In second grade, we support students as they expand their abilities and transition from focusing on their individual needs to thinking about the group and the world around them. This is a rewarding period for students as they develop knowledge, skills, and strategies that help them solve problems independently and collaboratively. Our goal is to help them build these important skills while encouraging each student’s curiosity and passion for learning.
Our units of study in Grade 2 include Japan, Local History, Friendship, Geography, Poetry, and Service Learning.
In Grade 2 we work on the following skills:
Decoding
Reading fluency and comprehension
Writing mechanics and spelling
Collecting and analyzing information
Developing awareness of our community and other cultures
Representing and solving word problems
Building mental math strategies
Listening and participating effectively
Presenting information to an audience
Click on an item below to see a summary of Grade 2 work in that subject area. Please note: Each subject includes a guiding question or questions, some of the topics we address in that area, and an overview of some of the skills we work to build through this subject.
Grade 2 Language Arts includes reading, writing, and grammar. As we journey through literature, what will we learn about ourselves and about the world around us?
Topics of Study: Themes of kindness, courage and being yourself • Spelling patterns • Readers’ Theater • Poetry of our world • Writing (expository and narrative) • Biography study
Skills We Teach: Developing reading comprehension strategies • Developing reading fluency • Writing mechanics (grammar, punctuation, capitalization) • Writing in complete sentences • Beginning editing and revising • Practicing syllable patterns, spelling rules, and generalizations • Refining handwriting
At Nashoba Brooks School, educational technology is meaningfully integrated into all content areas to enhance student learning.
Skills We Teach:
Navigating apps to support skill development across content areas • Expanding on problem-solving skills • Using technology-related vocabulary • Developing computer skills • Managing a personal device • Developing a basic understanding of website navigation • Learning formal keyboarding skills • Continuing word processing development • Beginning block-based coding • Developing understanding of computer-assisted design for fabrications
What does learning about other communities teach us about our own?
Topics of Study: Creation of a school community • Kindness and friendship • Geography • Japan • Local abolitionist history
Skills We Teach: Understanding map terms • Locating geographic features • Reading nonfiction and fiction texts about other cultures in our world • Comparing and contrasting our own society to other cultures • Presenting information
How can I begin to speak the language of Mathematics?
Topics of Study: Addition and subtraction facts • Place value • Telling time • Money • Geometry • Beginning multiplication and division • Measurement • Word problems
Skills We Teach: Representing numbers and identifying place values to 1,000 • Composing and decomposing numbers • Completing number patterns • Modeling and solving addition and subtraction stories • Identifying shapes • Improving fluency and accuracy of addition and subtraction math facts • Beginning multiplication and division • Using dollars and cents and writing money amounts • Reading and making picture graphs
How do we, as scientists, learn about our world and ourselves?
Topics of Study:
Sun/Earth relationship • Seasons • Meteorology • Ornithology • Biomes • Animal adaptations • Aerospace engineering and force • Digestive & Skeletal systems • Architectural engineering
Skills We Teach:
Making models to explain natural phenomena • Collecting, organizing, and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data • Graphing data • Designing and building • Collaboration • Technology Immersion
How do we use another language to communicate with others? What is Spanish immersion?
Topics of Study: Greetings and introductions • Hispanic Heritage Month • Spanish poetry • Emotions • Family • Clothing • Animals and sentence building • Clothing • All About Me project • Numbers 1-40 • Calendar vocabulary
Skills We Teach: Deriving understanding from context, gestures, and images • Speaking Spanish in words and short phrases • Experiencing cultural similarities and differences • Following commands • Asking and responding to simple questions • Pronunciation through song and chants • Total physical response
How is the library organized? How do we locate books in the library?
Topics of Study: Windows and mirrors • Japanese folktales• Immigration
Skills We Teach: Navigating the library • Independently selecting appropriate books • Discerning an author’s purpose • Practicing empathy through character study • Identifying different genres. • Navigating an online database
How is poetry used in music? What is musical expression? What is a musical theme?
Topics of Study: Making a music video • Voice as an instrument • How does music tell a story? • How does music relate to poetry? • Instruments of the orchestra • Japanese folk tales • Part singing • Performing at the Grade 3 Graduation
Skills We Teach: The voice as an instrument • Developing singing techniques • Using rhythmic and melodic notation • Improvisation, movement coordination, and sequencing • Performing at the Grade 3 Graduation
How can I move safely, skillfully, respectfully, and confidently?
Topics of Study: Health and fitness • Teamwork • Collaboration • Poetry in motion • Sportsmanship • Core values • Cooperating • Friendship and kindness • Courage • Risk-taking • Mapping and orienteering
Skills We Teach: Locomotor and non-locomotor skills in Spanish and English • Soccer • Gymnastics • Dribbling and shooting in basketball • Climbing • Floor hockey • Tennis • Bowling • Rock wall • Jumping rope • Kicking • Dodging • Throwing and catching • Balancing • Fitness • Striking with implement • Volleying • Cooperative and invasion games • Parachute
How can we use art as a means for understanding ourselves and the world around us?
Topics of Study: Free and observational drawing • Japanese brush painting • Map making • Self-portraits • Sculpture • Sketchbooks
Skills We Teach: Developing designs and drawings • Working independently, • Making observations • Exploring color mixing • Drawing • Sculpting with clay • Visual thinking strategies
Situated on a beautiful 30-acre campus in historic Concord, Massachusetts, Nashoba Brooks School enrolls all genders in Preschool through Grade 3, and students identifying as girls in Grades 4 through 8. Nashoba Brooks is an independent school designed to build community, character, and confidence in its students.