2nd Grade Curriculum

Your second grader is going to have so much fun in the Library this year!  We kick the year off by creating a student-generated list of library rules and expectations to set the tone for our learning.  Then we hop right into some great thematic units!  We begin the year by exploring biographies using the database PebbleGo.  Students independently explore biographies of their choice as they practice independent note-taking skills.  From there, students interview a person of their choice over Thanksgiving Break and create a biography about their person based on their research.  Best of all, I collate all of their work into our very own grade-level book of biographies that becomes part of our permanent circulating library collection!  Next, we move into an engaging unit on Letter Writing, where we read books that contain examples of different letter styles before we write authentic letters of our own in each style.  Finally, we end the year by exploring Fables.  First, we learn about the origins and characteristics of this genre, and then we focus on exploring the author's purpose by figuring out morals and lessons.  Once we have mastered that skill, students will end the year by designing and writing their own fables for another circulating class book for our library collection. 

Here is an overview of topics/books we will cover this year:

• September, Library Orientation

  • Welcome to Library

    • Group generated list of rules & expectations

• September & October, Fall Biographies with PebbleGo

  • Authors

  • Athletes

  • Presidents & First Ladies

• November & December, Writing Biographies

  • Writing about Ourselves (autobiographies)

  • Writing About Others (biography project)

    • Class Created Biography Book

• January, Letter Writing Unit

  • Dear Mrs. LaRue (formal letters)

  • I Wanna New Room (persuasive letters)

  • Dear Yeti (friendly letters)

• February, Citizenship through the lens of MLK (PebbleGo)

  • March On!

  • As Good As Anyone

  • My Brother Martin

• March & April, Fables Unit

  • Boy Who Cried Wolf

  • Wolf Who Cried Boy

  • Name That Moral! in 3 parts

• May & June, Fable Writing Unit

  • Choose a moral

  • Choose your characters: What human characteristics do animals have?

  • Choose a problem

  • Write Your Fable