Second Grade:

Honing the Basic Skills, Achieving High Levels of Fluency,

and Gaining Confidence

The goal of second grade is to develop academic confidence within each student in each

subject area. Reading skills soar, as comprehension supersedes basic fluency as a focus. Writing

skills develop to remarkably sophisticated levels, such as the two-to-three page Shark and Big Cat

research reports that are produced in the spring.

In the fall, second grade students traditionally attend a play. Examples from the past include a

production at the Spreckles Theater called Reading Rainbow, The Wizard of Oz, and Scrooge.

These experiences excite the children about doing their own play in February!

Competency in basic mathematics skills are honed and enhanced. All students achieve beyond-grade-level

expectations, beginning multiplication and division with aplomb. Fun and enrichment accompany the

highly successful program to maintain interest and enthusiasm.

In the winter, second graders enjoy a special unit on fairy tales and castles. The students study

the elements of fairy tales by reading traditional versions as well as fairy tales from other cultures.

Castle architecture and history are studied, as students draw castles and build models with blocks.

The unit culminates by having each student write their own original fairy tale, presenting it to the class

fully dressed in the fairy tale theme.

In the spring, students read and study many types of poetry. They write their own poems and share

these at the end of the unit at a "Poetry Reading" for the parents. Second graders also take a field

trip in the spring to Balboa Park, where they learn about the history of the park and the important

people who were a part of its development . . . . a nice finale to the social studies unit on People Who

Make a Difference.