Back to School ELA Review for 2nd Grade | 20 Daily Lessons

Make the first month of school easier with this 2nd grade back to school ELA review designed to revisit essential first grade reading, grammar, phonics, vocabulary, and writing skills. With 20 structured daily lessons plus 16 print-and-play literacy games, this resource helps second graders rebuild confidence, establish routines, and prepare for Grade 2 learning.

Each daily lesson follows a predictable four-part rhythm—Read & Think, Language & Grammar, Word Work, and Write About It—with skills spiraling from foundational review into more complex reading and language practice.

What’s Included

This second grade ELA review includes a complete back-to-school literacy system:

✅ 20 daily ELA review lessons

✅ 40 pages of daily student lessons

✅ Short fiction and nonfiction passages

✅ Reading comprehension questions

✅ Grammar and language review

✅ Phonics and word work practice

✅ Vocabulary activities

✅ Daily writing prompts

✅ Primary-ruled writing lines with dashed midlines

✅ 16 print-and-play literacy games and activities

✅ Partner and small-group games

✅ Literacy center activities

✅ Complete answer key for all 20 days

✅ Teacher guide

✅ 20-day pacing overview

✅ Four-week planning guide

✅ Differentiation ideas

✅ Game preparation directions

✅ Game-to-skill quick-reference map

✅ Class progress record sheet

✅ Family letter for home-school connection

✅ Student reflection

✅ Reading Star Award

The student workbook contains 20 daily lessons plus 16 print-and-play games, with daily practice in reading, grammar, word work, and writing.

The complete answer key provides answers for all 20 days, organized by section for faster checking, while allowing reasonable student wording for open writing and reflection tasks.

How It Works in the Classroom

Use this 2nd grade back to school ELA review as a first-month literacy routine, morning work option, whole-group warm-up, independent review, intervention support, or skills refresher.

Each day follows the same student-friendly structure:

📖 Read & Think — Students read a short passage and answer comprehension questions

✏️ Language & Grammar — Students review a focused Grade 1 language skill

🔤 Word Work — Students practice phonics, vocabulary, spelling patterns, and word knowledge

📝 Write About It — Students complete a short writing task connected to the day’s passage

A full lesson is designed to take about 15–25 minutes, with earlier days providing lighter review and later lessons combining skills.

Use the resource for:

⭐ Back-to-school ELA review

⭐ Second grade morning work

⭐ First grade skills review

⭐ Beginning of year literacy practice

⭐ Reading comprehension review

⭐ Grammar warm-ups

⭐ Phonics and word work

⭐ Literacy centers

⭐ Partner practice

⭐ Small groups

⭐ Early finishers

⭐ Intervention and reteaching

⭐ Formative assessment

⭐ Homework or home practice

The 20-Day Pacing at a Glance chart on page 6 of the Teacher Guide visually maps each day’s reading, language, and word-work focus. Students move from main idea, complete sentences, and short vowels into inference, cause and effect, compare and contrast, author’s purpose, text features, fact and opinion, point of view, context clues, summarizing, editing, and mixed review.

For a four-week routine, teachers can assign workbook lessons Monday through Thursday and use Friday for a game, literacy center rotation, catch-up, or additional practice.

Standards & Learning Goals

This second grade literacy review revisits essential Grade 1 learning across five major ELA strands:

📚 Reading Comprehension — main idea, key details, character, setting, sequence, retell, inference, cause and effect, compare and contrast, author’s purpose, text features, fact and opinion, point of view, context clues, making connections, and summarizing

✏️ Grammar & Language — complete sentences, nouns, verbs, adjectives, capitalization, end marks, plural nouns, pronouns, past-tense verbs, subject-verb agreement, commas in a series, sentence types, common and proper nouns, comparative adjectives, combining sentences, apostrophes, expanding sentences, and editing

🔤 Phonics & Word Work — short vowels, digraphs, beginning blends, long vowels, word families, compound words, contractions, prefixes, suffixes, and syllables

💬 Vocabulary — synonyms, antonyms, context clues, multiple-meaning words, shades of meaning, prefixes, suffixes, and word relationships

📝 Writing — complete sentences, short responses, sequence writing, retelling, comparison writing, opinion writing, summaries, personal connections, expanded sentences, creative continuation, and reflection

Across the 20 days, students practice reading skills through short passages while applying increasingly sophisticated Grade 1 review skills. The workbook includes targeted lessons on main idea, key details, character, setting, sequence, retell, inference, cause and effect, compare and contrast, author’s purpose, text features, fact and opinion, point of view, context clues, summarizing, and making connections.

Word work progresses from short vowels and digraphs into blends, long-vowel spelling patterns, compound words, contractions, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, context clues, and shades of meaning.

Why Teachers Love It

✨ One predictable routine every day. The consistent four-part structure helps students know what to expect while building independence.

✨ Review multiple ELA skills without overwhelming students. Reading, grammar, word work, vocabulary, and writing are divided into manageable daily practice.

✨ Get 20 days of ready-to-use review. The pacing is already mapped for a smooth first month of second grade.

✨ Build comprehension with varied skills. Students practice everything from main idea and key details to inference, author’s purpose, point of view, text features, fact and opinion, and summarizing.

✨ Strengthen phonics and vocabulary. Practice includes short and long vowels, digraphs, blends, word families, compound words, contractions, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, and context clues.

✨ Differentiate for a wide range of readers. The Teacher Guide includes practical support for below-level students, on-level learners, above-level students, and multilingual learners.

✨ Add hands-on practice with 16 literacy games. Activities include:

• Noun, Verb & Adjective Sort

• Contraction Match

• Rhyme & Family Match

• Roll-a-Long-Vowel Word

• Sight Word BINGO

• Sight Word Roll & Read

• Digraph Sort

• Same & Opposite Match

• Reading Road Race

• Main Idea Baskets

• End Mark Sort

• Sentence Building Tiles

• Fix-It Cards

• Sequence Cards

• Sight Word Four-in-a-Row

• Syllable Sort

The Game → Skill Quick Map on page 9 of the Teacher Guide clearly pairs each game with its targeted skill, including parts of speech, contractions, long vowels, Grade 2 sight words, digraphs, antonyms, main idea and details, sentence building, editing, sequence, and syllables.

✨ Prep once and reuse the games. Print game pages on cardstock, laminate boards and cards, cut apart reusable pieces, and store activities in labeled bags for repeated literacy-center use.

✨ Use built-in differentiation. Below-level students can receive repeated read-aloud support and reduced question loads, while above-level students can extend writing and explain comprehension evidence.

✨ Monitor progress without adding another assessment. Daily pages can function as low-stakes formative checks, and the Class Record Sheet shown on page 10 of the Teacher Guide provides space to track progress across four weeks and note skills to revisit.

✨ Save time checking work. The included answer key provides organized answers for all 20 lessons.

✨ Support home-school connection. A ready-to-send family letter explains the daily ELA routine and offers simple ideas for supporting literacy at home.

Give your students a confident, structured start to second grade with this 2nd grade back to school ELA review. Download it to review first grade skills, establish a predictable literacy routine, strengthen reading and writing confidence, and keep students engaged with 20 daily lessons plus 16 print-and-play games.

Perfect for teachers searching for second grade morning work, first grade skills review, beginning of year ELA activities, 2nd grade literacy centers, reading comprehension practice, grammar review, phonics activities, vocabulary practice, sight word games, first month of school activities, or a complete back-to-school literacy review.