One key 2nd grade writing skill

What should your second grader be learning in terms of writing this year? This teacher’s expectations suggest a level of complexity that might surprise you.

by: The GreatSchools Editorial Team

Meghann Seril teaches at Broadway Elementary School.

Here’s what Ms. Seril wants second graders to learn before they start third grade.

Video transcript

“In second grade, I hope that students come away with having a good idea of a strong sentence. Not just a simple sentence, but adding in complex sentence structure as well as understanding how to construct a paragraph. If students have a good understanding of how to construct a paragraph, we can expand on that in third grade and start writing multiple-paragraph essays.”

Learn more about your second grader’s learning and development this year, including:

About the author

The GreatSchools Editorial Team

GreatSchools.org is a national nonprofit with a mission to help every child obtain a high-quality education that values their unique abilities, identities, and aspirations. We believe in the power of research-backed, actionable information to empower parents, family members, and educators to help make this happen. For 25 years, the GreatSchools Editorial Team has been working to make the latest, most important, and most actionable research in education, learning, and child development accessible and actionable for parents through articles, videos, podcasts, hands-on learning resources, email and text messaging programs, and more. Our team consists of journalists, researchers, academics, former teachers and education leaders — most of whom are also dedicated parents and family members — who not only research, fact check, and write or produce this information, but who use it in our daily lives as well. We welcome your feedback at editorial@greatschools.org.