At the second-grade level, students should begin to acknowledge the relationships between letters and sounds. They should also use spelling patterns and morphological analysis to decode written English. Students should decode multi-syllabic words in context, as well as out of context by applying common letter-sound correspondence. Specifically, students should recognize and decode single letters, such as consonants and vowels, as well as consonant blends (e.g., "spl" or "chr"). They should also decode digraphs (e.g., "ng" or "cl") and vowel diagraphs (e.g., "ie" or "ue") and diphthongs (e.g., "oi" or "ou").
Students should use common syllabication patterns to decode words, including closed syllabic words, such as "picnic" or "monster," as well as open syllable words, such as "tiger." They should decode the final stable syllable in words. For instance, the syllables of "station" are "sta" and "tion." In addition, students should recognize silent vowels or consonants, such as the silent "e" or "b" attached to many common words.
The Texas Education Code also stipulates that grade two students should recognize r-controlled vowels, such as in the words "perfect" and "corner." In addition, they should decode words by applying knowledge of common spelling patterns, such as "ight" and "ant." Students should read words with common prefixes and suffixes. Student should also, upon request of the instructor, modify base words by adding inflectional endings ("ing" or "ed").
Students should identify and read abbreviations, such as "Mr." or "Ave." They should also identify and read contractions and know how to spell and punctuate contractions. By the second-grade level, students should also identify and read at least 300 high-frequency words from a commonly used list. Students should be required to edit their own drafts of writing for spelling errors, using a teacher-developed rubric. Students should also use resources (i.e., dictionaries) to find correct spellings.