Reading Skill Builders Contents
Sounds All about Words
1 Blend Two Consonants 2
2 Blend Three Consonants 8
3 End with a Blend 10
4 Consonant Combos 14
5 Hard or Soft? 18
6 Shh! Silent Consonants 22
7 Final “E”—Finally! 24
8 Get a Long, Li’l Vowel 26
9 Because “R” Says So! 36
10 Going for a Glide 42
11 Oo, Goo, Good 46
12 “Aw”-some! 48
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13 Compound Words 50
14 Contractions 54
15 Beat It! 56
16 Prefix Power 60
17 Suffix City 64
Reading Comprehension
18 What’s It About? 68
19 Support Crew 72
20 Step by Step 76
21 Make a Prediction 80
22 What Do You See? 84
23 Classify This! 88
24 As a Matter of Fact 92
25 Book Basics 96
Review 100
Answers 103
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 Spelling Games & Activities Contents
1 Spell Short Vowels 108
2 Spell Final E Long Vowels 110
3 Beginning Consonant Combos 112
4 Ending Consonant Combos 116
5 Spell Clothing 120
6 Beginning Consonant Blends 122
7 Ending Consonant Blends 126
8 Spell Food 130
9 Vowels with “R” 132
10 More Vowels with “R” 136
11 What’s the Weather? 140
12 The Long “A” Way 142
13 Free with Long “E” 146
14 Try Long “I” 150
15 The Long “O” Show 154
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16 The New, True Long “U” 158
17 You Old Soft “C”! 162
18 Gee Whiz! 164
19 Spell Special Words 166
20 The Edge of “J” 168
21 Very “V” 170
22 Silent as a Lamb 172
23 Commonly Misspelled Words 1 74
24 “-Ed” Added 178
25 The “-Ing” Thing 182
26 “S” Is More 186
27 Odd Men Out 190
28 “-Er” and “-Est” 192
Review 198
Answers 201
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 Vocabulary Puzzles Contents
1 Look It Up 206
2 Same and Opposite 212
3 Compound Words 218
4 Parts of the Body 224
5 Get Moving! 230
6 People 236
7 People Actions 242
8 Family 248
9 At Home 254
10 Let’s Eat! 260
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11 Animals 266
12 Bugs 272
13 What’s That Sound? 278
14 Nature 284
15 In the City 290
16 Whole Wide World 294
Review 300
i Index 304
Answers 307
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 2nd Grade
Reading Skill Builders

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 Blend Two Consonants

Sort It Out
What do you call a blend of two consonants? A consonant blend, of course! Each
letter makes its own sound but also blends with its buddy’s sound, as in words like fly,
plate, and train.
SORT the words. PUT the words into the lists. WRITE them on the blanks.

flip break cloud black grape clam blue green

clock block bring flower brave ground floppy

br cl fl

gr bl

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 Blend Two Consonants

Herd That Word

1
Yee-haw! Cowgirl Kris has to round up words with the right consonant blends. Help
her find them!
LOOK at the blend next to each fence. READ the words inside the fence. CIRCLE
the word that starts with the correct blend.

1. bl

plane blaze bring

2. cr
crab grin clip

3. fr

treat float frown

4. pl

please glow blue

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 Blend Two Consonants

Blender Blunder
Uh-oh! Somebody spilled words into the blender. They got chopped up. Can you put
them back together?
LOOK at the consonant blends in the blender. MATCH each blend with the right
ending. FILL IN the blanks with the correct blends.

1. ouse
2. oud
3. ave
br dr
4. ive
fl tr
5. oor
cl
bl 6. iangle

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 2nd Grade Spelling
Games & Activities

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 Spell Short Vowels

Puzzle Pairs
FILL IN the two different missing vowels in
the word pairs to finish the riddles.

1. This beetle was not small.

He was a b g b g.
2. When I left my cap on the stove, I had a h t h t.
3. I did not sleep well last night. I was on a b d b d.
4. To get pecans out of the tree,
I used a n t n t.
5. The rabbit went h p h p all
the way up the hill.

108

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 Look It Up

ABC-123
Words in a dictionary go in alphabetical order. That means words that start with “A”
go before words that start with “B.”
READ the words in the word box. Then WRITE them in alphabetical order.

machine octopus jelly whisper

balloon trouble angry learn

1. angry
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

208

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 Spell Short Vowels

Criss Cross
1
READ the clues. FILL IN the boxes with the right word for each clue.

Across Down
1. This says “meow.” 2. The highest spot
3. You clean the floor 4. A young dog
with this. 5. You a ball
6. My cat or my dog with a bat.
is my . 7. Wash up in the
8. A hole in the ground bath .
10. “You are it!” in the 9. One after nine.
game of
11. You sleep here.

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9

10 11

109

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 Spell Final E Long Vowels

Puzzle Pairs
FILL IN the missing vowels in the word pairs to finish
the sentences. Listen for how the final “-e” changes
the vowel sound.

1. When it’s my turn,

I h p I can h p.
2. My sister broke my toy. It m d me m d.
3. Pete is my dog. If you want, you can p t P t .
4. Maya went to the salon and got a c t c t.
5. The shark was a star.
He had a f n f n.

110

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 2nd Grade
Vocabulary Puzzles

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 Look It Up

c t i v e
Word List
Ad j e D e fi
e
nition
READ the words and their meanings.
D e s c r i b Dictio
M e a n in g nary
ad•jec•tive—AJ-ihk-tihv noun
a word that describes Noun
Verb
something, like pretty or blue
def•i•ni•tion—dehf-uh-NIHSH-uhn noun
the meaning of a word
de•scribe—dih-SKRIB verb to make a picture with
words, like “a pretty girl in a blue dress”
dic•tion•ar•y—DIHK-shuh-nehr-ee noun a book filled
with definitions of words
mean•ing—MEE-nihng noun the idea of a word, what
it means
noun—nown noun a word that stands for a person,
place, or thing
verb—verb noun a word that stands for an action,
like run

206

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 Look It Up

Match the Meaning

1
WRITE the words next to their definitions. LOOK at the word box for help.

adjective definition dictionary meaning

noun describe verb

1. describe to make a word picture

2. the idea of a word
3. an action word
4. a word for a person, place, or
thing
5. a word that describes something
6. a book filled with definitions
7. the meaning of a word

207

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 Copyright © 2009 by Sylvan Learning, Inc.

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of
Canada Limited, Toronto.

www.tutoring.sylvanlearning.com

Created by Smarterville Productions LLC

Producer: TJ Trochlil McGreevy
Producer & Editorial Direction: The Linguistic Edge
Writers: Christina Wilsdon (Reading Skill Builders), Michael Artin (Spelling Games & Activities),
Margaret Crocker (Vocabulary Puzzles)
Cover and Interior Illustrations: Duendes del Sur, Delfin Barral, and Shawn Finley
Layout and Art Direction: SunDried Penguin
Art Manager: Adina Ficano

First Edition

ISBN: 978-0-375-43031-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

This book is available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions or premiums.
For more information, write to Special Markets/Premium Sales, 1745 Broadway, MD 6-2,
New York, New York 10019 or e-mail specialmarkets@randomhouse.com.

PRINTED IN CHINA

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