ELA Curriculum Map
Essential Questions
Reading: How do readers
identify beginnings and
endings?
Writing: How does using
details describing actions,
thoughts and feelings make
stories more interesting?
Big Idea
Decisions
Enduring Understandings
Readers understand that
knowing the structure of a
story helps them comprehend
the text.
Writers understand that use
of details, descriptive
language and dialogue
enhances writing.
Learners understand that
people make decisions based
on their needs and wants.
Goals
Readers will describe the
structure of a story, with a
special emphasis on
beginnings and endings.
Writers will write a narrative
that recounts a sequence of
2nd Grade ~ Unit 2A~2014-15
Vocabulary
Benchmark
Vocabulary
save
college
downtown
fined
accident
rich
absolutely
vanish
positively
coins
bargain
savings
spoiled
charcoal
exchanged
boost
tulips
block
By the Way
Words
These are
addressed during
Close Reading and
can be defined as
• words that don’t
require lengthy
discussion within a
particular text.
• words supported
by the text for
Time Frame: 3 weeks
Content & Skills
Assessments
1. Read Trade Book Chapters 1–2
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Readers understand
relationships between characters
through the events and challenges in a
story.
Writing Focus Identify character
responses to major events
Formative Writing Activities
Lesson 7
Have children think about the order of events in Alexander, Who
Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. On p. 79 in the Reader’s and
Writer’s Journal, have them write a new ending to the story. Have
children:
1. Introduce the characters in the scene.
2. Describe the ending event using adjectives.
2. Read Trade Book Chapters 1–2
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Writers understand
that details and signal words help
readers sequence events in a story.
Writing Focus Identify setting.
Lesson 10
Have children choose a character from the book and make a
Character Web on a separate sheet of paper. Then have them
turn to p. 80 in the Reader’s and Writer’s Journal and recount
how that character responds to events in the story of A Chair for
My Mother. Have children:
1. Choose one character and make a Character Web using a Web
B graphic organizer.
2. Use the Character Web to help write sentences that describe
how the character responded to events in the beginning, middle,
and end of the story.
3. Read Trade Book Chapters 5–6
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Readers understand
relationships between characters
through the events and challenges in a
story.
Writing Focus Identify main
characters.
4. Read Trade Book Chapters 7–9
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Readers understand
relationships between characters
through the events and challenges in a
story.
Writing Focus Identify character
responses to challenges
Lesson 11
Have children turn to p. 80 in the Reader’s and Writer’s Journal
and revisit their writing from the previous lesson. Have them:
1. Reread their writing.
2. revise by adding sequence words to help readers
more clearly follow the order of events in their writing
Questions: (Accountable Independent Reading)
Literary
Key Ideas and Details
• How do the characters in the text respond to major events and
challenges?
• Retell the story. What is the central message of the story?
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ELA Curriculum Map
events using beginnings,
endings and details to
describe actions, thoughts
and feelings.
Learners will recognize that
people make decisions based
on their needs, wants and the
availability of resources.
2nd Grade ~ Unit 2A~2014-15
meaning.
• words that are
more concrete.
5. Read Trade Book
Chapters 10–11
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Learners
understand that relationships
matter to a community
Writing Focus Identify point of view.
6. Read Trade Book Chapters 12–13
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus: Readers understand
relationships between characters
through the events and challenges in a
story.
Writing Focus: Compare settings.
7. Read Trade Book Chapters 14–15
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus: Learners understand
that relationships matter to a
community.
Writing Focus: Compare points of
view.
8. Read Trade Book Chapters 16–17
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus: Writers understand
that details and signal words help
readers sequence events in a story.
Writing Focus: Identify sequence.
9. Read Trade Book Chapters 18–20
Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Learners understand
that relationships matter to a
Time Frame: 3 weeks
Craft and Structure
• What happens in the beginning, middle, and end of the text?
• How do two characters in the story have different points of
view? List evidence from the text to support your thinking.
Integration of Ideas
• How do the illustrations help you understand events or ideas?
• How are the characters or themes in this text similar to or
different from those in another text you’ve read?
Informational
Key Ideas and Details
• What is the main idea of the text? How do key details support
the main idea?
• How are the events or concepts in the text connected to each
other?
Craft and Structure
• What text features are used in the text? How do they help you
locate information?
• What is the author’s purpose for the text? What does the
author want to answer, explain, or describe?
Integration of Ideas
• How do the illustrations help you understand the text?
• How do reasons support specific points the author makes?
Performance Task
Task: Decision Stories
In this unit, children are reading stories where the characters
have needs and wants. Children will refer to Alexander from
Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, and the girl from A
Chair for My Mother, and will create a character who wants to
buy something. They will decide whether or not the character is
able to buy it.
Children will create a narrative that tells the story of what the
character wanted to buy, whether or not he/she was able to buy
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ELA Curriculum Map
2nd Grade ~ Unit 2A~2014-15
community.
Writing Focus Analyze character.
10. Read Trade Book
Chapters 21–22 Charlotte’s Web
Reading Focus Readers understand
relationships between characters
through the events and challenges in a
story.
Writing Focus Analyze character
response.
11. Read Text Collection Read the
entire book. Snowshoe Hare’s Winter
Home
Reading Focus Readers understand
relationships between characters
through the events and challenges in a
story.
Writing Focus Identify character
response.
Time Frame: 3 weeks
it, and the decision the character has to make.
Children will:
• recount the event or short sequence of events,
including action
• include details that convey thoughts and feelings
• use temporal words to demonstrate event order
• provide a sense of closure
Writing Wrap Ups
End of Unit (Module B)
N/A
Homework Assignments
12. Compare
• Charlotte’s Web
• Snowshoe Hare’s Winter Home
Reading Focus Learners understand
that relationships matter to a
community.
Writing Focus Compare settings.
13. Compare
• Charlotte’s Web
• Snowshoe Hare’s Winter Home
Reading Focus Learners understand
that relationships matter to a
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ELA Curriculum Map
2nd Grade ~ Unit 2A~2014-15
Time Frame: 3 weeks
community.
Writing Focus Compare characters.
Interdisciplinary
Options
Social Studies Content
Connection
2.9.a People make decisions
based on their needs, wants,
and the availability of
resources.
2.9.c Scarcity, price of goods
and services, and choice all
influence economic decisions
made by individuals and
communities
Resources
Anchor Text
Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday
AD570L
Supporting Text
A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams 640L
Sleuth
“The Hunt for Amelia’s Ring”
“The Birthday Surprise”
Reader’s Writer’s Journal
Scaffolded Strategies Handbook
Additional Texts
Technology
Common Core Learning Standards
RL. 2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including
describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending
concludes the action.
RL.2.3 Describe how characters in a story respond to major
events and challenges.
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.
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.
W.2.5 With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus
on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and
editing.
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.
SL2.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse
partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in
small and larger groups.
SL.2.2 Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read
aloud or information presented orally or through other media.
SL.2.4 Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate
facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in
coherent sentences.
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