Second Grade math can almost be viewed as a capstone for much of the content students have learned throughout the Kindergarten and First Grade math careers. This is the final year of math instruction that lays a heavy emphasis on the operations of addition and subtraction and deepening understanding of whole numbers, before students pivot to a focus on multiplicative and fractional thinking in Third Grade and beyond.

In Second Grade, students continue to build onto the base of number sense they developed in K-1 and expand their understanding of how numbers can be joined, seperated, compared, and flexibly represented to become more confident and creative operational thinkers. They solidify their understanding that numbers can be used to solve quantitative and real world problems and they expand their strategy toolkits for solving said problems. They deeply explore place value-- thinking about the value of digits within larger numbers -- and connecting these abstract numerical representations to concrete hands on manipulatives (cubes, tiles, and base ten blocks) to build visual anchors for larger quantities. They solve problems within 1000 by applying their understanding of models for addition and subtraction, and they develop, discuss, and use efficient, accurate, and generalizable methods to compute sums and differences of whole numbers in base-ten notation, using their understanding of place value and the properties of operations. They select and accurately apply methods that are appropriate for the context and the numbers involved to mentally calculate sums and differences for numbers with only tens or only hundreds.

Students also explore describing the world around them using geometric ideas and through concepts of measurement and data. In geometry, they build onto their work in first grade of thinking about defining attributes by learning to analyze shapes by examining their sides and angles. Students investigate, describe, and reason about decomposing and combining shapes to make other shapes which builds a base for fractional work in third grade. Through building, drawing, and analyzing two- and three-dimensional shapes, students develop a foundation for understanding area, volume, congruence, similarity, and symmetry in later grades. Within measurement, students recognize the need for standard units of measure (centimeter and inch) and they use rulers and other measurement tools with the understanding that linear measure involves an iteration of units. They recognize that the smaller the unit, the more iterations they need to cover a given length. Again, this work is the base they will build on next year when learning about fractions.

By the end of Second Grade, students will have strengthened their use of precise mathematical language to explain and justify their thinking as well as to analyze the thinking of others. They will have spent time examining the strategies of their teammates and comparing different ways to approach the same problem. They will have learned flexible strategies for solving real world problems and they will be able to apply their number sense and place value understandings to situations in their day-to-day lives. They will have learned that they are mathematicians and that math is for everyone. We are all math people!