By late spring, second grade students should be moving beyond the present tense and experimenting with past events in their writing. The challenge is that English doesn’t play by its own rules. While most verbs simply add “-ed” to show what already happened, irregular past tense verbs ignore this pattern entirely. Your students know to “walk” becomes “walked,” but then they encounter “go” turning into “went” and “eat” becoming “ate.” These exceptions require direct instruction and repeated exposure.
An end-of-year assessment gives you a clear picture of which students have internalized these common irregular forms and which ones need additional support before third grade. Rather than waiting until fall to discover gaps, checking in now allows you to target instruction where it matters most during your final weeks together.
Second grade writing activities benefit from practical assessment tools that feel natural rather than like tests. When students engage with irregular past tense verbs through meaningful contexts, they’re more likely to retain the patterns. This works especially well when paired with other foundational skills. For instance, combining past tense practice with sequencing activities that ask what happened next helps students see how these verbs function in storytelling.
Consider mixing formats in your assessment. Some students respond better to fill-in-the-blank sentences, while others benefit from matching irregular verbs to their past forms. You might also include short writing prompts where students must use specific irregular verbs naturally. This approach reveals whether they understand the concept or simply memorized isolated examples.
The verbs that trip up most second graders include went, came, saw, said, did, and had. These appear constantly in their reading and writing, so mastery here pays immediate dividends. By documenting which irregular verbs your students still struggle with, you create a focused list for review and reinforcement as the school year winds down.
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