Grade 2 Teaching Center
Reading, critical thinking, and citizenship skills for second grade
Here is everything you need to teach each week's issue.
 Week 1
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 Week 2
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 Week 3
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 Week 4
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Teach about monarch butterfly migration.
National Standard
Science (NSES)
Characteristics of organisms
Common Core Standard
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
Goal
Students will learn about monarch butterfly migration.
Objective
Students will be able to explain what monarch butterflies do during each of the four seasons and why they migrate. Students will also be able to name the parts of a butterfly.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Explicit Information is information that can be clearly found “right there” in the text. Ask students to find explicit information from the text. Ask: Where do most monarch butterflies fly in the fall? What do monarchs do in the winter? Where do monarchs go in the spring? What do monarchs drink in the summer?
Link
Create a monarch way station (monarch habitat) at your school.
Literature Connection
• Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope
• Magnificent Monarchs, by Linda Glaser
• Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way, by Elizabeth Ring
• Monarch Magic! Butterfly Activities & Nature Discoveries, by Lynn M. Rosenblatt
Multimedia Features in This Issue
COVER
Video: Watch a monarch butterfly.
Monarch butterflies use their two pairs of wings to fly. Ask: Why might a monarch want to land on a flower?
PAGES 2–3
Video: Watch a monarch drink nectar.
Monarch butterflies drink nectar from flowers. Ask: Why might monarch butterflies need to drink nectar?
Video: See monarchs in Mexico.
Millions of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico in the fall. Ask: Why might monarchs go to warmer places in the fall?
PAGE 4
Activity: Using a diagram.
Assess students’ comprehension of the diagram of a butterfly. Have students click on the correct answer to each question.
Before Reading
Critical Thinking: Explain that monarch butterflies travel in the fall. Ask: Why might monarchs travel during that time of year? Where might monarchs go?
Background Information
• Like all other butterflies, monarchs do not have an internal heating system. They rely on the sun to warm their bodies. When the air is very cold, monarchs cannot fly.
• No individual butterfly completes the entire two-way migration. One generation begins the journey, and later generations finish it.
• Monarch butterflies arrive in Mexico at the end of October or early November. They leave Mexico in early March or April.
• Female monarchs lay their eggs only on the leaves of milkweed plants. They lay hundreds of eggs, laying one at a time on different leaves.
During Reading
Critical Thinking: Direct students’ attention to the monarch migration map. Ask: What do the arrows show? Why might monarchs need to stay warm in the winter?
After Reading
Critical Thinking: Ask students to recall what they’ve learned about monarchs. Ask: What other questions do you still have about monarchs? Have students use books and online sources to research the answers, and then ask them to share what they’ve found with the class.
Social Studies Extension: Have students participate in monarch tagging or create a milkweed garden. Visit www.monarchwatch.org to learn more.
Adaptation: Ask students to create a list of words that relate to migration (for example, migrate, south, trip). Create a word wall with the words in alphabetical order. Include brief definitions next to each word.
Engage students in a lesson about the U.S. Constitution.
National Standard
Social Studies (NCSS)
Civic ideals and practices
Common Core Standard
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
Goal
Students will understand why and how the Constitution came to be.
Objective
Students will be able to explain what the Constitution is and describe how it was created.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Setting tells you where and when a story takes place. Ask: Where does this story take place? When does this story take place?
Link
Get the lyrics to the Schoolhouse Rock song “The Preamble.”
Literature Connection
• Following Rules, by Cassie Mayer
• Grody’s Not So Golden Rules, by Nicole Rubel
• School Rules, by Larry Dane Brimner
• Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution, by Jean Fritz
• We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, foreword by David Catrow
Multimedia Features in This Issue
COVER
Video: See the U.S. Constitution.
Our country’s rules are called the U.S. Constitution. Ask: What do you know about the U.S. Constitution?
PAGES 2–3
Video: See Independence Hall.
Many people go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to see Independence Hall. Ask: Why might people want to visit Independence Hall?
Audio: Listen to a song. Follow the lyrics and sing along to the Schoolhouse Rock song “The Preamble.”
PAGE 4
Activity: Using a map.
Assess students’ comprehension of a map of the 13 original states. Have students click on the correct answer to each question.
Before Reading
Critical Thinking: After reading the text on the cover, ask: What is a rule? What rules do you have at school? What rules does our country have? What would happen if there were no rules?
Background Information
• The Constitution sets up the three branches of our government. The legislative branch makes the laws. The judicial branch decides what the laws mean when people disagree. The executive branch makes sure the laws are followed. That branch includes the president.
• Fifty-five leaders, from 12 of the 13 original states (all except Rhode Island), helped create the Constitution.
• The Constitution can be amended, or changed. Ten changes were added in 1791. The changes are called the Bill of Rights. They outline the rights and freedoms of Americans. Those include the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion.
During Reading
Use Text Features: Point out the painting of the leaders who wrote the Constitution. Ask students to describe what they see. Ask: How does this picture help you understand the story better?
After Reading
Critical Thinking: Ask students to think about the rules in their school and classroom. Ask: Which rule do you think is most important? Why?
Social Studies Extension: Guide students in writing a classroom constitution. Ask them to brainstorm ideas together. Then ask them to choose five important rules. Write the rules on a large piece of paper, and have students write their names on the bottom. Display the classroom constitution.
Adaptation: Create simple cloze sentences based on this week’s issue. Let students complete them as they reread the issue.
Teach students about hurricanes and the job of Hurricane Hunters.
National Standard
Science (NSES)
Changes in Earth and sky
Common Core Standard
Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
Goal
Students will understand that a hurricane is a strong storm that can cause damage to trees and property.
Objective
Students will be able to identify how a hurricane forms and will also be able to describe the effects of a hurricane.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Sequence is the order of events or steps in a text. Have students study the diagram showing how a hurricane forms. Ask: What happens after the clouds start spinning together? How do the pictures help you understand the steps? What might happen next in the sequence?
Link
Learn how to stay safe during a hurricane.
Literature Connection
• Changing Weather: Storms, by Kelley MacAulay and Bobbie Kalman
• Eye of the Storm: A Book About Hurricanes, by Rick Thomas
• Hurricanes! by Gail Gibbons
• Hurricanes, by Seymour Simon
• When a Storm Comes Up, by Allan Fowler
Multimedia Features in This Issue
COVER
Video: What is a hurricane watch?
A hurricane watch is announced when a hurricane is possible within 48 hours. Ask: Why might it be important to listen to weather reports?
PAGES 2–3
Video: Watch hurricane winds blow.
Hurricanes bring strong winds and a lot of rain. Ask: How might people stay safe during a hurricane?
Video: Learn about Hurricane Hunters.
Meet Valerie Hendry. She is a member of the Hurricane Hunters. Ask: Would you want to be a Hurricane Hunter? Why or why not?
PAGE 4
Activity: Using a diagram.
Assess students’ comprehension of a diagram showing how a hurricane forms. Have students click on the correct answer to each question.
Before Reading
Critical Thinking: Ask students to think about the weather. Ask: What is a storm? What happens during a storm? Why might a spinning storm be dangerous?
Background Information
• Hurricanes are powerful swirling storms that can be 200 to 300 miles across.
• A hurricane forms over warm ocean water, bringing heavy rain and strong winds.
• Hurricane winds swirl around an eye, or a calm area in the storm’s center that can be 20 miles wide.
• Hurricane winds blow at 74 miles per hour or more. Winds that blow around a hurricane’s eye can reach speeds of more than 150 miles per hour.
• These storms can cause ocean flooding; their winds can severely damage buildings, cars, and boats.
• The students who planted trees in Brechtel Park worked with a nonprofit group called Hike for KaTREEna. The group is dedicated to replanting trees destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
During Reading
Mini Activity: Invite children to contribute words to a word web that describes stormy weather and hurricanes.
After Reading
Critical Thinking: Ask: Why might people want to become Hurricane Hunters? What words would you use to best describe a Hurricane Hunter?
Social Studies Extension: Tell children that rain can be both helpful and harmful. Invite them to think of helpful and harmful effects of rain, and record responses on a chart with the headings Helpful and Harmful.
Adaptation: As you read aloud, circle the word hurricane. Invite students to count with you the number of times it appears. Examining text helps children recognize new words, and the spelling of those words becomes more familiar to them.
Explore a farm during the fall harvest.
National Standard
Science (NSES)
Types of resources
Common Core Standard
Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
Goal
Children will understand that many fruits and vegetables are harvested in the fall.
Objective
Children will be able to explain how food gets from the farm to their homes.
Concepts of Comprehension©
Predicting is deciding what will most likely happen next in what you are reading. Pause after reading the question on the top of pages 2–3, “How does food get from the farm to you?” Ask students to predict what happens first, second, and third.
Link
Watch a video of a potato harvest.
Literature Connection
• The Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the Harvest, by Ellen Jackson
• How Groundhog’s Garden Grew, by Lynne Cherry
• Strega Nona’s Harvest, by Tomie dePaola
• The Ugly Vegetables, by Grace Lin
Multimedia Features in This Issue
COVER
Video: Watch people pick vegetables.
Watch a mother and her daughter pick leafy green vegetables from their garden. Ask: Why might people want to plant a garden?
PAGES 2–3
Video: Watch apple trees change.
Apple trees change during each of the four seasons of the year. Ask: Why might apple trees need to rest in the winter?
Video: See the White House garden.
Kids helped plant the garden at the White House. Ask: Why, do you think, did First Lady Michelle Obama want a garden at the White House?
PAGE 4
Activity: Reading comprehension.
Assess students’ comprehension of the issue. Have students click on the correct answer to each question.
Before Reading
Display the cover, and let students predict what they will be reading about. Ask: What is the boy on the cover holding? Where do carrots grow? Why might carrots be ready to be picked in the fall?
Background Information
• Fall is harvest time. Harvest is the gathering of fruits and vegetables when they are ripe.
• The length of time from planting to harvest varies from place to place and from year to year.
• In fall, pumpkins, squashes, carrots, beets, apples, and other plants are ready to be picked.
• Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are healthy. Healthy foods contain nutrients, the substances that the body uses to grow, to heal, and for energy.
During Reading
Critical Thinking: Have students read the news sidebar, “Fall Harvest at the White House.” Ask: How do you think the children felt when they helped First Lady Michelle Obama with the harvest? Why might they have felt that way?
After Reading
Critical Thinking: Have students describe what it might be like to work on a farm. Ask: What might be the hardest thing about working on a farm? Would you want to be a farmer? Why or why not?
Math Extension: Invite students to vote for their favorite vegetable. Then create a bar graph showing the results. Serve the top favorites as a snack. Note: Be aware of food allergies.
Adaptation: Give students a firsthand understanding of the issue by growing an indoor classroom garden. Many vegetables can be grown indoors in pots. Try planting spinach, lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes, radishes, or herbs. To learn more, visit www.nea.org/tools/EW-Grow a Garden of Opportunity.htm.
