What makes a character special? Their traits, of course. With help from The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg, students will enjoy completing character maps and learning about different character traits.

Show and prove! Use this lesson plan and say farewell to fiction reading logs of yore, as your students (literally) draw connections across theme, cause, and effect.

Second graders love field trips and sharing their opinions! This fun lesson combines both, as students must convince their teacher to take them on a field trip by practicing their opinion writing and using paragraph structure.

Every name has a story behind it. This lesson allows students to share the story of their name with their classmates. Not only is it fun, it's ideal for establishing a respectful classroom community.

Help your second graders hone their research skills using this animal-themed lesson! Students will enjoy choosing an animal, identifying questions, and researching their answers as they learn about writing informative essays.

Help your students learn how long a minute is with this lesson that shows them how the length of a minute can appear to change depending on the activity, all while putting their time estimation skills to the test.

In this lesson, students will work in groups and cut out pictures to make a collage that encapsulates their greatest strengths and talents. The class will compile all their collages to showcase their talents.

Idioms are especially difficult for English Language Learners! Give your students an introduction to idioms with this lesson.

Read a well-loved story aloud to your second graders and inspire them to write funny titles. In this lesson, students will brainstorm outrageous titles of their very own!

What time is it? Give your students an overview of time with this colorful lesson. They'll have a great time manipulating clock hands and completing a variety of worksheets.

Help your students understand the connection between skip counting, multiples, and multiplication with this lesson. Teach it on its own or use it as support to the lesson Clap Counting with Multiples.

Students will learn how knowledge of word parts can help readers determine the meaning of words. This interactive lesson will have students reviewing and putting into practice some of the most common prefixes.

Great introductory paragraphs pull the reader in. Students will review the different types of hooks and practice writing effective hooks. Then students will study the structure of of the introductory paragraph and begin to craft their own.

Strong place value recognition is a necessity to order, estimate, round, and check for the accuracy of numbers. In this lesson, students will compare and order numbers using what they know about place value.

Teach young authors how to "hook" readers with this hands-on lesson. By examining novels and developing their own introductions, students will be able to hone their writing skills.

What’s the deal with all of those text features? Use this handy lesson plan to help your second graders answer that very question.

Give your students an introduction to types of story hooks as they compose original story beginnings the help of a word bank. This can be a stand-alone lesson or a support lesson for the Capture That Reader! lesson plan.

Graphic novels, animated stories, and storytelling videos pop with enhanced meaning, tone and beauty. Use this lesson plan with a mentor text to teach your students to note how such features contribute to the reader’s experience.

Want to help your students write more juicy details in their stories? This lesson will teach your class to identify and form prepositional phrases in their own writing while reinforcing the importance of prepositions.