Our grade 2 students begin the year reviewing story elements with a variety of stories.  We use each story to review a specific story element. The students review the lesson with an in-class activity. Some of the books we read during this unit are:

     The Character in the Book by Kaethe Zemach

     Mr. Nick's Knitting by Margaret Wild

     The Remarkable Riderless Runaway Tricycle by Bruce McMillan

     The Grannyman by Judith Schachner

We continue the year with our biography unit.  We read a variety of stories in this genre throughout the winter months.  A few of the biographies that are included in this unit are:

    My Brother, Martin by Christine King Farris

    Chico by Sandra Day O'Connor

    Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull

    Fanny in the Kitchen by Deborah Hopkinson

    Satchmo's Blues by Alan Schroeder

We spend our next unit visiting the continents through a variety of folktales.  The students love reading folktales and paeticipating in discussions about why folktales are written and what they might tell us about a certain area of the world.  Folktales that we usually include in this unit:

    Flossie and the Fox by Pat McKissack

    Mrs. Chicken and the Hungry Crockodile by Won-Ldy Paye

    Rainbow Bird by Eric Maddern

    Jabuti by Gerald McDermott

    Cricket Warrior by Margaret and Raymond Chang

At the end of the year, our grade 2 students complete a research project creating their own animal riddles. After chosing an animal,  each student used two sources for their information.  Once their research is complete, the students create a riddle to share with their classmates.  Below you can view a sample of their riddles.  Enjoy!

Completed Animal Riddle Research