 10
Text Features
Using a table of contents, charts and icons to find information, and following order words in steps and journal entries.
Benchmark: 2.1.5.2; 2.1.6.2 · using text features and search tools to find information
Unit 11
Asking Questions and Finding Facts
Using what you know, asking basic questions, choosing texts and facts for a purpose, and using topic words.
Benchmark: 2.2.7.1; 2.1.9.1 · asking research questions and collecting information from sources
Unit 12
Media Detectives
Children compare ads, signs, posters, books and videos, tell what each one is for, notice the choices their makers made, and pick good sources for a research question.
Benchmark: 2.1.9.2; 2.1.9.1 · telling facts from opinions and judging whether a source fits the topic
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