Theme: Stories Near and Far from the Past Informational Reading/Writing History of Thanksgiving This unit focuses on student comprehension of informational text with interdisciplinary science and social studies connections. This unit introduces students to who the Pilgrims and Native Americans were, learn about their lives, think about what it was like to during that time period. It will help students discover connections between their own live experiences and those of the Pilgrims and Native Americans, making history interesting, meaningful and relevant. Students will compare their lives to the lives of Pilgrim and Native American children.
Informational Reading In addition, students will engage in texts about Forms of Water on Earth to be able to compare and contrast different bodies of water and their characteristics. Students will identify the main purpose of a text including what the author wants to explain, answer or describe. (RI.2.6). Students will explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text. (RI. 2.7) Students will also describe how reasons support specific points the author makes. (RI. 2.8). In addition, students compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic. (RI. 2.9). Finally, students will read and comprehend second grade informational text. (RI. 2.10).
Foundational Reading and Skills In this unit, students will built their ability to demonstrates a command of conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing and speaking. They will know and begin to apply grade level phonics and world analysis skills in decoding words. They will also improve their ability to read with accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Writing In this unit, students will build their skills with informational/explanatory writing. They will write, focusing on facts, participate in shared research and writing projects, and use their writing to recall and retell information.
Humanities This unit builds on the students’ analysis of the games children play in different countries and parts of the world and helps students analyze the lives of children in different cultures. Students observe and record how they spend their time and compare and contrast those observations with those of their peers as well as with those of their peers in partner schools around the world. They learn the concepts of rights and responsibilities and use those as categories to examine how they and other children spend time. They prepare presentations that they will share in class and with peers in other countries using telecommunication technologies. They then study childhood in urban and rural areas and examine school attendance and the education experience of students in different countries and regions. This unit also introduces the concept of child labor around the world.
Essential Questions
How can students read and understand grade level informational texts?
How can students can identify the main topic of a text, including what an author wants to answer, explain or describe?
How can students identify what the structure and features of informational texts are and how they are different from other types of texts?
How can students compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic?
Informational 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 multi-‐paragraph 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 images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text. RI.2.8. Describe 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. By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Foundational Reading RF.2.3. Know and apply grade level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-‐ syllable words
Know spelling-‐sound correspondences for additional common vowel teams.
Decode regularly spelled two-‐syllable words with long vowels.
Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes.
Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-‐sound correspondences.
Recognize and read grade-‐appropriate irregularly spelled words.
RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
Read on-‐level text with purpose and understanding.
Read on-‐level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
3. Use context to confirm or self-‐correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.
Writing W.2.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section. W.2.5. With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing. W.2.6. With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. 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.
Speaking and Listening SL.2.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about second grade topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
Follow agreed-‐upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.
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 or through other media. 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.2.5. Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings. SL.2.6. Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 on pages 26 and 27 for specific expectations.)
Language L.2.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Use collective nouns (e.g., group).
Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish).
Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).
Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.
Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).
L.2.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple meaning words and phrases based on second grade reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
Use sentence-‐level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a
known prefix is added to a known word (e.g.,happy/unhappy, tell/retell)
Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of and unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional)
Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).
Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.
L.2.5. Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
Identify real-‐life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy or juicy).
Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).
L.2.6. Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and begin read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g., When other kids are happy that makes me happy.)