Unit Plan 24 (Grade 2 ELA): Narrative Pacing & Strong Endings
Second graders expand their small-moment drafts into published short stories by adding vivid details, revising for clarity, and editing for conventions. Students practice pacing, crafting strong endings, and polishing final pieces for proud publication and sharing.
Focus: Add details; revise for clarity; publish a short story
Grade Level: 2
Subject Area: English Language Arts (Writing • Language)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
This week writers take a drafted small-moment scene and grow it into a short story with better pacing (slow down the important part, speed up the rest), clearer sentences, and a strong ending that feels finished. Students will revise with guidance (add, delete, move, and replace), edit for capitals, end marks, apostrophes in common contractions, and sound-spell patterns, and then publish and share.
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to…
- Write a short narrative that recounts a well-chosen moment in order, adds details, and ends with a sense of closure (W.2.3).
- With adult/peer guidance, revise for clarity and meaning (add, delete, move, replace) and edit for basic conventions (W.2.5).
- Apply grade-appropriate capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in final drafts (L.2.2).
Standards Alignment — CCSS Grade 2
- W.2.3, W.2.5, L.2.2
Success Criteria — student language
- I can slow down the most important part and speed up the less important parts.
- I can end with a strong closing that follows from my story.
- I can revise to make my writing clearer and edit for capitals, end marks, and common spellings.
- I can publish a clean final copy.