The Thunder Bolt

Grade 2 is an important year of growth when students are becoming more mature, learning how to interact with one another and the world while also becoming better students.

The Bolt spoke with Concordia International School Hanoi’s Grade 2 teachers, Mrs. Richmond and Mrs. Stapley, about how they incorporate being a good friend, neighbor, and citizen into their class curriculum.

Mrs. Stapley:
“In second grade, students really start to develop social awareness. That's why we spend a lot of time talking about ‘how can I be a person that contributes to my society?’

Mrs. Richmond:
“At the beginning of the year, second graders are starting to push boundaries and interact with one another in a more active way. Socialization is very important to them. However they often don't understand the idea that somebody might be different from them, or have different preferences.

“We introduce the idea that everybody’s different, and that’s okay. And we discuss ‘how do we work with our differences to form a better community.’ Throughout the year, we discuss the question, ‘how do my actions affect my community when other people are different from me?’

“We start the year with Geography. Our Geography unit centers around the idea of ‘where am I in the world, and what do I know about the place that I’m in?’ We start on a larger scale and then move to their neighborhood in Hanoi.

“Then we move to our culture unit, where we talk about the differences between cultures and between social atmospheres. For example, the difference between a grocery store and a wet market. From there, we get to our Government unit, where we talk about: “How do all these different people operate together? How can they actually come together and form something that benefits everyone that’s different?’

Mrs. Stapley:
“A lot of our social studies focus is on moving outside of the self. Our Government unit is about ‘how can I contribute to society? If I give something, can I get something in return?’ We learn concepts like supply and demand. Ideas  like ‘I do a job, I receive money, then I can use that to buy food or buy a toy.’

“A lot of our curriculum involves group work. In math, for example, a lot of our practice happens through the application of games. They need to know how to function with other people so the game can be played in a way that makes sense, and everyone is getting what they need out of it. We understand that rules have to be fair, so we're kind of navigating with them through ‘how do I play in a way that's fair?’

“We have some open-response questions in math as well. On day one, the students answer on their own. Then on day two, the teachers choose a couple of their responses, and the students are asked to respond to them. They say something like ‘I disagree because’ or ‘I agree because.’

“Students are given these prompts to learn how to respond to someone else’s work, and it also teaches them how to accept that ‘someone doesn't necessarily agree with what I've said.’”

Mrs. Richmond:
“Students learn how to give criticism in a kind way and how to accept criticism so that they can improve. In all of our classes, we develop the idea of relying on each other and supporting one another.

“In math, when you're playing games or working on an assignment, you're often working with someone else. So students ask for help from a partner to work through the problems together and figure them out.

“In reading, for example, we spend a lot of time on how to work with a partner on how to communicate. We give them prompts that they can start with—sentence starters that will help them have conversations that have depth and help them learn. 

“We also have book clubs. When you get stuck or when you're having a problem, you can ask the other people who are reading the same book for help and support. It's that idea that we all rely on each other in order to do better.

“We often have lessons that integrate a social-emotional focus. We take time in class to practice how to resolve a conflict when they have a problem with somebody.”

Mrs. Stapley:
“We do a lot of working in teams—even in our bug hunt, they have to work as a team. This can be hard for them because you have different personalities that are not necessarily agreeing about how to accomplish the task, but they have to work together.

“We read books about how to get along with someone. We have read-aloud time every day, and the first couple of weeks, we spend time reading books about how to be a good friend, how to work in a group, and how we are all a community. We want them to understand that we are all working together to make second grade a good place to be.

“We also model that really well. Our kids can see that all five of us—the teachers, TAs, and (EAL teacher) Mr. Chua— work together and are constantly asking each other for help.”

Mrs. Richmond:
“Even in science labs, you work with at least one partner, and often you're working with a group. One example is students designing a way to prevent erosion, working with a whole group who can contribute ideas. They need to respect each other’s views, because they will find the best plan by working together and combining ideas. 

Mrs. Stapley:
“How do I talk to my partners after I've had an idea? How do I talk to my partners about ‘I like this out of yours and this piece is good, so let's put them together.’

“That's another tricky thing for second graders—having the right words to express what they really mean. That's something we help them with a lot, and we give them a script for how to have an effective conversation.

“It's really about ‘how can we work together and how do we do that in a way that is effective, helpful, and respectful?’”

Learn more about Concordia’s elementary school program