What We Learn

Below is a condensed version of the State of Texas curriculum for second grade. This is not every standard taught in second grade. It is provided to help you become familiar with what your child should know and be able to do at the end of second grade so that you can reinforce and support what your child is learning at school. 

Reading/Language Arts
 By the end of second grade, your child should be able to:
-identify plot, setting, and character
-determine cause and effect
-draw conclusions and predict outcomes
-use the glossary and the table of contents of a book
-write a personal narrative
-write descriptive paragraphs by using complete sentences
-use correct form when writing a letter
-recognize that words can have more than one meaning
-identify various genres
-spell all memory words to spell
- read all pattern words to read
 
Mathematics
The goal is for students to be proficient in basic skills, develop conceptual understanding, and be skillful problem-solvers.  Math instruction for second grade will include:
Problem Solving (real world problems)
Place Value  (ones to thousands) 
Number Concepts and Relationships  (compose and decompose numbers up to 1,200)
Recall basic facts to add and subtract (Students are expected to recall basic addition and subtraction facts within 20 automatically.)  
3-Digit Addition and Subtraction
Money  (coins up to $1.00)
Graphing (create and interpreting picture and bar graphs)
Telling Time  (read and write time to the minute)
Multiplication and Division
Geometry
Fractions
 
Science
By the end of second grade, your child should explore a variety of concepts in the life, earth, and physical sciences, which include:
-structures of animals, life cycles of animals and habitats of animals 
-weather and changes in weather
-properties of solids, liquids and gases, changes in matter, and
-properties of magnets
 
Social Studies
 By the end of second grade, your child should be able to:
-explain the need for leaders and laws, define associated terms

-demonstrate cooperation and responsibility

-construct simple maps using scale, cardinal directions, and map 
symbols

-identify the earth's resources and their importance 

-compare rural, urban, and suburban communities 

-identify various businesses and their roles providing services or 
goods to the community

-exposure to basic economics related to private enterprises such as factories, manufacturers and retail stores.