Second Grade - ELA
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Word Families and Long Vowel Review
Students are asked to identify vowel sounds in shared reading (e.g., labeling "read" as long e, "week" as long e, and "fun" as short u). Students spell, read aloud, and sort many regularly spelled one-syllable CVC words in Short Vowel Families and Word Chains activities (e.g., mat, fan, hit, hot, mop, log). Students manipulate words to change vowel length by adding silent e (Short to Long, Word Building, and Word Pairs activities: mad→made, kit→kite, man→mane, etc.) and read the resulting long-vowel words (cake, bike, home, mule). Students generate and list examples of long and short vowel words in the Wrapping Up activity to demonstrate recognition across the six vowel sounds.
Lesson 2
Vowel Teams Review
The lesson explicitly lists the skill "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words" and asks students to identify vowel sounds in single-syllable words (e.g., Activity 1.2 with "cat" and "box"). In Activity 1.2 students read words aloud and sort them onto plates labeled for short vowels (fit, hat, get, not, cut), long vowels with silent e (make, time, note, cute, tape), and short-vowel words ending with two consonants (mast, bell, soft, jump, land). Across Days 2–4 students read one-syllable examples (bake, rain, break, play, frame, lake, hike, globe, show, coat, tube, mule, etc.), identify whether the vowel is long or short, and sort/color-code words by vowel sound and spelling patterns.
Lesson 3
Complex Consonants Review
The lesson's Skills list explicitly names "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Activity 4.1 asks students to examine the word know and notes that the ow makes the long o sound. The Magic Hat and word-building activities include words that demonstrate long-vowel patterns (e.g., name, rain, gain, more) that students spell and read aloud.
Lesson 4
R-Controlled Vowels Review
Students compare pairs such as "chat" vs "chart" and "sit" vs "sir" to hear how r changes the vowel sound. Students complete a coloring activity that requires them to read words aloud and mark those with short vowel sounds (frog, crack, bid, hut) versus r-influenced vowels (fork, car, bird, hurt). Students also read and discuss words that show long vowels (e.g., "he") and the sight word "live" is used to illustrate both long and short i pronunciations.
Lesson 5
More R-Controlled Vowels
The lesson's listed skills explicitly include "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." In Activity 2.1 students read one-syllable words (her, earth, clear, cheer, bear, pear) and identify which have the long e sound and which have the long a sound. Multiple sorting activities (ar/are/air; er/ear/eer; or/ore/oar/our; ur/ure/ur-e; ir/ire) require students to read one-syllable words and sort them by vowel sound and spelling.
Lesson 6
Other Vowel Sounds
The lesson explicitly asks students to identify short o in one-syllable words (e.g., Day 3: teacher asks, "What vowel sound do each of these words have?" and students note they all have the short o sound) and has a "Lots of Short o Spellings" activity where students sort one-syllable words by their short-o spellings. Activity 3.3 has students listen for and mark the two pronunciations of oo (room vs. wood), and Activity 1.2 explains and has students practice the oi/oy vowel sound (described as beginning like long o and ending like long e). The skills list also names "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words" as an objective.
Lesson 7
More Long Vowel Spellings
The lesson defines open and closed syllables and explicitly tells students that open syllables end in a vowel and produce a long vowel sound while closed syllables produce a short vowel sound. Students are asked to read one-syllable words (e.g., tape, rain, pie, cry, tie) and to underline or point out the letters that make the long vowel sounds and to sort words by vowel sound (long a vs. long i, long e vs. long i). Activities require students to spell and read one-syllable words ending in y, ie, igh, eigh, and ei and to place words into columns or glue-down groups according to their vowel sounds.
Lesson 8
Vowel Sounds Review
The lesson explicitly lists "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words" in the Skills section. Students sort and label words by long vowel sound in Activity 1.1 ("Who Makes the Sound?") and write long a, e, i, and o words in Activity 2.1 ("Word Hunt #1"). Additional activities (Word Building, Word Scramble, What Can I Make?, and Fill in the Blanks) require students to spell and read many one-syllable words with long-vowel spellings and include short-o examples in Day 3.
Lesson 9
Complex Consonants: dge vs. ge
Students read and sound out one-syllable words aloud (Activity 1.1, 1.2) and are asked to identify the vowel sound in given words (e.g., gem, age, huge). In Activity 2.1 students cut out word cards and sort them into three groups labeled long vowels, short vowels, and r-controlled, then highlight the dge letters and answer questions about which vowel sound comes before dge. In Activity 3.1 students write and read one-syllable words in dge and ge groups and explicitly explain that dge follows a short vowel while ge follows a long vowel, r-controlled vowel, or another consonant.
Lesson 10
Complex Consonants: tch vs. ch, ck vs. k
The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." In Activity 1.2 students sort one-syllable words into tch vs. ch columns and are prompted to refer to and discuss the vowel sounds (short vs. long) that precede the endings. In Activities 3.1–3.2 and 4.1 students choose or write final spellings (ck, ke, k, tch, ch) for one-syllable words by identifying the preceding vowel sound and then explain the rules (e.g., ck follows a short vowel, ke follows a long vowel).
Lesson 11
Final e: ce, ve, ze, se
Students are prompted to listen for and identify vowel length in multiple activities: Activity 1.2 asks them to read ce words and notes that the a is short in "dance," the o is short in "solve," and the long e in "breeze" is from ee. Activity 2.1 has students read ve words and explicitly states that the final e is telling the vowels to say their names (long vowels) with examples like "cave," "dive," and "cove." Activity 3.1 asks students whether the vowels in ze words are short or long and has them sort words by whether the final e affects the vowel sound; Activity 4.1 uses pairs like "moose" and "praise" to contrast vowel sounds.
Lesson 12
Homophones
Students read and pair multiple long-vowel homophones across Days 2–4 (e.g., Day 2 asks ‘What vowel sound do all of these words have?' and has students sort long a spellings; Day 3 and Day 4 focus on long e, long i, and long o homophones). Students draw pictures and sort or connect words by their long-vowel spellings and are asked to name the vowel sound and the letters making that sound. The skills list explicitly names 'Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words.'
Lesson 14
Uncommon Plurals
The lesson's Skills list explicitly names "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Students are asked to sound out words during Shared Reading and to point to individual letters and blends as they read. Day 2 and Day 3 activities have students read many regularly spelled one-syllable words (e.g., day, key, fly, boy, sky, fry, leaf, puff) aloud and pair singular/plural forms, which requires attention to vowel-containing words.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words," and the Introduction lists review of "Long vowel sounds and spellings, including vowel blends." Day 2 Activity (Magic Hat) asks students to use given letters to create and then read aloud at least 12 words that all have a long vowel sound (examples provided: light, white, eight, sight). The Build-a-Word activities present many regularly spelled one-syllable target words (e.g., match, batch, badge, fudge, watch, pitch) that students build and say aloud.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Compound Words
Students read and decode many one-syllable words across activities (e.g., Creating Compound Words with pot, paste, ball, cup, milk, tea, bare, hair, cut, brush, shake, foot, cake) and are asked to 'sound out' and pronounce words as needed. The skills list explicitly names "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Students also practice phonological segmentation (clapping syllables) and decoding strategies in multiple activities (covering parts of words, breaking words into parts).
Lesson 2
The Six Syllable Types
Students read and compare one-syllable word pairs and are prompted to note vowel differences (e.g., read "no" and "not" and discuss the different vowel sounds; recall "we" and "web"). Students are asked to identify the vowel sound in single-syllable sight words (e.g., "What's the vowel sound in 'change'? (long a)"). The lesson explicitly teaches open vs. closed syllable patterns tied to vowel length and has students apply that knowledge when pronouncing syllables (e.g., dividing "paper" to decide which division yields the correct vowel sound).
Lesson 3
Open and Closed Syllables
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." In activities students are asked to identify open vs. closed syllables and pronounce syllables (e.g., asking that 'pa' is open so the a should be long, and asking students to say whether the first syllable is open or closed for words like 'bacon' and 'comet'). Activity 4.3 has students work with one-syllable word parts and asks, "What vowel sound do you hear in each syllable?" and reminds them that closed syllables almost always have a short vowel sound.
Lesson 5
Two-Syllable Words Ending in y
Students are asked to read and say the vowel sound in one-syllable C+Y words (e.g., the teacher prompt and examples: "fly," "cry," "spy," "try," "sky") and respond to the question "what sound the y makes" when the word "cry" is written. The skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Students also read and pronounce one-syllable words such as "dirt" and "lump" and are prompted to listen for vowel sounds when adding -y (making "dirty" and "lumpy").
Lesson 6
Possessives
The lesson's Skills list explicitly names "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Activity 1.1 asks students to point to individual letters and blends as they read, and Activity 2.1 has students pronounce syllables (e.g., splitting "be | tween" and pronouncing "neigh" as "nay"). Activity 3.2 and the Word Hunt require students to read sight words and other words aloud, providing opportunities to hear vowel sounds in context.
Lesson 8
Two-Syllable Words with Silent e
The lesson's stated skills explicitly include "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Activity 1.3 asks students to read and compare one-syllable words (beach = long e, bread = short e, great = long a) and to try each sound when reading the word "ready." The parent/child dialog and examples ("kite" and "note") demonstrate that students are taught that a final e makes the vowel say its name (long vowel), and the sight-word activity connects "move" to the /oo/ sound as in "food" and "moon."
Lesson 9
Vowel Teams
Students read and mark vowel teams that make long vowel sounds (for example, underlining igh in "light" and "sigh") and highlight the vowel team making the long vowel sound in multi-syllable words. Students read and sort word lists by the vowel-team sound (long a, e, i, o, and u/oo) and read aloud one-syllable vowel-team words such as haul, clown, boy, and boil while underlining the letters that form the vowel sound. The skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words."
Lesson 10
Consonant Teams
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." In Activity 5.2 students are taught definitions linking open syllables to long vowel sounds and closed syllables to short vowel sounds and are asked to identify which of two one-syllable words ('hi' and 'hit') is open vs. closed. The Syllable Division Review asks students to label syllable types (open/closed) and to read words aloud, reinforcing the open/closed → long/short vowel relationship.
Lesson 11
Consonant + le Syllables
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." In Activity 2.2 (Double or Not?) students are asked to consider whether the first syllable is closed (short vowel, e.g., fun in funny) or open (long vowel, e.g., ba in baby) and apply that knowledge to words like juggle and cable. Activity 4.3 asks students to consider open vs. closed syllable combinations when decoding multisyllabic words, reinforcing the connection between syllable type and vowel sound.
Lesson 12
Suffixes
The lesson's Skills list explicitly states that students will "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words." Students are asked to read aloud during Shared Reading and to point to words, letters, and blends, providing opportunities to read one-syllable words. Students read and manipulate many one-syllable base words (for example: bump/mud -> bumpy/muddy; rain, help, wind, quick, bright) when adding suffixes and when completing word-reading and suffix activities.
Lesson 13
Prefixes
The Skills list explicitly includes "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words," indicating that students are expected to learn this skill. Students also read and manipulate one-syllable base words (for example: do, tie, use, wash) when they add prefixes and read base words on the "Prefixes and Base Words" activity pages. The rhyming activity has students read and list rhyming words from short, one-syllable poem lines, which involves attention to vowel sounds.
Lesson 14
Words Starting with q or a
Students are asked to read and sort words containing qu by the vowel sound the syllable with qu makes (e.g., columns for short a, long a, short e, long e, short i, short o) and to pronounce word pairs (batting/squatting, babble/squabble) to notice how qu affects the vowel sound. Students orally read and categorize words that begin with a into rows labeled short a, long a, /uh/, and /aw/ and are prompted to say which sound the initial a makes for example words (apple, able, around, author). Students read one-syllable qu examples aloud during shared reading and in the qu-focused story, and they practice pronouncing and sorting those words into vowel-sound columns on activity pages.
Lesson 15
Semester Review
The lesson explicitly lists the skill "Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words" in the Skills section and gives direct instruction about vowel types in Activity 2.2 (e.g., "A silent e makes a vowel say its name (as in 'bite'). Open syllables usually have long vowel sounds ('hi'). Closed syllables usually have short vowel sounds ('hit')."). Activity 2.2 also has students sort words by vowel sound using index cards (long a, long e, short e, etc.) and then read the words in each group aloud. Activity 5.2 (Vowel Team Review) and the Roll and Read board include practice reading words that highlight vowel patterns and vowel teams.