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Common Core ELA2nd GradeSpeaking & Listening

SL.2.6: Speak in Complete Sentences to Add Detail

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.6 · Cluster: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas.

Get a Would You RatherAll 40 2nd Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

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

What SL.2.6 Means in Plain English

Second graders switch to complete sentences when someone asks them for more detail or to explain what they meant, like describing a lost hoodie to the office so the secretary can find it. Quick partner chat can stay short, but a request for detail can’t.

First graders (SL.1.6) produced complete sentences when the task called for them. Second grade adds the reason, a listener asking for detail or clarification, and leans on L.2.1 for grammar and L.2.3 for formal talk. Third grade (SL.3.6) asks the same, with more complex sentences.

SL.2.6 I Can Statements

  • I can answer in a full sentence when someone asks for more.
  • I can explain what I meant in a clear sentence.
  • I can tell when a short answer is fine and when it isn’t.

SL.2.6 Worked Example

One lost hoodie, one question from the school secretary, and two answers: one she can search with, one she can’t.

Prompt

You lost your hoodie. At the front office, Mrs. Bell asks, “Can you tell me what it looks like and where you last had it?”

Not Yet“Blue. Um, the thing. Outside.”Three fragments. Blue could be any of a dozen hoodies in the lost and found, “the thing” means something only to the speaker, and outside could be anywhere on the playground.
Meets the Standard“It’s a blue hoodie with a white star on the front. My name is written on the tag inside. I took it off at recess by the monkey bars.”Three complete sentences, each answering part of what Mrs. Bell asked: what it looks like, how to be sure it’s the right one, and where it was last. She can walk straight to the bin and check.
Moves to Use
Listen for what the person is asking: what, where or why.Answer with a whole sentence: who or what, plus what it is or did.Give the detail they asked for, like color, size or place.If they say “What do you mean?”, say it again in a new, clearer sentence.Save one-word answers for quick chats, not for questions that need detail.

Common Mistakes with SL.2.6

Fragments when detail was asked for

“Blue. Outside.” to a question about what the hoodie looks like and where it was

Try this: Repeat the question back with a sentence starter, like “My hoodie is…”, and have the student finish it out loud.

Clarifying by repeating

Asked “What do you mean by the thing?”, the child says “The thing!” louder

Try this: Teach students to replace the vague word with a naming word, and practice with a partner who asks “What do you mean?”

Full sentences everywhere

A rule that partners must say “I would like the red marker, please” during quick table work

Try this: Name the situations that need sentences, like reports, answers and explanations, and let quick partner exchanges stay short and natural.

Where SL.2.6 Fits

Comes BeforeSL.1.6Produce complete sentences when appropriate to the task and situation.
AlongsideL.2.1Use standard grammar when speaking, including expanding and rearranging simple and compound sentences.SL.2.3Answer questions about what a speaker says, where a clear sentence shows the listener understood.
Comes NextSL.3.6Speak in complete sentences when the task calls for it, to give requested detail or clarification.

Practice SL.2.6

Random Name PickerFree ToolSpin for who answers the follow-up “Can you tell me more?”, so every child practices adding detail in a complete sentence.Tell me moreWhole class
Spin a Name

Quick Check

  1. What three things does Mrs. Bell learn from the strong answer?
  2. Rewrite this as a complete sentence: “Outside. Recess.”
  3. Is a one-word answer ever fine under SL.2.6? Give an example.

SL.2.6: Other Names

SL.2.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.2.6

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.