Verb Search Worksheet

A verb is the word in a sentence that tells what someone or something does, and finding verbs inside real writing is a very different skill from picking them off a list. The Verb Search Worksheet asks second graders to read a short recess story and hunt down every action word hiding in it, which is exactly what a reader has to do when they meet a new sentence on their own. Because the verbs sit inside connected prose rather than in a word bank, students have to think about what each word is doing in its sentence instead of matching a shape.

This 2nd grade verbs worksheet keeps the task on one page and one skill. Students read an eighty-two word story about a class playing a ball game at recess, circle each verb right in the paragraph, and then copy the ten verbs onto the numbered lines below. Circling first and writing second matters: the circle is the thinking step and the writing is the proof, and having both on the same page lets a teacher see at a glance whether a child found the verbs but lost them on the way to the line. The lines are sized for second-grade handwriting, and a full answer key is included on page two with every verb highlighted in the story and written on its line.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• Answer key
• 1 original 82-word story with 10 verbs to find
• 10 numbered writing lines for copying the verbs

There are three reasons the Verb Search Worksheet helps children learn this skill. First, it teaches verbs in context, so a student practices the judgement a real reader uses rather than memorizing a list of words. Second, it builds attention to detail: the story is full of nouns that sound like actions, such as recess, game and bell, so a child has to slow down and ask what each word is doing. Third, copying each verb onto a line reinforces spelling and handwriting at the same time, turning one grammar page into three kinds of practice.

Teachers and parents can extend the activity easily. Ask the child to act out each verb they found, which makes the definition physical instead of abstract. Have them rewrite two sentences from the story with different verbs and read both versions aloud. Turn it into a game by timing a verb hunt through a favourite picture book, or by writing the ten verbs on cards and sorting them into things you do inside and things you do outside. You can also ask a child to write one new sentence about their own recess and underline the verb they used.

Related Resources

• Identifying Verbs Worksheet
• Action Verbs Worksheet
• Locating Linking Verbs Worksheet
• Verb Rap Song (Have Fun Teaching)