In second grade, Moses Brown students are becoming confident and engaged readers, writers, speakers, and listeners.  Some students are learning to read, while others are beginning to read for learning.  These skills grow at different rates in every child, and we regularly assess students’ progress to ensure they’re getting the right level of challenge to...

At every step of the way, we encourage children to use a variety of problem-solving strategies so they’ll have something else to try if their main approach doesn’t work.  This builds both confidence and resilience, and we ask them always to explain their work.  This can reveal hidden errors and strengths that might have gone...

Second grade constantly reinforces the idea that stories are central to cultural development, draws attention to the relationship between humans and our environment, and appreciates the diversity of human culture. The year begins with a study of the origins of the Olympic games, ancient Greek myths, and an introduction to the  Special Olympics (complete with...

Second graders are passionate sponges for information. Developmentally, they love order and facts. They are extremely luck to have their own Rigamajig™ kit, a giant engineering tool and toy that invites kids to create, build and collaborate. Second graders spent two months using the kit in our Y-Lab space to design structures that can answer...

The iPhone is older than today’s second graders.  In addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, today’s students need to learn how to create digital programs, not just consume them.  Coding introduces students to the process of computational thinking, in which students break a problem down and express a solution in steps that a computer can...

Twice a week, second graders spend 45 minutes with Simone Ahlborn, exploring Spanish language and culture through a literature-based curriculum.  With stories, songs, and games that reinforce thematic vocabulary, children begin elementary Spanish.  Each lesson begins with a greeting and some basic calendar and geography work on the ‘country of the week’ (en español, Naturalmente)....

In second grade, children visit the wood shop each week to learn how to safely use hand tools to make the ideas in their heads into real objects.  They make plans, organize steps, and learn to follow the instructions they’ve devised themselves to create a marionette made of separate, movable parts.  Using coping saws, sanding...