Second Grade Reading
Brief Constructed Responses
*important for MCLASS testing! (strategies taught all year!)
Students must be able to answer questions orally and in the form of a Brief Constructed Response (BCR) to move up to the next reading level. Students are expected to be at a Level M by this time in the school year. The best thing to do at home is read with your child and discuss the book before, during, and after. When your child writes a BCR, he/she will be expected to:
1. Answer the question (students should not turn the question around since the amount of space they have to write their answer doesn't permit it).
2. Include the topic/main idea stated in the question.
3. Make meaning of the facts and details by restating them in their own words or using examples from the text.
4. Use specific vocabulary related to the topic (key words from the text).
We will teach this by using a strategy the students learned in first grade, TRADER:
Title (of book, poem, fable, text)
Recycle (words from question)
Answer (the question)
Details ("I know this because....")
Example/Explain (use specific details from the text)
Reread (reread your answer, does it make sense? did you edit? did you answer the question?)
Sample Comprehension Questions
Fictional Stories
What was the problem in the story and how was the problem solved?
Name one character trait to describe the main character in the story.
What will the characters do the next time?
How did the character's feelings change throughout the story?
What lesson does the story teach?
What did the character mean when they said _______________?
Informational Texts
Name three facts that you learned from the text.
What text features did the author use in the text and how what did you learn from those text features?
Please visit the Voluntary State Curriculum for more information.