2nd Grade Common Core ELA Standards

ELA is comprised of four areas: reading, writing, language, and speaking and listening. Below are all the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for literacy.

Before you start reading the standards, watch this really helpful video called Learning to Read the Core.

Here's a standards spreadsheet of all the ELA standards next to each other.

Reading Literature

Key Ideas and Details

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, andhow to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.2 Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.

Craft and Structure

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.4 Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.6 Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.7 Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
  • (RL.2.8 not applicable to literature)
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9 Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Reading Informational Texts

Key Ideas and Details

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, andhow to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.2 Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.3 Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Craft and Structure

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to agrade 2 topic or subject area.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6 Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.10 By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2.3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Reading: Foundational Skills

Phonics and Word Recognition

Fluency

Writing

Text Types and Purposes

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g.,because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.3 Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.

Production and Distribution of Writing

  • (W.2.4 begins in grade 3)
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.8 Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Speaking and Listening

Comprehension and Collaboration

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners aboutgrade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1a Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1b Build on others' talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1c Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.2 Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.3 Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.5 Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

Language

Conventions of Standard English

Knowledge of Language

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4a Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4b Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4c Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4d Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4e Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.5 Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.5a Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g.,describe foods that are spicy or juicy).
    • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.5b Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g.,toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).
  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g.,When other kids are happy that makes me happy).

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Thank you to 4th Grade Loma Portal teacher, Amy Kinseth, for creating this page of Teacher Common Core Materials. Please email her with questions or comments at [email protected].

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