WATERFORD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM

GRADE  2

 

IMPLEMENTATION

 

Teachers must plan a comprehensive language arts instruction that supports the diverse learning needs of all students.  A minimum of at least ten (10) hours per week should be planned for and should include the following components:

*      Read aloud

*      Teacher modeling and mini- lessons

*      Shared reading and writing

*      Flexible guided reading and writing groups that support all levels of literacy development  (i.e.  Early, emergent, transitional and fluent readers)

*      Literacy discussion groups

*      Flexible guided writing groups that support all levels of writing development

*      Independent reading and writing

*      Phonics instruction, spelling, word study, grammar and writing mechanics

*      Writer’s workshop which includes planning, first draft, revision, conferencing, editing and publishing.

 

 

 

 

1.     A minimum of between 6-8 book length works should be used for instruction and should include using Pegasus book titles. Teachers may choose from the following book list:

 

 

GENRE

BOOK TITLE

Family Roles/Humor         

Amelia Bedelia

Acceptance  

Angel Child, Dragon Child

Environment/Animals

Animal World of Pandas

Feelings

Chalkbox Kid

Amphibians/Friendships

Frog and Toad Are Friends

Aging/Family Relationships

Happy Birthday, Grampie

Humor

Imogene’s Antlers

Early Settlers

Legend of the Bluebonnet

Other Settlers/Immigration        

Long Way To A New Land

Family Roles/Responsibility        

My Little Island

                                     

                                     

                                                                  

 

STRAND 1

READING AND RESPONDING

 

Estimated Time Range:

Throughout the School Year

 

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

 

The student will understand that:

1.

Spoken and written words are comprised of individual sounds.

2.

Spoken and written words convey meaning.

3.

Responding to texts is an interactive process.

 

REQUIRED ASSESSMENTS

*      Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) test administered in the Fall and Spring

*      District written reading comprehension  assessments

*      Developmental Ready Assessment (DRA) once each marking period or until grade level goal has been met by the student

 

SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS

 

The student will:

*      Pretend you are a cartoonist for a children’s magazine.  It is your job to convince your audience to buy a particular non-fiction book.  Create a cartoon that summarizes the story along mentioning purpose for buying the book.  

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1.

What is the purpose of oral and written language?

2.

Why is it important to respond to text?

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

The student will be able to:

1.

Demonstrate the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds (phonological / phonemic awareness ) by:

a.     Decoding words with long and short vowels and vowel patterns

b.     Decoding words with between the “r controlled” vowel sounds.

a.     Decoding words with common letter patterns such as (digraphs: sh, th, ch ), ( blends: bl, pr, str ), ( diphthongs: oi, oy, etc. ), and (vowel digraphs: au, aw, etc. ).

b.     Using strategies for decoding multisyllabic words

( compound words or base words, dividing between two consonants, looking for known prefixes and suffixes, etc.)

c.     Decoding and using contractions.

d.     Decoding and using suffixes and prefixes.

e.     Decoding and using compound words.

f.      Applying phonetic rules for writing superlatives and comparatives (-er, -est ).

g.     Identifying abbreviations for words in an address (St., Rd., Ave.).

h.     Recognizing sight words and content words taught as part of the second grade curriculum.

i.       Encoding phonetic patterns from word families. (sink, stink, think).

2.

Demonstrate fluency and accurate word identification by:

a.     Applying known decoding skills (such as contextual clues, picture clues, phonics, structural analysis ) while reading in context.

b.     Monitoring comprehension while reading in context and self-correcting errors.

c.     Reading with increasing fluency, phrasing and expression.

d.     Reading independently for interest and own purposes.

e.     Reading aloud with accuracy any text appropriately designed for the skill of the reader.

f.      Applying reading strategies to sustain independent reading (15 – 30 minutes).

g.     Meeting second grade reading assessment standards.

3.

Demonstrate comprehension by:

a.     Understanding the teacher’s purpose for reading and author’s purpose.

b.     Answering literal, inferential, and critical questions about books read aloud by the teacher or read independently by the student.

c.     Generating questions before, during, and after reading.

d.     Summarizing and retelling fiction, nonfiction texts and other genres.

e.     Defining, understanding and utilizing topic related vocabulary in reading and writing.

f.      Classifying and categorizing information.

g.     Identify and apply synonyms, antonyms, and homophones (such as bear/bare) to written text.

h.     Explaining multiple meanings of common words (such as fly, duck).

i.       Applying comprehension strategies such as summarizing, drawing conclusions, predicting, identify main idea and theme, and supporting details to texts read aloud by the teacher or read independently by the student.

j.      Using prior knowledge to aid comprehension to a variety of texts including fiction and non-fiction texts and other genres.

k.     Identifying the story elements in narratives (such as theme, characters, setting, problem, solution, etc.).

l.       Identify and understand the elements of non-fiction text (such as main idea, table of contents, chapters, glossary, index, etc).

m.   Identifying the sequence of a story.

n.     Comparing and contrasting information from stories and texts

o.     Reading aloud with comprehension of any text appropriately designed for second grade.

p.      Distinguishing between a variety of genres.

q.     Identifying cause and effect in a story or text

r.      Extracting information from text using graphic organizers (such as story maps, charts, Venn Diagrams) which will aid comprehension

s.      Applying information from a graphic organizer to develop an appropriate response.

 

4. 

Develop investigation, research, and presentation skills by:

a.      Locating information with help from a variety of sources to develop reference skills including technology.

b.     Practicing note-taking skills with teacher support.

c.      Understanding alphabetical order to the first and second letter.

d.     Using titles, table of contents, chapter headings, charts, etc. to locate information in nonfiction texts.

e.     Reading nonfiction materials for answers to specific questions for specific purposes.

 

 

 

SUGGESTED RESOURCES

*      Spelling and Vocabulary teacher resources- Houghton Mifflin Publishers, 1998 edition

*      Grade level priority word list from Rebecca Sitton (grade level words from 31-125)

*      Grade level sight word list

*      Guided reading materials- The Wright Group Publishers, Rigby Publishers

*      Pegasus reading materials and teacher resource materials- Kendall Hunt Publishers

 

SUGGESTED CONNECTIONS

Science, Social Studies, Math, Technology, Health, Fine Arts

 

 

 

 

STRAND 2

PRODUCING TEXTS

 

Estimated Time Range:

Throughout the School Year

 

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

 

The student will understand that:

1.

Communication is used to express, develop, and substantiate ideas and experiences.

2.

Writing and speaking are two forms of communication that serve a variety of purposes and audiences.

3.

Writing is a process that requires planning, reflecting, and revising / editing to ensure effective communication.

 

REQUIRED ASSRESSMENTS

District developed writing prompts administered each marking period that are scored holistically.

 

SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS

*      Pretend that you are a reporter for a newspaper. Find a topic of interest and research it. Using a graphic organizer organize your information. Present your research to the class by using a genre of your choice. 

 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

1.

How can communication be effective?

2.

What are some of the purposes of writing?

3.

How can a written piece be improved?

 

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 

The student will be able to:

1.

Speak, write, or draw using a variety of genres (stories, nonfiction text, poetry and other genres) to communicate meaningfully to an audience.

2.

Demonstrate organization / sequencing in written work (such as creating story maps, webs, or group generated lists that include characters, setting, problem, and solution, text organization for nonfiction materials).

3.

Use elaboration and specific details in a written work.

4.

Produce a variety of written responses (such as narrative stories, short reports, letters, and poetry, reports, etc).

5.

Make reasonable judgements about what to include in written responses and what to eliminate.

6.

Generate questions for gathering data from appropriate resources and use the data to produce a written piece (such as a research project).

7.

Conference with teacher, individually or with peers to discuss the strengths and identify revisions within a written piece such as:

*      Using supporting details within a text.

*      Sequencing events in a logical order.

*      Identifying run on sentences and fragments.

*      Using varying transition words.

8.

Use early writing strategies to write words (such as hearing and recording sounds in words, spellings most words correctly, making accurate substitutions, and using appropriate resources to locate needed words.

9.

Demonstrate accurate letter formations and spatial orientation in daily writing activities.

 

SUGGESTED RESOURCES

*      Empowering Writers/Narrative- teacher resource materials by B. Mariconda  and D. Paleota

*      Wonder Writers- Rigby Publishers

*      Zaner Bloser Publishers continuous stroke manuscript letter formation

 

SUGGESTED CONNECTIONS

Science, Social Studies, Math, Technology, Health, Fine Arts

 

 

 

STRAND  3

APPLYING ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

 

Estimated Time Range:

Throughout the School Year

 

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS

 

The student will understand that:

1.

There are standard language conventions necessary for effective

communication.

2.

Language varies according to purpose, audience and task and is

influenced by time and culture.

 

REQUIRED ASSESSMENTS

Spelling Dictation “Bi-weekly”

 

SAMPLE ASSESSMENTS