December 2025 - Grade 2

Second Grade

Mr. Davydov + Mr. Adams

Ms. Salmon

Ms. Johnson

❄️ DECEMBER 2025 ❄️

Unit of Inquiry

Unit Theme: Where We Are In Place and Time

Description: An inquiry into histories and orientation in place, space, and time through: Communities, heritage, culture and environment

Central Idea: Communities work best when everyone has a role and follows rules

Lines of Inquiry:

1. How different roles and rules help a community work smoothly (function)

2. How communities grow, adapt, and change over time (change)

3. Why communities develop rules and what happens when rules are not followed (causation)

Unit Description

Specified Concepts

Function- Students will focus on the role of different community members. They will think deeply about their overall importance to the community.

Causation- Students will think about how the role of community members impacts others directly.

Approaches to Learning

Research- Students will research different community members using a variety of media. They will gather information by watching videos, reading books, and viewing interviews with community members. Students will take organized notes to record important facts and deepen their understanding.

Thinking- Students will use their thinking skills to make sense of the information they collect. They will participate in chalk talks and gallery walks to analyze ideas, make connections, and build new understanding about different community members.

Learner Profile Attributes: Open-minded, thinkers, and risk-takers

Risk-Takers

Students were very courageous during math. Students were given tools and were asked to use their own strategies to answer the word problem. After students had productive struggle they were invited to share out their strategies to see if they were successful.

Open-Minded: Students showed they were Open-Minded by thinking about ways they can be community helpers. Within our unit of community helpers, we learned that not only firefighters, doctors, or police officers can be community helpers, but students themselves could be community helpers. Students brainstormed ways being a community helper can be applied in their neighborhood and school setting.

Thinkers

Students showed what they learned during writing. After spending some time researching community members, students worked together to engage in a chalk talk. During this time students shared out what they learned about community members during their research block through silent communication. Students also had the opportunity to comment on other responses and reflect on their thinking.

Language Policy

All teachers in Our World Neighborhood Charter Schools are language teachers. We believe language is the key to all learning. Language learning is a lifelong process and essential in developing interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Furthermore, we believe that all students should have the opportunity to learn multiple languages and that home languages should be honored.

This month of October, we focused on teaching students greetings in different languages, such as Italian, German, and Japanese. In November, students will receive the opportunity to give a presentation to a different class in regards to what they have learned with these specific greetings and reflect on their importance.