Second Grade
“I strive each day to teach with tremendous enthusiasm, compassion and humor. I have the best job in the world, I am greeted by smiling faces each day ready to discover the world around us-this is what fills me-and I am grateful!
I strive to create a productive, stimulating and rich environment that provides ample opportunity for all students to grow and learn as individuals. My goal is to foster the joy of learning, model leadership and character traits and guide my students to become responsible, compassionate, courageous and contributing members of society.”
– Jane Murphy, Second Grade Teacher
Second grade is a year of incredible growth, curiousity and self-awareness. Second Graders now are able to concentrate on lessons for longer periods of time and better able to navigate stumbling blocks. This year, they start demonstrating increased patience and self-control. They are very social and begin to develop close friendships.
Reading & Reading Buddies
Second graders Read, Read and Read. In addition to being read to, each day starts with guided reading as we read the daily schedule and jobs list. We Read Aloud, read the word of the day, read the poem of the week, read to our Junior Kindergarten Reading Buddies, read during book clubs, read independently and have reading homework.
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Second Graders read more by themselves, read longer, and read more complicated stories including age-appropriate chapter books. They are introduced to the different genres and enjoy predicting what will happen next in a story - they love a good cliffhanger! Read Aloud is a favorite time and a much-loved classic is “Trumpet of the Swan” by E.B. White. They are introduced to different genres and reading comprehension advances through increasingly complex story structure, character development and setting as well as mood.
Writing
Second graders write letters through out the year and keep a journal to reflect and write about personal experiences. They write self-evaluations, autobiographies and research notes.
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They work on handwriting, write longer stories with more complex paragraphs, learn to identify parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives etc) and are challenged to create more sophisticated sentences. Their spelling skills improve as more emphasis is placed on spelling words correctly. They learn to refer to a dictionary and peer and self-editing strategies help them work on spelling, punctuation and capitalization.
Listening & Public Speaking
Second graders have many opportunities throughout each day to practice their listening and public speaking skills. They listen to instructions from the teacher, listen to their peers as the Read Aloud and during discussions, birthday interviews and class meetings. They learn to take turns sharing their thoughts and opinions, learn to present their Dioramas and Animal research reports to the class and present their portfolios during student-led parent conferences.
Math
Second grade Math is based on the Marilyn Burns’ Math By All Means program, Marcy Cook Math and the Linda Mood Bell On Cloud Nine Visualizing and Verbalizing Math program. Students learn Math concepts using pictures, numbers, words, and a variety of computational approaches.
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They use manipulatives to experience the realness of Math, pictures and words to concretize the realness in their sensory system and numbers to solving problems. The learn about “Place Value” through direct experience grouping objects, and learn procedures to compare, order, round numbers. They learn to mentally add numbers up to 20, carry and borrow to add and subtract larger numbers, do simple fractions, tell time using an analog clock, add and subtract money and learn to make change.
Science
The Second grade science curriculum is designed to answer the questions children have about the world around them. This is accomplished through joint studies with First Grade, of the 4 elements (fire, air, water, earth), Simple Machines, Solar System, Rainforest, Penguins and Polar bears, the Human Body and the study of anatomy, life cycle and migration patterns of the Monarch Butterfly.
When studying the African Savannah, students read about Africa, sew animal hats, observe animals native to the African Savannah in San Francisco Zoo and document their research in written reports and artwork.
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Second graders use the “Scientific Method” of inquiry, continuing a process first introduced in First grade, where they learn to identify a concept, make predictions about the outcome, make observations, conduct an experiment and draw conclusions based on results of their experiment.
Social Studies
In History, we learn about timelines and study cultures from the past to the present. We discuss current events and learn about Presidents from the past to the present. We celebrate the Chinese New Year and do a character study of Martin Luther King Jr. We talk about how we are all different and also alike and what it means to be a community.
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In Geography, learn more about the geology and geography of the Earth, studying land forms, volcanoes, the 7 continents and the oceans. We make Globes, incorporating the layers of the earth, continents and oceans and learn about topographical maps.
Visual Arts
Second grade Art is all about fostering creativity and self-expression. It is a significant and common thread that goes through all our units. We learn about line and shape, the use of color, observation and drawing self-portraits, do directed drawings, painting, print making, collage, glass fusing and slumping and sculpture.
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We experience and critique Art on field trips to the San Jose Art Museum and the San Jose Tech Museum, experience a Jazz concert, go to Plays, watch a Ballet show and go back stage.
Character Development
We hold 4 class meetings each week, focusing on social and emotional development. We learn that “Mistakes are Opportunities to Learn” and “Practice makes Better”. We learn effective communication and problem solving skills. Class meetings challenge students to work as a group, directly resolving issues, supporting learners and celebrating successes. We learn about mutual respect. Adults model firmness by respecting themselves and the needs of the situation, and kindness by respecting the needs of the child. We learn about Jane Nelsen’s Positive Discipline concepts that are neither permissive nor punitive. Positive Discipline recognizes that beliefs lead to behavior and encourages all to identify the reasons kids do what the do and work to change behavior by modifying the underlying beliefs. In class meetings, we focus on solutions, not punishment. We encourage instead of praise – encouragement notices effort and improvement, not just success and builds long term self esteem and empowerment.
What Parents Say
Dear Jane,
What a good school year our ‘son’ has had! He has learned to read and is very proud of himself. He was excited and interested in the jazz music curriculum that included “hanging with the giants” He is considering which instrument he wants to learn. He also enjoyed seeing behind the scenes training for Ballet San Jose’s ‘Blue Suede Shoes’. His favorite was “learning about nature at hidden villa” Your program hit a high note with him every time! You were so kind a patient while teaching life skills: Behavior, Interpersonal relations, and table manners (what a tea party) it is no wonder that those of us who love our ‘son’, appreciate you!
-A grandmother and mother
PE, Art, Music, Gardening, Cooking, Sewing and more...
Mulberry's Second Grade Curriculum includes PE, Art & Music, and Gardening, Cooking, Sewing, Field Trips, Service Projects & More. Visit Mulberry and experience the "Mulberry Magic" for yourself!
