Reading
Reading Literature and Informational Text
• Ask and answer questions to show understanding of text
• Recount stories, including fables and folktales from
diverse cultures; determine central message, lesson, or
moral
• Identify the main topic of multiparagraphed text and the
main purpose for text, including what the author’s purpose
• Describe how characters respond to events and challenges
• Describe connections between a series of historical events,
scientific ideas, or technical procedures in text
• Describe how words and phrases supply rhythm and
meaning to stories, poems, or songs
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases in text
• Describe the overall structure of a story including
describing how the beginning introduces and the end
concludes the action
• Know and use text features to locate key facts in text
efficiently
• Acknowledge differences in the points of view of
characters, including by speaking in a different voice for
each character when reading dialogue aloud
• Use information gained from illustrations and words in
print to demonstrate understanding of character, setting,
and plot
• Explain how images contribute and clarify informational
text
• Describe how reasons support specific points an author
makes
• Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same
story by different authors or from different cultures
• Compare and contrast the most important points presented
by two texts on the same topic
• By the end of the year, students are to read and
comprehend a variety of literature and informational text
in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiently with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range
Phonics and Word Recognition
• Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly
spelled one-syllable words
• Know spelling-sound correspondences for additional
common vowel teams
• Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes
• Identify words with inconsistent but common spellingsound correspondences
• Recognize and read irregularly spelled words
Fluency
• Read on-level text with purpose and understanding
• Read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate
and expression on successive readings
• Use context to confirm and self-correct word recognition
and understanding, rereading as needed
Writing
Text Types and Purposes
• Write opinion pieces, informative/expository text, and
narrative stories. Each type of writing should include an
opening, facts, reasons, or details about the topic or event,
transitions, and a sense of closure
• Strengthen writing by revising and editing
• Use digital tools to produce and publish writing
• Participate on shared research and writing projects
• Recall information from experiences or gather information
from provided sources to answer questions
Speaking and Listening
• Participate in collaborative conversations
• Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions
• Build on conversations by linking others’ talk
• Ask for clarification and further explanation about topics
or text under discussion
• Recount or describe key ideas or details from text read
aloud or information presented orally
• Tell a story or recount an experience with facts and details
• Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings
or visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences
• Produce complete sentences when speaking
Language
• Use collective nouns and reflexive pronouns
• Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns
• Form and use the past tense of irregular verbs
• Use adjectives and adverbs; choose between them
depending on what is to be modified
• Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and
compound sentences
• Use capitalization appropriately
• Use commas in greetings and closings of letters
• Use apostrophes to form contractions and possessives
• Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words
• Consult reference materials to check and correct spellings
• Use knowledge of language and its conventions when
writing speaking, reading, or listening. Compare formal
and informal uses of English
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
• Use context as a clue to the meaning of words or phrases
• Determine the meaning new words when a prefix is added
• Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an
unknown word with the same root
• Use the knowledge of the meaning of words to predict the
meaning of compound words
• Identify connections between words and their use
• Distinguish degrees of meaning among verbs and
adjectives
• Use words and phrases learned through conversations,
reading, and responding to texts
Math
Operations / Algebraic Thinking
Represent addition and subtraction using multiple methods
Solve addition and subtraction word problems within 100
Fluently add and subtract within 20 using mental strategies
Know from memory all sums of two one-digit numbers
Determine whether a group of objects has an odd or even
number of members
• Develop a foundation for multiplication through experiences
with equal groups of objects
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Number and Operations in Base Ten
• Count within 1000
• Skip count by 5s, 10s, and 100s
• Read and write numbers to 1000 using base-ten numerals,
number names, and expanded form
• Understand that the three digits of a three-digit number represent
amounts of hundreds, tens, and ones
• Compare two three-digit numbers based on meanings of the
hundreds, tens, and ones digits
• Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on
place value, properties of operations, and the relationship
between addition and subtraction
• Mentally add 10 or 100 to a given number 100 – 900
• Mentally subtract 10 or 100 from a given number 100 – 900
• Add and subtract within 1000 using multiple strategies
• Explain why addition and subtraction strategies work using place
value and the properties of operations
Measurement and Data
• Measure and estimate lengths in standard units using tools
• Represent whole numbers as lengths from 0 on a number line
diagram; represent whole number sums and differences within
100 on a number line diagram
• Tell and write time from analog and digital clocks to the nearest
five minutes, using a.m. and p.m.
• Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes,
nickels, and pennies, using $ and ¢ symbols appropriately
• Draw a picture graph and a bar graph to represent a data set with
up to four categories
• Solve problems using information presented in a bar graphs
Geometry
• Recognize and draw shapes having specified attributes
• Identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, & cubes
• Partition a rectangle into rows and columns of same-size squares
and count to find the total number of them
• Partition circles and rectangles into two, three, or four equal
shares; describe the shares using appropriate fraction vocabulary
Mathematics Standards for Mathematical Practice
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Make sense of problems and persist in solving them
Reason abstractly and quantitatively
Construct practical arguments and critique other’s reasoning
Model with mathematics
Use appropriate tools strategically
Attend to accuracy
Look for and make use of structure
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
Connect the standards for mathematical practice to the standards
for mathematical content
Social Studies
Second Grade History Strands are introduced through rich literature
and practiced through a variety of engaging activities. Below are
key points of the five areas of Grade 2 Social Studies.
American History: Analyze our national experience through time.
• Learn research skills needed to understand History
• Recognize how some early civilizations developed and grew
• Recognize events, people, and places of Revolutionary America
and Westward Expansion
World History: Analyze the human experience through time.
• Recognize civilizations developed in China, India, and Japan
• Describe how expanding trade led to the exchange of goods
Civics and Government: Understand politics, government, and the
responsibilities of good citizenship.
• Discuss examples of responsible citizenship in school and
community
• Describe the meaning of national symbols, documents, songs, and
monuments that represent American democracy and values
Geography: Understand the human and physical characteristics of
Earth’s places and regions.
• Recognize different types of maps, map features, and landforms
• Identify ways humans depend on, adapt to, and impact the Earth
Economics: Understand and enable students to make reasoned
judgments about personal economic questions and broader economic
policy.
• Understand how the availability of resources or products effects
cost, opportunity, trade, and consumption of goods
Science
Second Grade Science is discovery based using hands-on
classroom kits. Students engage in the following to learn the
Science Standards:
• Soils: introduction to the compositions and interaction of soils
found on earth
• Balancing & Weighing: introduction to the measurable
properties of objects such as weight, length, etc.
• Butterflies: introduction to the life cycles of butterflies and their
developmental stages of life Work Habits
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Pillars of Character
Makes good use of time
Works independently
Works carefully and neatly
Uses organizational skills
Works cooperatively
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Responsibility
Citizenship
Trustworthiness
Fairness
Caring
Respect
A Message from the
Educational Services Department
Gilbert Public Schools (GPS) is recognized for its
rigorous, well-defined curriculum, and for the quality
of innovative programs and extra-curricular activities.
Across the curriculum, critical thinking skills are
fostered in students in an effort to equip them with
effective problem-solving and decision-making
abilities. The curriculum also incorporates state-of-theart technology tools and integrated instruction to
prepare students for college and career readiness.
GPS is proud to be a leader in the state as evidenced
by our letter “A” grade from the Arizona Department
of Education and recent acknowledgement by
CollegeBoard as an Advanced Placement Honor Roll
District. These high marks are an indication of the
quality of the total K-12 educational experience
provided by teachers, administrators and support staff,
and also reflect the high level of parent involvement
and support our schools receive.
Gilbert Public
Schools
nd
2 Grade
GPS has been working diligently to transition
instruction and student learning to the rigor of
Arizona’s Common Core Standards. A new, early
release calendar has been established to provide time
for teachers to regularly meet in their Professional
Learning Communities. Teachers will be discussing
and implementing research-based instructional
strategies to support high levels of learning for all
students.
ndergarten
Curriculum &
Arizona Common
We look forward to our continued partnership as we
strive to provide an exemplary education for GPS
students.
Core Standards