Reading and writing
Grade 1 was about getting words off the page. Grade 2 is about what to do once you can: reading for meaning, noticing when it has stopped making sense, and going back — which is a harder skill than decoding and a much less visible one.
What Alberta asks for by the end of Grade 2
The subject: English language arts and literature
- Adjust listening and speaking to communicate clearly and to build good relationships.
- Connect letters to sounds well enough to read fluently and spell correctly.
- Use reading strategies — slowing down, rereading, predicting — to understand a story or an information text.
- Ask and answer questions to make information clearer.
- Act out or represent stories, including the characters, the setting and the plot.
- Make written ideas clearer with the right words, grammar and punctuation.
The third one is the change from Grade 1. A child who reads every word correctly and cannot say what happened has not finished reading, and noticing that themselves is the skill being built.
The words, first
These are the terms a teacher will use at a parent interview, defined before anything below uses them.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Fluency | Reading at a reasonable pace, in phrases rather than word by word, with expression. It is a symptom of automatic word recognition rather than something to drill directly. |
| Comprehension | Understanding what was read. It is possible to decode perfectly and comprehend nothing, which is why Grade 2 separates them. |
| Reading strategy | Something a reader does on purpose when meaning breaks down: slow down, reread, look back, predict, ask a question. |
| Monitoring | Noticing that it has stopped making sense. The single most useful reading habit, and the hardest to teach directly. |
| Predicting | Saying what you think will happen next, and why. Being wrong is useful — it means you were paying attention. |
| Information text | Writing meant to inform rather than tell a story. It is read differently: headings, pictures and captions carry meaning, and you do not have to start at the beginning. |
| Plot, character, setting | What happens, who it happens to, and where and when. The three things a retelling should contain. |
| Spelling pattern | A rule that covers many words: adding -ed, doubling a consonant, dropping a silent e. More useful than memorising words one at a time. |
Read it
The words come off the page.
Does that make sense?
The question a reader asks without noticing.
If not, go back
Slow down, reread, look at the picture, ask.
What to do at home
- Ask what just happened — Every few pages. A child who cannot say has stopped comprehending, and noticing that is the whole outcome.
- Let them reread — Going back is not failure — it is the strategy. Saying “good, that is exactly what a reader does” is worth more than the correction.
- Read something true — A recipe, a leaflet, a sign, a page about dinosaurs. Information texts are read differently, and Grade 2 is when that difference starts to matter.
- Predict out loud — “What do you think she will do?” Then find out together. Being wrong is the interesting outcome.
- Act the story out — The Alberta outcome says represent or dramatize. Two people and a sofa is enough, and it forces attention to character and plot.
- Notice spelling patterns — “Why do you think it is hopping and not hoping?” A pattern noticed is worth fifty words memorised.
Sheets you can print for this
- When it stops making sense — six things a reader does
- Spelling patterns — four rules, twelve words
- Tell it back — character, setting, plot
- Telling, asking, exclaiming — capitals and end marks
- Reading to find out — an information text is read differently
The expectations above are paraphrased from Alberta Education's New K–6 curriculum fact sheets, which publish a snapshot of each grade rather than the complete program of studies. Alberta's full programs are at alberta.ca/curriculum.