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Choosing How to Say It

A 40-minute Grade 2 lesson on comparing formal and informal ways of saying the same thing, and choosing between them.

Choosing How to Say It is a free 40-minute Grade 2 English lesson plan for Common Core standard L.2.3 — choose between formal and informal English to suit the situation. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the meaning, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.

Grade:
Grade 2
Length:
40 minutes
Standard:
L.2.3

Grade 2 · Language

L.2.3

Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Objective

Students will be able to say whether a sentence is formal or informal and choose the version that fits a given listener or reader.

Students are successful when they can

  • Labels "Can I have that?" as informal and "May I borrow that, please?" as formal.
  • Chooses the right version for a principal, a friend and a class presentation.
  • Rewrites one informal sentence formally without changing what it means.
  • Expands a contraction, e.g. "don't" to "do not," and says when the long form sounds more formal.

What you need

  • Two cards: a picture of a friend and a picture of the principal
  • Eight sentence cards, four formal and four informal, matched in pairs
  • A T-chart on the board: "Talking to a friend" / "Talking to the principal"
  • The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan

The lesson

Warm-up — same message, two ways

5 min
  1. Say two sentences in two voices: "Hiya! Wanna play?" and "Good morning. Would you like to play with me?"
  2. Ask: "Do these mean the same thing?" (Yes.) "Who would you say each one to?" Fish for "the first to a friend, the second to a grown-up or a visitor."
  3. Name the two kinds: informal for people we know well, formal for people we know less well or for special jobs.
“Neither way is wrong. They are both English. The question is who you are talking to.”

Teach — who is listening?

13 min
  1. Put up the T-chart. Hold up the friend card and write under it: "Gimme a pen." "Yeah, see you later!" "It was massive!"
  2. Hold up the principal card and ask the class to say each one in a way that fits: "May I borrow a pen, please?" "Thank you, goodbye." "It was very large."
  3. Ask what changed. Fish for: longer words, full words instead of short ones (gimme becomes give me), please and thank you, no slang like "massive" or "yeah."
  4. Show contractions as part of this: "I'm" and "don't" are fine with friends; "I am" and "do not" sound more formal. Write "We can't come" and "We cannot come" side by side.
  5. Show writing as well as talking: a text to a friend says "See you at 4!"; a letter to the principal says "Dear Mrs. Otu, Thank you for visiting our class."
  6. Ask: "Why do we not use formal English all the time?" Fish for: it would sound strange to a friend. "I shall attend at sixteen hundred hours" is too formal for the playground.
“Before you speak or write, ask: who is this for? Then choose the words that fit them.”

Guided practice — match the pairs

12 min
  1. Give each pair the eight sentence cards. They match each informal card to its formal partner: "Gimme the ball" / "May I please have the ball?"; "That was well cool" / "That was very interesting"; "Dunno" / "I do not know"; "See ya" / "Goodbye, see you tomorrow."
  2. Then they place each pair on the T-chart under the right listener.
  3. Call out situations; pairs hold up F or I: "Asking a friend to play." (I) "Giving a talk to the class about recycling." (F) "Writing a thank-you letter to a firefighter." (F)
  4. Ask one pair to explain a choice. Look for a reason about the listener, not "it has longer words."
“Tell me who the listener is first. Then tell me which one fits.”

Independent practice

8 min
  1. Students complete the printable. One sheet gives situations and asks them to circle the formal or informal sentence that fits; the other asks them to write contractions in full and full forms as contractions.
  2. Remind them to read each situation first and name the listener before looking at the answers.

Close

2 min
  1. Say: "You are thanking the school cook in a letter." Ask a child to say the opening sentence formally: "Dear Mr. Lee, Thank you for our lunches."

What goes wrong, and why

Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.

Says informal English is "wrong" or "bad English" and crosses out "See you at 4!" in a text to a friend.

Why: Adults often correct casual speech at school, so children learn that the formal version is the right one everywhere.

Fix: Show a formal sentence used in the wrong place ("Good afternoon, friend. I request the ball.") and let them laugh. Both kinds are correct in their place.

Thinks formal means long, and writes "Gimme the ball right now this minute please."

Why: Formal sentences they have seen were usually longer, so they copy the length instead of the word choices.

Fix: Compare "May I please have the ball?" (short and formal) with their version. Point to the changes that matter: full words, polite words, no slang.

Picks the formal option for a text to a friend because it "sounds smarter."

Why: They are choosing by the sentence, not by the listener; the task feels like "find the best English."

Fix: Make them name the listener aloud before choosing, every time. Put the friend and principal cards on the desk as a reminder.

If they are not there yet

  • Use only two situations — a friend and a teacher — with the picture cards on the desk.
  • Give sentence pairs that differ in one obvious way, such as "Yeah" / "Yes, please."
  • Practice orally by role-play first, then move to written choices.

If they finish early

  • Rewrite a short text message from a friend as a formal note to the principal, keeping all the information.
  • Find formal and informal phrases in two reading books, one story and one information book, and explain why each author chose them.
  • Write the same invitation to a birthday party twice — once for a best friend, once for a grandparent you rarely see — and explain two changes.

Exit ticket

You need to ask the principal for a new soccer ball. Write what you would say. Then write what you would say to a friend.

What to look for: A formal request ("May we please have a new soccer ball?") and an informal one ("Can we get a new ball?"). Two identical sentences: they do not yet see a difference. Formal for both: they think formal is always better. A rude informal version ("Gimme a ball"): link register to politeness again.

Printable practice for L.2.3

Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.

Questions about Choosing How to Say It

How long does the Choosing How to Say It lesson take?

40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.

Which standard does Choosing How to Say It teach?

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.2.3 — L.2.3, Language for Grade 2: “Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.” In plain terms, choose between formal and informal English to suit the situation.

What do I need to teach this lesson?

Two cards: a picture of a friend and a picture of the principal, eight sentence cards, four formal and four informal, matched in pairs, a T-chart on the board: "Talking to a friend" / "Talking to the principal" and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.

What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?

Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: says informal English is "wrong" or "bad English" and crosses out "See you at 4!" in a text to a friend; thinks formal means long, and writes "Gimme the ball right now this minute please." and picks the formal option for a text to a friend because it "sounds smarter.". The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.

How do I know whether the lesson worked?

The exit ticket asks: “You need to ask the principal for a new soccer ball. Write what you would say. Then write what you would say to a friend.” A formal request ("May we please have a new soccer ball?") and an informal one ("Can we get a new ball?"). Two identical sentences: they do not yet see a difference. Formal for both: they think formal is always better. A rude informal version ("Gimme a ball"): link register to politeness again. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.

Is there a worksheet to go with Choosing How to Say It?

Yes — 1 printable L.2.3 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.

Is Choosing How to Say It free to use?

Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on October 8, 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.

Last reviewed 2026-10-08. Aligned to L.2.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.