English Language Arts — Grade 2

Directed Reading Lesson: Dear Mr. Blueberry

This plan is a directed reading/thinking activity for the book, Dear Mr. Blueberry, with questioning and a follow-up written activity that focuses on the story elements. Another activity involves discussing facts about whales in the story and, then, finding other facts about whales that are used for a writing activity.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts)

By Candace Hall.

Moravian Migration: Before a Visit to Bethabara

Students investigate NCECHO site to "read all about" the 1753 Moravian settlement of Bethabara within our social studies curriculum topic on Life Long Ago. The Historic Bethabara Park website has historic background in narrative and diary form. After reading and discussing this information in teams with the teacher, student teams present information to classmates in some visual product in one of five categories. Students also will visit the photos on NCECHO and answer analytical questions to increase understanding of the past as compared to today.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Information Skills, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)

By Wrenna Haigler.

Using Venn diagrams to compare and contrast

In order to be able to compare and contrast weather in other places around the country and the world, the students will learn how to use a graphic organizer (Venn diagram) to visualize likeness and differences between two things.

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts and Science)

By Kelly Sharpe, Kathleen Hughes, Ruffin Priest, Sondra Walker, and Sandra McKee.

Lesson plans on the web

Active Reading Using The Enormous Watermelon

Students engage in word recognition activities using character names and high-frequency words from the predictable texts of nursery rhymes and the big book The Enormous Watermelon. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

All Together Now: Collaborations in Poetry Writing

This is a set of three lesson plans to make poetry exciting for your students as they listen to, write and recite poems that are sure to please. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Animal study: From fiction to facts

Describes how to use selected fiction and nonfiction literature and careful questioning techniques to help students identify factual information about animals. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Information Skills and English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Choosing one word: Summarizing Shel Silverstein's “Sick”

This lesson uses Shel Silverstein's poem “Sick” to challenge emergent readers to select the most important word in a text and to justify their selection. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Comparing fiction and nonfiction with "Little Red Riding Hood" text sets

In this lesson, students explore similarities and differences among various versions of “Little Red Riding Hood.” (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Connect with low-literate families: A three-tiered approach

This ReadWriteThink lesson involves giving children from low-literate families stories to read at home to enhance the home-school connection. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

I wonder: Writing scientific explanations with students

In this lesson, students are encouraged to ask questions about a specific topic, choose a particular question to explore in detail, and research the question using a variety of resources. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Improving fluency through group literary performance

Bill Martin Jr.'s picture books provide opportunities for students to hear fluent reading modeled then to join in the readings through literary performance. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Integrating Language Arts Using "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

This lesson, from ReadWriteThink, uses Laura Joffe Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to combine word-skill work with prediction and sequencing practice. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Is this the right book for me? Strategies for beginning readers

In this lesson, students learn to identify purposes for reading and are given strategies to evaluate if the reading level and length of a book is appropriate. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

A journal for Corduroy: Responding to literature

This lesson from ReadWriteThink leads first-grade students to reflect on and respond to literature through journal writing. Students read books in the Corduroy record their own adventures with Corduroy, share their stories with the class, and create a class book using the computer. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Junie B. Jones introduces literacy mystery boxes

Students discuss the text Junie B., First Grader (at last!) with a partner, and then individually record key events from the story. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Life on the rivers of Asia

In this Xpeditions lesson, students examine the influence of rivers on the populations of Asia. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2 Social Studies and English Language Arts)

Provider: National Geographic

Listen, look, and learn: An information-gathering process

This lesson models an information-gathering process for primary learners as they listen to and look at resources, seeking information pertinent to the questions on the information wheel. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Our community: Creating ABC books as assessment

In this lesson that focuses on community, students collect vocabulary words and key concepts in order to create alphabet books as they study classroom content. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Readers theatre

Students develop scripts, perform in groups, and practice using their voice to depict characters from texts. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–5 English Language Arts and Theatre Arts Education)

Provider: IRA/NCTE

Reading informational texts using the 3-2-1 strategy

In this lesson, students in grades K–2 learn to use the 3-2-1 strategy, which involves writing about three things they discovered, two things they found interesting, and one question they still have. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–2 English Language Arts)

Provider: IRA/NCTE