2nd Grade Reading: What Happens

So, your child's reading! You're done, right? Not so fast! Things are just starting to get interesting. Second grade reading is a pretty important year for your child in developing the skill sets that allow him or her to see beyond the pronunciation of words to their meaning and implication. In second grade reading the focus changes from decoding (sounding out) words to learning the basic mechanics of reading. As your child grasps the mechanics of reading, comprehension skills come into greater focus.

Here's what your child should be able to do before starting second grade reading:

• Develop appropriate active strategies to construct meaning from print

• Decode unfamiliar words

• Understand how speech sounds are connected

• Understand or are able to figure out (using contextual clues) the meaning of what they read

• Develop and maintain motivation to read

   

• Extend a story

• Predict what will happen next

• Discuss the character's motives

• Question the author's meaning

• Describe causes and effects of events in the text

• Discuss books by tying their comments directly to the text

By the end of second grade students working at the standard level:

• Read with understanding and fluency

• Figure out unknown words in context

• Recognize word patterns (prefixes and suffixes)

• Communicate in writing

• Retell stories with accuracy

• Correct themselves while reading

• Identify and spell many words

• Recognize parts of a story

• Read for more than pleasure

• Use a larger sight vocabulary