Massachusetts 2nd Grade ELA Standards in Language

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L Language

• Conventions of Standard English
  • L.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; retain and further develop language skills learned in previous grades.
    • L.1.a Produce and expand complete simple and compound declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences and choose among sentence types depending on the meaning to be conveyed.
    • L.1.b Use adjectives and adverbs in sentences and choose between them depending on what is to be modified.
    • L.1.c Use collective nouns and frequently occurring irregular plural nouns.
    • L.1.d Use reflexive pronouns.
    • L.1.e Form and use the past tense of frequently occurring irregular verbs.
  • L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
    • L.2.a Print upper- and lowercase letters legibly and fluently.
    • L.2.b Capitalize holidays, product names, and geographic names.
    • L.2.c Use commas in greetings and closings of letters.
    • L.2.d Use an apostrophe to form contractions and frequently occurring possessives.
    • L.2.e Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words (e.g., cage → badge; boy → boil).
    • L.2.f Consult reference materials, including beginning dictionaries, as needed to check and correct spellings.
    • L.2.g Demonstrate understanding that context determines whether the writer uses a numeral or a written number (e.g., numerals in 1 + 3 = 4, but written words in “When I was one, I was just begun, / When I was two, I was still quite new” from A. A. Milne’s poem “Now We Are Six”).
• Knowledge of Language
  • L.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
    • L.3.a Compare formal and informal uses of English.
• Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
  • L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
    • L.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
    • L.4.b Determine the meaning of the new word formed when a known prefix is added to a known word (e.g., happy/unhappy, tell/retell).
    • L.4.c Use a known root word as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word with the same root (e.g., addition, additional).
    • L.4.d Use knowledge of the meaning of individual words to predict the meaning of compound words (e.g., birdhouse, lighthouse, housefly; bookshelf, notebook, bookmark).
    • L.4.e Use glossaries and beginning dictionaries, both print and digital, to determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases.
    • L.4.f Recognize and use appropriately abbreviations related to grade-level content or commonly used in everyday life (e.g., a.m., p.m.)
    • L.4.g Recognize and use appropriately symbols related to grade-level content or commonly used in everyday life (e.g., $, ¢).
  • L.5 Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
    • L.5.a Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., describe foods that are spicy or juicy).
    • L.5.b Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs (e.g., toss, throw, hurl) and closely related adjectives (e.g., thin, slender, skinny, scrawny).
  • L.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, activities in the grade 2 curriculum, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe.