WELCOME TO SECOND GRADE! We are very excited about many things here in second grade this year. We make salt dough maps to demonstrate our knowledge of landforms and cook egg drop soup to enhance our study of solids, liquids and gases.

Our students always enjoy our Fine Arts Field Trip to see the " Frog Prince", a performance performed with puppets. Of course a year would not be complete without a trip to the Outdoor Learning Center, which emphasizes our Integrated unit on evidence in our world.

Every day is exciting here!

OUR SECOND GRADE TEACHERS Planning Time 1:50pm - 2:40pm Belinda Gardner - Team Leader This school year begins my 15th year at Forman Elementary.  I have seen first hand the high quality of education that Plano ISD provides, not only from the viewpoint of a teacher but also from the perspective of a parent. The teachers at all levels endeavor daily to provide the best education they can. I believe that these teachers, along with myself, truly enjoy working with the students and watching them realize their full potential starting with kindergarten and going all the way to senior high. I am married and I have three children that all attended Plano schools. email:Belinda.Gardner@pisd.edu Ext 21254 Joice Gomes This will be my fourth year teaching at Forman. I feel very blessed to work with a team that is dedicated in making sure every student learns and feels nurtured. I feel the greatest amount of accomplishment when I see a student learn, grow, and enjoy school. This year I have set a personal goal to make sure every student reaches their potential in my classroom. When I am not at school teaching I like to spend time with my family, my friends, read, and travel whenever possible. I hope to instill the love of learning in my students and make lifelong connections that will build from having a trusting relationship with parents and students!  email:Joice.Gomes@pisd.edu Ext 21256 Victoria Jones I have been with the Forman family for two years now.  I taught kindergarten and now have the honor of teaching second grade with the same kiddos from my first year of teaching!  I graduated from the University of North Texas and hope to return soon for my Masters.  I got married this past March to my best friend since middle school.  We have two cats and one rabbit.  I enjoy being at home and spending time with my family. email:Victoria.Jones@pisd.edu Ext 21253 Carolina Moreno This is my eighth year teaching at Forman. I grew up in Venezuela. I came to the United States to study at Kansas University. Due to my family moving, I finished my Bachelors in Computer Science at The University of Texas at Dallas. I decided to get into teaching because I love to work with children. It is so much fun to see how much a student can grow academically in just one year.  I am married, and I have one daughter, who attended Forman during her elementary years. When I'm not busy with school, I enjoy cooking and spending time with my family. email: Carolina Moreno@pisd.edu Ext 21255 Sharon Williams I have been teaching second grade at Forman Elementary for 11 years. I attended Plano schools from kindergarten through high school. I graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. I am married and have two children. I love children and truly enjoy teaching second grade! My goal each year is to teach every child that their learning has no limits... that they can achieve anything they want to do in life. email: Sharon.A.Williams@pisd.edu Ext 21231 Beatriz Olivares This is my first year teaching. I enjoy working with kids and learning from them. I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico and moved to the U.S. at the age of 17.  I attended Texas Tech University and graduated with a degree in Business Administration. I have two children of my own and they are my motivation for turning my career into teaching. I am bilingual and love being in an environment where I can use my language abilities.  In my free time, I like to read, spend time with my family, and travel.  email:Beatriz.Olivares@pisd.edu Ext 21257

SECOND GRADE CURRICULUM  

1ST NINE WEEKS
Language Arts: We will focus on spelling, reading comprehension (story elements), vocabulary, and higher order thinking skills. Students will begin to develop a sense for writing personal narratives as they focus on forming a main idea including details with correct capitals and punctuation.

Math
We will be investigating number patterns, putting numbers together and taking them apart (addition and subtraction), graphing our everyday activities, and exploring strategies to solve problems.

Integrated
We will focus on learning about Systems and how they help us connect in our world. We will discuss the classroom as a system, its parts and what keeps it working effectively. The students will also study and locate landforms and bodies of water on maps/globes. They will explore the different states of matter and observe how matter is affected by heat and ice.

2ND NINE WEEKS
Language Arts: Second graders will continue to focus on vocabulary, spelling, oral retelling of a story, reading fluency, and comprehension strategies. We will begin persuasive letter writing and explanatory narratives. For an explanatory narrative, they will write instructions that follow a sequence of events to explain how to do or make something. They will continue to develop main ideas and details with complete sentences, capital letters, and punctuation.

Math
We will be counting coins to $1.00, telling time, finding place value in numbers, and applying logical reasoning to solve problems accurately.

Integrated
Our students will learn about "Balance and Stability" as they begin to explore the various habitats of our world and the living things that inhabit them. We identify the need to preserve these habitats as a means to protect endangered animals. To enhance their learning, second graders will be going to the Dallas Zoo for a field trip in October. We will also explore "Diversity" as students learn about other countries, their cultures, languages and how they are similar and different from us.

3RD NINE WEEKS
Language Arts: Second graders will continue to work on vocabulary, spelling, reading fluency and comprehension strategies, and grammar (nouns, verbs, synonyms, etc). We start expository writing (research paper) using various resources, such as the encyclopedia, internet, books, etc., to gather information as we focus on writing multiple paragraphs with main ideas and details.

Math
We will learn how to use place value to add or subtract 2-digit numbers with or without regrouping. Students will identify and describe attributes of different geometric shapes and solids. They will use data to describe events as more likely or less likely (probability), analyze and interpret graphs and word problems.

Integrated
We start the third nine weeks looking at "Communication." In this unit, second graders investigate the qualities of a leader and their impact on the world in which we live. Students will search for these leadership qualities in themselves and brainstorm ways they can impact their world. Following Communication, second graders begin a unit on "Interdependence." They discover the interdependent roles of consumers and producers.

4TH NINE WEEKS
Language Arts: Second graders will continue to work on vocabulary, spelling, reading fluency and comprehension strategies, and grammar (adjectives, adverbs, suffixes, contractions, antonyms, etc). Story narratives become the emphasis of writing for the last nine weeks. Students develop the setting, characters, problems, events, and solutions for their own creative compositions.

Math
The students will learn to name fractional parts of a whole, identify and use varied forms of measurement, develop a foundation for multiplication and division, analyze and apply problem solving strategies, as well as re-examining previous math concepts.

Integrated
Second graders continue the unit on "Interdependence" focusing on raw materials and the processes they undergo to become the products that consumers use. In March, we explore the terms rural, suburban, and urban. Second graders will journey along the DART light rail to Union Station as they search for evidence of these things. This leads us right into our last unit, "Evidence." We will investigate evidence from the past, such as fossils, and examine what these tell us of the past. The highlight of this unit will be a visit to Plano's Outdoor Learning Center to gather evidence of time, people, weather, and animals in nature.