Acting out a story can teach important literacy lessons. This activity asks students to consider the characters and dialogue. It also requires them to read and comprehend. Choose a story and read it aloud to students. Discuss what is happening on every page, and then map out the story, including dialogue. Pass out this map, or script, and ask students to act out the entire story or portions of it.
Rhyming is a lesson most second-graders have had previously, but it is an important one to reiterate. Recognizing rhyming words is easy for second-graders, can be fun and can solidify their understanding of spelling. For this lesson, take any nursery rhyme and read it aloud. Discuss the words that rhyme, then show students the nursery rhyme. Based on the endings of words, have them match up those that rhyme (or look the same). To go a step further, see if they can come up with different words that also rhyme.
Second-grade students are ready to grasp the concept of basic poetry, and they can have fun writing with acrostic poems. Each students writes out his name vertically on a piece of paper. He uses each letter of his name to write a line of free verse poetry. Each line should represent something about himself or something he likes. There is a lot of flexibility for students -- they can write a few words or entire sentences depending on their individual ability.
Both spelling and comprehension are important skills for second-grade students to master. You can create a spelling bee game for your students that is entertaining and educational. Like a typical spelling bee, choose words that students will need to take turns spelling aloud. To take it one step further, have students define the word as well. You can also have them use the word in a sentence for extra points.
Students are beginning to learn how to write a basic and complete sentence. Before class, cut up paper into large strips and write down the parts of sentences. You should keep the parts very simple, basic and even silly for the enjoyment of the students. Split up the parts in two different stacks and have students pick from each stack and try to put together a sentence. You can demonstrate how it is done on the board and have kids work in groups. Once students have a proper sentence, check it and then have them read it aloud to the other students.