Second Grade Spelling Lessons
The spelling lessons covered in second grade address the state standard 1.5.3F.
The words in red denote high-frequency words that need to be placed on the classroom word wall.
The categories listed for Word Sorts are suggestions only. There may be others that also work. Also, in many of the sorts suggested, it is understood that there is always a category for “other” words that do not fit into the given categories. You will want to give the students a picture or word with which they can associate the given category, sound, or spelling pattern to be learned when you introduce the word sort. Some suggestions are included.
The following four spelling rules are considered to be consistently applicable and are of value in teaching students to spell. A spelling lesson has been devoted to each rule. 1. change the final y to an i before adding -es (Spelling Lesson 29) 2. drop the final e before adding -ing (Spelling Lesson 30) 3. double a single, final consonant, after a short vowel, before adding an inflectional ending (-ed, -ing, -es) (Spelling Lesson 31) 4. i before e except after c or when sounding like ay as in neighbor and weigh (Spelling Lesson 35) Lesson 1: Focus: Review of short vowels
camp, ask, bed, net, win, him, not, fox, sun, cut end, tell, put, very, live
Word Sorts: short vowel sounds (anchor words may be a-apple, e- Eddie, i-itchy, o-octopus, u-umbrella), CVC pattern, three- and four-letter words
Other resources: Rhyme poster A1 “Leroy’s Lunch” and A2 “Juice Pop Drip Drops”
Lesson 2: Focus: Review of long vowels (silent “e”)
made, lake, same, side, mine, nice, note, rope, cube, cute
1/9/2018 use, like, give, because, name
Word Sorts: long vowel sounds
Other resources: Rhyme poster A3 “Jake”
Lesson 3: Focus: r-controlled vowels
yard, dark, perch, bird, dirt, girl, porch, corn, turn, hurt car, her, every, after, form Word Sorts: r-controlled vowel sounds (/ar/ like car, /er/ like her, /or/ like for) , spelling patterns (ar, er, ir, or, ur)
Other resources: Rhyme poster D1 “Hardy Har Har” , D2 “Bird Alert”, and F1 “Airfare”
Lesson 4: Focus: Single final vowels
maybe, she, we, also, hello, ago, sky, fly, cry, dry why, try, again, animals, said
Word Sorts: one- and two-syllable words, long vowel sounds
Other resources: Rhyme poster A4 “Lucky Me” (only addresses “e”)
Lesson 5: Focus: Beginning blends ( “r” blends and “l” blends)
bring, drop, from, grand, print, trim, clip, flag, glad, slip place, plants, close, trees, great
Word Sorts: “r”blends and “l”blends, CCVC and CCVCC pattern, vowel sounds
Other resources: Rhyme poster B1 “Sly Sleuth” (only addresses “sl”)
Lesson 6: Focus: Beginning blends (other blends)
scan, skim, skin, skunk, smash, snap, spend, stop, swim, twin small, spell, study, started, story
1/9/2018 Word Sorts: vowel sounds, CCVC and CCVCC pattern
Lesson 7: Focus: Three letter blends (scr, spr, str, spl)
scrap, scream, spread, spring, sprout, street, string, strong, splash, split, say, still, such, does, same
Word Sorts: sort by blend (scr, spr, str, spl), short vowels and long vowels
Other resources: Rhyme poster B6 “Scroungers” (only addresses “scr”)
Lesson 8: Focus: Initial digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh, ph)
chin, chunk, shut, shop, thank, those, there, when, which, phone, show, what, think, three, where
Word Sorts: sort by digraph (anchor words may be ch-chin, sh-shhh, th- thumb, wh-whistle, ph-phone), vowel sounds
Other resources: Rhyme poster B3 “Charlie’s Chickens” (only addresses “ch”), and B5 “Pitchers and Catchers” (addresses medial “ch”)
Lesson 9: Focus: Three letter clusters (thr, shr, squ)
thread, throat, threw, throw, shrink, shred, shrug, squint, squid, squish, school, change, through, under, help
Word Sorts: sort by cluster (thr, shr, squ), things (nouns) and actions (verbs)
Lesson 10: Focus: Final consonant blends (ft, lt, mp, nd, nk)
gift, left, felt, tilt, stamp, bump, send, stand, drink, trunk, around, land, old, kind, hand
Word Sorts: sort by final blend, sort by single beginning consonant or beginning blend, sort by short vowels
1/9/2018 Lesson 11: Focus: Final consonant blends (sk, sp, st, nt, pt)
desk, mask, crisp, wasp, first, best, sent, spent, slept, wept, want, different, most, last, hard
Word Sorts: sort by final blend, sort into CVCC and CCVCC
Other resources: Rhyme poster B2 “Dragon Guest” (only addresses “st”)
Lesson 12: Focus: Final digraphs (ch, sh, th, ph, ng)
inch, rich, fish, wish, trash, bath, graph, song, swing, bang, much, with, earth, things, beginning
Word Sorts: sort by final digraph
Other resources: Rhyme poster B4 “Hogwash” (only addresses “sh”), and B5 “ Pitchers and Catchers” (addresses medial “ch”)
Lesson 13: Focus: Final digraphs (tch, ck, nk)
catch, watch, scratch, stitch, lock, duck, trick, bank, sink, blank, back, take, asked, because, said
Word Sorts: sort by final digraph, sort by things (nouns) and actions (verbs)
Lesson 14: Focus: Medial double consonants
ladder, middle, happy, hammer, mitten, dinner, giggle, sorry, dresser, muffin, little, letters, following, every, again
Word Sorts: sort words by beginning sound, sort by ending sounds
Lesson 15: Focus: Long a (ai, ay)
rain, brain, paint, mail, trail, spray, stray, may, way, tray, air, American, any, play, very
1/9/2018 Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (ai, ay), sort by beginning single consonants or blends
Other resources: Rhyme poster C1 “Afraidy Day” and F1 “Airfare” (only addresses “ai”)
Lesson 16: Focus: Long e (ee, ea)
street, free, cheese, week, green, beach, weak, dream, leaf, clean, keep, near, between, seemed, great
Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (ee, ea), sort by single beginning consonant or blends
Other resources: Rhyme poster C2 “Busy Beaver Creed”
Lesson 17: Focus: Long i (ie, igh, i)
tried, flies, pie, bright, delight, fight, wind, find, child, mind, right, high, light, might, while
Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (ie, igh, i)
Other resources: Rhyme poster C3 “Light Pie Delight”
Lesson 18: Focus: Long o (oa, oe, ow)
toad, toast, float, poem, hoe, toe, snow, show, window, slow, know, own, close, through, open
Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (oa, oe, ow), sort by word ending ( vowel digraph or consonants)
Other resources: Rhyme poster C4 “Tree Toad” and E6 “Snowplow Tow” (uses variable sounds of ow)
1/9/2018 Lesson 19: Focus: Dipthongs (oi, oy)
coin, soil, joint, moist, noisy, toy, enjoy, cowboy, royal, annoy, point, boy, off, would, should
Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (oi, oy), anchor words can be oi-oil, oy-boy
Other resources: Rhyme poster E5 “Joyce’s Toys”
Lesson 20: Focus: Dipthongs (ou, ow)
shout, loud, round, mouth, cloud, frown, growl, crown, owl, plow, sound, country, house, our, around
Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (ou, ow) and anchor words can be ou-out and ow-how, combine lesson 18 and lesson 20 words and sort by vowel sound
Other resources: Rhyme poster E3 “Howie’s Ride” , E4 “Bug Thoughts” and E6 “Snowplow Tow” (variable sounds of “ow”)
Lesson 21: Focus: Less Common Vowel Sounds (aw, oo, au)
draw, straw, hawk, spoon, hood, stood, cool, wood, taught, cause, good, too, food, father, school
Word Sorts: sort by vowel sound (/o/, /oo/, /oo/)
Other resources: Rhyme poster E1 “Whoop Whoop Ball” (variable sounds for oo) and E2 “Awesome Augie Auk” (sounds of “au” and “aw”)
Lesson 22: Focus: Contractions (is, not)
what’s, there’s, it’s, that’s, she’s, doesn’t, isn’t, won’t, couldn’t, can’t, don’t, us, open, little, want
1/9/2018 Word Sorts: sort by contraction, sort by one or two syllable words
Lesson 23: Focus: Silent letters (b, l, t)
climb, lamb, thumb, comb, doubt, palm, calm, castle, whistle, wrestle, answer, picture, along, does, thought
Word Sorts: sort by silent letter (b, l, t)
Lesson 24: Focus: Silent letters (kn, wr, gh)
knight, knot, knife, kneel, wrong, wrap, wrist, though, caught, bought, know, write, light, next, eyes
Word Sorts: sort by silent letters (kn, wr, gh), sort words by long or short vowels
Other resources: Rhyme poster D3 “Fix it Quick” (silent consonants gh, wr, kn, b)
Lesson 25: Focus: Contractions (am, are, had, have, will, would, us)
I’m, we’re, you’re, they’re, she’d, I’ve, they’ve, I’ll, you’ll, let’s, only, world, mother, father, house
Word Sorts: sort by noun or pronoun, sort by number of letters omitted when contraction is made (example “one letter left out” – I’m, “two letters left out” – she’d, I’ll, etc.)
Lesson 26: Focus: Sounds of c and g
corn, candy, city, face, nice, garden, gum, gate, giant, gym, large, page, came, sentence, place
Word Sorts: sort by sound of c (/k/ like cat or /s/ like city) and sound of g (/g/ like go or /j/ like gym), sort by person, place or thing
Other resources: Rhyme poster A6 “Gabby Goose’s Gold” (sounds of g)
1/9/2018 Lesson 27: Focus: Compound words
raindrop, weekend, grandmother, sunshine, afternoon, grandfather, classroom, fingerprint, everything, homework, something, another, below, also, between
Word Sorts: sort by number of syllables, sort by those with a long vowel and those with only short vowels
Lesson 28: Focus: Plural nouns (adding -s or -es)
girls, boys, desks, lunches, foxes, buzzes, wishes, dresses, buses, watches, men, years, head, animals, letters
Word Sorts: sort by –s or –es ending, sort by number of syllables
Lesson 29: Focus: Plural nouns (changing f to v, y to i) *Spelling Rule: change the final y to an i before adding -es
wolves, leaves, calves, elves, halves, babies, cities, flies, cherries, puppies, home, man, set, things, put
Word Sorts: sort by ending (-ves, -ies), sort by people, places, things and animals
Lesson 30: Focus: Adding endings (drop the “e) *Spelling Rule: drop the final e before adding -ing
caring, driving, writing, taking, riding, liked, smiled, shared, stared, graded, turned, read, means, asked, seemed
Word Sorts: sort by –ed and –ing endings
Lesson 31: Focus: Double final consonants before adding endings (-ed, -ing)
1/9/2018 *Spelling Rule: double a single, final consonant before adding an inflectional ending (-ed, -ing, -es)
stepped, planned, rubbed, dropped, stopped, hitting, quitting, winning, hugging, shopping, big, work, move, add, beginning
Word Sorts: mix words from Lesson 30 and Lesson 31 to have students sort by words in which the final consonant is doubled and words in which it is not, sort by vowel sound
Lesson 32: Focus: Prefixes (re- and un-)
reuse, reread, rewrite, review, recycle, untie, unhappy, unfold, unable, unwrap, even, just, form, light, set
Word Sorts: sort words by meaning, those that mean “do again” and those that mean “not”
Lesson 33: Focus: Prefixes (pre- and dis-)
preheat, pretest, preschool, precook, prepay, disagree, dislike, dishonest, disobey, distrust, need, away, well, thought, right
Word Sorts: sort words by meaning, those that mean “before” and those that mean “not”
Lesson 34: Focus: Irregular plurals
deer, sheep, men, feet, teeth, children, geese, mice, monkeys, toys, few, example, man, eyes, picture
Word Sorts: sort into the following categories—words that stay the same for singular or plural, words that change spelling, words that just add –s
Lesson 35: Focus: Less common vowels (ie, ei) Spelling Rule: i before e except after c or when followed by gh as in neighbor and weigh
1/9/2018 chief, field, thief, friend, believe, weigh, neighbor, sleigh, receive, eight, should, left, city, found, learn
Word Sorts: sort by spelling pattern (ie, ei), sort words by vowel sound (long e, short e, long a, other)
Lesson 36: Focus: Review of previously learned words
never, over, before, must, above, line, our, after, below, here, story, under, point, always, there
Word Sorts: sort by opposite pairs
1/9/2018