Early Learning - 2nd Grade for ME - Unit 1 Week 1 Day 2 Text Talk - A Letter to My Teacher - Read 2 of 3

Sep 15, 2026

Lesson plan for second grade text talk during Unit 1, Week 1, Day 2, centered on “A Letter to My Teacher” by Deborah Hopkinson with Nancy Carpenter’s illustrations. Students set a purpose for reading, identify key events in sequence, and discuss how the main character responds over time. Activities include guided pauses, Think-Pair-Share prompts, charting key events and feelings, and ongoing assessment through student explanations and connections to weekly questions about learning together and different ways people learn.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Unit 1: How We Learn in Our School Communities

WEEK 1 Day 2: Text Talk A Letter to My Teacher

Opening

Text and Discussion

Key Discussion

Closing

Ongoing assessment

Unit 1: How We Learn in Our School Communities WEEK 1 Day 2 Text Talk A Letter to My Teacher Read 2 of 3 | Big Idea | Communities can include and support all learners. | | --- | --- | | Weekly
Question | How do we want to work and learn together this year? | | Content Objectives | I can describe how the story develops over time, explaining key events in sequence. (R.8.2.a)
I can determine how the main character responds to these key events.(R.6.2.a) | | Language
Objective | I can link my comments about the story to my classmates’ comments.(SL.1.2.b) | | SEL Objective | I can consider the different ways people learn. (Social Awareness) | | Vocabulary | announcement: a big piece of news
* brave: having courage
* exasperating: frustrating
* patience: ability to wait calmly
trudge: to walk slowly with heavy steps | | Materials and Preparation | ● A Letter to My Teacher, Deborah Hopkinson
● chart paper and markers
● Key Events images, cut apart
● glue stick or tape
Prepare the following chart, leaving space next to the images. | Text Talk U1 W1 D2 Focus on Second/ 2nd Grade for ME | Boston Public Schools Department of Early Childhood P-2/ Maine Department of Education | | Key Events What happens How the character responds
On the whiteboard write:
How does the main character respond to events over time?
Why is this important to us? What do we find out about different ways people learn? | | | --- | --- | --- | | Opening
1 minute | Set a purpose for reading.
Today we will identify important events in the story, in sequence. We will notice how the main character responds to these events over time. We will ask ourselves: What might these events reveal, or tell us, about who the main character is as a learner? | | | Text and Discussion
25 minutes | Read the text, pausing at the key events indicated on the chart. Draw children’s attention to both the text and the illustrations. After each prompt, record children’s ideas on the chart. Include various ways to describe the character as a learner. | | | page 9 | Check for understanding of key events.
What is happening here? Write events on the left side of the chart. | | | | How is the character feeling at this time? What clues in the text | | Text Talk U1 W1 D2 Focus on Second/ 2nd Grade for ME | Boston Public Schools Department of Early Childhood P-2/ Maine Department of Education | | and illustrations help you understand this?
Write these ideas on the right side of the chart. | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | page 12 | Pause for conversation about key events and character
response.
What is happening here? Turn and talk to a partner.
How is the character reacting?
Add to the chart based on children’s responses. | | | | page 17 | What is happening now?
How does the character feel about reading out loud? What details in the illustrations help you know this?
Add to the chart based on children’s responses. | | | | page 20 | What is happening here?
How do the author and illustrator help us to identify this? | | | | | How do the words trudge and exasperating help us understand the characters’ response to what is happening?
Add to the chart based on children’s responses. | | | | page 24 | What is happening here?
There is a change in the character. How do the author and illustrator help us to understand this change?
Add to the chart based on children’s responses. Read the rest of the text. | | | | Key Discussion
15 minutes | Think, Pair, Share
Prompt 1: How does the main character respond to events overtime?
Prompt 2: Why is this important to us? What do we find out about diferent ways people learn? (People learn to read at different rates. Some people learn through being outside. ) | | | | Closing
1 minute | This week we are reading our first text, A Letter to My Teacher, written by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Our discussions lead us t

FAQs

How are students assessed during the lesson?

Teachers note students’ comments as they answer questions about details in the text, including responses to events over time and connections to different ways people learn.

Sep 15, 2026

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