ABSTRACT
Life in the second grade may not resemble what one has experienced. Its typical day is filled with options within a flexible structure. The children create options based on their interests; they make decisions. This chapter presents transactional theory in practice in the second-grade classroom. It consists of two parts. The first part is a description of a typical day, showing the fairly predictable and dependable routine. The description of a typical day is provided to give an understanding of the context in which children relate with texts. The second part of the chapter is a close look at two children’s activities within the reading/writing time. Word study may be part of a mini lesson initiated by the children. It has focused on alphabetical order, prefixes, suffixes, big words, and more. Second graders love composing lists. Word study takes advantage of this love and teaches children some of the conventions of the language.
