South Dakota ELA 2.L.1.g

ELA2nd GradeLanguage

The Standard

2.L.1: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Use direction, time, and movement prepositions.

South Dakota English Language Arts Standards (2025)

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students choose words that show where someone is headed, the path taken, or when something happens. They use those words in speech and writing so others can follow an action or event.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can say, “The dog ran through the gate,” rather than just “The dog ran.” They can write, “We read after lunch,” to make the timing clear.
Common Misconceptions: Students may use “toward” when someone actually goes “into” a place. They may switch “before” and “after” when telling what happened first, or leave out the word that shows the path.
How to Assess It: Draw a child walking across a bridge, then eating lunch. Ask students to write one sentence about the child’s path and one about when lunch happened.

Lesson moves

Lay tape arrows toward a chair and through a hula hoop, then have partners describe a classmate’s route.
Sketch a dog approaching a box, then climbing in; ask, “Did it move toward the box or into it at each step?”
Give pairs before, after, toward, and through cards; read “We ate ___ recess ended” and “The cat ran ___ the tunnel and came out.”
On a school map, mark a route through the hallway toward the library, then write when the class goes there, such as after lunch.

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