Your Second-Grader and Writing
In Your Child's Classroom
What will my second-grader learn about writing?
Second-graders write daily for various purposes. They write responses to literature, journal entries, answers to math word problems, poetry, letters, social studies reports and creative stories. Your child develops more independence as a writer and learns to express her ideas creatively and effectively. Her reports and narrative stories include characters; setting; a problem and solution; and events written in order with a clear beginning, middle and end. She writes stories from her viewpoint as well as in the third person (he, she, it, they). She begins learning how to write a paragraph with a topic sentence and supporting details. Your second-grader continues to expand on the writing process introduced in first grade, using these steps:
- Discussing ideas before writing
- Prewriting
- Drafting
- Revising
- Editing
- Publishing
- Sharing
This process helps your child with the organization and thinking required to write a story. Your child becomes more aware of the audience he is writing for and the goal of writing. He begins to understand the purposes of different genres. For example, a report's purpose is to inform and a narrative's is to entertain or share a story. To reinforce this at home, you can discuss different purposes of writing as you encounter them, such as those for recipes, letters and programs for concerts or plays.
What will my second-grader learn about spelling?
In second grade, spelling is reinforced through the larger context of reading and writing. Second-graders continue to learn common spelling patterns and recognize frequently used words in their reading.
Weekly spelling lists
Typically, second-graders bring home weekly spelling lists they will be tested on. These lists may be from a prescribed spelling program or chosen by the teacher. They may include word families, or groups of words that have a common feature or pattern. For example, words with a long e that is spelled ea, ee or ie. The lists may also have "challenge words," which are more difficult to spell, or thematic words that are used around the holidays or in specific subject areas. Second-graders usually do activities with the spelling words, such as writing a sentence using each word to understand its meaning and reading stories that include the terms.
"To reinforce what your child is learning at school," suggests Karen Heath, our consulting teacher and the 2005 Vermont Teacher of the Year, "find out what spelling program is being used in the classroom. If there is no weekly list, ask the teacher for lists of word families to work on each week."
Invented spelling
In second grade your child may still use invented spelling (also called inventive spelling), or spelling words as they sound, for difficult words. But she will also use many conventional spellings. When children use invented spelling, they are demonstrating their knowledge of the sounds letters make and of spelling patterns. Research shows that letting children use invented spelling allows them to focus on the purpose of writing: communication. As they learn the rules of spelling, they begin to apply them and make the transition to conventional spelling.
Using a dictionary
Second-graders learn to use a dictionary to find the correct spelling of words. They may also have personal spelling dictionaries in which they enter words they are learning to spell. By the end of second grade, your child will have learned to spell:
- Words with short and long vowel sounds, such as bread and dough
- Words with r after a vowel, such as turn
- Words with consonant blend patterns, such as the cl blend in clay and clam
- Frequently used words such as was, were, says and which
- Words in which the consonant is doubled when the tense changes, such as stop becoming stopped and stopping
- Words that drop the final e when adding an ending, such as use becoming usable
- Words in which the y changes to i when adding an ending, such as easy becoming easily
