Running head: WHAT STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW IN SECOND GRADE

What Students Need to Know in Second Grade: An Examination of Second Grade English
Language Arts Learning Progressions
James Jazo
National-Louis University - National College of Education

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Learning progressions for English Language Arts are mapped out by the Common Core
State Standards. There are a plethora of English Language Arts skills that students are asked to
master by the end of each grade level. Meeting students at their academic proficiency level for
each skill and scaffolding their learning can be a daunting task for teachers. Common Core State
Standards help teachers identify skills their students should master by the end of the year, but it
is important to note that the mastery of some English Language Arts skills is subjective. Teachers
should put and emphasis on growth when discussing learning objectives and goals with students.
Habits and dispositions of reading [and writing] are not something to be mastered
individuals develop and grow as readers and writers often as a result of the literacy environment
that surrounds them (Biggam & Itterly, 2008).
Analyzing the vertical progression of skills found within each standard is an important
task for teachers to undertake. It is important to analyze the standards two grades below and two
grades above the target grade level in order to identify the vertical progression of skills.
Analyzing the standards of multiple grade levels and the skills related to those standards will
help teachers determine their students academic needs and scaffold learning. It is also important
for teachers to identify the needs of their students and scaffold learning based on formative
assessment.
Teachers should be wary of misconceptions surrounding Common Core State Standards.
Common Core State Standards is ultimately a guide for student learning and teachers should use
their professional judgment when developing and implementing curricula (Pearson, 2013).
Teacher developed objectives and assessments clarify the progression of English Language Arts
skills and whether or not the students skills are progressing. Formative assessment data can be
captured using data collection tools and analyzed during data analysis protocols.

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The standards can be broken down into several skills and entire instructional units can be
planned around a specific standard. Teachers should analyze standards, break them down into
skills that can be taught, develop assessments that measure skill progression, and plan their
lessons according to their assessments. This type of backwards planning allows teachers to
determine how they are going to help their students grow academically while considering
Common Core State Standards (Pearson, 2013). It is important to consider the vertical
progression of skills when planning due to the fact that students English Languages Arts skills
vary. Determining an appropriate starting point for specific students or groups of students is
important when unit planning.
There are many second grade English Language Arts benchmark skills defined by
Common Core State Standards. The major second grade English Language Arts strands include
reading literature/information text, speaking/listening, language/foundational skills, and writing.
Asking and answering questions such as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate
understanding of key details in a text is a major benchmark skill for reading. Writing opinion
pieces in which students introduce the topic or book they are writing about, stating an opinion,
supplying reasons that support the opinion, using linking words to connect opinion and reasons,
and providing a concluding statement or section are major benchmark skills for writing.
Knowing and applying grade-level phonics and word analysis skills to decode words in isolation
and in text is a major benchmark skill for language/foundational skills. Participating in
collaborative conversations with diverse partners about on level topics and texts with peers and
adults in small and larger groups as well as following agreedupon rules for discussions is a
major benchmark skill for speaking/listening (CCSS Initiative, 2010).

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Common Core State Standards are end of year goals for students and there are typically
several skills found within each standard. The skills found within second grade English
Language Arts Common Core State Standards build on foundational skills that students should
have learned in kindergarten and first grade. Sometimes it is necessary for second grade teachers
to analyze kindergarten and first grade standards to determine which instructional practices will
benefit students performing below grade level proficiency. The National Research Council is
committed to the notion of learning as an ongoing developmental progression. Common Core
State Standards are designed to help children continually build on, and revise their knowledge
and abilities, starting from initial conceptions. (NRC, 2010).

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References
Biggam, S. & Itterly, K. (2008). Literacy profiles: A framework to guide assessment,
instructional strategies and intervention, K-4. Pearson Education, Inc.
Common Core State Standards Initiative (2010). Common core state standards for English
language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects.
Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/
National Research Council. (2010). A framework for science education: Preliminary public
draft. Washington, DC: National Academy Press
Pearson, P.D. (2013). Research foundations of the common core state standards in English
language arts. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.