Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What L.2.1 Means in Plain English
Second graders use group words like flock and team, irregular plurals like mice and children, and myself or himself where they belong. They say hid and told instead of hided and telled, pick quickly over quick when a word describes an action, and stretch or reorder short sentences.
First graders (L.1.1) learned regular plurals, past tense like walked, and joining words like because. Second grade is mostly about exceptions, the words that break the -s and -ed rules children just learned. Third grade (L.3.1) explains what each part of speech does and adds complex sentences.
L.2.1 I Can Statements
I can say mice, feet and children for more than one.
I can use words like hid, told and sat for the past.
I can choose between quick and quickly to finish a sentence.
L.2.1 Worked Example
Two sentences about a picnic with seven words to fix, and every fix is a word that breaks a rule children already know.
Prompt
Fix every word that isn’t right, and use a group word for the bees.
Not YetAt the picnic, two mouses hided under the blanket. A lot of bees flyed over the childs, and Jonah hurt hisself running away quick.Every mistake is a rule stretched too far: -s on mouse and child, -ed on hide and fly, his plus self, and quick where the word describes how Jonah ran.
Meets the StandardAt the picnic, two mice hid under the blanket. A swarm of bees flew over the children, and Jonah hurt himself running away quickly.Mice and children (part b), hid and flew (part d), swarm as the group word (part a), himself (part c), and quickly, an adverb, because it tells how Jonah ran (part e).
Moves to Use
Some plurals change inside the word: mouse to mice, child to children, foot to feet.Some past-tense verbs change too: hide to hid, fly to flew, tell to told.Use a group word for many of one thing: a swarm of bees, a flock of birds.Self words go with their owner: I hurt myself, he hurt himself.Tell how something is done with an -ly word: ran quickly, spoke softly.
Common Mistakes with L.2.1
Hisself and theirselves
“He made it hisself.” “They cleaned up theirselves.”
Try this: Chart the self words beside their owners, my with myself, him with himself, them with themselves, and say each pair aloud.
An adjective where an adverb belongs
“She talked quiet.” “Run quick to the line!”
Try this: Ask “Is it telling about a thing or about how something is done?” and add -ly when it tells how.
Sentences that never grow
A page of short, same-shaped sentences: “The dog ran. The dog was big. The dog chased the ball.”
Try this: Have students stretch a short sentence with a describing word, then flip it: The ball was chased by the big dog.
Sentence Scramble GeneratorFree ToolMixed-up sentences with mice, children, flew and himself in them, so students rebuild each one and hear the irregular forms in place.Grade 2Irregular wordsCut and glue
Spelling Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolTurn a list of irregular plurals and past-tense verbs, like mice, teeth, hid and told, into a week of practice sheets.Irregular pluralsPast tense