Second Grade Standards

Students read and understand grade-level appropriate material. They draw upon a variety of comprehension strategies as needed, including asking and answering essential questions, making predictions, and comparing information from several sources. Students should be reading for pleasure on their own, so that by the time they are in 4th grade, they are reading an average of at least five pages every day.

Students read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children’s literature. They distinguish between the structural features of text and the literary terms or elements (i.e., theme, plot, setting, and characters)

Students write and speak with a command of standard English conventions that are appropriate to each grade level.

Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing considers audience and purpose. They successfully use the stages of the writing process (i.e., pre-writing, drafting, revising and editing successive versions).

Students write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events and experiences. They listen and respond critically to oral communication. They speak in a manner that guides and informs the listener’s understanding of key ideas using appropriate phrasing, pitch and modulation. Students make informed judgments about television, fine arts, radio, film productions, guest speakers or performances. Students deliver brief recitations and oral presentations about familiar experiences or interests that are organized around a coherent thesis statement. They successfully participate in group discussions.

By the end of second grade, students understand place value and number relationships as they add and subtract. They use simple concepts of multiplication. They measure quantities with appropriate units. They classify and see relationships among shapes by paying attention to the elements that compose them. They collect and analyze data and verify answers.

These ideas build upon each other from year to year, as students become more sophisticated. Listed below are Grades 1-3:

The motion of objects can be observed and measured. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

The Motion of Objects Can Be Observed and Measured–A Study of Motion, Gravity, Machines, Sound and Force

Plants and animals have predictable life cycles. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:

Earth is made of materials that have distinct properties and provide resources for human activities. As the basis for understanding this concept, students know:

PEOPLE WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Students in grade two explore the lives of actual people who make a difference in their everyday lives and learn the stories of extraordinary people from history whose achievements have touched them, directly or indirectly. The study of contemporary people who supply goods and services aids in understanding the complex interdependence in our economy.

My Family Came to America

Students differentiate between those things that happened recently, yesterday, and long ago through a study of their own family. Details include:

tracing the history of a family through the use of primary and secondary sources including artifacts, photographs, interviews, and documents
comparing and contrasting their daily lives with those of parents and grandparents
placing important events in their lives in the order in which they occurred (e.g., on a timeline or story board)

Maps Can Tell Me About the Land and How It Affects People’s Lifestyles

Students begin to study geography and learn to use maps as tools. Students demonstrate basic map skills--knowing what information a map can give you and how to read a map. Details include:

locating on a simple letter-number grid system the specific locations and geographic features in their neighborhood or community (e.g., map the classroom, the school)
labeling a simple map from memory of the North American continent (details might include: the countries, oceans, Great Lakes, major rivers, mountain ranges);
identifying the essential map elements of title, legend, directional indicator, scale, and date
locating on a map where their ancestors live(d), describing when their family moved to the local community, and describing how and why they made their trip and why they settled where they did
comparing and contrasting basic land use in urban, suburban and rural environments in California

People Make Laws to Solve Problems

Students begin to understand that, just as the classroom has rules, the greater society has rules and procedures for enforcing the rules. Details include:

the basic process of making laws, enforcing laws and changing laws
the ways in which groups and nations interact with one another and try to resolve problems (e.g., trade, cultural contacts, treaties, diplomacy, military force)

People Buy and Sell Things; This Uses Resources

Students understand basic economic concepts and their individual roles in the economy. They begin to use basic economic reasoning skills (i.e., my family consumes resources; we need money to pay for what we consume). Details include:

food production and consumption long ago and today including the role of farmers, processors, distributors, weather, and land and water resources
the role and interdependence of buyers (consumers) and sellers (producers) of goods and services
how limits on resources require people to choose what to produce and what to consume
how the resources we use effect the environment

People From the Past Made a Difference in My Life Today

Students understand the importance of individual action and character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past make a difference in others’ lives (e.g., biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Louis Pasteur, Sitting Bull, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride)

Health and Physical Education

The following is a summary of standards for Health and Physical Education which were developed in 1996.

Students demonstrate comfort and confidence in the ability to move in space and engage in games and dance. Jump rope skills are developed. Students demonstrate eye-hand coordination, eye-foot coordination and the ability to balance. They select foods, activities, and protective equipment that promote their health. They know some options for what to do if confronted with dangerous situations and/or substances, or if touched inappropriately. They show respect for other people and property and know appropriate ways of handling anger or disappointment and settling disagreements.

Set aside a time to read aloud to your child each day. Talk about the stories. Have discussions that allow your child to compare the similarities and differences between different stories and experiences. Make sure your child sees adults and older siblings in the house reading and writing.

When your child reads aloud to you, give him or her time to hear and correct his or her own reading mistakes before jumping in with the correct word, or pointing out an error. The goal is to make self-correcting readers.

Talk about the television programs and movies your child watches. Television programs often make good bridges to reading about an interesting topic.

Figure out household math problems with your child. If the cousins are coming for dinner and there are five of them and four of us, how many chairs will we need at the table? Let him or her in on your thinking. How did you figure out how much cloth it would take to make curtains, or how much lumber it took to build the planter box?

Watch and discuss the animals around your home. Birds, pets, insects, and small animals are all around us. Finding a caterpillar on a plant can lead to a great discussion about life cycles.

Plant a kitchen garden, either indoors or out. A sunny window can be a great spot for a few simple plants used in cooking.

Read books and watch television programs which explore interesting scientific knowledge. Share your knowledge.

When out and about in the community, point out the police station, fire station, and other community agencies.

Look at a map or globe to find where grandma lives or where you will be driving.

Tell your child the family stories of how people met, when (s)he was born, when the family came to America).

Talk with your child about the importance of daily routines, such as brushing teeth, washing hands, and getting enough sleep.

Take your child to a sporting event, such as a baseball game, or even a sibling’s soccer game. Discuss the skills, rules and cooperation involved.