Second-grade reading standard 1.1.2 -- Reading Independently -- includes identifying an author's type, purpose and the genre of the book or literary piece. Word recognition and comprehension of unfamiliar words through decoding using knowledge of prefixes, suffixes and root words is another subsection of this standard. The standard suggests teaching students how to tell what a story is about before, during and after reading the text through taking notes, retelling, thinking aloud and connecting to prior knowledge. Oral reading accuracy is another aspect of the reading independently standard.
Reading, Analyzing and Interpreting Text, standard 1.2.2, includes differentiating between fact and opinion within the text, using the text order and other clues to derive the meaning and increase comprehension and differentiate between essential and nonessential text within the text or reading. Other areas of this standard include making inferences from the text and forming conclusions and citing evidence from the wording to support answers to comprehension questions.
Standard 1.3.2 is shaped around second-grade learning of the characteristics and differences between fiction and non-fiction works. Students must read, understand and respond to different literary genres such as poetry, drama and fiction. The identification of literary elements including plot, characters and setting,and the identification of literary devices, such as onomatopoeia, personification and alliteration is also included in this standard.
Some districts specify more closely, the accuracy of student reading and fluency by stating measurable goals. One example is the Saucon Valley School District, which encourages their second-grade students to read with 93-percent accuracy, 80-percent comprehension and an increasing percentage of reading speed in words per minute for each marking period or quarter. Students in the Saucon Valley School District are assessed using a 4-point rubric scale to configure the scores according to the district reading goals.