ELPAC practice test for grade 2
At grade 2, listening, speaking and reading are still given one to one by a test examiner; writing is the part that may be given to a small group. A grade 2 child can work through more of this practice independently than a younger one, but sitting alongside still helps. Picture-based tasks are described in words here.
Grade 2 has its own form of the test. The reading and listening practice below is scored as you go, with an explanation after every question. Writing and speaking cannot be scored automatically — a trained person judges them against a rubric on the real test — so those pages give you the prompts, the rubric, a worked sample and personalized practice feedback instead of a score. Work through one part at a time to get used to a single task type, or take the mixed practice test to practice switching between them the way the real test does.
Mixed practice tests
Mixed practice test 1
Reading and listening from end to end, in the order the real test presents them, with an explanation after every question.
Start the mixed practice test →Mixed practice test 2
A second set of reading and listening questions, with none repeated from test 1, in the order the real test presents them, with an explanation after every question.
Start the mixed practice test →
Practice one part at a time
Reading
Passages followed by comprehension questions, plus word and sentence choice tasks.
Practice Reading →
Listening
Short spoken passages played as recorded audio, with a transcript available, followed by questions.
Practice Listening →
Writing
Writing prompts with a rubric based on the published scoring guides, plus sample responses and optional personalized feedback. Not scored here — writing is scored by a person on the real test.
Practice Writing →
Speaking
Speaking prompts with a rubric based on the published scoring guides, plus sample responses and optional personalized feedback. Not scored here — speaking is scored by a person on the real test.
Practice Speaking →
ELPAC for grade 2: common questions
How is the grade 2 ELPAC given?
At grade 2, listening, speaking and reading are still given one to one by a test examiner. Writing is done on paper and is the part that may be given to a small group. Grade 2 has its own form of the test. A second grader can work through more of this practice on their own than a younger child can, but sitting alongside still helps, and picture-based tasks are described in words here.
What grade 2 ELPAC practice is on this site?
There are 22 listening questions, 24 reading questions, 5 speaking prompts and 6 writing prompts. There are also two mixed practice tests of reading and listening, with 18 and 24 questions, none repeated between them, in the order the real test presents them. Reading and listening are scored as you go with an explanation after every question; speaking and writing come with a rubric, a worked sample and personalized practice feedback.
What changes between grade 1 and grade 2?
Speaking adds Speech Functions at grade 2: the examiner describes a situation, such as asking a teacher for help, and the child says the words they would actually use. In reading, the grade 1 task of choosing a word to match a picture drops away, so grade 2 reading starts with choosing the sentence that best describes a picture. The listening, writing and other speaking task types are the same ones used at grade 1.
What are the grade 2 ELPAC writing tasks?
Grade 2 writing has four task types: writing a story together with the test examiner, writing a short description of a picture, listening to a short informational passage and composing a text about it with the examiner, and writing about a common experience such as a classroom event. The prompts here use a four-level practice rubric, from Level 4 (well developed) to Level 1 (minimally developed), based on the published scoring guides.
Guides for families and teachers
Practice for another grade
Or compare every band on one page: free ELPAC practice tests by grade.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the California Department of Education or the official ELPAC program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published task formats.