2nd grade · 18 words · grouped by pattern

2nd grade spelling words

Second grade spelling moves from single words to patterns. Once a child knows that a silent e at the end makes the vowel say its name, cake, bike and smile all fall into place, and so do hundreds of words they have never seen.

These are the words 2nd graders spell in Tutorsaurus, grouped by the pattern each one practices: silent e, vowel teams, consonant blends, and the endings -ing and -ed.

The 18 2nd grade spelling words

Endings -ing and -ed — add an ending to a word they know

  • floating
  • jumped
  • jumping
  • playing
  • wished

Silent e — the e at the end makes the vowel say its name

  • bike
  • cake
  • plane
  • smile

Vowel teams — two vowels together make one long vowel sound

  • boat
  • green
  • rain
  • sleep
  • train

Consonant blends — two or three consonants at the start, each one heard

  • drum
  • frog
  • spring
  • stop

Printable spelling test (PDF) — page 1 has 18 numbered lines for your child; page 2 is the answer key for you to read from. Free to print, no sign-up.

What 2nd grade spelling works on

Silent e words have a vowel, one consonant and then an e: cake, plane, smile. Vowel teams are two vowels side by side that make one long sound: the ai in rain, the ee in green, the oa in boat. Blends are two or three consonants at the start of a word where you hear each one, like the s-p-r in spring or the f-r in frog.

The endings group is where second graders start to change words. Jump becomes jumping and jumped; play becomes playing. Wished is a good one to talk about, because it ends in a /t/ sound but is spelled with -ed, the same as jumped. The ending is spelled -ed whatever it sounds like. The standard for this grade asks children to take a pattern they know and use it on new words, so after each group, try a few words that are not on the list.

The Common Core standard for this grade (L.2.2.D): Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil). These are Tutorsaurus’s own words, chosen to fit that standard; they are not an official list, and your child’s school may use different ones.

How to practice at home

  • Do one pattern a week. Spell the list words, then try three new words with the same pattern (lake, ride, home for silent e).
  • Play add-an-e: write cap, kit and hop, then add an e to each and read the new word together.
  • Sort word cards into piles by pattern. Mixing the groups and sorting them back is a quick check that the patterns have stuck.
  • Hunt for vowel teams in a picture book. Every ai, ee or oa your child finds counts as a point.
  • On the test, if your child spells train as "trane", praise the long a: they used a real pattern, just not the one this word takes.

Words to watch

  • Rain and plane: both have a long a, spelled two different ways. Which spelling a word takes has to be learned word by word.
  • Wished and jumped: the ending sounds like /t/ but is always spelled -ed.
  • Floating: a vowel team and an ending in one word. Spell the base word, float, first, then add -ing.
  • Spring: three consonants at the start. Say it slowly enough to hear all three.

More spelling lists