Second Grade - ELA
1: Community
Unit 1: Communities Around the World
Lesson 7
Work and Money
Students are given a specific spelling activity (Activity 4) in which they record a set of unit vocabulary words (goodsaveworkjobmoneywantgiveneed), write each spelling word three times, review definitions, use each word in a sentence, say the sentence aloud, and practice spelling aloud when words are called out. The Skills section also directs students to "Write three and four letter words using correct spelling (LA)," which asks students to produce correct orthography during practice.
Unit 2: Citizenship
Lesson 3
Diversity in the Community
In Activity 4 the lesson gives students the question words who, what, when, where, why, and how, tells them these words and their correct spellings will be written on a sheet for them to see, and asks students to record five questions using those words. Students are then asked to read the interview and write short answers based on what was said, which requires them to read the question words in context. The lesson also models writing question marks and practicing the correct spelling of the provided question words.
Lesson 4
Living in America
Students are asked to read and/or sing the words of the Pledge of Allegiance (Activity 3) and to read the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and sing the song (Activity 4). The Student Activity Pages include printed text (the Pledge and the anthem lyrics) that students read aloud and are invited to practice over several days. The activities instruct students to read the provided text and to complete simple written tasks (e.g., completing sentences on the flag page).
Lesson 5
Citizens Share and Help
In Activity 3 (Spelling), students are asked to write the given spelling words five times each, use each word in a sentence about themselves, and then read the sentences aloud. The spelling list includes words such as "honest" (which contains an irregular initial sound-to-letter mapping) and "action" (which uses the -tion spelling-to-sound pattern). These tasks require students to produce and read the target words in context.
2: Matter and Movement
Unit 1: States of Matter
Lesson 6
Changes in States of Matter
Students are asked to read the directions on the JELL-O box (Activity 5) and to read aloud the sentences they write about melting and state changes (Activities 1, 7). The Skills list includes "Use new vocabulary in speech and writing" and "Write sentences with correct capitalization and punctuation," which require students to read and produce words in context. Several student pages ask students to read labels and questions (Melting Rates Graph, Measuring Ice and Water, Foods That Change) and to answer comprehension questions.
Unit 2: Earth
Lesson 7
Taking Care of the Earth
Students are given a spelling list (air, earth, water, land, sky) and instructed to use each word in a sentence and write them three times in a spelling journal (Activity 9). Students are also asked to read materials lists and directions aloud in the "Making Paper" activity, which gives them practice reading content words and vocabulary. The "Is It Recyclable?" and other activity pages include labeled items and words that students cut out, sort, and read as part of tasks.
3: Culture
Unit 1: Geography
Lesson 8
People Change Geography
Activity 6 (Unit Spelling) directs students to write each spelling word three times and to use each word in a written or oral sentence. The spelling list includes the word "people," which is an irregularly spelled word, and the target words (trash, resource, people, land) appear repeatedly in discussion prompts and activities so students encounter them in context.
4: Relationships
Unit 1: Living Things and Their Environment
Lesson 2
Heredity Lab
Activity 4 (Spelling) asks students to use each target word in a sentence orally and to write each word three times in a Spelling Journal. The lesson lists the specific vocabulary words (trait, offspring, species, parent) that students will practice in writing and oral use. These tasks require students to engage with the specific word forms and produce them in written and spoken form.
Lesson 3
Sun, Moon, and Stars
Students are given a Spelling activity (Activity 7) that lists the words Moon, Sun, nights, star, day and asks them to write each word in boxes, draw a picture for each, and write each word three times in a Spelling Journal. The lesson includes a note explaining capitalization for Sun and Moon, which draws attention to those specific word forms. The repeated-writing and picture-labeling require students to read and produce the target words.
Unit 2: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
Lesson 6
Irregular Verbs
Students practice with multiple irregular past-tense verbs in Activity 1 by converting present verbs to their past forms (e.g., drive/drove, sing/sang, sit/sat) and by filling in blanks on the Irregular Past-Tense Verbs page. The lesson asks students to produce past-tense forms orally when the teacher calls out verbs and to write the irregular past forms in Part II (stand/stood, give/gave, make/made, drink/drank). In the wrapping up section students are asked to say three sentences that contain an irregular past-tense verb, reinforcing reading and use of those irregularly spelled forms in context.
Lesson 7
Figurative Language
Activity 1 is titled "Irregular Plural Nouns" and explicitly lists irregular plural examples (man → men, child → children, shelf → shelves, fish → fish). The Student Activity Page Part I asks students to fill in blanks with the plural forms for mouse, goose, tooth, and foot, and the answer key provides sentences that include mice, geese, teeth, and feet. Part II requires students to use the plural forms women and deer in their own sentences, prompting production and contextual reading of irregular forms.
Lesson 8
The Falling Star
Students are asked to write spelling words three times each in a Spelling Journal (the provided list appears as "wish doll heart"). Students also listen to or read Chapters 17 and 18 aloud, providing exposure to words in context. The Activities include written practice with specific words that a student must spell.
6: Reading
Unit 1: Semester 1
Lesson 1
Word Families and Long Vowel Review
Students are asked to read and review an Age 5-7 sight word list aloud (the shared "AGE 5-7 SIGHT WORDS PART 1" page) and to track words they struggle with, providing repeated exposure to high-frequency words that are often irregular (e.g., the, of, said, one, there). Shared Reading and the Sight Words activities (Activity 2.2 and Activity 3.3) require students to point to, read, write, and make flashcards of sight words such as "along" and "while" and to continue reviewing prior sight words. The Teaching Your Child to Sound Out Words guidance explicitly tells students to treat some words as sight words or exceptions to phonetic rules and to use context when a word cannot be easily sounded out.
Lesson 2
Vowel Teams Review
The lesson names two sight words for practice—"place" and "says"—and Activity 1.3 has students read these words aloud while discussing which has the long a sound and how "says" changes pronunciation. The Introduction and Activity 1.3 direct students to read the Age 5-7 sight word list aloud, mark words they struggle with, and make flashcards for continued practice. The Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words," tying the sight-word activities to irregular-word reading practice.
Lesson 3
Complex Consonants Review
Students read and practice sight words (this week's words: "until" and "years") and are asked to review the Age 5-7 sight word checklist aloud. Students identify and read words with silent initial consonants (kn, gn, wr) by unscrambling and naming words such as knife, wrist, gnome, write, knot, and gnat. Students participate in sight-word activities (ABC ordering, a find-the-pom-pom game, and repeated reading) and the Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words."
Lesson 4
R-Controlled Vowels Review
The lesson explicitly lists sight-word work and names "give" and "live" as the Lesson 4 sight words (Activity 1.3) and instructs the child to read those cards aloud while pointing out that "live" and "give" are exceptions to the silent-e rule. The Introduction and Student Activity Page include a Sight Words Part 4 grid of grade-appropriate sight words (e.g., does, who, been, two, water) for the child to read aloud and mark for further practice. Multiple activities (Word Hunt, Word Swat, and continued review across days) require the child to find, read, and orally practice these sight words, and the skills list explicitly names "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words."
Lesson 5
More R-Controlled Vowels
The lesson's skill list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words." Students read and practice sight words (Activity 1.3) — specifically "our" and "things" — by reading aloud, pointing to the words, and discussing rhymes for "our." Throughout the activities students read, sort, write, and reread many r-controlled words (e.g., four, squirrel, heard) and are instructed to make flashcards for words they continue to struggle with.
Lesson 6
Other Vowel Sounds
Students are introduced to and practice sight words "sentence" and "always" through read-aloud, syllable counting, and matching/pyramid activities. Students are asked to read and pronounce irregular high-frequency forms "would," "could," and "should" and to read them in context in sentences. Students sort and read words with irregular spellings such as those containing ough (bought, brought, thought) and are prompted to place these words into spelling groups and a Word Collection folder.
Lesson 7
More Long Vowel Spellings
The lesson explicitly lists the skill "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words" in the Skills section. Students are introduced to this week's sight words "through" and "any" (Activity 1.3), read and compare homophones ("through" vs. "threw") and related words ("many" vs. "any"), and practice reading and locating those sight words in a word search (Activity 4.2). Multiple activities require students to read, copy, hop-to, and circle correctly spelled words (Activity 3.3, Activity 5.1, Circle the Word), giving repeated practice with irregular spellings such as "through," "neigh," and "great."
Lesson 8
Vowel Sounds Review
Students read and review previously taught sight words (Activity 1.2) by reading all Lesson 1–7 sight words and Age 5–7 sight words. Students read and sort word cards by vowel sounds (Activity 1.1) that include words with inconsistent or irregular spellings (examples in the answer key: great, weigh, vein, sleigh, their, they). Students complete word hunts and word-building tasks (Activities 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1) that require reading words such as their/they, great, and four, exposing them to irregular spelling patterns while practicing oral reading.
Lesson 9
Complex Consonants: dge vs. ge
The lesson explicitly lists sight words for Lesson 9: "means," "follow" and directs students to read sight-word cards aloud and flip them while reading (Activity 1.3). Students practice these words using the online Sight Word Smash game, place sight words in ABC order, and write them multiple times in the Sight Word Rainbow activity (Activities 1.3, 3.2). Throughout the week students are asked to read the sight words aloud, reread them in context, and include them in writing and oral reading tasks (Day 3, Day 4 options).
Lesson 10
Complex Consonants: tch vs. ch, ck vs. k
The lesson explicitly lists "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words" in the Skills section. In Activity 1.2 students read and discuss the words which, rich, much and are told "These are words that don't follow the rules." In Activity 1.3 students practice sight words including "before" and "watch," with explicit note that "watch" breaks the rules and students are asked to reread the words aloud.
Lesson 11
Final e: ce, ve, ze, se
Students practice two sight words, "three" and "put," and are asked to use each in a sentence. The lesson explicitly tells students that "put" looks like it should have a short /u/ but is pronounced with a vowel that is neither long nor short and offers the short-u variant "putt" for contrast. The skills list names "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words," and students read and circle/copy words (e.g., in the Choose the Correct Spelling and word-search activities) that include some atypical spellings.
Lesson 12
Homophones
Students read and match homophone pairs that include irregular spellings across multiple activities (shared reading, homophone sorting, long-v/short-v activities, reader #12, sentence completion, and the memory game). Specific irregularly spelled words students read or write include knight/night, right/write, two/to/too, eight/ate, weight/weigh, steak/stake, and their/there/they're. Students read these words aloud, select the correct form in sentences, write homophone partners, and locate them in a connected reader.
Lesson 13
Making Plurals
Students are given explicit sight-word practice with the words "want" and "around" (Activity 1.3) and are asked to read the sight-word cards aloud, break multisyllabic words into parts, and repeat quick-reading drills. Students also encounter those and additional sight words in context during shared reading and in Activity 3.2 (Color by Sight Word and Word Path), where they must recognize and read words like "want," "around," "put," "too," "before," and "three." Multiple activities require students to read the sight words both in isolation (cards, rapid flip practice) and in context (shared reading, coloring and hopping activities).
Lesson 14
Uncommon Plurals
Students read and practice sight words that are irregularly spelled, specifically the cards and activities for "children" and "women." Students identify, read aloud, and match numerous irregular plural pairs (man/men, woman/women, child/children, mouse/mice, goose/geese, die/dice, ox/oxen) during the No Rules Plurals activities and the matching worksheet. Students also read and write irregular plurals in context (reading them in The Witches Go to the Beach and The Storm at the Barn, and writing words like mice, teeth, geese, sheep, and knives on the Write the Plural page).
Lesson 15
Words Ending with ed and ing
The lesson explicitly lists "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words" in the Skills section. Activity 1.3 gives students sight-word cards for "knew" and "often," asks them to read the cards aloud, flip them and read quickly, and use the words in sentences. The activity also has students compare "new" and "knew" and relate "knew" to "know," prompting direct attention to irregular spelling/word-form relationships.
Lesson 16
Words Ending with er and est
Students are given grade-level sight words "even" and "because" and are asked to read them aloud, use them in sentences, and write them multiple times (Activities 1.3, 3.3). Students practice reading and sorting irregular comparative and superlative forms (good/better/best, bad/worse/worst, little/less/least, many/more/most, far/farther/farthest) by reading the words aloud, grouping them, and gluing them into rows (Activity 5.1). The skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words," and multiple activities require students to read, say, and use these irregular forms in conversation and written tasks.
Lesson 17
Semester Review
The Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words." Activity 1.1 has students read sight word cards from Lessons 1–16 aloud and practice with the Sight Word Sledding game to build rapid recognition. Activity 2.2 directs students to sort plural forms and explicitly lists irregular plurals in a "no rules" column (children, women, sheep, geese, teeth). Activity 2.1 (Magic Hat) has students create and read words with irregular spellings such as eight, weigh, and while.
Unit 2: Semester 2
Lesson 1
Compound Words
The Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words." The lesson provides two sight words, "own" and "color," and directs students to read them aloud, use "own" in a sentence, clap syllables for "color," and practice the words in multiple activities (sight-word games, copying, and finding them in the book). Activity 4.2 gives counts and locations for "own" and "color" in the text, requiring students to locate and read these words in context.
Lesson 2
The Six Syllable Types
The lesson lists "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words" in the Skills section and includes sight-word instruction where students read the words "animal" and "change." Students also read and hunt for specific words in the text A Color of His Own (Activity 4.2 and Finding Words in the Text), which gives opportunities to encounter high-frequency words during repeated reading. Several activities ask students to read words aloud, sort, and read sight-word cards (Activity 1.3, Day 5 Activity 5.1).
Lesson 4
Syllables with R-Controlled Vowels
Students are given explicit sight-word instruction for "earth" and "second," including a discussion of the different sounds the ear letter sequence can make and asking the child which sound "earth" uses. Students read and practice these sight words aloud in multiple activities (Shared Reading, Word Swat, Sight Word Rainbow) and are asked to use sight words in written sentences. The skills list also explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words," tying the sight-word work to the standard.
Lesson 5
Two-Syllable Words Ending in y
The lesson explicitly lists the skill "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words" and identifies the sight words "beautiful" and "again." In Activity 1.3 students are given sight-word cards for "beautiful" and "again," are prompted to decode "beautiful" (first syllable pronounced "bew") and to use a uncovering strategy for "again," and to use each word orally in a sentence. Day 3 includes a "Color by Sight Word" activity that requires students to read those sight words, and Day 4 asks students to find occurrences of "again" and "beautiful" in the text and record them.
Lesson 6
Possessives
Students are given explicit practice with grade-appropriate irregularly spelled sight words: the lesson lists "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words" as a skill and identifies the sight words "thought" and "between." Students read and locate these words in context (Finding Words in the Text), copy and read them aloud (Sight Words Activity Option 1), and hunt for them around the room (Word Hunt). Students also encounter and read the irregular word "thought" in the book chapters and are asked to pronounce multisyllabic words like "be|tween."
Lesson 7
Contractions
Students are given sight-word cards for "don't" and "it's" and asked to read them aloud and use them in sentences (Activity 1.3). Students search for and locate contractions in the story (Finding Words in the Text, Activity 4.2) and practice splitting and building contractions (Activities 4.3, 5.1). Multiple activities require students to read contractions aloud, match expanded forms to contractions (Day 2 matching game), and convert underlined phrases to contractions on the activity pages.
Lesson 8
Two-Syllable Words with Silent e
The lesson explicitly introduces the sight words "move" and "ready" (Activity 1.3) and explains why their spellings are irregular (e.g., /oo/ spelled with one o in "move"; ea making different sounds in "ready"). Students are asked to read these sight words aloud, to find them in the story "Down the Hill" (Activity 4.2), and to use them in sentence-writing (Activity 5.2). The skills list also names "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words," indicating intentional practice with irregular spellings.
Lesson 9
Vowel Teams
Students are given sight word cards for "together" and "idea" and are asked to read them, count syllables, and use them in sentences. Students practice these sight words in activities such as Word Path and Word Rainbow and are asked to find sight words in the text with the "Finding Words in the Text" activity. The lesson's skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words."
Lesson 10
Consonant Teams
The lesson explicitly introduces the sight words "once" and "friend" and asks the student to read the sight word cards and use each word orally in a sentence. The "Finding Words in the Text" activity asks the student to locate and record page numbers for words including "once" and "friend" in Frog and Toad, reinforcing recognition in context. The Panther Word Sentences and other page activities require the student to read and fill in sentences with words (e.g., "hundred," "surprise") and then read the sentences aloud, providing additional practice with words that have inconsistent spelling-sound correspondences.
Lesson 11
Consonant + le Syllables
The lesson explicitly introduces the sight words "heard" and "every" (Activity 1.3) and asks students to read, repeat, and discuss their pronunciations. Students practice these words in repeated, active formats: finding them in the text (Activity 4.2), matching/swattable sight-word activities (Activity 3.2), and reading them on sight-word cards. The skills list also names "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words," signaling targeted practice for irregular spellings.
Lesson 12
Suffixes
Students are given sight-word cards for "brought" and "something" and are asked to read them aloud, use each word in a sentence, and find "brought" in a passage to fill in blanks. Students complete a Color-by-Sight-Word activity that requires recognition of "brought" and "something" in labeled sections. The teacher script explicitly reminds students that the letter group "ough" in "brought" makes a short o sound, and students read the sight words in isolation and in context.
Lesson 13
Prefixes
Students are given sight-word cards for "remember" and "evening" and asked to read them aloud (Activity 1.3). The lesson directs students to cover the prefix "re" or the suffix "ing" to help read those sight words and asks students to read sight words in activities such as Word Path or ABC Order (Day 3). Students also search for and check off the words "remember" and "evening" in the poems (Finding Words in the Text activity).
Lesson 14
Words Starting with q or a
Students are given sight-word cards for question and different and asked to read them aloud, with explicit instruction that -tion usually makes the /shun/ sound and a strategy to cover the ent in different so they can read differ then add the ending. Students practice these same sight words across activities (Sight Word Rainbow, Word Hunt) and are asked to use each word orally in a sentence. Students also locate and read these words in connected text via the Finding Words in the Text activity, providing repeated contextual reading practice.
Lesson 15
Semester Review
The lesson's Skills list explicitly includes "Recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words." Multiple activities require students to read and practice sight words: Activity 3.2/3.3 asks students to choose semester sight word cards for games (Find the Marble, Word Swat, Theme Words Review), and Activity 4.2 Speedy Sight Words has students rapidly turn over and read a pile of sight word cards. These student tasks require students to recognize and read individual high-frequency words that are typically irregular.
Final Project
Write Your Own Story
Students are asked to read through sight word cards they have struggled with (Activity 1.1) and to read randomly pointed-to word groups from their Word Collection and Interactive Binder (Activity 1.2). On Day 2 students must record and later incorporate four sight words into their story, crossing them off as they use them. During editing (Day 4) students and adults check that all words from the word list are used and reviewed.