Jump down to 2nd grade guided reading expectations.

1. Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Master phonological and phonemic awareness. These activities can be done with eyes shut—no print should be in front of the child. Print and follow this! If children cannot hear and manipulate sounds in their heads, they won’t be able to read and spell! Blending and segmenting are the most important phonemic awareness activities because these directly correlate to reading and spelling. You can find these activities by following this link, but you can blend and segment any word!

2. Phonics

Follow the Wilson Fundations Scope & Sequence for 2nd grade. My Wilson Fundations page will give you even more information! Also, check out phonics by grade level.

Grade 2 – Check out these videos and resources, which teach the entire grade 2 Fundations curriculum!

Here are grade 2 phonics workbooks, but the best is Wilson Home Support Pack.

3. Tapping, Blending, Spelling

Teach tapping out and blending sounds to form words.

Here is an AMAZING activity! Watch the video clip below. (This is not my video.) Word lists are also below.

Say it
Stretch it
Spell it
Change it

Go DOWN the lists, changing 1 sound each time.

Use these templates:

Word Chains with 3 Sounds -CVC words (c-a-t) & CVC words with digraphs (c-a-sh)
Word Chains with 4 Sounds -for blends (p-l-o-p)

Word Lists:

CVC Words 1
CVC Words 2
Consonant Digraphs (even though these have 2 letters – th, wh, sh, ch, ck – they make 1 sound, so the 2 letters go in one box. w/i/sh)
Initial Blends
Final Blends
Initial and Final Blends 1
Initial and Final Blends 2
Magic e
Long and Short Vowels 1
Long and Short Vowels 2
Consonant Differentiation

4. Read Decodable Texts – Tap and Blend to Figure Out Unknown Words!

Read, reread, reread, and reread free decodable and sight word stories. Talk about the stories as a quick comprehension check.

If your child can read these Grade 2 Decodables and the following decodables, they are ready for grade 3.

Journey’s Grade 2 Unit 1

Journey’s Grade 2 Unit 2

Journey’s Grade 2 Unit 3

Journeys Grade 2 Unit 4

Journey’s Grade 2 Unit 5

Journey’s Grade 5 Unit 6

Research shows decodable texts are the BEST way to learn to read!

Decodable text falls under the phonics approach of the science of reading. When students decode words, they break them down and figure out how to pronounce them. Teaching beginning readers how to sound out words is critical in reading and writing.

Tips

Always have your child read each story 3x for fluency and accuracy.
Having your child point to each word with 1:1 correspondence is essential because students tend to guess or memorize these simpler texts.
Your child should figure out unknown words independently by SOUNDING OUT. Not all words can be perfectly sounded out, but most words have at least parts that can!

When reading any text…

No more than 10 errors per 100 words, including words you had to tell your child, are acceptable.
The child must also demonstrate comprehension. Grades 2 and up should retell, state the author’s lesson, and describe the most important event and why.
Reading at an appropriate rate (words per minute) is essential. When fluency is achieved, comprehension can occur.

Words Per Minute for Grade 2

To calculate rate – WPM: ___words in the book divided by ___SECONDS it took to read X 60 = __WPM

For example, say there are 207 words in a book. The child read it in 3 min. 25 seconds, which is 205 seconds. 207 divided by 205 is approximately 1.0 words per second x 60 = 60 WPM!

This table shows approximate percentile ranks for correct words per minute at 3 points during the school year. The average 2nd grader should be reading 50 words correctly in the fall, 84 in the winter, and 100 words by spring.

* WCPM = Words Correct Per Minute

5. Master Sight Words

Master a few sight words each day. Second graders should know the Pre-primer (Pre-Kindergarten), Primer (Kindergarten), Grade 1, and Grade 2 sight words in isolation. These are best learned in context. They should read, reread, and reread:

Grade Two Dolch Story

If your child is struggling, for more practice, write words your child doesn’t know in simple sentences for your child to practice reading. Please also go to my sight words page and get the sight word stories for all the grades.

Your child must also know how to read and spell Grade 2 Fundations Trick Words.

6. Vocabulary for 2nd Graders

2nd graders need to know the meaning of these words taken from the Marzano list.

And these words’ meaning is taken from WORDS TO KNOW BY GRADE LEVEL.

7. Spelling

Teach decoding and spelling in this reading and spelling order. Master each column before moving on. This corresponds with the progression of decodable texts.

Here is a grade 2 spelling workbook.

8. Are you looking for a tech option?

Lexia Core 5 is a well-respected app used in many schools. It is available as a home version and costs $175 for a one-year subscription. My school uses it, and I highly recommend it!

Lexia Core 5 is a research-proven computer program that accelerates the development of literacy skills for students of all abilities, helping them make the critical shift from learning to read to reading to learn. It has 21 levels, spanning from preschool through grade 5. It is based on the science of reading. Each level has 5 areas and includes automaticity/fluency, comprehension, phonics, phonological awareness, and vocabulary. Each level should be completed within 5.5 to 9 hours.

9. Read Aloud or Listen to Online Texts – Put the Closed Captioning On

Read aloud more complex books to your child, or have your child listen to books online – not decodable texts – on topics they enjoy to instill a love of reading, improve listening comprehension, and grow vocabulary. 2nd grade reading and listening comprehension is based on:

Making Connections – Links background knowledge and examples from the text to enhance comprehension.

Questioning – Asks and answers different questions; finds evidence in the text to support questions and answers.

Visualizing/Sensory Imagery – Demonstrates multi-sensory images that extend and enrich the text; demonstration may be through any modality or medium.

Determining Importance – Identifies at least one key idea, theme, or concept, linking it to the text’s overall meaning. Uses supporting details from the text to explain why it is essential.

Monitoring Comprehension – Identifies difficulties. Articulates the need to solve the problem and identifies the appropriate strategy using meaning, visual, and structural cues. (Sound out words when stuck!)

Predicting/Inferring – Independently makes predictions and interpretations and draws conclusions; clearly explains connections using evidence from the text and personal knowledge, ideas, or beliefs.

Retelling/Summarizing/Synthesizing – Retells text elements in a logical sequence with some extension to the overall theme, message, or background knowledge; refers to characters by specific name and uses vocabulary from the text.

Here are Grade 2 Common Core State Standards Question Stems you can use as discussion starters with your child, but make talking about books fun! However, the CCSS is used in the classroom.

We administer the FREE DIBELS 8 3x/year. Each are 1-minute tests:

Read 3-letter short vowel nonsense words ~ these can be sounded out ~ for example, “sil,” “tob,” “paj,” “zev,” “nud.” The goal is for the child to recognize these chunks automatically.
Read actual words – sight words.
Oral reading fluency ~ Can the child read x amount of words in a story with at least 96% accuracy?
Maze Comprehension: This test is 3 minutes long. The student reads a story that is missing words. Each time a word is missing, the student selects the correct missing word from three words.

The minimum scores to pass:

Here are other free literacy assessments if you want to assess your child!

Does your child’s school use guided reading? 🙁

Guided reading is NOT a good way to learn to read. Parents, if your school uses guided reading, please scroll to the top of this page and follow my “Grade Two Expectations and Recommendations.”

Guided reading falls under the Fountas and Pinnell cueing system method, which is now frowned upon. Students do NOT sound out words when they are stuck; instead, as students read, you ask them to figure out unknown words by looking at the picture, looking at the beginning letter sound, thinking about what would look right/sound right/make sense or skipping the tricky word/reading on/going back. This makes reading a guessing game.

To Meet the “Guided Reading” Benchmark, 2nd-grade students should be instructional at:

Level K in November (independent J)

Level L in March (independent K)

Level M by June (independent L)

Get Level K-M books on Amazon or at the public library. Here is a book list! I only recommend these books if your child has a firm grasp of phonics and can read decodable texts.

AT LEVELS K-M, A CHILD’S READING LEVEL IS DETERMINED BY THE FOLLOWING:

These bullet points are based on the DRA2 assessment.

•Is the child reading with acceptable accuracy? No more than 10 errors/100 words.

• The child is timed. At least 55 Words Per Minute Meets the Benchmark for Level K. At least 65 Words Per Minute Meets the Benchmark for Level L. At least 70 Words Per Minute Meets the Benchmark for Level M.

• Is the child reading expressing the text’s mood, pace, and tension?

• Does the child read in longer phrases and heed punctuation?

• After reading the first few paragraphs, can the child make 3 thoughtful predictions of what might happen in the text without peeking ahead at pictures?

• After reading and with the book closed, the child retells. Are they referring to the characters by name and including all the essential details from the beginning, middle, and end in sequence?

• Does the child use the critical language and vocabulary from the text?

• Can the child retell the story independently without prompts or questions?

• The child has to explain the author’s message: What is the author teaching us? The child must support this with text details.

• The child must determine the most important event in the story and why, giving an opinion that reflects higher-level thinking.

• If nonfiction, can the child quickly locate and use the nonfiction text features to answer questions? (timelines, maps, table of contents, glossary, captions, charts, etc.)