Second Grade

The second-grade standards extend the study of number and spatial sense to include three-digit whole numbers and solid geometric figures. Students will continue to learn, use, and gain proficiency in addition and subtraction within 20. Students will begin to use U.S. Customary units to measure length and weight; predict and use simple probability; and create and interpret pictographs and bar graphs. Students will work with a variety of patterns and will develop an understanding of equality. Communication and representation of mathematical thinking becomes increasingly important in second grade as the content develops in complexity. Students will make sense of these concepts by applying critical thinking and making connections among mathematical ideas.

Change Occurs All Around Us

Science in second grade builds on the previous understandings of forces, water, weather, and plants and animals, as students explore these concepts through the lens of change. They examine how water changes phase, how visible and invisible forces change motion, how plants and animals change through their life cycles, and how weather changes the Earth. Students also examine how change occurs over a short or long period of time. Throughout the elementary years, students will develop scientific skills, supported by mathematics and computational thinking, as they learn science content. In second grade, students will develop skills in posing simple questions, planning and conducting simple investigations, observing, classifying, and communicating information about the natural world. Students engage in more aspects of the engineering design process.

Focus on the United States of America

The standards for second-grade students include an introduction to the lives of Americans and their contributions to the United States as well as the heritage of the American Indians, past and present. Students continue developing map skills and demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts. The students will identify selected American individuals who have worked to improve the lives of American citizens. The students will recognize that the United States is a land of people who have diverse ethnic origins, customs, and traditions, who make contributions to their communities, and who are united as Americans by common principles.

Students in second grade continue to develop essential skills in communication, reading, and writing. Explicit, systematic instruction in phonological awareness and phonics provides students with ongoing practice with the 44 sounds in the English language along with the ways to represent and spell those sounds. Students begin to master more complex spellings for consonants and long vowel sounds, blending sounds together in both single syllable and multisyllabic words to read fluently. Students also deepen writing skills, segmenting sounds in more complex words and representing them with corresponding spellings. Students expand writing to express thoughts with more elaboration and detail. Students build knowledge, develop vocabulary, and demonstrate comprehension of fiction and nonfiction texts centered around themes from different content areas.