2nd Grade spelling
2nd Grade AR Words
Spelling words with ar for the sound in car, like park, farm, dark and shark. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Words where a and r together make the /ar/ sound, as in car.
When the letter r follows an a, it changes the vowel. The a no longer says its short or long sound but a new one, the /ar/ sound in car. This is called an r-controlled vowel, and ar is the most regular of the group. Park, farm, dark, card and yard all follow it.
The list holds one-syllable words, each checked by pronunciation. It includes the short ones, such as car, bar, jar, arm and art, as well as words with blends and digraphs: shark, charm, spark, harsh and scar. A few less regular words are included because they still make the same sound, such as are, large and heart, where the spelling is not the usual ar plus consonant. Guard has an extra u that is silent. These exceptions give second graders a first look at how English keeps a pattern while changing the spelling around it.
30 entries. Our solver needed 5.5 wrong guesses on average: 3 easy, 8 medium and 19 hard. The toughest is jar (11 misses), the quickest are (1).
- are Easy · 1
- part Hard · 9
- hard Hard · 5
- far Hard · 8
- car Hard · 7
- large Medium · 3
- heart Easy · 1
- art Medium · 2
- park Hard · 7
- mark Hard · 8
- card Hard · 6
- dark Hard · 6
- bar Hard · 10
- farm Hard · 5
- arm Hard · 9
- guard Medium · 3
- yard Hard · 8
- harm Medium · 4
- arc Hard · 6
- harsh Medium · 2
- charm Medium · 4
- shark Medium · 3
- arch Hard · 5
- stark Easy · 1
- barn Hard · 6
- spark Hard · 6
- cart Hard · 7
- jar Hard · 11
- bark Hard · 8
- scar Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- heartThe ea in the middle makes the ar sound, which is rare. Students usually spell it hart, a real word that means a male deer.
- areSilent e at the end, but the vowel is still r-controlled. One of the most common words in English, so students see it often.
- guardThe u after g is silent, and it keeps the g hard. Same pattern as guess and guide.
- harshEnds in the sh digraph. The ar sound is clear, but students sometimes drop the r.
- arcA short word with a hard c at the end. Compare with arch, which also appears here.
Teaching it
Many students write ar words with an a alone, spelling park as pak, or they spell with the letter name sound, writing car as kar. Say the word, then ask what the vowel is doing: it is not the a in cat or the a in cake. Name the pattern, call it the r-controlled a, and have students notice the wide open mouth that the sound needs.
Play hangman with a clue about place or things: farm, park, yard, barn. Players who know the pattern will guess a and r early. As a follow-up, have students write a short sentence using three ar words from the list, and check each spelling against the printable.
Print a 2nd Grade AR Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 2nd Grade AI WordsSpelling words with the ai vowel team for long a, like rain, mail and paint. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade AY WordsSpelling words ending in ay, such as day, play, away and birthday. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EE WordsSpelling words with ee for the long e sound, including see, need, week and queen. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EA WordsSpelling words where ea makes the long e sound, like team, meat, steam and beach. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade OA WordsSpelling words with oa for the long o sound, such as boat, coat, road and soap. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade IGH WordsSpelling words with igh for the long i sound, like night, light, high and bright. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.