WHAT IS TAUGHT GRADE 2?

Grade 2 learners will be expected to have an understanding and knowledge of basic skills in language, arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The main skills that teachers will develop are listening, reading, and writing skills.

These are fundamental survival skills children learn in Grade 2, which will assist them in the fast-paced world we live in today:

• Critical thinking

• Problem solving

• The ability to communicate well

• Being able to collaborate with others

• Creativity

The classroom can be found in the second block of the school which provides learners with a playground because of where the classroom is situated. When you enter the classroom, the teacher's desk is situated directly behind the door an on the wall to your right is the blackboard . This classroom does not have a whiteboard or a pull-down sheet board for digital work. however there is a projector in the classroom that is not in use as the teacher mostly does board work. There are 40 learners in the classroom who are divided into pairs  - into 3 rows across the classroom vertically. 

Each learner has their own chair bag which holds their coloring book, number charts, readers, and workbook. Learners are not grouped by their academic performance as the teacher prefers that students try and assist one another. At the back of the classroom is the teacher’s desk and where all resources and materials are found that are used for lessons besides the library nook which is placed at the front of the classroom for easy access when conducting Guided Reading Lessons. However, the mat where those lessons take place on is rolled up and placed at the back of the classroom in order to not take up space that could be utilized in the classroom. The classroom is decorated by many Grade 2 appropriate posters that are in isiXhosa, Afrikaans and English. These posters include the daily chart which the teacher uses in her daily routine which shows learners the day, the previous day, the day after as well as the date and month. There are posters that describe the weather and list the ABC’s including images of words that start with each respective letter of the alphabet as well as self-portraits that the learners did in the beginning of the year as part of a Life Skills Lesson, as well as a more recent poster completed by the learners based around a Life Skills topic – Autumn. The teacher does have an extra lined board which she used to demonstrate to learners how to write in their lined books when they first started transitioning from free handwriting to more structured writing. The teacher has a little watering pot filled with extra stationery for any learners who have either lost some crayons or do not have. Fortunately, I had my own little station which I used to make notes, which was placed at the back of the classroom next to the teacher’s desk. The teacher has her own shelves and organizational system in the back of the classroom that is used to store learner’s class books, activities, and other administrative works.