Grade 2 Reading: goals and how we get there
A grade 2 reading student at Learn To Be does three things:
- Reads chapter books.
- Works through the Early Reading Program, and reads real books and passages about real things.
- Reads a little every day (at home!).
The goals
By the end of grade 2, a student:
- Reads 114 words per minute out loud.
- Still names all 52 letters instantly, and still knows the 125 common words from kindergarten and grade 1 on sight.
- Knows the next 200 most common written words on sight, for 300 words in total. This is new this year.
At this speed, a child can read a chapter book and follow the story.
We are building flashcard decks for letters, common words, and vocabulary. Until then, practice them by reading out loud.
Reading speed
Reading speed is how many words a student reads correctly in 1 minute, out loud.
To check it: pick a book at your student's level. Time them reading out loud for 1 minute. Count the words they read correctly. Check at the start of the year, and again every few weeks.
| Grade | Words per minute, out loud, by the end of the year |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 67 |
| Grade 1 | 104 |
| Grade 2 | 114 |
| Grade 3 | 133 |
| Grade 4 | 146 |
| Grade 5 | 150 |
| Grade 6 | 150 or better |
| Grades 7 and 8 | 150 or better, for long stretches |
The grade 2 target is 114. If your student is far below the target for their grade, find the grade they are ready for in this table and use that page.
The courses
Learning to read: the Early Reading Program
The Early Reading Program has 1,745 lessons. It teaches phonics: how to sound out words. It starts with single letter sounds like "a" and "m". Then it blends sounds into words like "am" and "ma". It also teaches "heart words" like "the", which kids learn by heart.
- There is no placement test. To find where to start, skim forward through the lessons until your student stumbles. Start there.
- Do not skip lessons after that. A student moves on only after they master a lesson.
- Open the Tutor Toolkit. It is a card on the course page. It has guidance for tutors on how to run the lessons.
Reading to learn: 2nd Grade Reading
2nd Grade Reading has 24 lessons. Each lesson is a short science or history passage to read and talk about together.
If the passages are too hard, use 1st Grade Reading first.
Writing. At this age, writing is part of reading. For extra writing practice, use Writing Foundations Grade 2.
The reading list
True topics
Read books and articles about these topics, and talk about them together. This is also your student's science and history.
- Fairy Tales and Tall Tales
- Early Asian Civilizations
- The Ancient Greek Civilization
- Greek Myths
- The War of 1812
- Cycles in Nature
- Westward Expansion
- Insects
- The U.S. Civil War
- The Human Body
- Immigration
- Fighting for a Cause
Stories to read aloud
The tutor mostly reads these to the student. They are classic picture books and first chapter books. They help a child get used to the sound of good language.
- Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
- The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
- Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
- Magic Tree House: Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne
- Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
- James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
- Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
- The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling
- Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
- The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
- Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith
A typical session
- Warm-up read-aloud, about 10 minutes. The student re-reads something familiar out loud. This builds speed and confidence.
- Course lessons. This is the main part of the session. Do one or two Early Reading Program lessons together. Do not move on until the student masters the lesson.
- Real reading together. Read a 2nd Grade Reading passage or a book from the reading list. Read it together and talk about it.
Between sessions (at home)
Daily practice happens at home, not in your session. A little every day works better than a lot once a week.
Tell the parent:
"Every day, have your child sign in at learntobe.org and do their reading lessons. Then have them read out loud to you for 10 minutes from a book they can read easily. This is the one thing that helps most."
Show the parent and the student how to sign in and find the course during your first session.
Other resources
- IXL. If your student has an IXL account through our pilot, its diagnostic shows the grade level your student works at in English language arts. Use it as an extra check, not instead of the course. See How should tutors use IXL?