Now that reading skills are more developed, second graders will move on to comprehension of informational text. This guided lesson supports this through an exploration of the main idea of a text, as well as the other text features, such as: captions, photographs, maps headings, subheadings, glossary, index, icons and graphs. Kids will look at two texts that cover the same topic, but in different ways.

Writing reports and other kinds of informational pieces is a skill unto itself. It requires an understanding of organizing and sequencing thoughts, tying them together in a way that makes sense to the reader and sometimes a bit of research. It is recommended that students participate in writing their own informational essay on a topic of their choice. This will allow them to apply all that they are learning through the exercises in this unit.