LAFS.2.RL.3.7Archived Standard

Use information gained from the illustrations and words in a print or digital text to demonstrate understanding of its characters, setting, or plot.
General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts
Grade: 2
Strand: Reading Standards for Literature
Idea: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
Date Adopted or Revised: 12/10
Date of Last Rating: 02/14
Status: State Board Approved - Archived

Related Courses

This benchmark is part of these courses.
5010010: English for Speakers of Other Languages-Elementary (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022 (course terminated))
5010020: Basic Skills in Reading-K-2 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
5010043: Language Arts - Grade Two (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
7710013: Access Language Arts - Grade 2 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
5011020: Library Skills/Information Literacy Grade 2 (Specifically in versions: 2016 - 2022, 2022 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Lesson Plans

Plot: Identify and Describe How Characters Affect the Plot:

This is the final lesson of a three-part unit on plot. In this lesson, students will identify and describe how characters affect the plot. In the teacher modeling portion, the featured text is When Charlie McButton Lost Power by Suzanne Collins. In the guided and independent practice activities, the featured text is Strega Nona Meets Her Match by Tomie dePaola. The other lessons in this unit are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

Opinion Writing for an Author Study:

In this lesson, students will listen to the stories Franklin in the Dark and Franklin Wants a Pet. Students will analyze story elements and story structure, which will assist them in writing an opinion piece about their favorite Franklin story.

Type: Lesson Plan

A Close Look at A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams:

A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams is a delightful story of a family who faces the hardships of life together. The focus of these reading lessons is to identify story structure and discuss how the characters responded to challenges. After students complete several learning centers about the book, they will retell the story through writing using grade-appropriate conventions.

Type: Lesson Plan

A Closer Look at Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain:

Introduce your primary students to the rhythmic story of the African plains, Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema. This story is filled with rich vocabulary and rhyming patterns that allow students to interact with context clues and and answer questions about the story elements.

Type: Lesson Plan

Hamming It Up with Character:

Students will learn about characters in narrative text through group collaboration, the creation of character trading cards and an oral presentation of original dialogue. Students will work in collaboarative groups to think of adjectives that would best describe how the characters look, behave, and feel.

Type: Lesson Plan

Once Upon a Time: What Makes an Interesting Setting:

There are stories that make you feel like you are there experiencing everything along with the characters. Often times, this is because the writer is describing the setting in vivid detail. These lessons will look at the componants of a setting and give students the opportunity to write the beginning of a story based upon a setting of their choosing.

Type: Lesson Plan

Questions of Character, Setting, and Plot:

Students will read texts including characters that face a challenge or major event and describe the characters, setting, plot, and how they responded to the challenge. With a partner, students will read a book about other brave characters and create six comprehension questions that they will type on a computer. These questions will be presented to another partnership who will read the book and answer their classmates’ questions.

Type: Lesson Plan

Perspective is a Walk in the Park:

Using the books Seven Blind Mice and Voices in the Park students will learn to identify the unique perspectives that characters bring to a story. After completing a retelling activity and drawing how several characters are feeling, students will compose a short narrative writing from the perspective of a character from Voices in the Park.

Type: Lesson Plan

Understanding Miss Maggie:

Students will love talking about the unlikely friendship that forms in Miss Maggie by Cynthia Rylant. They will share their opinions by writing a paragraph after learning new vocabulary words and discussing character traits.

Type: Lesson Plan

Plot: Retelling a Story with Story Elements:

Students will retell a story using story elements. The teacher modeling uses the story Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis by Dav Pilkey. The guided and independent practice activities use the story When Charlie McButton Lost Power by Suzanne Collins.

Type: Lesson Plan

Plot: Identifying Story Elements:

In this lesson on plot, students will identify and describe story elements using a graphic organizer. The featured text in this lesson is Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis by Dav Pilkey. This lesson is part of a unit on plot. Other lessons in the unit are attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

Digging Deeper: Developing Comprehension Using Thank You, Mr. Falker:

Good readers demonstrate comprehension of text using a wide variety of strategies. Making personal connections to stories is one way to develop deeper understanding of both character and theme. This teacher read-aloud of Thank You, Mr. Falker and follow-up whole-group instruction provide a basis for improved higher-level reading comprehension. The teacher works with the whole class to model making predictions and personal connections, envisioning character change, and understanding the themes of the book. Response journals can also be used to further student connections to the characters and themes in the book.

Type: Lesson Plan

Describing a Character's Personality Traits:

This is a lesson on characters. Using the story Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, students will practice describing a character's personality based on the character's thoughts, actions and feelings.

Type: Lesson Plan

Describing Characters with Rich Language:

Students will use descriptive language to describe a character's personality. This lesson uses two stories by Kevin Henkes: Julius, the Baby of the World and Lilly's Big Day.

Type: Lesson Plan

Predicting a Character's Actions:

This is the second lesson in a three-part unit on characters. Students will predict a character's actions based on his or her personality. This lesson uses two books by Kevin Henkes: Julius, the Baby of the World and Lilly's Big Day. The other lessons in this unit have been attached as related CPALMS resources.

Type: Lesson Plan

Using Picture Books to Practice Retelling:

Did you know that wordless picture books can ignite creativity in your students? These lessons encourage students to tell interesting stories in their own words based on several wordless books. After practicing identifying story elements, students will write creatively to retell one of the stories.

Type: Lesson Plan

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.