Every issue of Storyworks 2 offers a fascinating piece of narrative nonfiction written just for second-graders. Each six-page article delves into an important and highly engaging topic, often connected to social studies and science curriculums. Our Big Reads are packed with nonfiction text features like maps, headlines, and captions. This article can often be paired with other articles, stories, and poems in the magazine, allowing kids to make rich text-to-text connections.

Storyworks 2 offers original fiction in every issue. Stories often address issues relevant to second-graders, including friendships, fitting in, family dynamics, and school situations.  Each story is designed as a learning kit, with “Pause and Think” questions right on the page for students to consider and discuss as they read. The story can often be paired with other features in the magazine, allowing kids to make rich text-to-text connections.

Our popular paired-text feature offers two texts united by topic or theme; for example, two nonfiction articles that kids can compare and contrast easily, or a nonfiction article paired with an infographic. Topics often draw on science, social studies, current events, or social-emotional learning. The story can often be paired with other features in the magazine, allowing kids to make rich text-to-text connections.

Kids often turn to this feature first in the magazine! This “mini graphic novel” meets kids where they are and is an especially motivating “way in” for struggling readers. It’s packed with teaching opportunities: It usually addresses the essential question of the issue, and so can be paired with other articles; it often repeats vocabulary words from other articles to reinforce the new words and get kids comfortable using them; and it connects to a “Finish the Story” skills page online that allows kids to be creative while practicing their inference skills.  It also comes with “What Is a Comic?” video that teaches features of a comic.

Welcome to the reading-fluency building section of the magazine! This feature is an interview: Our character, Question Mark, interviews an inanimate object like a dollar bill or a loose tooth.  It’s designed for two kids to read out loud together, over and over, to practice their reading fluency. It’s a super fun chance to perform, build knowledge, and also get great fluency practice.

Every issue of Storyworks 2 includes a debate on a hot-button topic for kids; for example, “Should Kids Get to Decide on Bedtime?” Or “Should Kids Get to Vote?” Each debate comes with an online opinion writing page, which guides students to write an essay supporting one side of the issue.

Each issue has a poem, accompanied by stunning artwork. You can usually pair the poem by topic or theme with another feature in the issue. The poem comes with online materials that guide kids into writing their own poems in a similar style. They’ll learn about rhymes, acrostics, shape poems, haiku, and so much more.

The Mini Read presents a short, high-interest nonfiction article that “warms up kids’ reading muscles” and also builds knowledge. Each Mini Read has a showstopping photo and nonfiction text features. Here we introduce our character Nosey, a dog who uses her long nose to sniff out facts. Nosey draws kids to an online activity where kids pull out key details from what they’ve learned.

This fun feature (always accompanied by a hilarious photo) covers second-grade grammar and vocabulary. Often the vocabulary words are repeated in other places in the magazine, helping to reinforce the new words. Kids can do our Word Play activities right in the magazine.

Teachers have told us that writing “small moment” personal narratives is a big part of the second-grade curriculum, and they didn't have enough exemplar texts to help their students. This is where we step in. In some issues of Storyworks 2, you can find short personal narratives that will delight kids as they model (simply and clearly) how kids can write their own.