Grade 2 English Language Arts: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 2 english language arts in the Nunavut Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Uqausiliriniq: communication and language, creative and artistic expression, and reflective and critical thinking.
- Comprehension: listen, view and read to understand a range of texts.
- Production: speak, write and represent ideas clearly for different audiences and purposes.
Easy ways to practise english language arts at home
- Take turns reading a page aloud, and chat about what happened and why.
- Keep a short journal, with one or two sentences a day to start.
- Hunt for a new word a day and use it at dinner.
- Ask for a prediction before turning the page: “What do you think happens next?”
What each unit covers
Rhyme Time
Hearing rhymes and spotting word families (-at, -ig, -op). Both help with reading and spelling new words.
Sound Detectives
Letter teams that make one sound (sh, ch, th, wh, ee, ai, oa) and clapping syllables.
Sight Words and Reading with Expression
Recognizing common words quickly and noticing punctuation to read in phrases with the right pausing and expression.
Word Power
Building compound words, finding opposites and spelling plurals (-s and -es).
Build Sentences
Telling the four sentence types apart, spotting complete sentences, and joining two ideas into a compound sentence.
Word Pictures
Spotting similes (comparisons with like or as) and repeated consonant sounds, and what they add to a text.
Story Builders
Reading short stories, then naming the character and setting, explaining why things happened, and retelling events in order.
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.
Text Features
Using a table of contents, charts and icons to find information, and following order words in steps and journal entries.
Asking Questions and Finding Facts
Using what you know, asking basic questions, choosing texts and facts for a purpose, and using topic words.
Plan, Write and Make It Better
Planning with lists and webs, different types of writing for different readers, revising unclear writing, and combining words, pictures and sound.
Media, Trust and Who Is in the Story
Recognizing media, deciding with guidance whether a source or character can be trusted, and noticing who is shown or missing in texts.
Listening, Asking and Polite Talk
Using non-verbal cues to show listening, asking questions to learn more, adding to others' ideas and changing how you talk for different people.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Nunavut report card guide.
Common questions
Take turns reading a page aloud, and chat about what happened and why. Keep a short journal, with one or two sentences a day to start. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
The Nunavut Curriculum Grade 2 english language arts units include rhyme time, sound detectives, sight words and reading with expression, word power, build sentences, word pictures.
Free printable Grade 2 english language arts practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.