• 2nd-graders practice punctuation and more with folder games.exclamation mark 3 image by chrisharvey from Fotolia.com
  
  Handing worksheet after worksheet to second-graders not only ends with piles of papers for a teacher to grade, but sometimes with bored students. File folder games offer 2nd-graders an interactive way to learn independently or with other students. A file folder game often includes a matching game element that makes it suitable for either individuals or groups.
  
  

Reading

• Reading games contain activities based on a 2nd-grade curriculum such as expressive reading, comprehension, context clues and genre. Find curriculum expectations on state education department websites or well-known educational expert sites such as Scholastic.
  
  Glue question marks, periods and exclamation marks on a file folder for an expressive reading game. On index cards, place sentences lacking punctuation on index cards. Students read the cards, decide what punctuation mark it should contain and match the sentence card to the correct punctuation mark. To practice reading vocabulary, glue a grade level appropriate vocabulary words on a folder, and glue the definitions to index cards. Students match the definition to the correct word. For a story genre game, place genre categories such as biography, fairy tale, tall tale and poetry on a folder. On index cards, common 2nd grade titles. Students match the title to the genre.
  
  

Writing

• File folder writing games prepare 2nd-graders for writing longer compositions by working on parts of speech, detailed writing and editing. The games contain playing cards students match to corresponding elements on the folder. Students play the games individually or with others.
  
  Glue the words verb, noun and adjective on the folder, and place words of each type index cards. Students take turns matching the words to the correct part of speech. For another writing game, glue sample paragraph topic sentences on a folder. On index cards, place sentences that could add details to the various topic sentences. Students match detail sentences to the topic sentences. On a folder, glue names of common writing errors such as spelling, punctuation and capitalization. The index cards have sentences that contain various errors, and students place the card on the correct error word on the folder.
  
  

Math

• Math folder games help students master skills like math operations, geometric shapes, patterns and money. Problem-solving games include simple story problems on index cards. Students match the story problem to the equation used to solve it from a list of equations glued to the folder.
  
  For pattern, money and geometry games, use real objects if possible. Glue rows of colored squares having a pattern on the folder. Have students use colored blocks or tiles to complete, finish or extend the pattern started on the folder. For geometry, glue geometric shapes on the folder. Give students a bag of common objects, and have students match the object to the shape. Similarly, glue amounts of money on the folder. Students take turns counting out play money equivalent to written number shown on the folder.