PLAINFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

CURRICULUM GUIDE

Grade 2

Adopted by the Plainfield Board of Education on August 20, 2013

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Plainfield Public Schools Administration and Board of Education

Page 3

PPS Elementary ELA Curriculum Design Team

Page 4

PPS ELA Curriculum and the Common Core State Standards

Pages 5 & 6

Grade Four Pacing Guide

Page 7 & 8

Grade Four CCSS by Unit

Page 9

Glossary of Important Terms

Page 10

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PLAINFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ADMINISTRATION

Mrs. Anna Belin-Pyles, Superintendent

Ms. Margaret Morales, Assistant Superintendent

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Mrs. Wilma G. Campbell, President

Mrs. Keisha Edwards, Vice President

Mrs. Jackie Coley

Mr. Alex O. Edache

Ms. Mahogany Hendricks

Mrs. Renata A. Hernandez

Mr. Dorien Hurtt

Mr. Frederick Moore, Sr.

Ms. Jameelah Surgeon

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PLAINFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ELEMENTARY ELA CURRICULUM DESIGN TEAM

Laura Davis

Isabella DeSantis

Fatima Embden

Claire Emmanuel

Karen Gee

Kristina Jerome

Patricia Mendola

Alicia Migliore

Pepper Stackhouse

CURRICULUM SUPERVISOR

Donna Mullaney

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PPS ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CURRICULUM

AND THE

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

The Plainfield Public Schools English Language Arts curriculum is based on the New Jersey Model Curriculum

frameworks (NJMC) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

As students advance through the grades and master the standards in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language,

they are able to exhibit with increasing fullness and regularity the following capacities of the literate individual.

1. They demonstrate independence.

2. They build strong content knowledge.

3. They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.

4. They comprehend as well as critique.

5. They value evidence.

6. They use technology and digital media strategically and capably.

7. They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

Key Features of the Standards:

Reading: Text complexity and the growth of comprehension *

Writing: Text types, responding to reading, and research **

Speaking and Listening: Flexible communication and collaboration

Language: Conventions, effective use, and vocabulary

Adapted from The Common Core State Standards Initiative www.corestandards.org

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* Text Complexity (Reading Standard 10) is measured by three factors:

1. Qualitative evaluation of the text

2. Quantitative evaluation of the text

3. Matching reader to text and task.

For details about text complexity and how it is measured, see Appendix A of the Common Core State

Standards for English Language Arts. http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_A.pdf

Students in grades K through 5 apply the Reading standard to the following range of text types, with

texts selected from a broad range of cultures and periods.

Literature Informational Text

Stories Drama Poetry Literary Nonfiction and Historical, Scientific, and Technical

Texts

Includes children’s

adventure stories,

folktales, legends, fables,

fantasy, realistic fiction,

and myth

Includes staged

dialogue and brief

familiar scenes

Includes nursery

rhymes and the

subgenres of the

narrative poem,

limerick, and free

verse poem

Includes biographies and autobiographies; books about history,

social studies, science, and the arts; technical texts, including

directions, forms, and information displayed in graphs, charts, or

maps; and digital sources on a range of topics

For details, excerpts, and specific titles that are representative of a range of topics and genres, see Appendix B of the Common

Core State Standards for English Language Arts. http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_B.pdf

** Details about text types and examples of student writing can be found in Appendix C of the Common Core State Standards for

English Language Arts. http://www.corestandards.org/assets/Appendix_C.pd

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SECOND GRADE PACING GUIDE 2013-14

Instruction

Assessment/ Enrichment

Reading Focus

Writing Focus

SUGGESTED TIMELINE FOR PERFORMANCE TASKS

Unit One

9/9 to 10/11

10/14 to

10/25

Literature

AND Informational

Text

Narrative

Task #1 9/9 - 9/16

Task #2 9/17 – 9/20

Task #3 9/23 – 10/4

Task #4 10/7 – 10/14

Unit Two

10/28 to

12/13

12/16 to

1/10

Informational

Text

Informative/ Explanatory

Task #1 10/28 – 11/1

Task #2 11/4 – 11/13

Task #3 11/14 – 11/27

Task #4 12/2 – 12/13

Unit Three

1/14 to

2/21

2/24 to 3/7/14

Literature

AND Informational

Text

Opinion and

Narrative

Task #1 1/14 – 1/21

Task #2 1/22 – 1/28

Task #3 1/29 – 2/6

Task #4 2/7 – 2/2

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Please note that the timeline provides suggested dates. Some activities may overlap or may require shorter or more extensive time. Teachers are to use the

suggested timeline as a guide. The instruction and assessment/ enrichment dates are set by the NJ Model Curriculum time frames, as posted on the NJDOE

website.

Unit Four

3/10 to

4/11

4/22 to

5/2

Literature

and Informational

Text

Opinion

And Narrative

Task #1 3/10 – 3/21

Task #2 3/24 – 3/28

Task #3 3/31 – 4/4

Task #4 4/7 – 4/11

Unit Five

5/5 to

6/6

6/9 to 6/13

Literature

and Informational

Text

Narrative

Task #1 5/5 – 5/9

Task #2 5/12 -5/16

Task #3 5/19 – 5/23

Task #4 5/27 – 6/6

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READING FOUNDATIONS WRITING

STANDARD UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 UNIT 5 STANDARD UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 UNIT 5

RF 1 W 1

RF 2 W 2

RF 3 W 3 POWER

RF 4 W 4

W 5

W 6

W 7

W 8

W 9

W 10

READING LITERATURE READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT

STANDARD UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 UNIT 5 STANDARD UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 UNIT 5

RL 1 POWER RI 1

RL 2 RI 2

RL 3 RI 3

RL 4 RI 4

RL 5 RI 5

RL 6 RI 6

RL 7 POWER RI 7

RL 8 RI 8

RL 9 RI 9

RL 10 RI 10

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SPEAKING AND LISTENING LANGUAGE

STANDARD UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 UNIT 5 STANDARD UNIT 1 UNIT 2 UNIT 3 UNIT 4 UNIT 5

SL 1 L 1

SL 2 L 2

SL 3 L 3

SL 4 L 4

SL 5 L 5

SL 6 L 6

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GLOSSARY

Big Ideas

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Depth of Knowledge (DOK)

Engaging Learning Scenario

Essential Questions

Performance Task

Power Standards

Priority Standards

Rigorous Curriculum Design

Supporting Standards

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GLOSSARY

Big Ideas: The foundational understandings – main ideas, conclusions, or generalizations relative to the

unit’s “unwrapped” concepts – that educators want their students to discover and state in their own

words by the end of the unit of study. Big Ideas convey to students the benefit or value of learning the

standards in focus that they are to remember long after instruction ends.

Depth of Knowledge (DOK): A four-level framework used to analyze the cognitive demand of a

standard, assessment, or task.

Level One – recall

Level Two – skill/concept

Level Three – strategic thinking

Level Four – extended thinking

Engaging Learning Scenario: A purpose-setting context designed to motivate and engage students in

the lessons and tasks in a unit. The scenario “hooks” student interest by presenting a current situation

(either real or imaginary) and a corresponding challenge that students must work collaboratively to

accomplish through the creation of a product or performance. Scenarios include a situation, challenge,

role, audience and product or performance that provide context for the performance tasks.

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Essential Questions: Engaging, open-ended questions that educators use to spark student interest in

learning the content of the unit about to commend. Even though plainly worded, they carry with them an

underlying rigor. Responding to them in a way that demonstrates genuine understanding requires more

than superficial thought. Along with the “unwrapped” concepts and skills from the Priority Standards,

educators use the Essential Questions throughout the unit to sharply focus instruction and assessment.

Performance Task: A student experience that aligns with selected standards of the unit and its

Engaging Learning Scenario. Performance tasks provide educators with a “window” into student

understanding, giving them formative diagnostic data needed to monitor and adjust instruction.

Performance tasks allow students to construct their own understanding of the standards through active

participation.

Power Standards: A subset of the total list of Priority Standards for a New Jersey Model Curriculum

unit. These standards are selected for and guide the creation of the Performance Tasks for a unit.

Priority Standards: A set of standards listed in a New Jersey Model Curriculum unit that are tested in

an end-of-unit assessment.

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Rigorous Curriculum: An inclusive set of intentionally aligned components – clear learning outcomes

with matching assessments, engaging learning experiences, and instructional strategies – organized into

sequenced units of study that serve as both the detailed road map and the high-quality delivery system

for ensuring that all students achieve the desired end: the attainment of their designated grade- or

course-specific standards within a particular content area.

Supporting Standards: Those standards that support, connect to, and enhance the Priority Standards.

They are taught within the context of the Priority Standards but do not receive the same degree of

instruction and assessment emphasis.

“Unwrapping” the standards: Analyzing and deconstructing grade-level and course-specific standards

for a unit of study to determine exactly what students need to know (concepts) and be able to do (skills).

Adapted from: Rigorous Curriculum Design by Larry Ainsworth, 2010.

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