2nd Grade
Curriculum Guide
2nd Grade
Second Grade is primarily a self-contained classroom program. Daily classroom studies include: reading, language arts, spelling, mathematics, and social studies. The development of listening skills is emphasized in all areas of the curriculum. Students meet with specialist teachers for the following subjects each week: art (two 40-minute periods), music (two 30-minute periods), physical education (five 30-minute periods), woodshop (one 30-minute period), Spanish (two 30-minute periods), library (one 40-minute period), laboratory science (three 30-minute periods), and technology (one 40-minute period).
A classroom associate helps with individual and small group work in reading, writing, and mathematics. A Learning Specialist and a Math Specialist are available to work with small groups of students or with individuals, as needed. Approximately 15 minutes of homework in spelling, language arts, or mathematics are expected each weeknight, in addition to 15 minutes of nightly reading.
Children receive four progress reports throughout the year. Teachers and parents meet for a conference at the end of the first and third quarters. The reports include a checklist of progress in academic skills, work habits, and citizenship. At the end of the semesters in January and June, the assessments also include a narrative report.
2nd Grade Curriculum
- Art
- Language Arts
- Library
- Literature
- Mathematics
- Music
- PE
- Science
- Social Studies
- Spanish
- Technology
- Woodshop
Art
In second grade, students expand their worldview of art and discover art traditions from diverse cultures and artists. Lessons dive deeper into technical skills that help the students refine their craftsmanship. Equipped with a diverse array of art skills, students gain the ability to bring more variety and depth to their projects, fostering a greater sense of self-expression. One notable addition to the second grade artistic repertoire is the introduction of digital art. Students are encouraged to use the iPads as a tool for self-expression. This modern approach aligns with the evolving landscape of technology and opens up innovative avenues for creativity. The second grade art curriculum reflects a holistic approach, combining cultural awareness, refined techniques, and integrating modern tools.
Language Arts
The second grade reading program is literature-based and emphasizes comprehension and fluency. Students read realistic fiction, historical fiction, nonfiction and chapter books in a series. The program includes explicit instruction, independent reading, partner reading, and book groups. Students learn to answer literal and inferential questions and discuss their thoughts, questions, and opinions about stories with their peers. Reading units focus on building reading routines and stamina, keeping track of longer books, exploring nonfiction, and participating in series book clubs. Explicitly taught reading comprehension strategies include making connections, visualization, inferences, predictions, understanding nonfiction text features, identifying the author’s purpose, and determining the main idea.
Second grade students engage in daily writing activities. The writing program includes units on journaling, expository writing, opinion pieces, nonfiction writing, narratives, fairy tale adaptations, and poetry. Writing is integrated into all academic subjects. Progress is monitored through one-on-one teacher conferences where feedback is provided. Grammatical concepts are taught in daily lessons and reinforced in writing assignments. Students learn to use capital letters, sentences, and proper nouns. They also learn to use punctuation marks such as periods, question marks, quotation marks, exclamation points, commas, and apostrophes. By the end of second grade, students can write grammatically correct, complete, and varied sentences. They are able to develop a paragraph with an introductory sentence and supporting sentences. They also are able to create stories with a beginning, middle, and end. Students practice both print and cursive handwriting.
The second grade phonics and spelling curriculum is based on the Orton-Gillingham approach and is integrated throughout all subject areas. Daily lessons are multisensory, incorporating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic methods. The Orton-Gillingham approach is highly structured and sequential, focusing on the direct teaching of phonics rules and patterns. It emphasizes the importance of breaking down words into their constituent sounds (phonemes) and blending them to read and spell. Students are taught to recognize and decode common phonetic patterns and high-frequency words through repeated practice and reinforcement.
Library
In second grade, students develop skills to find and use books and information with greater independence. The second graders learn how to utilize keyword, title, and subject search functions in the online library catalog and various online databases. They also begin retrieving books based on call numbers and authors, utilizing their numeracy and alphabetization skills in order to navigate the library independently. Second graders are exposed to various picture, non-fiction, and beginning chapter books during library lesson times and are expected to demonstrate their mastery of library decorum during weekly library visits. Students are granted opportunities for guided and self-guided exploration in the library Tinkerspace and have time set aside every week for silent, free reading. Second grade students continue to practice skills related to using a table of contents and an index, as well as skills related to finding and evaluating reliable sources of information. Students continue to borrow library books to take home and continue practicing skills related to book care and “just right” book selection.
Literature
Throughout the year, students are exposed to a variety of genres in literature. The following list is a sampling of book titles incorporated into the Language Arts program in second grade.
Picture Books
The Sandwich Swap - Kelly DiPucchio and Queen Rania al Abdullah
Recess at 20 Below, What is it Like to Live in the World’s Coldest Places - Cindy Lou Aillaud
Those Shoes - Maribeth Boelts
The Name Jar - Yangksook Choi
Jabari Jumps - Gaia Cornwall
What the World Eats - Faith D’Aluisio
Isla, Sequel to Abuela - Arthur Dorros
Continents - Mary Virginia Fox
The Day of Ahmed’s Secret - Florence Parry Heide and Judith Heide Gilliland
We All Belong - Nathalie Goss
Norooz - A Celebration of Spring! The Persian New Year - Gail Hejazi
The Lost Bicycle - Cory Hills
Come Out and Play, How Children Play Around the World - Maya Ajmera and John D. Ivanko
The Leaving Morning - Angela Johnson
Children Just Like Me, A Unique Celebration of Children Around the World - Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley
Same, Same but Different, How people from around the world are the same and different - Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw
If you Lived Here, Houses of the World - Giles Laroche
The Invisible Boy - Trudy Ludwig
Trouble Talk - Trudy Ludwig
All the Places to Love - Patricia MacLachlan
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story - Kevin Noble Maillard
Alma and How She Got Her Name - Juana Martinez-Neal
Where Are You From? - Yamile Saied Mendez
Think, Think, Think, Learning About Your Brain - Pamela Hill Nettleton
Oliver’s Treehouse Friends - Bruce Peardon
Ruby Finds a Worry - Tom Percival
Those Darn Squirrels - Adam Rubin
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes - Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
Daily Life Around the World - Katherine Talmadge Salle
You, Me and Empathy - Jayneen Sanders
Always Anjali - Sheetal Sheth
Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You - Sonia Sotomayor
Me on the Map - Joan Sweeney
Emmanuel’s Dream, The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah - Laurie Ann Thompson
Why Does Izzy Cover Her Ears? - Jennifer Veenendall
I am Human, A Book of Empathy - Susan Verde
The Day You Begin - Jacqueline Woodson
What do you do With a Problem - Kobi Yamada
Owl Moon - Jane Yolen
Chapter Books Series
Cam Jansen - David Adler
Daisy Dreamer - Holly Anna
Ivy + Bean - Annie Barrows
Humphrey - Betty Birney
Flat Stanley - Jeff Brown
Zoey & Sassafras - Asia Citro
Jake Drake - Andrew Clements
Heidi Heckelbeck - Wanda Coven
Mercy Watson - Kate DiCamillo
Ninja Kid - Ahn Do
WeirDo - Ahn Do
Iris and Walter - Elissa Haden Guest
My Weird School - Dan Gutman
Dory Fantasmagory - Abby Hanlon
Houndsley and Catina - James Howe
Katie Kazoo - Nancy Krulik
Alvin Ho - Lenore Look
Ruby Lu - Lenore Look
Katie Woo - Fran Manushkin
Judy Moody and Stink - Megan McDonald
Magic Tree House - Mary Pope Osborne
Nate the Great - Marjorie, Mitchell, and Craig Sharmat
EllRay Jakes - Sally Warner
Dragon Masters - Tracey West
Biographies
A Biography Book for New Readers series (e.g. Frida Kahlo, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Malala Yousafzai, Lin Manuel Miranda, Jane Goodall, Amelia Earhart, Wright Brothers, Katherine Johnson, Alexander Hamliton, Neil Armstrong, Barack Obama, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr.)
A Weed is a Flower, A Story of George Washington Carver - Aliki Brandenberg
Helen Keller: Courage in the Dark - Johanna Hurwitz
Meet Ben Franklin - Maggie Scarf
Mathematics
Harbor Day School recognizes the importance of mathematics as a cornerstone of a student’s education. Our mission is to develop confidence and competence in mathematics as students learn to think critically and to problem solve strategically and collaboratively. Throughout the grades, students are encouraged to communicate their understanding in verbal and written form and to consider and critique alternate solution strategies for problems. Lessons and activities are crafted to facilitate making connections, seeing patterns, and experiencing the joy and success that mathematics can bring.
The mathematics program utilizes Singapore Math strategies. These strategies help students build strong number sense, fluency, place value understanding, and problem-solving ability. The components of our K-5 math program are designed around these four pillars of Singapore Math. The use of concrete materials, pictorial representations, and bar modeling techniques provides students with a well-balanced approach to concept mastery. Through the use of manipulatives, students develop a solid foundation for the more abstract thinking and approaches required in later math courses. Mathematical practices and habits of mind are developed and reinforced as students develop confidence and enthusiasm for mathematics. In grades K-5, the scope and sequence is aligned with and utilizes the Dimensions textbook series. Many additional resources provide opportunities for students to extend and support their acquisition of skills and to apply them in problem-solving activities. Some of these resources include, but are not limited to: Marcy Cook Tiles, iPad apps, and IXL.
In second grade, students begin the year exploring numbers within 1,000. With the use of number discs, unifix cubes, base ten blocks, and other manipulatives, they demonstrate understanding of place value as well as addition and subtraction, with and without regrouping. Students also learn how to add and subtract mentally by rounding to the nearest ten or hundred. Multiplication and division instruction continues in second grade, with mastery of 2, 5, and 10 facts expected. Second graders study various types of measurement including length, weight, and capacity, using both metric and customary units. Our money unit explores the following skills: identifying and counting coins and bills; making $1; adding and subtracting money; and making change. Fraction instruction builds in second grade to include identifying, writing, comparing, and ordering fractions. Second graders grow their understanding of time by reading analog and digital clocks, telling time to the minute, and calculating elapsed time. Students learn to interpret bar and picture graphs, and they explore shapes such as polygons and solid figures in their study of geometry.
Problem-solving is an overarching focus in second grade. Students demonstrate their emerging mathematical thinking using number bonds, and they begin using bar models to solve word problems. Word problem analysis requires students to choose the correct operation and use critical thinking and logic to construct a solution. Students use concrete objects, pictorial representations, and abstract symbols to model problems. Math fluency skills are practiced on a regular basis by utilizing Singapore Math strategies and math fluency games.
Music
Second grade students meet with their music teacher twice a week. Students in second grade deepen their musical understanding by learning how music is notated, as well as applying this understanding to practice using Orff instruments. The students learn how to identify and play whole, half, quarter, and eighth notes using the Takadimi system. Using solfege and Curwen hand signals, the second grade curriculum explores the Kodaly methodology, which uses rhythmic syllables that allow the students to begin sight-reading rhythmic passages that align with their developing abilities. Second grade students perform in three major productions each year: Thanksgiving Program, Holiday Program, and Grandparents’ Day.
Students in second grade will:
- Find and maintain a steady beat at a wide variety of tempos
- Practice matching vocal pitch of the entire solfege scale
- Map out the visual contour of a melody using Curwen hand signs
- Begin differentiating steps, skips, and leaps on the Treble clef
- Move expressively to live and recorded music
- Play a wide variety of classroom instruments (pitched and unpitched)
- Perform simple borduns (open fifths) and octaves under vocal performance
- Improvise simple songs and movement sequences
- Recognize music’s unique ability to convey specific emotions
- Act out stories to music
- Study Saint-Saëns “Carnival of the Animals”, showing how expressive music can relate to storytelling.
- Study musical traditions from other countries and cultures
- Visually recognize and decode quarter notes, eighth-note duplets, quarter rests, and sixteenth-note quadruplets
- Listen critically to music recordings
- Perform at different dynamic levels
- Perform at different tempos
- Begin exploring Music Technology using Chrome Music Lab
PE
The purpose of the physical education program in kindergarten through second grade is to provide the student with a wide variety of movement activities through the movement education approach. A major goal of a movement education program is that each child becomes a decision maker and a self-directed learner, and also develops an understanding and knowledge about movement. Emphasis is on keeping students active, improving movement skills, and having fun while learning. Class activities often develop body awareness and an understanding of how one can use different types of locomotor and non-locomotor skills to move from place to place. Personal and general spatial concepts are explored, as well as directionality, laterality, levels, ranges, planes, and pathways. Manipulative skills are developed through a variety of ball skill and object manipulation activities. Ball skills include the mechanics of catching, throwing, kicking, bouncing, and rolling. Object manipulation skills are enhanced through the use of hoops, ropes, bean bags, and the parachute. Instructional activities explore the qualities of movement and how our bodies move in relation to concepts of force, the qualities of force, absorbing force, and creating force. Speed, rhythm, and sequences are additional concepts explored. Low organizational games are played to develop a knowledge of rules, boundaries, teamwork, and cooperation. Activities may include: movement activities, ball activities, hoops activities, target activities, relays, scooters, bowling, pillo polo, kicking games, tag games, dance, and station work. The program also includes our Seahawk of the Week award. Once a week, two students who exhibit great sportsmanship, listening skills, effort and participation receive a wristband and certificate. These students are then celebrated throughout the week.
At the conclusion of the year, second grade students should be able to proficiently perform the following: all locomotor skills, enter a rope that is turning away from them and jump 10 times in a row then exit, jump ten times forward and backward using an individual rope, catch a ball thrown overhand from a medium to long distance, throw overhand while stepping forward with the opposite foot, and run and kick a rolled ball.
Science
Second grade students meet multiple times a week with the lower school science teacher. The second grade science program encourages thoughtful exploration and continues the development of scientific curiosity and an understanding of the scientific method by incorporating CA NGSS (California’s Next Generation Science Standards) based lessons. The second graders are given access to Discovery Education’s Science Techbook and use it to read assigned passages or complete activities on iPads during class throughout the year. The students experience the scientific process by observing phenomena (phenomena are observable events that occur in the universe that we can use scientific knowledge to explain), asking meaningful questions, and conducting investigations.
Second grade students are expected to keep an organized science notebook with relevant data, observations, and diagrams throughout the year. They resume learning about plants and animals and explore how plants depend on animals for seed dispersal and pollination. Second graders compare the diversity of life in different habitats and discover the unique adaptations that help plants and animals survive. Properties, phases, and types of matter are observed, analyzed, and classified. Students use maps and create models to identify and represent the shapes and kinds of land and bodies of water in an area. They identify where water is found on Earth and understand the water cycle. Weathering and erosion caused by wind and water is examined, and students learn that changes to the shape of the land can happen quickly or slowly. Second graders design and test solutions to prevent or slow erosion.
The following list is a sampling of book titles incorporated into the science program in second grade.
Earth Science
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - Barrett, Judi
Pickles to Pittsburgh - Barrett, Judi
Clouds - Delano, Marfé Ferguson
Energy Island - Drummond, Allan
Be the Change - Gandhi, Arun and Hegedus, Bethany
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - Kamkwamba, William and Mealer, Bryan
Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years - McAnulty, Stacy
Mars! Earthlings Welcome - McAnulty, Stacy
Moon! Earth’s Best Friend - McAnulty, Stacy
Ocean! Waves for All - McAnulty, Stacy
Our Planet! There’s No Place Like Earth - McAnulty, Stacy
Sun! One in a Billion - McAnulty, Stacy
Shadows - Otto, Carolyn B.
Erosion: How Hugh Bennett Saved America’s Soil and Ended the Dust Bowl - Pattison, Darcy
One Plastic Bag - Paul, Miranda
Clouds - Rockwell, Anne
Magnets - Schreiber, Anne
All About Earth’s Processes - Thompson, Rosina
Life Science
The Tiny Seed - Carle, Eric
Poop on the Potato Farm - Culbreth, Kelly Lee
Are You My Mother? - Eastman, P.D.
Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist - Evans, Christine
Buzzing with Questions - Harrington, Janice N.
Do Lizards Eat Ice Cream? - Kaner, Etta
Shark Lady - Keating, Jess
What If You Had Animal Teeth? - Markle, Sandra
Brains! Not Just a Zombie Snack - McAnulty, Stacy
The Girl Who Thought in Pictures - Mosca, Julia Finley
I Am Farmer - Paul, Baptiste and Paul, Miranda
A Fruit is a Suitcase for Seeds - Richards, Jean
A Pet for Petunia - Schmid, Paul
Imogene’s Antlers - Small, David
Small Wonders - Smith, Matthew Clark
Ocean Speaks - Tharp, Marie
The Water Princess - Verde, Susan
Physical Science
Iggy Peck, Architect - Beaty, Andrea
Rosie Revere, Engineer - Beaty, Andrea
Rumble and Roar - Fliess, Sue
Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket - Fliess, Sue
Chicken in Space - Lehrhaupt, Adam
Sounds All Around - Hughes, Susan
What Do You Do With an Idea? - Yamada, Kobi
What Do You Do With a Problem? - Yamada, Kobi
What Do You Do With a Chance? - Yamada, Kobi
Multiple Disciplines
11 Experiments That Failed - Carpenter, Nancy & Offill, Jenny
Exemplary Evidence: Scientists and Their Data - Fries-Gaither, Jessica
Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings - Fries-Gaither, Jessica
Never Stop Wondering - Morgan, Emily
What Do You Do with a Chance? - Yamada, Kobi
What Do You Do with an Idea? - Yamada, Kobi
What Do You Do with a Problem? - Yamada, Kobi
Social Studies
The second grade social studies curriculum is focused on building community, respecting differences, and being a good member of the community. Students learn about the diversity within their own community, country, and the world. In learning about different types of communities, students explore ways in which geography affects the way people live. Students learn about the economy through discussions and activities related to goods and services as well as wants and needs. Other areas of study include protecting the environment, community leadership, and problem-solving within the community. Second grade students compare and contrast various cultures, which includes a study of holidays and celebrations, to better understand their place in the world. The second grade biography unit is integrated with the reading and writing program. The focus of this unit is on individuals who have either overcome difficulty or injustice to make their mark on the world, and/or people who have made significant contributions to their communities. The culminating project is a biography that students research, write, and present. The second grade cultural and physical geography curriculum continues with more map skills that are used to discuss current events and locate places mentioned in stories they read. They practice other map skills by using a compass rose, legend, and scale when deciphering various plots on a map. Current events are also explored through periodicals and other media formats.
Spanish
In the lower school Spanish program, the Spanish language is taught using Comprehensible Input (CI) and Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS), and Total Physical Response (TPR) methods. These methods use a more natural approach to language acquisition. The second grade curriculum reviews and builds upon what was taught in first grade. Students continue working on their listening and comprehension skills of the language, and begin to focus more on their reading and writing skills in the language. Through storytelling, songs, rhymes, actions, games, group and individual activities, students continue to learn high-frequency verbs in the third person singular. Some topics the students study are family, school vocabulary, body parts, clothing, farm animals, foods, nature, adjectives, pronouns, and definite articles. In addition to the language, second graders study the history and culture of Argentina throughout the year.
Technology
In second grade, instruction takes place once a week in the Lower School Technology Lab and students demonstrate their familiarity with computer parts, as well as the function of these parts. Students are taught to choose the appropriate software for the task at hand. Students again use Type to Learn to practice their keyboarding and set goals to improve their speed. They continue to build on their coding skills using programmable Bee-bots and Kodable but are now also introduced to Scratch Jr. This supports their programming and problem-solving activities and introduces them to the fundamentals of Scratch, the language they will begin to use in the third grade and beyond.
Woodshop
Harbor Day School continues the tradition of woodshop found in many eastern independent schools. Students in second grade have one 30-minute period of woodshop per week. Each woodshop class contains eleven students. The study of the engineering process is continued in the curriculum by exposing students to opportunities to work with wood. The students are introduced to the skills necessary for woodworking by building items such as a toolbox and a birdhouse from kits. Skills such as measuring, sanding, assembling with glue and nails, and finishing are introduced.