Your Child's Communication: Second Grade

[en Español]

By the end of second grade, your child should be able to do the following tasks in each area.

Listening

  • Follow 3–4 directions in a row.
  • Understand direction words, like here, there, over, next to, before, or later.
  • Answers questions about a second grade-level story.

Speaking

  • Speak clearly.
  • Answer harder yes/no questions.
  • Ask and answer who, what, when, where, and why questions.
  • Use more complex sentences.
  • Explain words and ideas.
  • Give directions with 3–4 steps.
  • Use words to inform, persuade, and entertain.
  • Stay on topic, take turns, and keep eye contact during conversations.
  • Start and end conversations.

Reading

  • Know how letters make sounds in words, called phonics.
  • Recognize many words by sight.
  • Use clues when reading to figure out words. For example, looking at pictures or titles to help read a word.
  • Reread parts of a story and fix mistakes.
  • Find information to answer questions.
  • Explain important points of a story, like the main idea, characters, and plot.
  • Use personal experiences to guess what might happen next in a story.
  • Read and retell a story in the correct order.
  • Read grade-level stories and poetry silently and out loud smoothly.
  • Read on their own.

Writing

  • Write clearly.
  • Use different sentences to write essays, poetry, or short stories.
  • Use basic punctuation and capitalization.
  • Organize writing with a beginning, middle, and an end.
  • Spell words correctly that they use a lot.
  • Stop spelling by sound and start spelling correctly. For example, they may move from "grl" to girl."

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