National Standards Alignment · Galactic Guides

National Standards Alignment — Grade 2

This page shows how Galactic Guides: Landforms, Water, & Our Changing Earth addresses national standards across Reading, Writing, Speaking & Listening, Language, Science, and Social Studies. Standards are drawn from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for ELA/Literacy, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the C3 Framework (NCSS) for Social Studies. Each row names the lessons where the standard is taught. R&W = Reading & Writing; Sci = Science; SS = Social Studies.

Built from the lessons

Every row comes straight from the Standards Alignment section of a lesson, so this table always matches what is taught.

Reading: Literature

ELA · CCSS Reading Standards for Literature · Grade 2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.1	Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.	Students answer who, where, and why questions about High Tide in Hawaii (W3 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.3	Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges.	Students describe how Zack responds to moving to Nebulon (W1 R&W). Students describe how Zack changes from his first day at school to the end of the book (W2 R&W). Students describe how Jack and Annie respond to the earthquake and the giant wave in High Tide in Hawaii (W4 R&W). Students describe how Zack responds when his dog, Luna, goes missing (W5 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4	Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.	Students reread the Poem of the Week, circle rhyming words, and clap the beat (W1 R&W). Students reread the Poem of the Week, circle rhyming words, and clap the beat (W2 R&W). Students reread the Poem of the Week, circle rhyming words, and clap the beat (W3 R&W). Students reread the Poem of the Week, circle rhyming words, and clap the beat (W4 R&W). Students reread the Poem of the Week, circle rhyming words, and clap the beat (W5 R&W). Students find the repeated line and alliteration in The Ocean and use both in their own Earth poems (W6 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5	Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action.	Students retell the beginning, middle, and end of Hello, Nebulon! (W2 R&W). After the last chapters of Return to Earth!, students describe how the ending wraps up Zack’s visit (W6 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6	Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.	Each reader uses a voice that fits their character, such as Zod, the Ocean, or the Park Ranger (Celebration Week). Partners give Zod and the park ranger different voices, and casts begin reader’s theater (W5 R&W).

Reading: Informational Text

ELA · CCSS Reading Standards for Informational Text · Grade 2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.1	Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.	Groups read their Space Postcard and answer questions about what they learned (W1 Sci-L1).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.2	Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.	Students find the main idea of Earth’s Moon and of each section of Why Earth Is Special (W1 R&W). Teams find the main idea of each section of Staying Safe Around Water (W3 R&W). Teacher Table teams find the main idea of each section of When the Ground Moves (W4 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.3	Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.	Students put the steps of a canyon forming in order and explain how each step leads to the next (W4 Sci-L8).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.4	Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.	Students learn landform, valley, canyon, and carve from the article and its glossary (W2 R&W). Students use the text to define current and explain treat water with respect (W3 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5	Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.	Students use headings and captions to find key details in their booklets (W1 R&W). Students use headings, bold words, captions, and the glossary in Earth’s Land and Water (W2 R&W). Students use headings, bold words, the red warning box, and the safety kit list in Floods and Getting Help (W5 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.6	Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.	Students compare two texts about the Grand Canyon and explain that a guidebook’s purpose is to help the reader plan a visit (W2 R&W). Students explain why each narrator wrote: to record what the volcano did, or to tell what happened to a family (W4 SS-L4).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.7	Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.	Students use the photo and clues on each scanner reading, many taken from space, to decide what kind of water it shows (W3 Sci-L5).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.8	Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.	Students sort facts and opinions and use facts as reasons for an opinion (W5 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.9	Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.	Pairs compare what the scientist and the neighbor noticed, felt, and wrote about the same eruption (W4 SS-L4).

Reading: Foundational Skills

ELA · CCSS Reading Standards: Foundational Skills · Grade 2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.4.B	Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.	Casts read their scripts three times in rehearsal, then perform (Celebration Week). Partners read Zod Meets a Satellite in Friday’s warm-up and reread it at the Finish It & Fluency station (W1 R&W). In Teacher Table Session 2, partners reread Earth’s Land and Water in smooth phrases. The class rereads the Poem of the Week in the warm-ups (W2 R&W). Students practice a just-right pace with partners and reread Zod Meets a Sea Turtle four times (W3 R&W). Students use punctuation to read Zod Meets a Mountain Scientist with expression four times (W4 R&W). Partners reread Zod Meets a Park Ranger four times (W5 R&W). Teams rehearse their reader’s theater scripts, and partners reread Zod Meets an Astronaut four times (W6 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.2.4.C	Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.	Students learn to ask “Does that make sense?” and fix their mistakes (W1 R&W).

Writing

ELA · CCSS Writing Standards · Grade 2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.1	Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply reasons that support the opinion, use linking words (e.g., because, and, also) to connect opinion and reasons, and provide a concluding statement or section.	Students write a Dear Zod letter with an opinion, reasons, linking words, and a concluding sentence (W6 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.2	Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.	Students plan and draft their Create Plaino paragraphs (W1 R&W). Students plan and draft a guidebook chapter about one place on Earth (W4 R&W). Students write a postcard that uses facts and the definition of an expert word (W6 Sci-L11).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.5	With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.	Students add an adverb and write a final copy of their Create Plaino paragraph (W2 R&W). Students revise their guidebook chapters with the Chapter Revision Checklist and a partner check (W5 R&W). Students make final edits as they copy their guidebook chapters at the Teacher Table and the Finish It station (W6 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.7	Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).	The class puts its research and writing together into one guidebook (Celebration Week). Students research their guidebook place in the Place Research Notebook, and each team writes shared safety tips (W3 R&W). Each team writes its Staying Safe on Earth page together from three weeks of reading (W5 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.2.8	Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.	Partners record what happened in each test and use it to write a tip for Zod (W2 Sci-L4). Students gather facts from the Earth Wonder Cards, books, and websites to answer each notebook question (W3 R&W). Students record what they observed and use it as evidence to answer Zod’s melting question (W3 Sci-L6). Students use their Place Research Notebooks and the Earth Wonder Cards to plan their chapters (W4 R&W). Students record what happened at each station on their record sheets (W4 Sci-L7). Students recall the investigations behind each tip to answer which tips matter most (W6 Sci-L12).

Speaking & Listening

ELA · CCSS Speaking and Listening Standards · Grade 2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.1	Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.	Groups agree on each checklist mark and explain it to the class during Guide Zod to Earth (W1 Sci-L1). Partners predict, test, and explain why the tissue stays dry (W1 Sci-L2). Partners agree on a landing spot and explain their reason to the class at the map (W1 SS-L1). Partners build together and explain which clue shows their landform from above (W2 SS-L2). Groups present a claim with evidence, and classmates agree or disagree with evidence of their own (W3 Sci-L6). Groups agree on where each card goes in the Fast or Slow? sort (W4 Sci-L8). Partners agree on one upgrade and explain their results to the class (W5 Sci-L10). Groups agree on where each helper card belongs and explain their choices (W5 SS-L5). Groups discuss and agree on a ranking, then explain their top tip to the class (W6 Sci-L12).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.2	Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.	Students recount Zod’s problem and mission after Transmission 1 (W1 Sci-L1). Students retell what air is made of from the video and name the atmosphere’s jobs (W1 Sci-L2). Students recount Zod’s problem and the Mars rover engineers’ ideas from the video (W2 Sci-L3). Students recount Zod’s surprises after Transmission 3 and review with the video (W3 Sci-L5). Students recount what happened to Zod in Transmission 4 and what they learned from the real lava video (W4 Sci-L7). Students explain what happened to Zod’s campsite after Transmission 5 (W5 Sci-L9). Students recount where Zod is (on the space station, going around Earth) and what he asks after Transmission 6 and describe facts from the space station video (W6 Sci-L11).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.3	Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.	Guides answer visitor questions, and students ask questions as visitors (Celebration Week).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.4	Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.	Guides teach visitors about their place with facts from their chapter, using a clear, loud voice (Celebration Week). Teams speak clearly to the class, giving facts about their place (W6 SS-L6).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.5	Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.	The class records its performances as a transmission to Zod (Celebration Week).

Language

ELA · CCSS Language Standards · Grade 2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1.D	Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs (e.g., sat, hid, told).	Students fix Zod’s report and use drank, swam, went, and saw in their booklets (W3 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1.E	Use adjectives and adverbs, and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.	Students choose between words like slow and slowly and add adverbs to sentences about Zod’s rover (W2 R&W). Students add an adjective to describe a noun and an adverb to tell how, in Zod’s draft and their own (W5 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.1.F	Produce, expand, and rearrange complete simple and compound sentences (e.g., The boy watched the movie; The little boy watched the movie; The action movie was watched by the little boy).	At the Teacher Table, students expand kernel sentences and compare Earth and Plaino with but and so (W1 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.2.B	Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.	Students put commas after Dear Zod and Your Earth helper (W6 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4.A	Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.	Moon teams use the words around evacuate to figure out what it means (W5 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4.B	Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).	Students build and define words with un-, re-, and pre- (W4 R&W).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4.C	Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).	Students cover the prefix to find the root word in rebuilding, unsafe, and preheat (W4 R&W).

Science

NGSS · Next Generation Science Standards

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
NGSS · 2-ESS1-1	Use information from several sources to provide evidence that Earth events can occur quickly or slowly.	Students use models, a video, and photo cards to show that earthquakes, landslides, and volcanoes change the land quickly (W4 Sci-L7). Students use models, a video, photos, and sequence cards to show that water and wind change the land slowly, and sort fast and slow changes (W4 Sci-L8). Students use what they learned in earlier lessons to explain which tips protect against fast changes and which protect against slow ones (W6 Sci-L12).
NGSS · 2-ESS2-1	Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.	Students observe how water and wind change a sand hill, the first step toward designing solutions in Week 5 (W4 Sci-L8). Teams test ways to protect a sand hill from rain and compare every team’s results (W5 Sci-L9). Students compare the erosion solutions from their tests when they decide which land-protecting tips to keep (W6 Sci-L12).
NGSS · 2-ESS2-2	Develop a model to represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area.	Pairs build and label a model of a landform or body of water, and the class compares a 3-D clay mountain with its ring map (W2 SS-L2). Students build a sand town and a steep sand hill, then watch you turn the Week 2 clay mountain into a volcano and compare it with real lava and pumice, to model landforms and how they change (W4 Sci-L7).
NGSS · 2-ESS2-3	Obtain information to identify where water is found on Earth and that it can be solid or liquid.	Groups check each place for liquid water. Mars has water, but it is frozen solid, so only Earth has liquid water in lakes, rivers, and oceans (W1 Sci-L1). Students use clues on the scanner readings to find where water is on Earth and sort it as solid or liquid, and salty or fresh (W3 Sci-L5). Students find oceans, rivers, lakes, snow, and glaciers in astronaut photos and decide whether the water is solid or liquid (W6 Sci-L11).
NGSS · 2-PS1-1	Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.	Partners investigate a property of air: it takes up space, even though we can’t see it (W1 Sci-L2). Groups test three mystery samples with an egg and classify each one as salty or fresh by what they observe (W3 Sci-L5). Students observe and record how a crayon, a marshmallow, popcorn, and an egg look and feel after heating and after cooling (W3 Sci-L6).
NGSS · 2-PS1-2	Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.	Groups roll a plastic bottle cap and a same-size cardboard circle to compare materials, then test spools to choose the best wheels (W2 Sci-L3). Pairs choose rubber bands, spools, cups, or a flat, stiff cardboard mat for the mud, for the job they need, such as gripping a hill or holding marbles (W5 Sci-L10).
NGSS · 2-PS1-4	Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.	Students watch four tricky heating tests and use evidence to argue whether each change went back, did not go back, or only looks like it (W3 Sci-L6).
NGSS · K-2-ETS1-1	Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.	Students define Zod’s problem and gather information by feeling the ground and testing wheels (W2 Sci-L3). Students watch an unprotected hill wash away and define the problem they need to solve (W5 Sci-L9).
NGSS · K-2-ETS1-2	Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.	Students sketch and label a rover and explain how its wheels and shape help it cross bumpy land (W2 Sci-L3). Partners build a physical model of their rover and explain how its wheels and body shape help it cross sand, gravel, and a hill (W2 Sci-L4). Teams draw and label their plan, then build it on the hill (W5 Sci-L9).
NGSS · K-2-ETS1-3	Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.	Partners compare test results before and after their improvement, and compare their rover with other pairs’ rovers (W2 Sci-L4). Pairs compare before-and-after results for the original and upgraded rovers on three tracks (W5 Sci-L10).

Social Studies

C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards · K–2

Standard Code	Standard Language (Grade 2)	How This Unit Addresses the Standard
C3 Framework · D1.1.K–2	Explain why the compelling question is important to the student.	Students hear the driving question and talk about why Zod needs their help (W1 Sci-L1).
C3 Framework · D2.Civ.2.K–2	Explain how all people, not just official leaders, play important roles in a community.	Students discover that neighbors and kids help too, not only people with special jobs (W5 SS-L5).
C3 Framework · D2.Civ.3.K–2	Explain the need for and purposes of rules in various settings inside and outside of school.	The class writes safety rules and explains why everyone following one plan keeps people safe (W5 SS-L5).
C3 Framework · D2.Civ.6.K–2	Describe how communities work to accomplish common tasks, establish responsibilities, and fulfill roles of authority.	Students match helpers to Earth changes and describe each helper’s job (W5 SS-L5).
C3 Framework · D2.Civ.9.K–2	Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions while responding attentively to others when addressing ideas and making decisions as a group.	Students agree on rules for a fair vote and follow them (W6 SS-L6).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.1.K–2	Construct maps, graphs, and other representations of familiar places.	The class adds its landing spots and reasons to the class world map and looks for patterns (W1 SS-L1). Pairs build a 3-D model, draw it as a ring map, and add its photo from above to a class guide of Earth from above (W2 SS-L2).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.2.K–2	Use maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations to describe places and the relationships and interactions that shape them.	Students use the map key to describe where Zod can find water, land, and just-right temperatures (W1 SS-L1). Students compare a photo from space, a ground photo, and a ring map of Mount Fuji, and use clues to name landforms from above (W2 SS-L2). Students use a map of five kinds of places to plan a route and decide where to find fresh water, food, and shelter (W3 SS-L3). Pairs use the world map to order the tour stops and describe which are near each other and which oceans lie between them (W6 SS-L6).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.3.K–2	Use maps, globes, and other simple geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.	Students identify water, ice, desert, and mountains on the world map (W1 SS-L1).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.4.K–2	Explain how weather, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people's lives in a place or region.	Students explain why some places help travelers (fresh lake water, flat roads) and others make the trip harder (steep trails, hot sun, strong wind, thin ice) (W3 SS-L3).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.8.K–2	Compare how people in different types of communities use local and distant environments to meet their daily needs.	Students compare how people in mountains, river valleys, lakes, plains, and coasts get water, food, and shelter as they play Supply Run (W3 SS-L3).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.9.K–2	Describe the connections between the physical environment of a place and the economic activities found there.	Game cards connect jobs like farming, fishing, milling, and shipping to the land and water that make them possible (W3 SS-L3).
C3 Framework · D2.Geo.12.K–2	Identify ways that a catastrophic disaster may affect people living in a place.	Students explain how the eruption changed life for families like Kai’s (W4 SS-L4). Students talk about how floods and other fast changes affect families and why they need a kit and a plan (W5 SS-L5).
C3 Framework · D2.His.1.K–2	Create a chronological sequence of multiple events.	Groups put six events of the 2018 eruption in order on a timeline (W4 SS-L4).
C3 Framework · D4.1.K–2	Construct an argument with reasons.	Teams make the case for a first stop with their best reason and a fact (W6 SS-L6).
C3 Framework · D4.3.K–2	Present a summary of an argument using print, oral, and digital technologies.	Students present the guidebook and their chapters to visitors and send the guidebook to Zod (Celebration Week).
C3 Framework · D4.7.K–2	Identify ways to take action to help address local, regional, and global problems.	The class decides on tips and sends them to Zod to help solve his problem (W1 SS-L1). The class agrees on travel tips and sends them to Zod (W2 SS-L2). The class agrees on safety tips and sends them to Zod (W4 SS-L4).
C3 Framework · D4.8.K–2	Use listening, consensus-building, and voting procedures to decide on and take action in their classrooms.	The class listens to each team, votes by secret ballot, and sends the result to Zod (W6 SS-L6).

Galactic Guides Landforms, Water, & Our Changing Earth