There's a lot to love about this newly expanded book in the Picture-Perfect Science series: You can combine STEM and reading through appealing lessons that are just right for your second-grade students. Also, reading comprehension strategies are embedded in all 12 of the ready-to-teach lessons, 11 of which are updated and one brand-new. The goal…

An open-ended assignment to "make something" out of cardboard was a good fit for a half-day camp class of children in kindergarten, first, and second grades where the first goal was to have fun while learning. Given the opportunity to make something of their own design for their own purposes out of cardboard, the children persisted while…

PEOE (predict, explain, observe, explain) is a strategy that supports conceptual change (Dial et al. 2009). "Conceptual change" is a process through which students can change their understandings, ideas, or beliefs (diSessa 1993; Konicek-Moran and Keeley 2015). This style of lesson allows students to express their scientific ideas…

By breaking down "fronteras" (borders) in classroom instruction, educators can interrupt and examine the interactions and discourses that create separations and alienations among people. The authors describe an effective instructional approach used in a second-grade class and modified for a class of preservice teachers.

This article describes second graders in a predominantly white suburban school who were assigned to ask their grandparents to write about their experiences during the Civil Rights Movement. The letters bring surprising wisdom--and some thought-provoking issues--to the classroom. The author found that the power of the primary source documents…

Like teachers in many countries with a national curriculum and standardized testing, South Korean teachers find it challenging to include in their curriculums knowledge students will need in the future that doesn't fall within the purview of tested areas. The arts education, character education, environmental education, geography, and education…

Stonier, a second grade inclusion teacher, wanted to instill a love of writing in all 25 of the children in his class while offering a challenging curriculum for everyone. He made the children's writing meaningful by setting up a writing exchange with high school students. The project, beginning with the second-graders offering critiques of the…

Discusses the "Report in a Can" research process that focuses on the successful gathering of data, and outlines its four major steps. Argues for engaging primary students in well-planned research assignments. Describes how to create a "Report in a Can." (SG)

Describes a biography writing project in which second- and fifth-grade students interview each other and write biographical sketches. Explains that this project helps to develop students' reading and writing skills, uses cross-age mentoring, and introduces students to biographical research and writing. Includes a list of ten biographies for…

Describes two activities in a second-grade class that use drawing and writing to explore fractions. (SR)

Describes an art lesson that focuses on developing second-grade students' basic computer drawing skills. Explains that the students created a picture using shapes and copied their artworks onto the computer using a stylus. States that the students also wrote a story to accompany their computer pictures. (CMK)