SECOND GRADE

Students in Grade 2 spend the year learning about a variety of subjects including core curriculum, world language, arts, athletics and much more. For a sample of student projects and units of study, click on the boxes below and see our curriculum go further.

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  • LANGUAGE ARTS

    Second graders, building on foundational reading skills, develop fluency and expression and build their comprehension skills and strategies. In book groups, students engage in discussions about individual books where they gain exposure to rich texts and develop literate lives. Second graders delve further into the writing process and write a personal narrative, research paper, opinion letter, informational writing, and poetry. Students learn paragraph development and build spelling and writing mechanics skills.

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  • SPANISH

    Using Comprehensible Input, present in both TPR/TPRS (Total Physical Response/Storytelling), second-grade students take a deeper look at vocabulary for emotions, animals, days of the week, weather, colors, and body parts. They continue practicing high-frequency verbs in the first, second, and third person through oral and written activities. While reading is not emphasized, students read short passages. Listening comprehension is assessed through art and short responses.  

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  • PHYSICAL EDUCATION

    Second graders in PE are encouraged to embrace challenges and learn from their experiences while developing skills of teamwork, communication, and a sense of fair play. They learn to skip and run using a mature pattern and differentiate between jogging and sprinting. They learn to balance in different positions and transfer weight between body parts for balance and travel. They practice throwing and catching without trapping or cradling. An additional focus for this grade level includes dribbling using a mature pattern while walking. Students also learn to jump a self-turned rope consecutively forward and backward and jump a long rope consecutively with student turners.

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  • LIBRARY

    The Lower School library curriculum encourages students to be information literate, to become independent learners, and to engage in social responsibility. They read; are read to; make connections between the class curriculum and library resources; share their stories; learn to be inclusive and open minded through an array of literature; and find joy in reading. Second graders will explore parts of a book (organization), fiction vs. nonfiction, and research resources. They will continue to explore diverse lives and experiences and creative problem-solving skills.

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  • SOCIAL STUDIES

    In second-grade social studies, students explore cultures and traditions, their local Oakland community, citizenship, and map reading skills. Additionally, students explore identity by studying influential people of all identities throughout history. Learning and explorations occur through a multi-modal approach that includes reading, art, discussion, media, and hands-on experiences, including field trips.

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  • MANDARIN

    In second grade, in Mandarin, students continue to acquire and discover the tonal language of Mandarin. Emphasis is placed on listening, viewing, and demonstrating comprehension by using Mandarin in basic greetings, commonly used courtesy expressions, introductory conversation, simple expressions of feelings, numbers, colors, common foods, common animals, and family members, as well as responding to simple questions. Some cultural topics are also intertwined with language learning.

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  • DESIGN, BUILD, INNOVATE

    Second-grade students build on their DBi work in first grade to go deeper into the design thinking in the DBi Lab. They combine their understanding of design with the scientific method to design a water filtration system. Students work in the DBi Lab ten times throughout the year.

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  • SERVICE LEARNING

    In second grade, service learning focuses on coastal clean up as they examine the pollution of our oceans and beaches, and explore what we can do to help. Also, second graders coordinate a book drive to donate to library collections at local public schools.

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  • MATHEMATICS

    In second-grade math, students develop skills through whole-class instruction, differentiated small groups, independent practice, and through hands-on experiences with manipulatives. Students learn measurement, number sense (up to 1,000), addition and subtraction with regrouping, multiplication, division, geometry, fractions, mental math, time, money, and rounding numbers. 

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  • ART

    Lower School art is where students explore and express their creativity through a variety of mediums and study artists from diverse backgrounds. Instruction is fluid and philosophically rooted in the idea that all children are artists and that growth comes from continuous practice, experimentation, and reflection. Second graders explore the life and artwork of Jean-Michel Basquiat, create rainsticks to complement their study of sound in science, make collagraph prints, and learn about American artist and activist Keith Haring.

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  • MUSIC

    In second grade, creating, performing, and expression are integrated. Each lesson explores rhythm, melody, harmony, and form. Students read, write, and perform simple rhythmic patterns, such as ostinati, and begin to identify pitches through solfege and Curwen hand signs. Second graders study rhythm, beat, and rhythmic values through stick notation which is used to compose rhythm combinations.

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  • SCIENCE

    In second grade, students study and explore pebbles, sand and silt, solids and liquids, oceans, and botany. Activities include filter design engineering and tower building engineering. They continue to learn to use observations to describe patterns and relationships to answer scientific questions.

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  • TECHNOLOGY

    Second grade technology focuses on further developing navigation skills - finding files and differentiating various applications. They are exposed to a wider variety of applications, including Inspiration, GoogleEarth, and GarageBand. Second graders begin using a search engine to find images and understand where information is found online.

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  • GARDEN TO TABLE

    In Second Grade, cooks and gardeners at Redwood Day deepen their understanding of our connected food system. Students observe the life cycles of all sorts of animals and plants and provide a habitat for them to grow and thrive. Beginning cooks practice knife skills and identify the 5 tastes while doing projects that connect classroom learning about autobiography.