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, eEddie, i-itchy, o-octopus, u-umbrella), CVC pattern, three- and fourletter words
Other resources: Rhyme poster A1 “Leroy’s Lunch” and A2 “Juice
Pop Drip Drops”
2/16/2016
Lesson 2:
Focus: Review of long vowels (silent “e”)
made, lake, same, side, mine, nice, note, rope, cube, cute
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”)
2/16/2016
Lesson 6:
Focus: Beginning blends (other blends)
scan, skim, skin, skunk, smash, snap, spend, stop, swim, twin
small, spell, study, started, story
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, shshhh, 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)
2/16/2016
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
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)
2/16/2016
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
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”
2/16/2016
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)
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”)
2/16/2016
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
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)
2/16/2016
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)
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
2/16/2016
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)
*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”
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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
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
2/16/2016