The control dictation for the 1st half of 2nd grade is a standard assessment designed to check literacy and the application of rules learned since the beginning of the school year. Key Assessment Areas

: Identifying and checking unstressed vowels in the root of a word.

: Often includes underlining the main parts of a sentence (subject and predicate), dividing words into syllables for hyphenation, or finding related (cognate) words. General Standards

: Starting sentences with a capital letter and using proper end marks like periods, question marks, or exclamation points. Spelling Rules : Vowels after Sibilants : Correct usage of

: Proper use of paired consonants and the soft sign ( ) to indicate consonant softness. Proper Nouns : Capitalizing names of people and animals.