In second grade, a major focus of our fall curriculum is the social studies storypath unit, “The Wampanoags and the First Thanksgiving”. Thanks to support from our PTSA, this project is integrated with art (Liang Chen, Ceramic artist). Technology, reading, writing, and communication activities are also incorporated throughout the unit to provide students a rich understanding of the Wampanoag people and time period. There will be a culminating celebration in December for all second graders to enact a Wampanoag feast and to present their learning projects to families and friends.

The second grade reading and literacy curriculum involves several components. The Junior Great Books and Houghton Mifflin programs focus on higher level thinking skills. Classroom subscriptions such as Weekly Reader, Scholastic News, and Time magazines are used to develop nonfiction reading skills and strategies. Other reading materials and books are selected according to a variety of genres and theme areas throughout the year. Students have regular opportunities for independent reading at their skill level using materials from “Just Right Books” and leveled readers in our classroom libraries.

Our writing program includes Writers Workshop activities to address the needs of all students. Math, science, and social studies lessons will also provide many opportunities for students to develop their writing skills.

The science unit for the first trimester is “Soils”. In addition to the extensive hands-on activities, we will be focusing on developing scientific communication and writing skills. Other science units this year will be “Liquids and Solids” and “Balancing and Weighing”. A trip to the Mercer Slough is planned in the spring as an extension of our soils study.

In the fall our Everyday Math units are “Numbers and Routines”, “Addition and Subtraction Facts”, and “Place Value, Money, and Time”. Lessons and activities will focus on meeting Washington State Mathematics Standards. A central yearlong theme in Grade 2 is understanding place value for whole numbers. Students develop understanding of the number system, including how the position of a digit affects its value, and use this knowledge to develop skill with more complex computation. They begin making measurements with standard measuring tools.