In this lesson, students listen to an illustrated read aloud and use literacy skills to understand the central message of the book.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 2nd Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning.  

This unit was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This unit is aligned to the NC Standards for 2nd Grade ELA. 

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 2nd Grade English Language Arts content.

Students read a passage and answer questions based on the passage. An answer key is included.

In this unit, students will explore literature about Africa and exhibit an interest in learning more about it. This unit will introduce them to the seven continents of the world.

Students read about Elijah McCoy, an African American inventor and answer questions to help improve their comprehension. An answer key is included.

This resource is a lesson plan for using the book, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. Anticipation guide, graphic organizer, recipe for apple pie, and a link for the book is included. Students will observe an apple tree throughout seasons while answering questions.

Students are prompted to use comparisons to discuss what they see as they picture walk through books about the ocean. They identify what these comparisons have in common to arrive at an informal name and definition of simile. They then create illustrations showing these comparisons. Next, students picture walk through two additional picture books about the ocean and comment about what they see. They are introduced to metaphor by rewording some of their comments into metaphors. They continue to note metaphors as the books are read aloud, and then name and define this new type of comparison. They again draw pictures to illustrate some of these metaphors. Students discuss why writers use these types of comparisons, then work to revise existing writing to incorporate figurative language through guided practice or independent work. Finally, students use templates to create a book on the ocean that features similes and metaphors.

This lesson is for Grades 1 - 2 on literacy. At Home Learning Lessons are a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, PBS North Carolina, and the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation.  Each lesson contains a video instructional lesson, a PDF lesson plan with a transcript, and a PDF file of extension activities.

This informational text explores adaptations that allow penguins, whales, walruses, seals, and fish to live in the cold water of the Arctic and Southern Oceans. The text is at reading level appropriate for students in Kindergarten through first grade. It is a PDF file that contains the text as well as a glossary.

Students begin by accessing prior knowledge through an initial writing activity. Ensuing discussions, read-alouds, and the creation of a picture dictionary "take students to the moon," while further building their vocabulary. Students use an online Alphabet Organizer to complete a final writing activity, which they compare to the writing they did during the first session.

Students will learn about the characteristics of butterflies and will engage in multiple activities to build their understanding of how a butterfly’s characteristics help it survive and interact with its environment. In this CCSS lesson students will use text dependent questions, academic vocabulary, and writing assignments.

In this lesson, students learn about the characteristics of butterflies and engage in multiple activities to build their understanding of how a butterfly's characteristics help it surviv and interact with its enviornment.

This lesson plan features an example of a cumulative literary experience or “literature unit” structured around a text set made up of conceptually-related fiction and nonfiction for reading aloud and for independent reading.

Beginning with a comparative study of selected, illustrated retellings of the traditional folktale “Little Red Riding Hood,” including versions from several different cultures, this literature unit continues with a study of modern revisions of this well-known tale. After students have an opportunity to explore similarities and differences among the retellings and revisions, they are introduced to fiction and nonfiction texts featuring wolves in order to provide them with a different perspective of the “villain” in the "Little Red Riding Hood" tales. The unit culminates in a class-written version of the folktale.

In this lesson, students will use KWL charts and interactive writing as key components of organizing information. As a class, students list what they know about insects, prompted by examining pictures in an insect book. Students them pose questions they have about insects, again using picture books as a visual prompt. Students then search for answers to the questions they have posed, using Websites, read-alouds, and easy readers. Periodic reviews of gathered information become the backdrop to ongoing inquiry, discussion, reporting, and confirming information. The lesson culminates with the publishing of a collaborative question and answer book which reports on information about the chosen topic, with each student contributing one page to the book.

After whole group reading of two informational texts about banning junk food in schools with opposing points of view, the AIG students will form two groups to debate the current issue. This lesson was developed by NCDPI as part of the Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Instructional Resources Project. This lesson plan has been vetted at the state level for standards alignment, AIG focus, and content accuracy.

Students explore a variety of nonfiction books and compare them to fiction. Students also learn about different categories of nonfiction writing and practice identifying books that fall into these categories. They record their thinking and new learning and discuss them as a class.

Students read a passage about different types of patterns and answer questions based on the passage. An answer key is included.

In the multi-day lesson, students will distinguish facts about worms from fictional details by listening to and reading Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin. Students will have the opportunity to explore the illustrations, fictional details, nonfiction details, and captions and speech bubbles within the text. In this way, students are given concrete strategies that they can use to help differentiate narrative and informational elements in other books they read.