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Massachusetts Standards

Massachusetts 2nd Grade ELA Standards

All 42 Massachusetts English language arts standards for 2nd grade, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's document, linked at the end of this page.

42 standards

Reading Standards for Literature

9 standards
RL.2.1
Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about a story on your own, like why the fox tricked the hen.
Common Core RL.2.1
RL.2.2
Retell fables, folktales, and other stories from many cultures and work out the lesson, moral, or main message they teach.
RL.2.3
Explain how a character deals with a big event or problem in a story, like what a lost puppy does to find its way home.
Common Core RL.2.3
RL.2.4
Describe how beats, alliteration, rhymes, and repeated lines give rhythm and meaning to a story, poem, or song.
RL.2.5
Describe how a story is built, with a beginning that sets things up, a middle where the action happens and an ending that wraps it up.
Common Core RL.2.5
RL.2.6
Explain what dialogue is and how what characters say shows their thoughts and points of view.
RL.2.7
Use both the pictures and the words of a book or e-book to explain who the characters are, where the story happens and what goes on in it.
Common Core RL.2.7
RL.2.9
Tell what is the same and what changes between two tellings of one story, like a Cinderella from Europe and one from China.
Common Core RL.2.9
RL.2.10
Read and understand second grade stories, poems, and plays from many genres, cultures, and viewpoints on their own and with skill.

Reading Standards for Informational Text

10 standards
RI.2.1
Ask and answer who, what, where, when, why and how questions about a story on your own, like why the fox tricked the hen.
Common Core RL.2.1
RI.2.2
Say what an informational text with several paragraphs is mostly about, and what each paragraph focuses on, like one paragraph about what sharks eat.
Common Core RI.2.2
RI.2.3
Describe how a series of history events, science ideas, math ideas, or steps in a technical process connect in a text, like steps for planting a seed.
RI.2.4
Work out what words and phrases mean in a nonfiction text on a second grade topic, like erosion in a science book.
RI.2.5
Use captions, bold words, subheadings, a glossary, an index or the menus and icons on a screen to find a fact quickly instead of rereading everything.
Common Core RI.2.5
RI.2.6
Say why the author wrote an informational text, like to answer a question, explain how something works or describe a place.
Common Core RI.2.6
RI.2.7
Explain what a diagram, photo or map adds to an informational text, like a labeled drawing that shows how a pulley lifts a load.
Common Core RI.2.7
RI.2.8
Find a point the author makes, like that recycling helps the planet, and explain how each reason given backs it up.
Common Core RI.2.8
RI.2.9
Read two informational texts on one topic, like two books about volcanoes, and tell where their most important points agree and where they differ.
Common Core RI.2.9
RI.2.10
Read and understand second grade nonfiction on their own, including history, science, math, and technical texts like how-to guides.

Reading Standards for Foundational Skills

2 standards
RF.2.3
Say the main sound of each consonant, know the long and short sounds of a, e, i, o and u, and read common sight words like the, of and you.
Common Core RF.K.3
RF.2.4
Read 1st-grade books aloud smoothly and accurately with expression, understand them, and reread when a word or sentence does not make sense.
Common Core RF.1.4

Writing Standards

9 standards
W.2.1
Write opinions with reasons, linking words like because and also, and an ending, and in math, write or draw word problem solutions and explain their thinking.
W.2.2
Write to inform by introducing a topic, building points with facts and definitions, and finishing with a closing sentence or section.
W.2.3
Write a story or poem about one detailed event or a few events, with dialogue and details, time words, an ending, and for poems sound patterns like rhyme or alliteration.
W.2.4
Shape writing to fit its task, purpose, and reader, like organizing a letter to a grandparent differently from a report on bees.
W.2.5
With help from adults and classmates, stick to one topic and improve a piece of writing by revising the ideas and editing the mistakes.
Common Core W.2.5
W.2.6
With an adult's help, use digital tools like a tablet or classroom computer to write, polish and publish a piece, sometimes with a partner.
Common Core W.1.6
W.2.7
Join a class project that gathers information, like reading several books about insects to write a report together or keeping notes on a science experiment.
Common Core W.2.7
W.2.8
Answer a question by drawing on something you remember or by finding the facts in books or websites the teacher gives you.
Common Core W.2.8
W.2.10
Write regularly for many tasks, reasons, and readers, like daily journals, thank-you notes, and short reports.

Speaking and Listening Standards

6 standards
SL.2.1
Discuss 2nd grade topics and books in small and large groups, follow the rules, build on what others say and ask when something is unclear.
Common Core SL.2.1
SL.2.2
Retell the main ideas and details of a story read aloud, a talk or a video, like the steps shown in a video about making butter.
Common Core SL.2.2
SL.2.3
Ask a speaker questions to clear up a confusing part, learn more or go deeper into the topic, and answer questions about what was said.
Common Core SL.2.3
SL.2.4
Speak audibly in clear sentences to share a story, describe an experience, or walk through solving a math problem, using facts, vivid details, and fitting words.
SL.2.5
Make audio recordings of stories or poems, and add drawings or other visuals to stories or descriptions when they help show ideas and feelings.
SL.2.6
Speak in complete sentences when the task calls for it, so they can give the detail or explanation someone asks for.

Language Standards

6 standards
L.2.1
Use correct grammar, choosing sentence types, adjectives or adverbs, collective nouns like flock, irregular plurals and past tenses, and reflexive pronouns like myself.
L.2.2
Capitalize the first word of a sentence and the word I, name the period and question mark, and spell simple words the way they sound, like kat for cat.
Common Core L.K.2
L.2.3
Notice the difference between formal and casual English, like Good morning, Mrs. Lee versus Hey, and choose which fits the moment.
Common Core L.2.3
L.2.4
Figure out a new word in 2nd grade reading from its sentence, a prefix like un- in unhappy, a root like add in addition, its parts like birdhouse, or a dictionary.
Common Core L.2.4
L.2.5
Connect words to real life, like naming foods that are spicy or juicy, and tell apart close words like toss, throw and hurl or thin, slender and scrawny.
Common Core L.2.5
L.2.6
Use words learned from talk, second grade activities, and books, including adjectives and adverbs to describe, like a fluffy cat purring softly.

The official Massachusetts documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Massachusetts's standards, not the official wording, which Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.