ELA Skills BrushUp with Kids Academy: Transitioning from Grade 1 to Grade 2
July 27, 2025
After being in the classroom for many years, I have seen how the leap from 1st grade to 2nd grade can feel big. After this year students will transition from learning how to read to reading so they can learn. But I have noticed the leap can feel a lot smaller for kids who’ve had plenty of practice with the skills they learned in 1st grade.
When your child is moving into the 2nd grade, the summer time is great to revisit those foundational skills, like decoding, writing complete sentences, and building comprehension. The goal is comfort and confidence not perfection. Students who enter the year already comfortable with these tools are ready for more complex stories and writing tasks. And just like with math, combining online time and hands on activities makes for the most effective progress.
REVIEWING 1ST GRADE ELA SKILLS
1. Decoding with Phonics
What it is: Sounding out difficult words by recognizing letter patterns like blends, digraphs, and vowel teams.
Why it matters: Students interact with more complex words in 2nd grade.I’ve watched kids struggle to read words like “snowflake” or “train” because they didn’t know how to sound them out, not because they didn’t know the meaning. When they’ve had lots of practice with common patterns, reading becomes easier.
Try These:
- Video: Blends
- Lesson: Review Blends
- Worksheet: Missing Digraph
- Additional practice: Check out this catalog for more decoding activities
Off-Screen Fun: Time to go on a “sound hunt.” At the grocery store or in the car, you find and shout out words with the “ee” or “th” sound. At home, you can grab magnetic letters and build a “word wall” on the fridge or let your child create a “Book of Sounds” with drawings and silly examples. A sound hunt was a great way to pass time in between transitions in the classroom
2. Reading Fluency
What it is: Reading out loud smoothly, with the right pace and expression with little to none errors.
Why it matters: Second graders will be expected to read longer texts more fluently, with accuracy and proper phrasing to better support understanding. Fluency builds both confidence and comprehension. While in the classroom, I have had students read the same short poem every day for a week. By the end of the week, they were reading with stronger voices, smoother, and they seemed to be genuinely having fun reading.
Try These:
- Worksheet: How the Moon Became Beautiful
- Lesson: Read with Fluency and Accuracy
- Additional practice: Check out this catalog of stories to read to enhance fluency skills.
Off-Screen Fun: Try reading your favorite book or poem aloud together everyday. Let your child read it back to you using funny voices or pretending to be a robot. You can even record their reading and play it back so they can hear their progress out loud. I have had students use monster, or character voices to make it more entertaining for them.
3. Comprehension and Story Retelling
What it is: Understanding what was read and being able to explain using your own words.
Why it matters: Students move from recalling what happened to explaining why things happened and how characters feel in 2nd grade. I used to ask, “What happened in the story?” and get a blank stare back. Once students realized they could retell the events, they enjoyed the story more. Strong retelling skills now help them later when they start to summarize, infer, and make deeper connections across texts.
Try These:
- Worksheet: Skunks
- Lesson: Summarizing a Text
- Additional practice: Check out this lesson for more comprehension activities.
Off-Screen Fun: Story dice and puppets are a big hit in the classroom. At home, after a movie or bedtime story, ask your child to act out the beginning, middle and end using toys, drawings, or even dress up clothes.
4. Writing Complete Sentences
What it is: Writing full thoughts using a subject, verb, and punctuation.
Why it matters: Students in 2nd grade start writing multiple sentences in a row. If sentence basics aren’t strong, they get overwhelmed. I’ve had students say “I don’t know what to write” when really, they just needed help starting. Sentence writing is essential in 2nd grade as students begin creating short paragraphs, responses to reading, and stories with beginnings, middles, and ends.
Try These:
- Lesson: Types of Sentences
- Worksheet: Noun Search
- Additional practice: Check out this catalog of more writing sentences practice
Off-Screen Fun: Try using funny pictures to spark ideas. Give your child a silly photo or drawing and ask them to write one or two sentences. Read it like a newscast together for even more fun.Extend the fun and start a chain story where each family member adds a sentence. This was an often requested activity in the classroom.
PREVIEWING 2ND GRADE ELA SKILLS
Once you feel your child has a strong handle on 1st grade reading and writing skills, now is the perfect time to start exploring what’s coming next. The following skills are a great sneak peak into what will be expected of them in 2nd grade. The transition will be much easier the more familiar these skills feel to them.
5. Reviewing Across Genres
What is it: Recognizing the differences between the types of texts fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and folktales. And understanding what makes each one unique.
Why it matters: In 2nd grade, students are expected to compare and contrast genres and identify text features. Students are expected to be able to talk about different kinds of stories, building their comprehension and setting the foundation for writing different formats. My students always have access to a mix of books which I would invite them to sort into groups. They are always excited to point out the differences in the books like the table of contents or that some of them had rhymes and were poems.
Try These:
- Lesson: Folktales
- Worksheet: Across Genres Character Check
- Additional practice: Check out this catalog of more genre identification practice
Off- Screen Fun: Grab your child's favorite book and help them identify the genre. Have them point off the features that helped them figure out what the genre was. Ask them what genre could they change it into and then have them draw it. I would have students draw genres from a bucket. They would change poems to fairy tales or an informational text into a fiction story.
TIPS TO MAKE SUMMER READING COUNT
- Make it part of the daily routine: Repetition helps build habits without feeling like a chore. You can easily add a short reading activity to breakfast, bedtime, or anytime you are in the car.
- Talk about reading and writing: Ask your child comprehension questions after reading like “ What did you picture in your head while reading?” or “ If you could change the ending how would you?” Talking helps build comprehension.
- Build off previous skills: Make sure you start with what your child already knows, then slowly build up. Phonics or writing, either way confidence grows when children feel like they’re building on something they feel they have already mastered.
EXPLORE MORE
Explore full categories for more ELA practice:
By keeping ELA skills fresh and fun over the summer, you’re setting your child up for success. I’ve watched the difference it makes. Those who practice even a little feel more prepared, less anxious, and more ready to dive into second grade with confidence.
