2nd Grade

The Arts provide an opportunity for students to explore ideas and express thoughts and emotions. Over their time in the Lower School, they develop skills in music, woodshop, and visual arts. 

Woodshop

In woodshop, students learn general shop protocols and tool safety while basic tools, including with hammers, saws, and drills. They practice proper ergonomic use of hand tools including body position, alignment to work, and repetitive body logistics. Students engage in group and independent projects learning to create a design plan, select materials, sequencing of construction, learn about wood finishes, and clean up practices. 

Visual Arts

Students explore, experiment and communicate while practicing the visual arts. Inspired by other artists, the world around them, and their own imaginations; they engage with various media including drawing, painting, paper arts, clay, printmaking and fiber arts. 

Music

Based in the Orff music education tradition, music provides time for students to express themselves through sounds and movement. Inspired by artists across cultures and by their own musicality, students practice both ensemble and individual musical skills. They learn concepts of rhythm, tone, and pitch by  playing instruments such as the xylophone, glockenspiel, and marimba.

Reading

Literacy is more than reading and writing; it is a way to make sense of the world. In second grade, students actively pursue the meaning of life and the world around them, as they are influenced by the relationships they form with people, animals, objects, and the special places they explore. Reading both words and about the world forges connections between known and new information as we continue to build our literacy skills through meaningful connections. Students are taught different comprehension strategies that help them understand fiction and nonfiction texts. Reading instruction also includes decoding and fluency skills. Students spend time reading independently, with partners, and together as a whole group. They learn about different genres and reflect on the types of books they love to read.

Writing

Second graders write every day. They learn how to write from their imaginations and experiences, and write in several genres including personal narrative, opinion piece, and nonfiction. During each genre study, they learn the conventions and strategies specific to the genre, study mentor books for inspiration, and learn how their favorite authors write. This enforces the connection between reading and writing. Students generate writing ideas, plan stories, create drafts, revise, edit, and publish. 

Word Study

Phonetic spellers (those who understand that letters relate to sound) and transitional spellers (those who experiment with spelling patterns) begin to use conventional spelling and learn to identify misspelled words in their writing.

Second graders become flexible mathematicians. Their conceptual understanding of numbers stretches into the triple digits, and they become capable of mathematical reasoning, using addition and subtraction to solve real-world problems. Multiple strategies are modeled and used so that students are able to connect with what makes the most sense to the problem being solved. Students strengthen their math communication skills to share their ideas and understand and build on their peers’ ideas.

Big Ideas in 2nd grade

• Addition and Subtraction up to 1000, using multiple strategies
• Ways to Represent Data
• Making Equal Groups, Even and Odd Numbers
• Measurement, Time, Halves and Quarters and Thirds, and Solid Shapes

First through fifth grade students study either Mandarin Chinese or Spanish. During their time in the Beginning and Lower School they acquire cultural understanding and build a foundation for language acquisition and fluency. Students are immersed in situations where they develop language skills by drawing on their own experiences to engage in conversations with the teacher and peers. Through movement, song, play, art, conversation, and oral and written activities they begin to learn to listen, speak, read and write in their studied language.

Students are empowered to develop their own investigatable questions, driving their curiosity and exploration as they conduct experiments and uncover answers through active inquiry and discovery. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Science and Engineering Practices are used to promote deeper understanding and engagement in scientific learning. Throughout the year, they engage in studies of physical science, life science, earth and space science, and engineering and technology.

Questions explored in second grade include

• How does our Earth change? What processes shape our earth?
• How are materials similar and different from one another, and how do the properties of the materials relate to their use?
• What do plants need? How can we create a sustainable garden on our campus?

Sense of Place

A sense of place and community is the curricular thread that runs through the year. In order to establish trust within our classroom communities, we begin the year learning about one another’s identities, taking time to appreciate each person’s unique gifts, and deciding how we will show up as a community of learners. We spend time closely investigating all that our outdoor campus holds, including its trees and wildlife.

As the year progresses, our inquiry is guided by our students’ interests in the nature on campus, as well as the Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum. In second grade, Pollyanna investigates the role and impact that geography has on people’s lives around the world, including the development of culture. Making connections with people around the world will give students a new lens with which to study their own connectedness to nature, both on campus and in surrounding regions.

Students engage in wellness classes in the Mini Gym, indoor Tennis Court 1, on the track, and across outdoor spaces on campus. Our holistic approach to Wellness helps children develop habits for healthy living that will last across their lives. Children develop skills across four domains:

Physical

• Moving body is various ways; developing gross motor skills
• Understanding what helps a body perform well

Mental

• Noticing what causes emotions and stress
• Developing a toolbelt of strategies to regulate emotions and stress

Intellectual

• Trying new activities
• Using strategies in games
• Reflecting on progress

Social

• Working with others in productive ways
• Being a good sport
• Showing appreciation for others