Grade 2 • Language Arts • Reading Foundational Skills

Grade 2 Language Arts

READING FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS

Phonics and Decoding

Phonics is one approach to reading instruction that teaches students the principles of letter-sound relationships, how to sound out words, and exceptions to the principles.

Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. Understanding these relationships gives children the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and to figure out words they haven't seen before.

WHAT CHILDREN CAN DO TO HELP THEMSELVES

  • Look at written materials around your house and at road signs to see if you can spot familiar words and word patterns.
  • When you're trying to sound out a word, pay close attention to the print. Try to look at all the letters in the word, not just the first one or two.

HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME

  • Help your child make connections between what he or she might see on a sign or in the newspaper and the letter and sound work he or she is doing in school.
  • Encourage your child to write and spell notes, e-mails, and letters using what he or she knows about sounds and letters.
  • Talk with your child about the "irregular" words that he or she will often see in text. These are the words that don't follow the usual letter-sound rules. These words include said, are, and was. Students must learn to recognize them "at sight."
  • As students are decoding words in text, encourage your child to try different ways to figure out words. Help your child by saying:
    • Read across the word by sounding out individual letters.
    • What parts of the word do you recognize?
  • Resources

PHONICS ACTIVITIES

HIGH-FREQUENCY WOrds

High-frequency words are words that appear most often in text. High-frequency words provide young readers with the building blocks for reading success. By recognizing these words quickly and automatically, readers develop the skills they need to become fluent readers. As readers practice with these words and gain automaticity, these words become “sight” words– words recognized at sight!

Throughout the year, students will work with a variety of high frequency words. Please contact your child’s teacher for high-frequency words to practice at home.  

HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME

You can practice high-frequency words with your child using the following activities:

  • Read, Spell, Read
    • Read: the 
    • Spell: t   h  e
    • Read: the
  • Magnetic letters
    • Building high-frequency words with magnetic letters is a simple hands-on strategy. You can build on a refrigerator, a magnetic dry-erase board, or simply lay the magnetic letters out on a table.
  • Search for high frequency words in nursery rhymes and books
    • After reading together, let your child find the high-frequency words you are focusing on.
  • Write the words in salt or sand
    • Writing the words in salt or sand is a great sensory-based strategy to practice high frequency words.  Pour some salt into a small cookie sheet, and let the kids use their finger to write the word. 
  • “Air write” the words
    • With your pointer or index finger, trace the letter in the air from top to bottom the way you would write the letter. Think aloud as you show children the direction to move their finger as they form the letter.
  • Create the words with playdough
    • Roll out playdough to form the letters in the high frequency word and then tracing the letters with their finger. 
  • High-Frequency Word Tic-Tac-Toe
    • This is a fun twist on a classic game. Let your child pull a high-frequency word card. Then, read it and spell it before adding an “X” or “O” to the board. 
  • Flashlight Tag with high-frequency words
    • Hang high-frequency words around the house. Then, turn off the lights and call out a high-frequency word. Have your child find it with a flashlight. 

HIGH-FREQUENCY WORD ACTIVITIES

Fluency

Fluency is defined as the ability to read with speed, accuracy, and proper expression. In order to understand what they read, children must be able to read fluently whether they are reading aloud or silently.  Their reading is smooth and has expression.

TIPS

  • Phrasing and Smoothness- Does your child read with smoothness and not read word-by-word? Pay attention to punctuation. 
  • Pace: You child should read at a conversational rate.  This takes practice. 
  • Expression and volume: You child should read with expression by looking at punctuation and proper volume.

HOW TO SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AT HOME

  • Read with a buddy
  • Reread favorite nursery rhymes
  • Reread favorite books
  • Record your child reading
  • Listen to audio books

 

FLUENCY ACTIVITIES

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