Second graders strive to make sense of their world and to make their personal world as safe and orderly as possible. Their desire leans towards becoming more organized and they sometimes experience self doubt. They dislike making mistakes and as a result they take less risk.

By second grade, most students have settled in and have begun to use the skills they learned in kindergarten and in first grade. They become more analytical in their thinking as they take on more complicated assignments. Second grade is an important time to develop social skills as they start to make friends. They perfer to work alone or with one close friend instead of a large group.

Language Arts is taught using a balanced literacy approach. Second graders will continue to work on becoming fluent readers by exploring a variety of reading genres. The focus will be placed on reading fluency and reading comprehension. In writing, the students will become better story writers as they learn to express themselves by writing stories, letters and simple explanations.

In second grade, students will strengthen their sense of number through problem solving and hands-on practice. Students will use manipulatives to explore place value and relationships between addition and subtraction facts. In the second half of the year students will use their knowledge of place value to help them understand addition and subtraction of 2-digit numbers. Second graders will build on what they have learned in earlier grades in estimating, measuring, patterning, telling time, counting money, and graphing.

Second graders will look at the concept of change in our world. They will study changes in phases of matter, plant and animal life cycles, seasonal effects on plants and animals, and weather patterns. Second graders will explore the properties of magnets and their uses in the real world. All of these topics will be explored though experiments as children sharpen their skills of observation and drawing conclusions from data.

In social studies, second graders will compare and contrast the lives and contributions of the American Indians with the ancient civilizations of Egypt and China. The students will study the lives of individuals from the past who have worked to improve the lives of other Americans. Second grade students will continue to develop map and globe skills. Students will also learn about the responsibilities of good citizenship and how people from diverse backgrounds participate and contribute to their communities. Finally, second graders will apply concepts of geography, civics, and economics to their everyday life