2-3 Grade Span
Grade 2
English Language Arts & Literacy
California Common Core State Standards
Reading Literature
Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text
Recount stories, including fables and folktales from diverse cultures, and determine their central message, lesson, or moral
Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.
Craft and Structure
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.
Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.
Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories and poetry, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Reading Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.
Craft and Structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.
Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range
Reading Foundational Skills
Phonics and Word Recognition
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words (long and short vowels, spelling-sound correspondences, decode regularly spelled two-syllable words with long vowels, decode words with common prefixes and suffixes, identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondence, recognize and read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words).
Fluency
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension (read on-level text with purpose and understanding, read on-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings, use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary).
Writing
Writing types and purposes
1. Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
3. Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
Production and Distribution of Writing
Write narratives in which they recount a well-elaborated event or short sequence of events, include details to describe actions, thoughts, and feelings, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure.
With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).
Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
Range of Writing
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Listening and Speaking
Comprehension and Collaboration
Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups (follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion), build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others, ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion)
Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media (give and follow three- and four-step oral directions).
Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says
in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant,descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences (plan and deliver a narrative presentation that: recounts a well-elaborated event, includes details, reflects a logical sequence, and provides a conclusion)
Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
Language
Conventions of Standard English
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (use collective nouns (e.g., group), form and use frequently occurring irregular plural nouns (e.g., feet, children, teeth, mice, fish), use reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves), form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told), use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified, produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy), create readable documents with legible print).
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names, use commas in greetings and closings of letters, use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives, generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage badge; boy boil), consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
Knowledge of Language
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening (compare formal and informal uses of English).
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies (use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase, determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell), use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional), use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark), use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in all content areas)
Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings (identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy or juicy), distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives).
Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe (e.g., When other kids are happy that makes me happy).
Math
California Common Core State Standards
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Add/subtract within 100
- Fluently add/subtract within 20
- Use equal groups to gain understanding of x (arrays)
Number and Operations in Base 10
- Understand place value to 100s
- Count/step count to 100
- Compare using greater than/less than/equal to
Use place value understanding to add/subtract
Measurement and data
- Measurement and estimate length (and add/subtract)
- Work with time and money
- Represent and interpret data
Geometry
- Attributes with shapes
- Triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes
- Portion shapes in equal parts
Science
Next Generation Science Standards
Earth Science
- History of the Earth - Fast versus slow changes
- Earth Materials and Systems - Wind and water shape the land
- Plate tectonics and Large Scale System Interactions - maps show where things are located
- Role of Water in Earth's Surface Processes - where is water found?
Life Science
- Interdependent relationships in the ecosystem - Plants depend on water and light, needed animals to move seeds
- Biodiversity and humans - many different things live in an area
Physical Science
- Structure and properties of matter - solids, liquids, and gases
- Chemical reactions - heating and cooling cause change
Engineering
Project Lead the Way
Materials Science:
- Properties of matter
- Form and function
Coding
Social Studies
Cultures in Time and Place
People Who Make a Difference
2.1 Differentiate between things that happened long ago and things that happened yesterday (Divisions of time)*
2.2 Students demonstrate map skills by describing the absolute and relative locations of people, places, and environments.
2.3 Students explain how people organize their societies (U.S. and world)*
2.4 Students understand basic economic concepts and their individual roles in the economy and demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills.
2.5 Students understand the importance of individual action and character and explain how courageous people, in the past, influence us today?*
D39C Focus Curriculum
Introduce cultures around the world
Culture shapes:
food
clothing
shelter
music
How do people in nomadic communities live (Ancient and modern)
Art and artifacts record history
Visual and Performing Arts
(Key Concepts)
Dance
1.3 (Artistic Perception) Perform short movement problems, emphasizing the element of time (e.g., varied tempos, rhythmic patterns, counting).
3.1 (Historical and Cultural Context) Name and perform social and traditional dances from various cultures.
4.2 (Aesthetic Valuing) Describe how the movement in dances of peers communicates ideas or moods to the viewer (e.g., ocean environment or a sad or joyous dance).
5.2 (Connections, Relationships, Applications) Demonstrate language arts concepts through dance (e.g., show different punctuation marks through movement).
Music
1.2 (Artistic Perception) Read, write, and perform simple patterns of pitch, using solfège.
2.4 (Creative Expression) Improvise simple rhythmic and melodic accompaniments, using voice and a variety of classroom instruments.
4.2 (Aesthetic Valuing) Create developmentally appropriate movements to express pitch, tempo, form, and dynamics in music.
Theatre
1.1 (Artistic Perception) Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as plot (beginning, middle, and end), scene, sets, conflict, script, and audience, to describe theatrical experiences.
2.1 (Creative Expression) Perform in group improvisational theatrical games that develop cooperative skills and concentration.
4.1 (Aesthetic Valuing) Critique an actor’s performance as to the use of voice, gesture, facial expression, and movement to create character.
Visual Arts
1.3 (Artistic Perception) Identify the elements of art objects in nature, the environment, and works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, and space.
2.1 (Creative Expression) Demonstrate beginning skill in the use of basic tools and art- making processes, such as printing, crayon rubbings, collage, and stencils.
3.2 (Historical and Cultural Context) Recognize and use the vocabulary of art to describe art objects from various cultures and time periods.
4.3 (Aesthetic Valuing) Use the vocabulary of art to talk about what they wanted to do in their own works of art and how they succeeded.
Grade 3
English Language Arts & Literacy
California Common Core State Standards
Reading Literature
Key Ideas and Detail
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text
Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.
Craft and Structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections.
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Reading Informational Text
Key Ideas and Details
Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
Craft and Structure
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.
Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.
Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).
Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Reading Foundational Skills
Phonics and Word Recognition
Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words both in isolation and in text (identify and know the meaning of the most common prefixes and derivational suffixes, decode words with common Latin suffixes, decode multisyllable words, read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words).
Fluency
Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension (read on-level text with purpose and understanding, read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings,use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary)
Writing
Writing types and purposes
1. Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons (introduce the topic or text they are writing about, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure that lists reasons, provide reasons that support the opinion, use linking words and phrases (e.g., because, therefore, since, for example) to connect opinion and reasons, provide a concluding statement or section).
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly (introduce a topic and group related information together, include illustrations when useful to aiding comprehension, develop the topic with facts, definitions, and details, use linking words and phrases (e.g., also, another, and, more, but) to connect ideas within categories of information, provide a concluding statement or section).
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences (establish a situation and introduce a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally, use dialogue and descriptions of actions, thoughts, and feelings to develop experiences and events or show the response of characters to situations, use temporal words and phrases to signal event order, provide a sense of closure).
Production and Distribution of Writing
With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.)
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 3.)
With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.
Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories
Range of Writing
Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Listening and Speaking
Comprehension and Collaboration
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly (
come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion, follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion), ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others, explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion).
Determine the main ideas and supporting details of
a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace (plan and deliver an informative/explanatory presentation on a topic that: organizes ideas around major points of information, follows a logical sequence, includes supporting details, uses clear and specific vocabulary, and provides a strong conclusion)
Create engaging audio recordings of stories or
poems that demonstrate fluid reading at an understandable pace; add visual displays when appropriate to emphasize or enhance certain facts or details.
Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language standards 1 and 3 for specific expectations.)
Language
Conventions of Standard English
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking (explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences, form and use regular and irregular plural nouns, use abstract nouns (e.g., childhood).d. Form and use regular and irregular verbs, form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses, ensure subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement, form and use comparative and superlative adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified, use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, produce simple, compound, and complex sentences, write legibly in cursive or joined italics, allowing margins and correct spacing between letters in a word and words in a sentence, use reciprocal pronouns correctly).
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing (capitalize appropriate words in titles, use commas in addresses, use commas and quotation marks in dialogue, form and use possessives, use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words (e.g., sitting, smiled, cries, happiness).use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words, consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
Knowledge of Language
Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening (choose words and phrases for effect, recognize and observe differences between the conventions of spoken and written standard English)
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning word and phrases based on grade 3 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies, (use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase, determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known affix is added to a known word (e.g., agreeable/disagreeable, comfortable/uncomfortable, care/careless, heat/preheat), use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., company, companion), use glossaries or beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases in all content areas.
Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings, distinguish the literal and non-literal meanings of words and phrases in context (e.g., take steps), identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe people who are friendly or helpful), distinguish shades of meaning among related words that describe states of mind or degrees of certainty (e.g., knew, believed, suspected, heard, wondered).
Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships (e.g., After dinner that night we went looking for them).
Math
California Common Core State Standards
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- Multiplication/Division within 100 (and pattern recognition)
- Solve 2-step word problems using variable and 4 operations (with rounding)
Number and Operations in Base 10
- Use place value and proportions of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic (addition/subtraction within 100)
Number and Operations - Fractions
- Understanding of fractions as numbers
- Whole is partitioned into __ parts
- number line
- equivalence
Measurement and Data
- Measurement and Estimation (time, liquid volume and mass)
- Represent and Interpret Data (graphs, gather data using rulers)
- Understand area and relate areas to multiplication/division
- Recognize perimeter
Geometry
- Attributes of shapes (especially quadrilaterals)
Science
Next Generation Science Standards
Earth Science
- Weather and climate - Patterns across time, areas, making predictions, typical weather in areas
- Natural hazards - Results of natural processes, steps to reduce impact
Life Science
- Growth and development of organisms - Reproduction is essential to life, plant and animals have unique life cycles
- Ecosystem Dynamics - When environment changes - you adapt, move, or die
- Social interaction and group behavior - Being part of a group help you stay alive
- Inheritance of Traits - characteristics are inherited from parents, characteristics involve both inheritance and environment
- Variation of Traits - inheritance and environments cause difference in appearance and function
- Evidence of common ancestry and diversity - some animals and plants are no longer here and we have fossil evidence about them
- Natural selection - some characteristics allow animals/plants to survive better
- Adaptation - In any environment certain organisms survive better than others
- Biodiversity of humans - Populations live in a variety of locations
Physical Science
- Forces and motion - Forces have strength and direction, objects at rest have forces acting on them, predicting future motion, patterns
- Types of interactions - objects in contact exert forces on each other, electric and magnetic forces do not have to be in contact with each other
Engineering
Project Lead the Way
Science of Flight:
- Stability and Motion
- Forces and interactions
Additional Programs
First Lego League (Ages 9-14)
Coding
Potential Programs
Social Studies
Human Settlements and Innovation
Continuity and Change
3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context. (See D39C Focus Curriculum)
3.2 American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past.
3.3 Students draw from historical and community resources to organize the sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land.
3.4 Students understand the role of rules and laws in our daily lives and the basic structure of the U.S. government.
3.5 Students demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills and an understanding of the economy of the local region.
D39C Focus Curriculum
Climate and Architecture
River Settlements and early farming communities Introduction to: (Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, 6.2, 6.5)
Farming revolution (6.1)
Regions of California (4.1)
Visual and Performing Arts
(Key Concepts)
Dance
1.1 (Artistic Perception) Combine and perform basic locomotor skills, moving on a specific pathway (e.g., skip in circles, slide in zigzags, run in a variety of linear paths). Combine and perform locomotor and axial movements (e.g., walk and turn, stretch and slide).
1.3 (Artistic Perception) Perform short movement problems, emphasizing the element of force/ energy (e.g., swing, melt, explode, quiver).
2.6 (Creative Expression) Compare and contrast the role of the performer with that of a member of the audience.
2.8 (Creative Expression) Create, memorize, and perform original movement sequences with a partner or a small group.
3.3 (Historical and Cultural Context) Explain the function of dance in ceremonial and social community events in Native American cultures.
Music
1.1 (Artistic Perception) Read, write, and perform simple rhythmic patterns using eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, whole notes, and rests.
1.3 (Artistic Perception) Identify melody, rhythm, harmony, and timbre in selected pieces of music when presented aurally.
2.2 (Creative Expression) Sing age-appropriate songs from memory, including rounds, partner songs, and ostinatos.
4.3 (Aesthetic Valuing) Describe how specific musical elements communicate particular ideas or moods in music.
Theatre
1.1 (Artistic Perception) Use the vocabulary of theatre, such as character, setting, conflict, audience, motivation, props, stage areas, and blocking, to describe theatrical experiences.
2.1 (Creative Expression) Participate in cooperative scriptwriting or
improvisations that incorporate the five Ws.
3.1 (Historical and Cultural Context) Dramatize different cultural versions of similar stories from around the world.
4.1 (Aesthetic Valuing) Develop and apply appropriate criteria or rubrics for evaluating a theatrical experience.
Visual Arts
1.3 (Artistic Perception) Identify and describe how foreground, middle ground, and background are used to create the illusion of space.
1.4 (Artistic Perception) Compare and contrast two works of art made by the use of different art tools and media (e.g., watercolor, tempera, computer).
2.4 (Creative Expression) Create a work of art based on the of objects and scenes in daily life, emphasizing value changes.
3.2 (Historical and Cultural Context) Identify artists from his or her own community, county, or state and discuss local or regional art traditions.