ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (2) -5 :

R1. Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.

[ELA2021] (2) 4 :

4. Orally answer who, what, when, where, why, and how questions about a text or conversation, using complete sentences to provide key ideas and details.

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12. Read and reread grade-appropriate text accurately, automatically, and with meaningful expression at a rate which supports comprehension.

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13. Read grade-appropriate poetry, noticing phrasing, rhythm, and rhyme.

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23. Identify the main story elements in a literary text.

a. Explain the plot of a narrative, using textual evidence to list the major events in sequence.

b. Describe the characters' traits, feelings, and behaviors in a story.

c. Describe the setting of a narrative, using textual evidence.

d. Identify the central message or moral of a story.

e. Identify the theme in myths, fables, and folktales.

[ELA2021] (2) 25 :

25. Identify and use various text features to locate ideas, facts, or supporting details in both written and digital formats.

a. Identify and locate captions, bold print, subheadings, indexes, graphs, maps, glossaries, and illustrations.

b. Explain how specific features can clarify a text or enhance comprehension.

[ELA2021] (2) 27 :

27. Identify the text structures within literary and informational texts, including cause and effect, problem and solution, and sequence of events.

This lesson gives second-grade students opportunities to interact with a thought-provoking story, as they also develop comprehension and critical-thinking skills. Students begin by listening to a read-aloud of Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, with teacher modeling of the thinking process at key points. They then participate in partner, small-group, and whole-class discussions to revisit and respond to the text. Students finish by using the interactive Doodle Splash to visually represent the ideas they want to remember from the book. Helpful tips are embedded within the lesson for discussing difficult themes and guiding students to make respectful and thoughtful comments in a group setting.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (0) 2 :

2. Actively engage in teacher-led reading experiences and collaborative discussions with peers to build background knowledge needed to be successful as they learn to read and, later, read to learn.

[ELA2021] (0) 19 :

19. Ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words in discussions and/or text.

a. Describe the relationship between words, including relating them to synonyms and antonyms.

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33. Express ideas orally and connect these ideas through drawing and emergent writing.

[ELA2021] (1) 8 :

8. Apply previously-taught phoneme-grapheme correspondences to decodable words with accuracy and automaticity, in and out of context.

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12. Ask and answer questions about unfamiliar words and phrases in discussions and/or text.

a. Identify possessives and plurals and use them as clues to the meaning of text.

Example: Jack's coat, mom's car; pigs, pig's, pigs'

b. Identify meaningful parts of words (morphemes) and use them as clues to the meaning of unknown words, including frequently occurring affixes and inflections -s, -es, -ed, -ing, -er, and -est.

Examples: Explain that adding suffix -s changes a singular noun to a plural noun and adding suffix -ed changes a verb to past tense.

c. Describe word relationships and nuances in word meanings, including relating them to their opposites and distinguishing shades of meaning in similar or related words.

Examples: look, peek, glance, stare, glare; big, large, gigantic, monstrous
Act out tiptoe, creep, and march to distinguish shades of meaning in words related to walk.
Discuss synonyms and antonyms.

[ELA2021] (2) -5 :

R1. Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.

[ELA2021] (2) 12 :

12. Read and reread grade-appropriate text accurately, automatically, and with meaningful expression at a rate which supports comprehension.

[ELA2021] (2) 17 :

17. Analyze meaningful parts of words and phrases in discussions and/or text.

a. Identify possessives and plurals and use them as clues to the meaning of text.

Example: girl's dress; boys' game; cats, cat's, cats'; houses, house's shutters

b. Identify meaningful parts of words (morphemes) and use them as clues to the meaning of unknown words, including base words, compound words, and frequently occurring affixes and inflections.

Examples: -less, -ful, -est

Note: Adding suffix -est changes an adjective to a superlative adjective; adding suffix -ful changes the part of speech.

This ocean-themed unit will focus students' attention on alliteration, or repeated beginning word sounds. Students begin by reading the book Look Who Lives in the Ocean by Allen Baker, and then sharing what they notice about the words in the story. Then they work as a class to craft a definition of alliteration and record the definition on chart paper. Students continue to expand their knowledge of alliteration by finding examples in classroom books and their own writing and then adding these examples to a class list. Next, they practice revising sentences to include alliteration and then share their revisions with the class. Finally, students compose their own class book to explore the technique in their own writing. The lesson is a natural extension after alphabet books have been introduced, when writing a class book, or to supplement independent writing projects.