Welcome to Second Grade!

September/October: What is Grade 2 studying? 

ELA:

Unit 1: Building Our Background Knowledge — "Schools and Their Importance"

In this unit, your second grader explores the question: What is school, and why are schools important?

Students begin by reflecting on their own school experiences and reading books like The Dot and What Does School Mean to You? to build a deeper understanding of what school is all about. 

Try This at Home

"Story Question Stop" — When reading together (any book!), pause every few pages and take turns asking each other a question about the story. Try prompts like:

• "How do you think the character felt when that happened?"
• "What would you do if you were in the story?"
• "What do you think is going to happen next? Why?"

Illustrative Math:

Grade 2, Unit 1: Adding, Subtracting, and Working with Data

In this unit, your second grader builds on what they learned about addition and subtraction in first grade to develop fluency with math facts within 20. They learn how to represent and interpret data in picture graphs and bar graphs, and they use these graphs to solve story problems. Students also learn a tool called a tape diagram to help them understand the relationship between addition and subtraction and to solve problems.

Try This at Home

"Make a Ten" Card Game

Grab a deck of cards (face cards removed, aces = 1). Flip over one card — say it's a 7. Ask your child, "What number goes with 7 to make 10?" They should say 3. Then flip two more cards and have them add all three together using the "make a ten" strategy. For example, if you flip 7, 4, and 3, they might say: "7 and 3 make 10, then 10 + 4 = 14!"

This directly mirrors the strategy from Section A — breaking apart numbers to make a ten first, then adding what's left — and it turns fluency practice into a quick game families can play in 5 minutes.

You could also try this with dice or even just calling out numbers during car rides — no materials needed!