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Common Core ELA2nd GradeLanguage

L.2.4: Figure Out Unknown Words

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4 · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Make a Vocabulary WorksheetAll 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

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.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 2, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.2.4 Means in Plain English

Second graders meet an unknown word and pick a strategy: read the sentence around it, peel off a prefix like re- or un-, spot a root they know (add in addition), split a compound like windstorm into two words, or look it up in a glossary or dictionary.

First graders (L.1.4) used sentence clues, common endings and roots like look in looking. Second grade adds a known prefix on a known word, like tell and retell, compound words, and glossaries in print or online. Third grade (L.3.4) works with more affixes, like dis- and -less.

L.2.4 I Can Statements

  • I can use the words around a new word as clues.
  • I can tell what re- or un- does to a word.
  • I can split a compound word into two words I know.

L.2.4 Worked Example

One sentence from a class read-aloud with two new words in it, and two ways a reader can handle them.

Prompt

We read: “The windstorm tipped over Mr. Lee’s doghouse, so he had to repaint the roof.” What do windstorm and repaint mean?

Not Yet“I don’t know windstorm, so I skipped it. Repaint means paint.”The reader gives up on windstorm without looking inside it, and reads repaint as plain paint, dropping the prefix that changes the meaning.
Meets the Standard“Windstorm is wind and storm, so it’s a storm with really strong wind. That fits, because it knocked over a doghouse. Re- means again, so repaint means paint it again. The roof probably got scraped when it fell.”Two strategies, each matched to its word: splitting the compound (part d) and reading the prefix re- on a known word (part b). Then the sentence itself confirms both meanings (part a).
Moves to Use
Read the whole sentence: what meaning would make sense there?Split a compound word into two words you know: wind and storm.Cover the prefix and read the word you know: re- means again, un- means not.Look for a root you know: add helps with addition.Still stuck? Check the glossary or a beginning dictionary.

Common Mistakes with L.2.4

Skipping the word

A reader reaches windstorm, says “I don’t know that one” and keeps going

Try this: Have students box any long word, look for two smaller words inside, and say what each small word means before guessing.

Reading past the prefix

Unlocked read as locked, retell read as tell

Try this: Make a prefix flip book: a base word on the page and re- or un- on a flap, and read both meanings aloud.

Splitting words that aren’t compounds

Carpet explained as a car and a pet, mushroom as mush and room

Try this: Check the split against the sentence, and if the two small words make no sense there, try another strategy.

Where L.2.4 Fits

Comes BeforeL.1.4Use sentence clues, common affixes and root words like look in looks and looking to work out meanings.
AlongsideRF.2.3Decode words with common prefixes and suffixes, the reading side of the same word parts.RI.2.5Use glossaries, bold print and other text features to find key facts quickly.
Comes NextL.3.4Use more affixes, like dis- and -less, root words and glossaries to find precise meanings.

Practice L.2.4

Vocabulary Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolBuild a sheet from the week’s new words, like windstorm, repaint and unlock, with a definition, a sentence and a picture for each.Grade 2Prefix wordsCompound words
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Quick Check

  1. What does the prefix re- add to repaint?
  2. Split snowplow into two words and use them to say what it means.
  3. Which strategy fits each word: unhappy, birdhouse, addition?

L.2.4: Other Names

L.2.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.4

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.