This second grade spelling words game helps children practice 20 second grade spelling words by playing: unscramble the letters, pick the correct spelling, race cars or sprint through true and false sentences. The words include after, again, bread and catch and write, and the wrong choices are realistic mistakes such as a dropped letter or a swapped vowel. Free, with no sign-up.
Second grade spelling words game: see how it plays
The grade 2 spelling game opens in Word Scramble and has three more modes. The printable list has all 20 words with a place to write each one.
Word scramble game and three more modes: how the second grade spelling words game works
All four modes use the same 20 words, so a child meets each spelling several times in different ways. These examples come from this list:
| Mode | What the child does | Example from this list |
|---|---|---|
| Word Scramble | Taps the letter tiles in order, ten words a round; hearing the word first costs a point | featr becomes after |
| Balloon Pop | Pops the one correct spelling before the balloons drift off; three misses end the round | dream, dram, drream, draam |
| Answer Race | Picks the right spelling to move a car forward; the first to 15 beats three computer cars | party or patry |
| True or False | Judges spellings for sixty seconds; a streak of five or more scores double | snke is false, snake is true |
The wrong spellings are made by dropping a letter, doubling a letter, swapping two neighbors or changing a vowel, the same slips children make in their own writing.
Second grade spelling word list: all 20 words in the second grade spelling words game
Every word in this list has exactly 5 letters. Use the list for a weekly spelling test, or print the word list and play the game for practice.
| No. | Word | Letters | Spelling tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | after | 5 | af-ter, two syllables |
| 2 | again | 5 | a-gain, two syllables |
| 3 | bread | 5 | ea says short e |
| 4 | catch | 5 | tch after a short vowel |
| 5 | clown | 5 | ow says /ow/, cl blend |
| 6 | dream | 5 | ea says long e |
| 7 | float | 5 | oa says long o, fl blend |
| 8 | house | 5 | ou says /ow/, silent e |
| 9 | light | 5 | igh says long i |
| 10 | mouse | 5 | ou says /ow/, silent e |
| 11 | party | 5 | y says long e |
| 12 | plant | 5 | pl blend, nt ending |
| 13 | queen | 5 | q is always followed by u |
| 14 | sleep | 5 | ee says long e, sl blend |
| 15 | smile | 5 | silent e makes i say its name |
| 16 | snake | 5 | silent e makes a say its name |
| 17 | stamp | 5 | st blend, mp ending |
| 18 | train | 5 | ai says long a |
| 19 | water | 5 | wa says /wo/ |
| 20 | write | 5 | silent w |
Spelling patterns in the second grade spelling words game
Words are easier to learn in groups that share a pattern. These are the patterns in this list:
| Pattern | Words | What to teach |
|---|---|---|
| Vowel teams | bread, dream, float, light, mouse, house, clown, sleep, train | ea, oa, igh, ou, ow, ee and ai all spell vowel sounds with more than one letter. |
| Silent e | smile, snake | The e at the end is silent but makes the first vowel say its name. |
| Blends at the start | clown, plant, sleep, smile, snake, stamp, float, bread, dream, train | Two consonants together, each keeping its sound: cl, pl, sl, sm, sn, st, fl, br, dr, tr. |
| The tch pattern | catch | After a short vowel, the /ch/ sound is spelled tch. |
| Tricky words | after, again, party, queen, water, write | These do not follow the usual rules: y says long e in party, q needs u, and the w in write is silent. |
Wikipedia’s spelling article explains why English spelling has so many patterns and exceptions, and why teaching patterns works better than memorizing each word alone.
Second grade spelling practice: a 4-week plan
Twenty words are easiest to learn in four weekly groups of five. Introduce one group per week, review the earlier groups, and use the game for the final check:
| Week | Words |
|---|---|
| Week 1 | after, again, bread, catch and clown |
| Week 2 | dream, float, house, light and mouse |
| Week 3 | party, plant, queen, sleep and smile |
| Week 4 | snake, stamp, train, water and write |
Each week adds its group to the earlier ones. The patterns to point out:
- Week 1: after (tricky words), again (tricky words), bread (vowel teams and blends at the start), catch (the tch pattern), clown (vowel teams and blends at the start).
- Week 2: dream (vowel teams and blends at the start), float (vowel teams and blends at the start), house (vowel teams), light (vowel teams), mouse (vowel teams).
- Week 3: party (tricky words), plant (blends at the start), queen (tricky words), sleep (vowel teams and blends at the start), smile (silent e and blends at the start).
- Week 4: snake (silent e and blends at the start), stamp (blends at the start), train (vowel teams and blends at the start), water (tricky words), write (tricky words).
End each week with a short test of that group plus two words from earlier weeks.
Grade 2 spelling words: where the second grade spelling words game fits at school
| Level | What children are expected to do |
|---|---|
| Grade 2 (US) | Language standard L.2.2.d: generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words |
See the Common Core grade 2 language standards for the full wording.
Second grade spelling words game: frequently asked questions
What are second grade spelling words?
They are words that children are expected to learn to spell in grade 2. This game uses 20 of them, including after, again and bread.
How many words are in the second grade spelling words game?
There are 20 words in the list, and each round of Word Scramble uses ten of them, chosen at random.
Which words in this list need the most practice?
The words that belong to more than one spelling pattern: bread (vowel teams and blends at the start); dream (vowel teams and blends at the start); float (vowel teams and blends at the start); clown (vowel teams and blends at the start). Start each week with these.
Which spelling pattern has the most words?
Blends at the start has the most, with 10 words: bread, dream, float, clown, sleep, train, smile, snake, plant, stamp.
What do the wrong spellings look like?
They are slips a child might really write. For dream the choices include dram (a dropped letter), drream (a doubled letter) and draam (a changed vowel), and for party one choice is patry (two letters swapped).