Grade 2 Curriculum

In the second grade Focus on Second (Fo2) curriculum, students are guided by their teachers to deeply analyze meaningful topics. Fo2 structures opportunities for children and adults to work together to analyze texts, ideas, images, structures, works of art, and words. Students investigate Science and Engineering topics, consider stories of history and community, and experiment with new and familiar materials to communicate powerful ideas through multi-dimensional projects.

 

Over the course of the school year, children and teachers embark on four in-depth studies:

Unit 1: How We Learn in our School Communities
Unit 2: The Forces of Wind and Water
Unit 3: Connecting Places, Connecting People
Unit 4: The Power of Pollinators

 

Each study spans eight weeks, integrating learning in literacy, science, social studies, and arts and culminating with projects that both keep the topics close to the learners and push the children out into the community. Each topic is carried by identified Big Ideas and Guiding Questions; Weekly Questions bring these into clearer focus and connect the curriculum components. The first unit is designed to begin in the first full week of school and thus includes support for establishing the classroom community—the most important work of the beginning of any school year. The units are propelled by text analysis and discussion and supported by content-specific vocabulary. Development of understanding around the topic of study runs parallel with the development of specific skills in communication (reading, writing, listening, and speaking); the two are critically interconnected. Within each unit of study are two distinct Writing units, with focus on a particular genre and contributing to children’s development, expansion, and communication of ideas.

For more detailed information on the specifics of the FOCUS on Second (Grade 2) curriculum, click here.

 

The Grade 2 curriculum of Illustrative Mathematics is designed to enhance students' understanding of the base-ten number system, improve fluency in addition and subtraction, introduce standard units of measure, and develop skills in describing and analyzing shapes. Each unit connects to and extends ideas from previous units, weaving a coherent mathematical narrative throughout the year. The Illustrative Math Curriculum uses a problem-based learning approach, ensuring that students not only master grade-level content but also develop critical, lifelong cognitive skills. This methodology deepens conceptual understanding, promotes active learning, and fosters skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and perseverance. The curriculum is designed to be student-centered, encouraging inquiry, collaboration, and active engagement with challenging real-world problems.

 

The curriculum is divided into 9 units:

 

 This unit focuses on developing fluency in addition and subtraction within 20 and solving story problems using categorical data, building on the concepts introduced in Grade 1. It introduces picture and bar graphs, and tape diagrams for comparison problems, setting a foundation for understanding complex arithmetic and data representation.

 

Students enhance their skills in addition and subtraction within 100, employing strategies based on place value. This unit builds on concepts from Grade 1 and earlier units, preparing students for future complex calculations.

 

The unit introduces measuring and estimating lengths using standard units, along with solving measurement-related story problems. Transitioning from non-standard to standard units, this unit lays the groundwork for more advanced measurement and data representation skills.

 

This unit helps students understand the structure of a number line and utilize it to represent numbers, sums, and differences within 100. It connects to previous units on arithmetic, prepping for advanced number line applications.

 

Extending place value understanding to three-digit numbers, this unit covers hundreds as a unit, various representations of three-digit numbers, and using place value for comparison, thus building on earlier arithmetic concepts.

 

Students develop reasoning skills with shapes, learn to partition shapes into equal shares, tell time, and solve money-related story problems. Integrating geometry from Grade 1, this unit also introduces basic fractions and practical skills like time and money management.

 

This unit delves into using place value understanding for addition and subtraction within 1,000. Building on concepts from earlier units, it prepares students for complex arithmetic operations in later grades.

 

Focused on equal groups as a foundation for multiplication, this unit explores even and odd numbers, rectangular arrays, and shape partitioning, linking to addition and setting the stage for multiplication in Grade 3.

 

This final unit consolidates the year’s learning, applying skills in various contexts. It integrates concepts from all previous units, ensuring comprehensive understanding and readiness for subsequent grade levels.

 

For more detailed information about Grade 2 Illustrative Mathematics, please click here.