In this unit, second graders learn about insects and the impact insects have on the natural world. Building on what students learned in Unit 1 about habitats, they will explore how different insects rely on the environment, or habitat in which they live, for survival. Through this exploration, students will learn the unique characteristics of insects, how insects can be both beneficial and destructive, and the stages of an insect’s life cycle. By the end of the unit, students will have a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the beauty of the insect world.

This unit is comprised of predominantly shared reading experiences to help students practice different reading strategies and skills. Building on unit one, students will continue to be inquisitive, active consumers of texts by asking and answering questions, and they will continue to deepen their understanding of the role text features and illustrations play in helping a reader better understand the content of a text. Students will also begin to explore the connections between scientific ideas and concepts using cause-and-effect language and will continue to strengthen their habits of discussion as they debate and analyze key ideas of the unit.

Students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different mediums and then compare and contrast the structure of the texts they have viewed/read to consider how the texts use different structures to convey similar ideas.

After reading “The Most Dangerous Game” students will comb through the text to pull out the best examples of imagery from the story. They will work together in groups of three to collect five examples (per person) of imagery. Students must be able to see each other’s examples, so they don’t repeat them, but also help each other identify which imagery is being documented.

In this unit, students explore the meaning of family, community, and identity by reading the core text One Crazy Summer. Through the eyes of eleven-year-old Delphine, readers experience life in Oakland, California, in 1968, the height of the Black Panther movement. Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, spend a summer in Oakland visiting their estranged mother who sends them to spend their days at a camp run by the Black Panthers. Over the course of the summer, the girls learn about what it means to be part of a revolution, what the Black Panther Party was fighting for, and why the Black Panther Party was important during this time period. Through it all, they build confidence in themselves and their relationships with others as they learn to challenge and respond to social issues in the community. It is our hope that this unit, in conjunction with others in the series, will help students understand the way experiences shape our identities and beliefs, and how children can help bring about change in the community.

In reading, this unit continues to build on reading strategies and skills covered in previous units. It is assumed that students are able to quote or paraphrase accurately from the text, interpret figurative language, and summarize sections of the text. These skills should continue to be spiraled throughout the unit; however, the main focuses for this unit are determining theme and analyzing how it is developed over the course of the novel or poem, analyzing point of view and the impact it has on the way events are portrayed, and comparing characters and their responses to situations.

Week 30, Day 1---Day 2
Cinderella
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
Marcia Brown’s Cinderella most resembles the Disney version of Cinderella that many students know.
This is a translation from the French version by Charles Perrault and some of the words don’t translate perfectly so quick scaffolds may be necessary. You want to have a map available to point out where France is located.
This book won the 1962 Caldecott Medal.

Week 17, Day 3
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs---fiction---Judi Barrett, illustrated by Ron Barrett
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
The fact that a movie was made of this book presents opportunities for examining YouTube clips after the book has been read aloud. The children can compare their own mental images of characters and actions with the way the director imagined them.

Week 22, Day 3---Day 4
This book is called Dad, Jackie, and Me. The author is Myron Uhlberg and the illustrator is Colin Bootman. It is about the first black man to play baseball in the major leagues. His name was Jackie Robinson.
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
The author’s note at the end of the book is important. He describes the connection between Jackie Robinson and Uhlberg’s deaf father. Read it for background yourself, and consider reading portions aloud.

Week 29, Day 1---Day 5
D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet
"This book is called D is for Dancing Dragon: A China Alphabet. It was written by Carol Crane and illustrated by Zong-Zhou Wang.
You might think that an alphabet book is for kindergartners, but this is no ordinary alphabet book. That’s because it also teaches us about China. On the first page, you can see a map of China, which is a country on the other side of the world."
Introduce Book and Preview Technical Vocabulary
Teach Text Structure
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
visual: comparison chart
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
This is an unconventional alphabet book because of the extensive background information about the word that is given for each letter. We have chosen to use the first 5 days for instruction. If you have extra time, you could read additional segments.

Poppy (Fiction book)
"Today we will start a chapter book called Poppy. It is written by a man named Avi. ...this author only uses one name. Avi’s twin sister gave him that name when he was just a year old, and he has used it ever since. The illustrations are by Brian Floca."

Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
Planning Notes

The chapters are nearly equal in length and about right for one per day. Note that an additional chapter, called Poppy and Ereth, appears at the end of the book. This is really a teaser for the sequel and it is not part of this set of plans.

Avi talks about the Poppy books in a YouTube video (3:07): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fufgUdq2xR0

The video provides excellent background for teachers, but it refers to some of the later books in the series and some parts may be over the heads of second graders.
However, if you plan on making other books in the series available to your proficient students to read on their own, you might want to play it. Hearing Avi’s voice and seeing that he’s a real person could be of interest to your students.

Week 23, Day 1---Day 2
The Story of Ruby Bridges--fiction--Robert Coles, illustrated by George Ford
"Ruby Bridges was an African American child who went to elementary school in the 1950s. One day she had to start going to a different school, a school for white children, where almost no one liked her."
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
It is a good idea to have a U.S. map on display for quick reference to some of the places mentioned.

Week 33, Day 4---Day 5
The Wall
This book is called The Wall, and it was written by Eve Bunting. It was illustrated by Ronald Himler. The wall is in Washington, DC, and it has the names of all the people killed during the Viet Nam War. There are 58,000 names on the wall. That war ended long ago but people still think about those they knew who died.
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
The text in this book is not very challenging but it is useful in evoking some higher-order thinking. Locating in advance a few photos through a google image search would complement the watercolors in the book.
You may wish to quickly indicate Vietnam on a wall map, but it is probably not in the spirit of the book to turn this read-aloud into a geography lesson. Bunting does not even mention which war it is, except in the endnote.

Week 16, Day 1
Tornado--fiction-- by Betsy Byars, illustrated by Doron Ben-Ami
In this book, the word tornado has two meanings. It is a powerful storm, of course, but it is also the name of a special dog.
Develop or Activate Background Knowledge:
Model a Comprehension Strategy and Ask Questions During Reading
Engage Students in Discussion
Update Text Structure Anchor Chart
Teach Meaning Vocabulary
Teach Sentence Composing
Assign or Model Written Response
Review and Share Written Responses
*Planning Notes
There are many opportunities in this book to make science tie-ins with weather and storms. Many activities are possible for your science time, such as making a tornado in a bottle.
Video clips of tornados are also helpful, through YouTube or educational sites, like www.noaa.gov.

The Story Map interactive is designed to assist students in prewriting and postreading activities by focusing on the key elements of character, setting, conflict, and resolution.

This unit is focused on three classic fairy tales: The Three Little Pigs, The Three Bears, and Little Red Riding Hood. With each fairy tale, students are first exposed to the classic version, familiarizing themselves with the basic plot and lessons. Then students explore the ways authors change setting, characters, and plot while still maintaining the overall essence of the classic story. Some of the changes the authors make reflect the nuances of different cultures and environments, while others are made for entertainment and humor. Either way, students will explore the idea that different authors can use their own perspective and culture to shape the stories they write or retell. By reading multiple versions of the same classic fairy tale, students will also be able to grapple with the bigger lessons of each tale—the importance of not talking to strangers, how hard work and patience pay off, and the importance of respecting others’ property and privacy. Over the course of the unit, students will be challenged to think about how each of these unique themes is portrayed and how in each different version of the fairy tale the characters may learn the lesson in slightly different ways. It is our hope that this unit, in connection with others in the sequence, will help students see the power of storytelling and how simple stories can be changed and improved based on an author’s ideas and preferences.

In reading, this unit builds directly onto the reading strategies from unit 2. Students will continue to be pushed to be inquisitive consumers of text, asking and answering questions about characters, setting, and plot as they listen to and engage with a text. Students will also continue to work on retelling stories and including key details. Similar to units 1 and 2, students will continue to think deeply about characters and setting and how the details an author includes in the illustration and text help a reader better understand both. Because most of the focuses for this unit are a repeat of similar focuses from units 1 and 2, students should be pushed to a much higher level of rigor and understanding than in previous units. One new focus of this unit, however, is on comparing and contrasting the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. Students will be asked at multiple points to use information they have learned about key events, characters, and setting to compare and contrast different versions of the classic fairy tale. Students should be pushed beyond just superficial comparisons across the different stories. At the end of the unit, students will also have a chance to retell and act out the different fairy tales, putting their own “artistic” spin on the fairy tale.

In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. In unit 2, students began to write answers that correctly answered the questions using facts. In this unit, students will be pushed to continue to focus on correct answers that may show some level of inferential or critical thinking. Students will also begin to learn how to include details from the text in their answers. At this point in the year, it is not important that students have the best evidence but rather that they are including some details that support the answer to the question in one way or another. Structure and grammar feedback during this unit should be based on assessment data from units 1 and 2.

A free mathematics game that makes number practice fun! This game is designed in collaboration with experts in early years mathematics. It is a fun-filled game that offers exciting new ways to practice numbers. It's aligned with the Pre-K/Reception curriculum and enjoyable for ages 4-6+. There are 80 levels that provide structured practice in addition, subtraction, counting, number bonds to 10, and more!

This is a free book-reading game for kids. Explore a magical world that ignites a love of reading! This resource gets kids reading more and boosts their confidence. The game takes players on a magical village of quests, reading books. It features over 70 amazing books to collect as rewards for completing fun jobs. It is designed in collaboration with leading academics.

The ground-breaking game that makes learning to read fun. This game covers everything from letters and sounds to reading full sentences. It is designed in collaboration with leading academics. The game complements all synthetic phonics programs used in schools. The computer version is a 100% free phonics & reading game.