School Programs :: Second Grade
During second grade students emerge as independent learners. Throughout the year, special emphasis is placed on building self-esteem and self-confidence as learners and creators in order to foster independence. In writing, students learn to write descriptively and to develop each paragraph fully with a thesis and supporting ideas, they also begin to explore the values and literary elements in stories and novels. During second grade, Lafayette Elementary School continues it's thematic teaching approach by embedding BVSD curriculum goals in units which integrate multiple disciplines. Problem solving and critical thinking skills in math and science are reinforced with many hands-on activities along with learning basic math facts, the foundation of mathematical achievement. During the Lafayette Elementary School's "Character Matters" curriculum second graders focus on leadership, learning that they cannot play a passive role in improving the world.
An overview of subject matter is described below. please note these recaps are not all inclusive and all Lafayette Elementary School curriculum adheres to BVSD's curriculum standards and goals for 2nd grade.
Social Studies: This year we travel to China, Australia, Alaska and end up in Colorado. Second graders refine geography map skills, compare and contrast cultures, study biomes and begin to make connections between how the past informs the present. Social Studies units are interwoven with music, math, writing, reading, art, science and even physical education to deepen second graders understanding of various cultures.
Science: Throughout the year, students make connections between cycles and systems through units in earth science, biology and basic chemistry. During the Fall, students study air and weather by graphing temperatures and learning about how weather patterns and systems are created. Later in the fall, we discuss the food pyramid and the human digestive system. Other units covered include states of matter (liquids and solids) as well as insect life cycles.
Writing: Written expression is interwoven throughout all subjects. Students choose forms of writing to suit a variety of purposes and audiences. Students continue basic punctuation instruction such as integrating apostrophes, proper nouns and pronouns, commas and learning about synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, homophones, adverbs, prefixes, and suffixes. On a more conceptual level, word choice, ideas and presentation are examined by writing in multiple genres.
Reading: Second graders continue to examine multiple genres including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, biographies, mysteries, and fairy tales. Building comprehension strategies is a core to second grade reading growth. Students learn to become skilled readers by questioning and visualizing, making connections, synthesizing, determining the importance and drawing inferences.
Math: Lafayette elementary mathematics instruction intermixes mathematical concepts with everyday, hands-on practice. Too often curriculum is relegated to abstract problems rendering it inaccessible to students. Introducing hands-on math materials provide students with opportunities to solve real world math problems. By grasping tangible math problems students can gradually abstract these concepts to broader applications. Ultimately, students internalize math skills and critical thinking so these skills become intuitive and accessible throughout a student's life. During the fall, number sense and computation patterns and relationships are built on through coins, coupons and combinations. Our "Does It Walk, Crawl, or Swim" unit integrates sorting, classifying and organizing concepts. During this unit students learn about attributes, Venn diagrams, yektti, squares, hexagons, rhombus, greater than and less than rules. Students move onto geometry decomposing and composing shapes in the winter. During this time, second graders become familiar with planes, cylinders, prisms, faces, edges, corners, parallelograms, quadrilaterals, etc. We have a brief "How Long, How Far" unit which explores linear measurement in standard and nonstandard units and review multiplication, division, fractions in "How Many Pockets, How Many Teeth" and then finish up with our last major unit "Time and Probability" during which the abstract notion of probability and chance are explored.
Character Traits: Lafayette Elementary School "Character Trait" curriculum reviews positive traits through class discussion, action, integration with curriculum and recognition. The whole school learns about the following attributes. Responsibility (Sept.), Cooperation (Oct.), Generosity (Nov.), Respect (Dec.), Nonviolence (Jan.), Kindness (Feb.), Perseverance (March), Honesty (Apr.), Appreciation (May). Through a multi-year grant, Lafayette Elementary School has a counselor who provides class and small group instruction on conflict resolution and mediation.