Second Grade & Third Grade
Reading Foundational Skills Scope
Essential Questions & Understandings
1. What is reading, and where does it “begin”?
• Reading is a process of unlocking the meaning of written words.
• Reading begins with an interest, need, or question.
• Reading can begin with writing.
2. How does reading “happen”? (How does it “work”?)
• Readers read for and with a purpose (e.g., fluency practice,
enjoyment/entertainment, discussing a story, research, inspiration, models of
writing).
• Reading “happens” when readers decode words on a page, read them
fluently, and comprehend what they mean. (But that’s not all there is to
reading!)
• Readers analyze the parts of and patterns in words in order to decode and
comprehend them.
3. “Who” is a reader and how do I become one?
• A reader is someone who wants or needs to discover experiences (real or
imagined), opinions, information, or processes.
• A reader is a thinker.
• A reader is a detective.
• People become readers by reading--and by listening to others read.
4. What can readers read?
• There are many different kinds of texts to read—texts that teach, texts that
entertain, texts that change people’s thinking.
• Readers can read something they choose, or something that someone else
recommends or “assigns”.
• Readers read from many “places”--on paper, in books, on screens, etc.
5. What makes a reader fluent?
• Fluent readers read “smoothly”, with accuracy and expression at an
appropriate rate. (Fluent/smooth reading sounds like smooth talking.)
• The more fluent a reader is, the better he/she can focus on understanding
what he/she is reading.
• Fluency improves with practice (e.g., re-reading the same text over and over).
• Fluent readers check for and fix their mistakes as they read.
6. What do readers do when they are “stuck” (e.g., on what a word says or mean,
or what words say together)?
• Readers can use blending, chunking, and word patterns to decode words
they don’t know.
• A word’s context can help readers decode a word and understand what it
means.
• Pictures can help readers understand words; words can help readers
understand pictures. (Sometimes the words “match” the pictures, sometimes they
don’t.)
7. How do readers “grow”?
• Readers grow at different rates and in different ways. (Different readers “see”
texts differently.)
• Readers improve by reading (to themselves, out loud, alone, with others).
• Reading can improve by writing about and discussing what they read.
• Readers re-read. (They don’t just read something once to “get it”!)
Key Knowledge
Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards (pp. 17-22) details specific Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences, a
General Progressions for Phonological & Phonemic Awareness, and Orthography tables and guidelines. Teachers
should consider these aspects of Key Knowledge and Essential Skills and use them instructionally.
The Appendix also provides and defines terminology that teachers of reading should know and understand for their
own background knowledge, even though students are not expected to know or be assessed on such terms (e.g.,
phoneme, grapheme, rime, onset, medial vowel).
Word Attributes/Parts & Analysis
• Letters and letter combinations make sounds. Some letters and letter combinations can make more
than one sound. Different letter combinations can make the same sound.
• Words are made up of specific sequences of letters and separated by spaces in print that help tell the
words in a sentence apart.
• All words can be “broken up” into one or more syllables. A syllable is a word part that contains a
single vowel sound.
• Words rhyme when they have the same or similar ending sounds.
• Sentences bring words together to express complete thoughts. A sentence begins with a word that is
capitalized and ends with a punctuation mark. Multiple sentences convey thoughts, ideas, and
information.
• Words can be categorized/organized according to patterns they follow (in how they’re spelled, how
they sound). Some words follow patterns that are easier to “see” or hear than other words. Not all
kinds of patterns are common, and not all words reflect common patterns.
• There are different ways of thinking about the “parts” of words and where they “come from”.
o An inflectional ending/suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to change its
meaning (e.g., -s, -es, -ed, -ing).
o An affix is a group of letters added to the beginning or ending of a word that changes the
meaning of the word (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, bases, and roots). Many affixes for English
words come from Latin. Some affixes are more common than others.
o Base refers to a word that stand “on its own” and to which an affix can be added to change
the meaning (e.g., pretest and testing).
o A prefix is an affix added to the beginning of a word that changes the meaning of the word
(e.g., pretest).
o A suffix is an affix added to the end of a word that changes the meaning of the word the (e.g.,
vision - the suffix /-ion/ meaning the act of).
o A root (word) is a word part that has meaning but cannot stand-alone (e.g., vision - /vis/ is
the root word - meaning to see). It’s what’s left of a word without any affixes. The root(s) of a
word help explain what language(s) the word comes from.
Skill-based terms
• Fluency is the ability to read something “smoothly” and easily. Fluency comprises accuracy (decoding
words correctly), rate (decoding words an appropriate speed/flow), and expression (reading and
interpreting the words as they are intended to be read).
• Adding, substituting or taking away letters in a word can make new words. Often, the “old” word
and the “new” word rhyme.
• Sight words are words that readers can memorize and read “whole”—without sounding them out.
(They know the words by sight!) Sight words are usually shorter words that show up a lot in reading
(they’re high-frequency). Memorizing sight words can make reading “faster.”
• The sounds in a word can be blended or separated/segmented to “make” or “read” the word.
• Chunking is a strategy for decoding longer or unfamiliar multi-syllable words that don’t follow simple
patterns. (See pp. 21-22, Appendix A, CCSS-ELA for three useful principles with examples.)
• Readers read words in a context. Context can refer to the words around a word, the kind of text in
which the word appears, and what’s happening in the text when and where the word appears. Readers
can use and think about context by re-reading one or more sentences (as well as pictures).
Essential Skills (Standards)
1. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding
words.
Second Grade
• Distinguish long and short vowels
when reading regularly spelled onesyllable words.
Third Grade
• Identify and know the meaning of
the most common prefixes and
derivational suffixes.
• Know spelling-sound
correspondences for additional
common vowel teams.
• Decode words with common
Latin suffixes.
• Decode regularly spelled twosyllable words with long vowels.
• Decode multi-syllable words.
• Read grade-appropriate irregularly
spelled words.
• Decode words with common
prefixes and suffixes.
• Identify words with inconsistent
but common spelling-sound
correspondences.
• Recognize and read gradeappropriate irregularly spelled
words.
2. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Read on-level text (on-level prose and poetry, grade 3) orally with accuracy,
appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding,
rereading as necessary.
Fourth Grade & Fifth Grade
Reading Foundational Skills Scope
Essential Questions & Understandings
1. What is reading, and where does it “begin” and “end”? (What motivates reading?)
• Reading is a multi-faceted process that unlocks the many meanings of written
words.
• Reading begins and ends with interests, ideas, and questions.
• Reading can begin and end with writing.
• Purpose motivates reading (e.g., fluency practice, enjoyment/entertainment, discussing
a story, research, inspiration, models of writing).
2. How does reading “happen”? (How does it “work”?)
• Reading “happens” when readers decode words on a page, read them fluently,
and comprehend what they mean. (But that’s not all there is to reading!)
• Readers analyze word parts and patterns in order to decode and comprehend
them.
3. “Who” is a reader and how do I grow into a skilled one?
• A reader is someone who wants or needs to discover (e.g., experiences, problems,
solutions, opinions, information, explanations).
• A reader is an inquirer (of texts, of experiences, of words, of information).
• Readers grow into skilled readers through careful and purposeful reading and rereading.
• Readers grow through writing about and discussing what they read.
4. What do skilled readers read?
• Skilled readers read---and develop their skills through--a wide range of literary
and informational texts that inform, persuade, and entertain.
• Skilled readers read texts that they or other choose (or recommend or assign),
depending on their purpose.
• Skilled readers can read text no matter “where” it is (e.g., in a book, in an article,
online).
5. What makes a reader fluent?
• Fluent readers read “smoothly”, with accuracy and expression at an appropriate rate.
• A reader’s fluency affects his/her comprehension. (But a reader can be fluent and not
truly understand a text!)
• Fluency improves with practice (e.g., re-reading the same text over and over).
• Fluent readers self-correct.
6. What do readers do when they don’t understand (e.g., what words say)?
• Readers use everything they know about words and how they “work” to decode
words they don’t know.
• A word’s context can help readers decode the word and understand what it
means. (But, skilled/fluent readers don’t rely on context to decode.)
Key Knowledge
Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards (pp. 17-22) details specific Phoneme-Grapheme Correspondences, a
General Progressions for Phonological & Phonemic Awareness, and Orthography tables and guidelines. Teachers
should consider these aspects of Key Knowledge and Essential Skills and use them instructionally.
The Appendix also provides and defines terminology that teachers of reading should know and understand for their
own background knowledge, even though students are not expected to know or be assessed on such terms (e.g.,
phoneme, grapheme, rime, onset, medial vowel).
Word Attributes/Parts & Analysis
• All words can be “broken up” into one or more syllables. A syllable is a word part that
contains a single vowel sound.
• Words can be categorized/organized according to patterns they follow (in how they’re
spelled, how they sound). Some words follow patterns that are easier to “see” or hear than
other words. Not all kinds of patterns are common, and not all words reflect common
patterns.
• There are different ways of thinking about the “parts” of words and where they “come
from”.
o An inflectional ending/suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word to
change its meaning (e.g., -s, -es, -ed, -ing).
o An affix is a group of letters added to the beginning or ending of a word that changes
the meaning of the word (e.g., prefixes, suffixes, bases, and roots). Many affixes for
English words come from Latin. Some affixes are more common than others.
o Base refers to a word that stand “on its own” and to which an affix can be added to
change the meaning (e.g., pretest and testing).
o A prefix is an affix added to the beginning of a word that changes the meaning of the
word (e.g., pretest).
o A suffix is an affix added to the end of a word that changes the meaning of the word
the (e.g., vision - the suffix /-ion/ meaning the act of).
o A root (word) is a word part that has meaning but cannot stand-alone (e.g., vision /vis/ is the root word - meaning to see). It’s what’s left of a word without any affixes.
The root(s) of a word help explain what language(s) the word comes from.
Skill-based terms
• Fluency is the ability to read something “smoothly” and easily. Fluency comprises accuracy
(decoding words correctly), rate (decoding words an appropriate speed/flow), and expression
(reading and interpreting the words as they are intended to be read).
• Sight words are words that readers can memorize and read “whole”—without sounding
them out. (They know the words by sight!) Sight words are usually shorter words that show
up a lot in reading (they’re high-frequency). Memorizing sight words can make reading
“faster.”
• The sounds in a word can be blended or separated/segmented to “make” or “read” the
word.
• Chunking is a strategy for decoding longer or unfamiliar multi-syllable words that don’t
follow simple patterns. (See pp. 21-22, Appendix A, CCSS-ELA for three useful principles with
examples.)
• Readers read words in a context. Context can refer to the words around a word, the kind of
text in which the word appears, and what’s happening in the text when and where the word
appears. Readers can use and think about context by re-reading one or more sentences (as
well as pictures). Context does not necessarily help decode a word. Skilled and fluent readers
can figure out unfamiliar words without context.
Essential Skills (Standards)
1. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
o
Use combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication
patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately
unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.
2. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
o
Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.
o
Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and
expression on successive readings.
o
Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding,
rereading as necessary.