Second Grade Curriculum

Second graders are provided with an academically stimulating environment that enables students to become independent, proactive, and compassionate members of the community. Through academic and authentic social experiences, students are provided with opportunities to grow and develop their strong and unique identities while also emphasizing Out-of-Door's Core Values of respect, integrity, service, excellence, and responsibility. Deep and meaningful service learning and research projects abound in second grade.

Our second graders continue to solidify their decoding and syllabication skills while taking charge of their reading, as they draw on everything they’ve learned about decoding words. Students are ready for more complex sentence structures, a deeper plot, and richer vocabulary. Upon entering the second grade classroom, you’ll find that reading energy is at an all-time high. Students are gaining confidence in choosing books based on personal interest and background knowledge. Students are developing comprehension skills that they will use to become independent, critical readers.

Using benchmarking, teachers identify areas to target and instruction, including vowel digraphs, diphthongs, silent letters, and twin consonants.

Second graders build on their understanding of place value up to 1,000 and develop fluency in addition and subtraction, including regrouping. Represent addition and subtraction situations using an unknown number. They measure lengths using inches, feet, centimeters, and meters and solve real-world measurement problems. Students work with money, count coins and bills, and make change. They explore fractions by partitioning shapes into halves, thirds, and fourths and begin comparing and ordering fractions. Data interpretation advances as they create and analyze bar graphs and picture graphs.

Through an integrated writing and grammar program, students engage in the writing process. Robust mentor texts introduce students to new writing techniques and advanced grammar skills. Through an engaged community of writers, students use the writing process and apply it for a variety of purposes.

The second grade Marine Science curriculum emphasizes animals that we find in our local waters, such as whales, manatees, dolphins, and sharks. Each unit encourages the students to think critically and work together effectively. Students participate in a variety of engaging hands-on experiments, activities, engineering design process, and STEM challenges throughout the year. They also utilize technology as a platform for effective communication about their learning. 

The MITT (Meaningful, Innovative, and Transformative Transliteracy) curriculum is comprised of interwoven strands that explore transliteracy. Using a design thinking framework, students learn to access, use, produce, and share information. They develop as curious and independent learners who are aware of their rights and responsibilities as a digital citizen. In second grade, students begin the year with Super 3, a character who reminds students to plan, do, and review when exploring curiosities and solving problems. As the year progresses, they deepen their understanding of each step by learning a new design thinking framework called LAUNCH. Through research, multimedia projects, and book circulation, students explore personal interests, collaborate, and share their understanding with others.

Second grade art will continue to be a time of exploration in the art-making process. Digging deeper into color theory and the use of shape and form in our art, students will be encouraged to take risks and problem-solve. A rich exploration of African cultures, artifacts, and artists allows students the opportunity to become more globally aware and deepen their appreciation of art from around the world. Students will learn new drawing techniques through guided drawing, but will be encouraged to incorporate their own ideas into their artwork.

The concepts previously learned will be used as a base on which to build and spiral more vocabulary. Students continue to learn about Central American countries and the Caribbean, their culture, people, music, and much more. They also continue to learn and practice basic conversation and vocabulary through songs and interactive games. Concepts included are numbers to 100, geometric shapes, extended body parts, pets, the home, the community, greetings, days of the week (in reference to yesterday, today, and tomorrow), weather, months, and extended family members, simple adjectives, and food.

Second grade music students learn to sing in two-part harmony for many of their songs. They are introduced to pitched instruments and often accompany their music on the Orff instruments, such as the xylophones, glockenspiels, and metallophones. Students also participate in a multitude of performances throughout the year.

Students attend Physical Education classes where they are introduced to a variety of activities that assist in learning different ways to move safely in an open area as well as improve locomotor skills such as galloping, sliding, running, skipping, and walking. Students are encouraged to explore alternative ways they can move or manipulate objects. Low-organized, small-group games are used to create excitement and fine-tune these skills. The students also learn simple rhythmic routines and engage physically through music. Sportsmanship and team building are reinforced through each activity.