Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will practice dividing longer words into syllables using the syllable patterns V/CV and VC/V. These patterns help students figure out where to divide a word so they can read it more easily. Students will practice reading and spelling longer words while continuing to build fluency and accuracy.
♥ Heart Words ♥: review of previously learned heart words

Reading:
This week, we will begin a new module focused on habitats and animal journeys. We will read The Best Habitat for Me to identify ideas and support in informational texts. Then, students will listen to Nature’s Patchwork Quilt as we explore figurative language. Later in the week, we will read The Long, Long Journey to practice asking and answering questions and understanding text organization. Students will also learn how to use context clues to help figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words while reading.

Grammar: This week, students will learn about contractions. We will practice forming contractions with not and with pronouns, and students will learn how apostrophes are used to combine words.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. Ask your child questions about the text and encourage them to ask questions too.
• Practice Breaking Big Words Apart: Help your child clap or divide longer words into syllables to make them easier to read.
• Look for Contractions: As you read books or signs together, look for contractions such as don’t, can’t, or we’re. Ask your child which two words make the contraction.
• Use Context Clues: When your child comes to a word they do not know, encourage them to look at the other words and sentences around it to help figure out the meaning.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will continue learning about r-controlled vowels, focusing on patterns such as er, ir, and ur. Students will practice reading and spelling these words and continue building fluency by reading with expression.
♥ Heart Words ♥  learn, earth, early

Reading:
This week, we will read a mix of traditional and modern stories, including 2 versions of Jack and the Beanstalk. Students will practice retelling key events, identifying characters, and making connections between texts. We will also explore how authors use figurative language to make stories more interesting.

Writing: This week, students will begin working on their Passion Project informational paragraphs. Students will use their research and notes to organize their ideas and begin drafting a paragraph that shares important facts about their topic. We will focus on writing clear, complete sentences and including details to support their ideas.

Grammar: This week, students will focus on using adjectives, including comparative and superlative forms (such as -er and -est). We will practice using adjectives to describe nouns and make comparisons, helping students add more detail and clarity to their writing.

• Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. Ask your child to retell what happened in the story or describe a character.
• Look for “er” Words: As you read, look for words with er, ir, and ur (her, bird, turn). Have your child read the word and identify the vowel pattern.
• Talk About Writing: Ask your child about their Passion Project topic. Encourage them to share facts they’ve learned and explain their ideas.
• Notice Figurative Language: When reading, point out fun or interesting phrases and talk about what they mean.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will continue building their decoding skills as they learn new phonics patterns and practice reading longer words with accuracy and fluency. We will focus on applying these skills in both reading and writing.
♥ Heart Words ♥: someone, everyone

Reading:
This week, we will begin a new module focused on informational texts. Students will practice identifying the central idea by first determining the topic and then using important details to understand what the author wants to teach. We will also begin exploring how texts and videos can persuade readers and viewers using words and images.

Writing: This week, students will continue our poetry unit. We will finish writing, revising, and sharing our acrostic poems. Then, students will begin learning about cinquain poems, a five-line poem that uses descriptive language to express ideas. Students will brainstorm, plan, and begin writing their own cinquain poems.

Grammar: This week, students will continue strengthening their grammar skills to support their writing. We will focus on applying correct sentence structure and using grammar skills in context as we write and revise our poetry.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home:

• Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. Ask your child, “What is this text mostly about?” or “What is the author trying to teach you?”
• Play with Words: Practice rhyming words together (cat/hat, light/night) or come up with fun, descriptive words to describe everyday objects.
• Try a Poem at Home: Encourage your child to write a short poem about something they love (a pet, food, or activity). It can rhyme—or not!
• Talk About Persuasion: When watching videos or commercials, ask, “What is this trying to get us to think or do?”

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will learn about r-controlled vowels with the ar sound. When a vowel is followed by the letter r, the r changes the vowel sound. Students will practice reading and spelling words with ar (such as car, star, and park) and continue working on reading longer words more smoothly.
♥ Heart Words ♥: heart

Reading:
We will continue our biography unit and keep learning about how people’s life experiences shape their life stories. This week, we will read The Camping Trip That Changed America to learn about text organization and chronological order. Then we will read How to Make a Timeline as we practice monitoring and clarifying our understanding, and learning how timelines help show events in order. Later in the week, we will read The Stories He Tells: The Story of Joseph Bruchac as we practice making inferences and identifying the author’s purpose.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their friendly letters for our pen pal project. Students will finish the first draft of their letters and begin revising and editing their writing to make their letters clear and interesting for their pen pals.

Grammar: This week, students will learn how to use commas in a series (for example: I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.). We will practice using commas in lists of nouns and verbs to make writing clearer and easier to read.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. Ask your child to explain what happened first, next, and last in what they read.
• Look for AR Words: As you read signs, books, or labels, look for words with the ar sound (car, park, star). Have your child read the word and identify the r-controlled vowel.
• Practice Heart Words: Review this week’s heart word: heart. Try writing the word in a sentence or spelling it aloud together.
• Practice Lists with Commas: Have your child write a sentence that includes a list, such as favorite foods, games, or places, and practice using commas correctly

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): During Module 7, students will practice syllable division using the VC/CV pattern. Syllable division is a strategy readers use to break longer words into smaller parts so they are easier to read. This week, students will learn the Rabbit Rule syllable type (VCCV). When a word has two consonants between two vowels, we divide between the consonants (VC/CV), like in rab-bit or nap-kin. Learning this pattern helps students read and spell longer words more confidently.

♥ Heart Words ♥: beauty, beautiful

Reading:

Over the next three weeks, our class will be learning about how people’s life experiences shape and create their life stories. We will read biographies about people who overcome obstacles to make their dreams come true.

This week, we will begin learning about biographies and reading informational texts about real people. We will read Miss Moore Thought Otherwise to learn about text organization and how events are presented in order. Then we will read I Am Helen Keller as we practice synthesizing information and using text features to better understand informational texts.

Writing: This week, students will begin learning about friendly letters as we start a pen pal project with another 2nd-grade class. Students will learn the parts of a friendly letter, plan what they want to share about themselves, and begin drafting letters to send to their pen pals. This is a great opportunity for students to practice writing for a real audience. We are very excited about this project and the opportunity for students to connect with another class through writing!

Grammar: This week, students will learn how to use commas correctly in dates, place names, and parts of a letter. We will practice using commas in these situations to make our writing clearer and more correct.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. If reading nonfiction, ask, “What did you learn about this person?” or “What happened first, next, and last?”
• Practice Breaking Big Words: When you see longer words while reading, help your child break the word into two parts (like rab-bit or nap-kin). This supports the syllable division skills we are learning.
• Practice Heart Words: Review this week’s heart words: beauty and beautiful. Try writing each word in a sentence or spelling them aloud together.
• Notice Commas: When writing notes, letters, or dates at home, show your child how commas are used (for example: March 3, 2026 or Denver, Colorado).

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will continue to focus on vowel teams that make the long o sound -ow, -oa, -oe. These letter combinations work together to say /ō/, as in snow, boat, and toe. At the end of the week, students will learn the vowel teams that make the long i sound -ie, and -igh. These letter combinations work together to say /ī/, as in pie and sight. Students will practice recognizing these patterns in words, sorting them by spelling pattern, and using them in their reading and writing. Understanding vowel teams helps students decode longer words more smoothly and improve their spelling accuracy.

♥ Heart Words ♥: both, only, people

Reading: This week, we will read Cloudette to practice making connections and identifying the point of view. After that, we will read Get Ready for Weather as we evaluate important details and explore how text features help us better understand informational texts. Later in the week, we will read “Fall Leaves” as we learn about text features.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their imaginative stories. We will focus on editing and revising the stories to get them ready to publish.

Grammar: This week, students will practice identifying subjects and verbs in sentences and using correct verb forms in their writing. Later in the week, we will begin learning how to use forms of the verb “be” correctly (am, is, are, was, and were). Using these verb forms correctly will help students write clearer, complete, and grammatically correct sentences.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Set aside 10–15 minutes for reading together. After reading, ask your child to make a connection (“Does this remind you of anything?”) or explain the point of view (“Who is telling the story?”). If reading nonfiction, ask them to point out a text feature and explain how it helps the reader.
• Look for Long O and Long I Words: As you read books, signs, or labels, notice words with vowel teams like ow, oa, oe, ie, and igh (snow, boat, toe, pie, sight). Have your child read the word and identify which vowel team they see.
• Practice Heart Words: Review this week’s heart words—both, only, and people. Try writing each word in a sentence or spelling them aloud together.
• Talk About Verbs: During conversations, play a quick “verb check” game. Say a sentence like “They was playing” and ask your child to fix it. Practicing forms of am, is, are, was, and were helps strengthen grammar skills.

Module 6: Weather Wise:

This week, we will begin Module 6, “Weather Wise.” Over the next three weeks, our class will be learning about different kinds of weather and how the weather may change from season to season. We will read books and poems about the weather and watch a video of a cool weather experiment. Children will also write a poem about how the daily weather affects them.

In Structured Literacy Module 6, our focus continues with several different vowel teams. A vowel team is a combination of two to four letters that represent a single vowel sound. We will learn vowel teams for the long a (/ā/), long o (/ō/), and long i (/ī/) sounds. There will also be a review of all of the Irregular Words (Heart Words) that were previously learned in Modules 1-5 before adding new words.

NOTE: Due to Presidents’ Day on Monday and our 2nd-grade field trip to CSU Spur on Wednesday, we will have a shorter week of lessons.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): This week, students will focus on vowel teams that make the long a sound: ai, ay, ey, and eigh. These letter combinations work together to say /ā/, as in rain, play, they, and eight. Students will practice recognizing these patterns in words, sorting them by spelling pattern, and using them in their reading and writing. Understanding vowel teams helps students decode longer words more smoothly and improve their spelling accuracy.

♥ Heart Words ♥: This week, we will review previously learned heart words.

Reading: This week, we will begin Module 6, Week 1. We will start by reading Weather Through the Seasons as we learn about text features and how they help us understand informational texts. Then we will read Freddy the Frogcaster to practice identifying point of view. Later in the week, we will read selections from Wild Weather and work on making inferences and understanding how a text is organized to help readers learn new information.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their imaginative stories. We will focus on adding descriptive details to make their writing more engaging and bring their stories to life.

Grammar:
This week, students will learn about subject pronouns (such as I, he, she, we, and they) and how they are used in sentences. We will also introduce reflexive pronouns (such as myself, yourself, and themselves) and practice using them correctly in speaking and writing.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Aim for 10–15 minutes of reading together. If reading nonfiction, ask, “What text features do you notice?” If reading fiction, ask, “Who is telling the story?”
• Notice Pronouns: While reading or speaking, point out pronouns like he, she, they, or we. Ask your child who the pronoun is replacing in the sentence.
• Look for Long A Words: As you read signs, books, or packages, look for words with vowel teams that make the long a sound (ai, ay, ey, eigh), such as rain, play, they, or eight.

This week, we will continue Module 5, “Lead the Way.” Over the next couple of weeks, our class will continue learning about the qualities of good leaders. We will read about famous leaders in history, children who are leaders in their community, and opinions about what it takes to be a great leader.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study): Students will learn about consonant + le words (also called C+le syllables). These are words that end in -le, where the final syllable sounds like “ul,” such as table, little, and puzzle. Students will practice breaking these words into syllables to help them read and spell longer words more accurately.

♥ Heart Words ♥: This week’s heart words are other and another.

Reading: This week, we will read My Dream Playground as we focus on identifying character traits. We will then read Wilma Rudolph: Against All Odds to practice summarizing and using text features to better understand an informational text. Finally, we will read Great Leaders and evaluate key details to determine the text's key ideas.

Writing: This week, students will continue working on their imaginative stories. We will focus on adding descriptive details to make their writing more engaging and bring their stories to life.

Grammar:
This week, students will learn how to identify and correctly capitalize days of the week, months of the year, and holidays in their writing.

Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Every Day: Aim for 10–15 minutes of shared reading. Talk about the characters and ask questions like, “What kind of person is this character?” or “What details tell you that?”
• Notice Text Features: When reading nonfiction at home, point out headings, captions, photos, or bold words and discuss how they help you learn new information.
• Practice Capitalization: While writing notes, lists, or cards at home, encourage your child to notice and correctly capitalize days, months, and holidays.

This week, we will finish Module 4 and begin Module 5. Students will continue strengthening their reading, writing, grammar, and word study skills while also completing assessments and transitioning into new learning.

Structured Literacy (Phonics & Word Study)

We will wrap up our work with consonant doubling when adding suffixes (such as -ed, -ing, -er, and -est), helping students understand when and why spelling changes happen. Students will complete the Module 4 spelling assessment later in the week.
Heart Words: above, among

As we begin Module 5, students will be introduced to new spelling patterns that focus on how base words change when adding suffixes.

♥ Heart Words ♥: Our heart words for Week 3 are: above and among.

Reading

Students will complete the final texts in Module 4, practicing key comprehension strategies such as making connections, identifying story structure, and understanding author’s purpose.

• On Monday we will finish reading, “If the Shoe Fits: Two Cinderella Stories” – Making Connections & Story Structure
• On Tuesday, we’ll read, “Those Clever Crows” and discuss Cause and effect.
• On Wednesday, we will take the Module 4 Reading Assessment to show what students have learned.
• As we begin Module 5 on Thursday, students will read What’s Good to Read? Book Reviews for Kids by Kids! to learn how authors support their ideas with details.
• On Friday, we will listen to the read-aloud Seed by Seed: The Legend and Legacy of John “Appleseed” Chapman as we explore figurative language and how authors use words to create strong images and meaning.

Writing

We will continue our imaginative story unit. Students will plan and draft their imaginative stories. By the end of the week, many students will be ready to edit for capitalization and punctuation.

Grammar

This week, grammar lessons will focus on:

• Writing compound sentences using conjunctions
• Combining sentences to make writing clearer and more fluent
• Using quotation marks correctly.

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Ways to Support Literacy at Home

• Read Together Daily. Set aside 10–15 minutes each day to read together. Whether you’re reading fiction or nonfiction, pause to ask, “What is this mostly about?” and “What details help us understand it better?” This builds strong comprehension skills.
• Talk About Ideas and Details (Nonfiction). When reading a nonfiction book, article, or book review, ask your child to explain the main idea and point out facts or details that support it. This helps students practice identifying ideas and evidence.
• Notice Descriptive Language (Fiction & Poetry). While reading stories or poems, listen for words or phrases that create pictures in your mind. Ask, “What do you picture when you hear that?” to help your child recognize descriptive and figurative language.