Grade 2 ELA Iowa Standards

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.

Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or expression.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Knowledge of Language

Conventions of Standard English

Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.*

Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Craft and Structure

Key Ideas and Details

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.

Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.

Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Comprehension and Collaboration

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others

Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Text Types and Purposes*

Production and Distribution of Writing

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Range of Writing

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Use collective nouns (e.g., group).

Form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish).

Use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).

Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).

Use adjectives and adverbs.

Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.

Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.

Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.

Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).

Consult reference materials (e.g., beginning dictionaries) as needed, 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.

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.

Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).

Use a known root word to identify the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).

Use reference materials (e.g., glossaries and beginning dictionaries) to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.

Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy or juicy).

Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).

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).

Range of Writing

Language Standards

Reading Standards for Informational Text

Speaking and Listening Standards

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

Reading Standards for Literature

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Key Ideas and Details

Reading and Writing Standards: Foundational Skills

Craft and Structure

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Craft and Structure

Comprehension and Collaboration

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Knowledge of Language

Production and Distribution of Writing

Conventions of Standard English

Phonics and Word Recognition

Key Ideas and Details

Text Types and Purposes

Writing Foundations

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Writing Standards

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Fluency

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills to support decoding and encoding words.

Decode and encode long and short vowels in regularly-spelled one-syllable words.

Decode and encode common vowel teams. With prompting and support, decode and encode additional vowel teams.

Decode and encode regularly spelled two-syllable or multisyllabic words.

Decode and encode words with common prefixes and suffixes.

With prompting and support, decode and encode words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences.

Read grade-appropriate high frequency words with accuracy and automaticity.

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

Use decoding skills to self-correct word recognition, rereading as necessary.

Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

By the end of the 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.

Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

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.

Identify the main purpose of a text, including the author’s point of view and/or perspective.

Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) and details contribute to and clarify a text.

Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details using evidence from the text.

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.

Recount and determine the central message, lesson or moral of stories, including but not limited to fables and folktales from diverse cultures.

Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges, drawing on key details.

Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story, how the middle progresses the plot, and how the ending concludes the action.

Acknowledge differences in the points of view (perspective) of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a story to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.

(Not applicable to literature)

Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story by different authors or from different cultures.

Participate in collaborative conversations with peers and adults about grade 2 topics and texts in both small and larger groups.

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others, staying on topic, and taking turns speaking).

Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.

Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.

Describe the main topic and recount key details from a text read aloud, information presented orally, or other media.

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.

Recount an experience or tell a story with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly in complete sentences.

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.

Speak audibly and in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification when retelling familiar stories or reciting poems, nursery rhymes or lines of a play. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)

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.

(Begins in grade 3)

Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

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.

(Begins in grade 3)

With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

With guidance and support from adults and collaboration with peers, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing.

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).

Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

(Begins in grade 4)

Print independently and legibly for a variety of tasks and purposes.

Produce manuscript writing with accuracy and automaticity.

Begin to produce cursive writing.