Second Grade Curriculum

Our reading program, Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts, is built on the science of reading and has been recognized as a program that excels in building knowledge. Students will start the year focusing on fairy tales and tall tales, early Asian civilizations, and ancient Greek civilization. Each child is individually assessed to determine their reading level. Both whole group and small instruction is used to teach new skills as well as to personalize instruction based on the various needs of students. Our reading specialist is available to work with students who benefit from additional support. 

Each child works at their own level on narrative, expository, and opinion writing. Second graders build on skills taught in first grade writing. We emphasize cross-curricular writing across subjects, blending the writing with science and social studies.

Our math program in first through sixth grade is enVision Mathematics. In second grade, students are taught to master double- and triple-digit addition and subtraction. They continue to practice place value, graphs, measurement and time, and two- and three-dimensional shapes. This year they are also expected to explain their thinking both orally and in their writing workbooks. Second graders’ math curriculum encourages a deeper understanding of analyzing and interpreting the procedures and methods, rather than only getting the correct answer. These lessons are taught using both traditional methods and new innovative styles of teaching - with hands-on learning that involves manipulatives and interactive group learning. 

Social studies and science are both incorporated into language arts in second grade. In the fall, our children watch, discuss, and record observations of mealworms, which we then release into the wild. In the winter, science focuses on movement and force. Students build and create structures that swing, roll, or balance as we analyze the process. In the spring, second graders grow plants and record growth and components that are needed. 

Students research the seven continents, create slide presentations with timelines, research historical figures through biographical writings, and study the Native Americans of Ohio. As part of this project, they read online, take notes, write a report, create a model, and then teach the rest of their grade what they have learned using a Google Slides presentation. 

Second graders have music and library weekly, as well as physical education twice a week. Throughout our school, we seek opportunities to integrate the Judaic studies curriculum with other areas of study; art is a great example of this. During the ceramic unit, students create their own Shabbat candlesticks and tree reliefs using textures and patterns. We are excited to introduce students to our new makerspace and STEAM Lab, The Curiosity Center, for their weekly STEAM classes. Technology instruction is integrated into general studies throughout the day. Once a week, our school counselor leads a class session using the Sources of Strength curriculum. This curriculum is designed to increase well-being, help-seeking, resiliency, healthy coping, and belonging.

In second grade, students deepen their Hebrew language skills, and they begin to understand themselves in the context of the Jewish people’s history. The students learn new ideas about familiar Jewish holidays and have conversations about values that may be important to them.

As students continue developing their skills in Hebrew as a second language, they practice their reading, writing, and speaking through a structured curriculum that includes a variety of learning modalities. 

Each trimester, students and their parents can select an elective that allows them to further explore their interests. These electives enrich the students’ social circles and leadership opportunities as they are in classes with first and second graders. Some past electives have included Stories, Songs & Art of the Torah, JSTEAM, Junior Choir, and Hebrew Through Music & Dance.

The second graders join the third graders four days a week to welcome their day with morning prayers. As a school that embraces pluralistic Judaism, these morning gatherings expose students to a variety of interpretations and styles of prayer.

A highlight of the year is the Kabbalat HaTorah (Receiving the Torah) program during which students share what they have learned in exploring Torah texts, and they receive their own copy of the Hebrew Bible. Just like in our general studies language arts classes, we help our students become thoughtful readers early on.