Grade 2

The theme in Grade 2 is Creating from Inside Myself. The children increase in awareness of art as a highly individual creative process and nonverbal form of expression. They recognize that their art is formed from their own thoughts and imagination and value their own efforts to think creatively. The students are introduced to local artists, and they identify and discuss how art is used in events and celebrations in various cultures, past and present. The children grow in the value that people have varying creative expressions.

Grade 2 language arts integrates numerous methods. Students continue the study and spelling of word parts and how they change the meaning of words. They also begin the study of conventional spelling and have spelling tests each week. Students continue to read in small Guided Reading groups four days a week where they work on word attack, fluency, and comprehension with the teacher in increasingly difficult texts as they progress. As authors, second graders practice narrative writing, opinion writing, scientific writing, and poetry. Their study of grammar and usage extends to include noun types, adjectives, and adverbs; capitalization of proper nouns; comma use; and apostrophes. Students continue honing their handwriting skills using Handwriting Without Tears.

In Grade 2, students continue in the Singapore Math Program with increasingly complex concepts. The emphasis on understanding “why before how” continues as students build number sense while adding and subtracting whole numbers with regrouping up to 1,000, learning to use the vertical algorithm, and learning introductory multiplication and division. Students write equations and solve one-step word problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.

Students in Grade 2 work to further develop rhythmic concepts; they learn about quarter, eighth, half, and whole notes. Students learn to play on Orff instruments and sing a pentatonic scale. Vocal improvisation and instrumental composition begins using four beat patterns. Students also perform rhythmic patterns with unpitched instruments and body percussion. They perform in winter and spring musical concerts.

In Grade 2, children begin to master their understanding of spatial awareness and age-appropriate body control, and become proficient in fundamental locomotor skills, non-locomotor skills, and manipulative skills. More advanced, skill-specific cooperative games such as basketball, kickball, and t-ball are introduced and taught beginning with the basics. Students in Grade 2 continue to learn water safety and stroke development through the Red Cross Learn to Swim program with a five-week swimming unit in the fall and one in the spring.

Grade 2 Religion emphasizes developing a spiritual center through prayer, the sacraments, and the stories of the life of Jesus and his miracles. The focus is on Jesus' compassion, recognizing His teachings as eternal and relevant for all. All faith traditions are welcomed, recognizing where the teachings of Christianity find parallels with other religions.

Grade 2 students continue meaningful, hands-on science using the Full Option Science System (FOSS) program. Students have opportunities to study science units including Insects and Plants and Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. As the year unfolds, students have opportunities to study life cycles of mealworms, brassica plants, painted lady butterflies, and silkworms. They investigate the properties and uses of various rocks. Students have the opportunity to construct various experiments and to write about them using the scientific process.

In Grade 2 social studies, students dig deeply into the concept of community using the Teachers’ Curriculum Institute (TCI) program. They ask and answer the questions: What is a community? and How are communities different? They discuss and study where and how people live, their jobs, and the goods and services they use. Students select a business to develop and present at their Entrepreneur Fair. They also study maps and geography.

Technical Arts is a class that blends technology, design, and engineering. Students are introduced to computer technologies by learning to type and navigate computer interfaces. Students are also introduced to the foundations of computer science and engineering via hands-on projects that give them lots of opportunities to create and develop ideas.

Throughout the year, students develop the skills of innovation, collaboration, prototyping, and testing ideas to increase creativity in the technical arts and other areas of school life. Their efforts guide them to become “adaptive” learners, capable of embracing a mindset that will prepare them to become creative lifelong learners.