2nd Grade spelling
2nd Grade OO Words
Spelling words with oo, which makes two sounds: long as in moon and short as in book. Play hangman or print a worksheet with an answer key.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: The two sounds of oo: long, as in moon, and short, as in book.
Double o makes two different sounds, and both are common. The long sound, as in moon, food, cool and room, is the more frequent. The short sound, as in book, good, foot and cook, is less common but includes some of the first words children learn to read. Because the spelling does not tell you which sound to use, students need to learn each word.
The two groups here show this clearly. Under oo as in moon are too, food, room, soon, pool, tool, roof and mood. Under oo as in book are good, look, took, foot, wood, hook and brook. We checked each word by pronunciation, so a word like blood, where oo says a short u, is not included. Troops and loose are on the long list, and the s endings are the reason they take more guesses to solve. Second graders typically meet both sounds in the same weeks, which is why this page is organized in groups.
28 entries. Our solver needed 5.5 wrong guesses on average: 2 easy, 10 medium and 16 hard. The toughest is book (13 misses), the quickest too (1).
oo as in moon
- too Easy · 1
- school Medium · 3
- food Hard · 8
- room Medium · 3
- soon Medium · 4
- cool Medium · 3
- moon Medium · 4
- proof Medium · 4
- pool Hard · 5
- troops Medium · 2
- tool Medium · 2
- roof Hard · 6
- loose Easy · 1
- mood Hard · 6
oo as in book
- good Hard · 9
- look Hard · 5
- took Hard · 7
- book Hard · 13
- foot Hard · 7
- wood Hard · 10
- cook Hard · 10
- stood Medium · 4
- hook Hard · 9
- hood Hard · 6
- shook Medium · 4
- wool Hard · 6
- brook Hard · 5
- crook Hard · 6
Words worth a closer look
- looseSounds like long oo, but the silent e makes the s say /s/ instead of /z/. Students often confuse it with lose.
- troopsPlural, with an s at the end. One of the few plurals the list includes because the base word is rare in the singular.
- woolShort oo, with l at the end. The vowel is not obvious from the spelling alone.
- footShort oo, as in book. Plural feet has ee, which is on the irregular plurals list.
- roofSome speakers say it with a short oo, others with a long one. Either way, the spelling is the same.
Teaching it
Ask students to read each word aloud and sort it into the right column. The error is not usually in spelling but in reading, because students apply one sound to every oo word and decide that wood rhymes with food. Rhyme pairs correct this: hood and good, but food and mood. Short lists of rhymes are easier to remember than any rule.
In hangman, ask players to say aloud which oo sound they expect before guessing letters. This gives them a reason to think about meaning, and it exposes the words that surprise them. Use the printable as a two-column sort and have students add words from classroom books that fit each column.
Print a 2nd Grade OO 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.