Grade 2 English Language Arts: how to help at home
What your child learns in Grade 2 english language arts in the Alberta Curriculum, and simple things to try at home.
The Big Ideas this year
- Listening and speaking: students adjust how they listen and speak to communicate clearly and build positive relationships.
- Reading: students make connections between letters and sounds to read fluently, and use strategies such as rereading and predicting to understand stories and information texts.
- Questions: students ask and answer questions to clarify information.
- Creating and sharing: students create imaginative representations or dramatizations of stories with characters, setting and plot.
- Writing: students clarify written ideas using appropriate vocabulary, grammar and punctuation.
Easy ways to practise english language arts at home
- Take turns reading a page aloud, and chat about what happened and why.
- Keep a short journal, with one or two sentences a day to start.
- Hunt for a new word a day and use it at dinner.
- Ask for a prediction before turning the page: “What do you think happens next?”
What each unit covers
Listen and Speak
Listening with care, taking turns, asking politely when you did not hear, and using a clear voice that fits the place and the people. These habits help friendships and learning.
Sound Detectives
Letter teams that make one sound (sh, ch, th, wh, ee, ai, oa) and clapping syllables.
Word Power
Building compound words, finding opposites and spelling plurals (-s and -es).
Super Sentences
Starting sentences and names with capitals, and choosing a period, question mark or exclamation mark.
Build Sentences
Telling the four sentence types apart, spotting complete sentences, and joining two ideas into a compound sentence.
Grammar Gears
Using the right form of the verb “to be”, choosing pronouns, comparing with -er and -est, and picking joining words like but, or and because.
Punctuation Power
Capital letters for names and places, commas in lists, apostrophes to show who owns something, and quotation marks for speech.
Reading Detectives
Reading short texts to work out who is telling the story, what will happen next, how characters feel, and how things are the same and different.
Text Features
Using a table of contents, charts and icons to find information, and following order words in steps and journal entries.
Ask and Answer
Using who, what, where, when, why and how to ask good questions, and finding answers in short texts. Asking questions is how readers and listeners make sure they understand.
Story Builders
Reading short stories, then naming the character and setting, explaining why things happened, and retelling events in order.
What the report card levels look like at home
- Beginning
- Just getting started with this idea. Short, regular practice with lots of support helps most.
- Approaching
- Understands parts of it and is building confidence. Keep practising the tricky parts.
- Meeting
- Has it! Mixed review now and then keeps it strong.
- Exceeding
- Applies it confidently, even in new or harder situations. Try challenge mode and real-life problems.
Your child’s teacher decides the level on the report card. Read the Alberta report card guide.
Common questions
How can I help my Grade 2 child with english language arts?
Take turns reading a page aloud, and chat about what happened and why. Keep a short journal, with one or two sentences a day to start. Keep sessions short, about 10 to 15 minutes, and stop on a success.
What does my child learn in Grade 2 english language arts in Alberta?
The Alberta Curriculum Grade 2 english language arts units include listen and speak, sound detectives, word power, super sentences, build sentences, grammar gears.
Free printable Grade 2 english language arts practice sheet
Questions from every unit, with an answer key.