Naomi Meredith  00:00

What should a 2nd grade STEM curriculum look like? In this episode, I am sharing with you an overview of the year for a 2nd grade STEM curriculum, the breakdown of a typical week and the top three things in my opinion a 2nd grader should walk away with after being in a STEM classroom a full year. This is part three of a six-part series where I am breaking down each grade level in K through five when it comes to a STEM curriculum. Whether you are a STEM teacher, a classroom teacher, or a specialist that teaches STEM, there is a lot of useful information in here to help you with your 2nd grade STEM curriculum.

Naomi Meredith  01:09

If you haven't already, you can go back and listen to the first two episodes in this six-part series where I talked about how the this structure works for my Kindergarten students, and my first grade students. I walked into my K-5 STEM space with minimal tools and zero curriculum and only being a classroom teacher before with a lot of different experience to teaching different grade levels. So it is overwhelming. It is a lot of work. And you are typically the only person by yourself trying to figure this out. And that has been a huge mission of me creating this podcast and creating the resources that I actually teach my students. Because I am impacting the students in my classroom, but also you and your students. I don't want you to feel the way that I felt. It's a lot of work. I've been trying to document this for you to make it so much easier. So with that in mind, I have something special coming out for you. This is brand new to me brand new to you, and it is five years in the making, and I want you to benefit from it. I invite you to join me live on May 9, 2023. And if you can't join live, it will be recorded and sent to you. So make sure you jump in on this link so that you get this special recording. I am going to break down how I have this whole year and how I really go through planning this whole year with K through five. So I'm breaking down all the grade levels right now but how does this work as a whole entire year. So join me in on this masterclass and there are some awesome goodies in there that I will be talking about. So again, you don't want to miss out, you can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/special. And you'll be sent the link to that masterclass where you can join in or if you want to listen to the recording later, you are definitely going to love this and you don't want to miss out. I am here for you and I don't want you to feel overwhelmed. I'm here every step of the way with all of these things and more coming up. If you're listening too after this date, you can still use the same link and it will still be sent to you. So don't worry about that. 

Naomi Meredith  01:52

In this episode, we're talking about 2nd grade STEM. And here's a little bit more about my story. So when I first started teaching, I actually got a job at the school I student taught at. In my college program, they connected with partnering districts and we were placed in our schools. So we then get a choice as to where we got to be. So I student taught in various grade levels Kindergarten, first and third grade. I ended up getting a job in 2nd grade and it was a Title one school. It was a big learning curve, but it definitely made me a way better teacher. And I had the best team that I ever had. We hung out together, divided up the curriculum, take turns on who would be planning what, analyze data together, and shared students. We were so connected and so involved and it's one of the best teams I've ever worked with. So if any of you are listening, you know who you are. So it was an amazing experience. And I am so glad that I got to meet those wonderful ladies and had some awesome students back then. So, 2nd grade definitely has a special place in my heart not my favorite grade, but it's very special to me. I definitely understand 2nd graders. So first I'm going to talk about the overview of a year. If you've listened to the past two episodes, you're going to hear those similar themes and you're going to hear them in the other grade levels. When I am planning my units I plan with a progression of learning in mind. So when we are all doing STEM survival camp in August, everybody K through five is doing STEM survival camp. When we're doing 3D printing, everybody's doing 3D printing. So it really is taking that differentiated and broad spectrum of learning in mind. So keep that in mind when you're listening to all these projects, and how they are sprinkled in throughout the year. If you want to see a breakdown of my year, you can grab it at naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan. It's completely free, and you can see all the lessons are linked in there and the different standards that I teach. I've mentioned this before, there's going to be a lot more updates in this upcoming year just based on what I have done with my students, and things that are working and things I'm modifying. So grab that now. And then I'll share with you guys too when it's updated. And you can see all that fun stuff. So let's jump into the overview of a year when it comes to second grade. 

Naomi Meredith  05:53

As I just said, we start off the year with STEM survival camp. And this is one of my favorites. If you want to hear more about STEM survival camp, go back and listen to episode four, it is a very fun one. And I even decorate my room a little bit for it. So we start off the year with STEM survival camp, and they use some items from my classroom and some items from nature to complete the challenge. And in 2nd grade, their challenge is protect the food challenge. So they have to create an invention that will keep the food safe if they were camping. And this is a small prototype, it's not huge. So it's a small version of what the real version could be. Once we are accustomed with each other. And by this time, I've already had them for two years. So we're on to year three, and we move into digital citizenship. And I talked about this before. Digital citizenship is important to teach all year. I used to teach digital citizenship first. But then I realized we needed that first month to really get acquainted with one another. So I switched it up and that's why I actually do digital citizenship second. So in 2nd grade, we talk a lot about private and personal information. So what is information that we should keep safe, and to ourselves that private information, if we wouldn't tell a stranger in person, we're not going to tell them those things online. And then we go into what is that personal information, what could be true about anybody, this closely aligns to what the Common Sense Media curriculum is talking about. And then I give it that my own STEM twist in the classroom. So students build their own version of what a computer could look like. And then they have moving on their screen, different things that are personal, that could be true about anybody, and would be safe to share if they were to share any information. Obviously, sharing nothing is best. But there are some times where that happens. And so we talk about what that information is safe to share. Next, we move into our Maker month, and we talk about Earth systems. So how all of those connect together. And in 2nd grade, they have a standard that talks about how the land changes, and we've really zoned in on that water erosion. I know that's not the only type of erosion, but that's the one that we zone in on. So I talked about the different kinds of erosion. And then we're really thinking about how we can slow down or stop water erosion. So through their research with the articles that I wrote for them, and their thoughtful planning, they design an invention that will help them slow down or stop water erosion. And we test their designs either inside using dirt in buckets. Or if the weather's nice enough, I'm in Colorado, so you have no idea what's gonna happen, or we'll test our designs outside. After that we're in November, kids are comfortable, they are using more technology. They're more used to me as the teacher, and we move into our sensational space unit. And it's all about video and audio production. We talk about green screen in 2nd grade. And they are definitely old enough to do green screen and do the editing on their own. I'm not doing the editing for them. I'll do an episode in the future more about green screen. I know I've talked about video and audio production in different ways, specifically a lot about podcasting. But I definitely will plan some green screen because I know a lot of you might be interested in that. So we talk about green screen. And their green screen is all about Earth events. So how things on earth can change through either earthquakes, volcanoes, a lot of those things that we might think about as natural disasters. So we talk about those Earth changes. After that we move into the era of code. And like I mentioned in the other two episodes, it's still great to do the Hour of Code if possible during the month of December. There's so many resources out there and when it comes to the Hour of Code, so make sure to go and check out that episode my Hour of Code podcast episode, and I break more of that down for you. But this is when students in 2nd grade are getting into more hour coding. So before and first in Kindergarten, they're doing more directional coding or coding with pictures. And so kids are moving into a little bit harder coding with more multi-steps, maybe they're adding in more of loops. And maybe they're adding in a different type of coding language. So they're doing a little bit more written. They're doing a little bit more of block coding when it comes to words written on the blocks. After that, we take that coding knowledge, and we're into January, and we do some robotics. So we move into an animal migration unit, where we talk about different ways that animals migrate throughout the year and the reasons why. So students will research using the articles I gave them. And they will code the migration pathway of certain animals that we talked about. And they will code that pathway to where they migrate to, and they have to get them back home. So they have very specific maps with those locations. Sometimes I'll have them actually put those locations on the map. But with time, I also have maps that have the locations for them. And then they have to figure out the coding that goes along with it. Next in February, I move on to 3D printing. So students have more skills, and they're ready for the next step. And for students in 2nd grade, this is where I try out Tinkercad. So again, you can hear more about 3D printing and my 3D printing episode. And students may use Tinkercad to design a custom birdhouse to help animals in the area. And when I print these out, all of my designs are super small, so it's more of a prototype of what the birdhouse could look like. And they could actually build the real thing at home. So they get really proud of themselves. Because they're using a different program that they haven't used in second grade, they use something else in first grade. So that's very exciting for them. After that, we move into LEGO builds. And again, I have a kit, they only had for a short amount of time, they probably have something similar and it's a simple machines kit. But you can replace this with any LEGO kit that you have. So I mentioned in the first grade episode, the LEGO spike essential kit is awesome. So it works for first through fifth grade. Or maybe you have a random collection of LEGO bricks and then maybe think about planning something that would be specific to that grade level. Also, I would say the LEGO wedo 2.0. If you have those kits, I think a lot of us might have those, those are still great as well. I would also recommend using those with 2nd grade. So during this spring state testing time, LEGO education kits are a great refresh. If you have more time or depending on the time, I will do stop motion animation. It depends when we did green screen. And that's just a different type of video production. So maybe I want them to do more animation if we have time. And we will create a stop motion animation all about pollinators, and the different pollinators out there and how they actually help and why they are important. And finally, we end the year with STEM-musement park and I think this is one of my most favorite, STEM-musement park lessons. I'm a little bit biased because my Teacher Honey is a girl's High School golf coach. And fun fact, we met at a golf course and he didn't help me with any golf and I'm horrible at golf and I actually worked on a golf course. So I have some like background on golf but not really. And so for this lesson, 2nd graders create their own mini golf course. And we use our Makerspace supplies again. And then they test each other's designs. So that is a breakdown of what I actually teach 2nd grade throughout the year. 

Naomi Meredith  17:10

So let's talk about what does an actual week look like. So again, if you want to join in on my K-2 STEM planning workshop, you can actually see how I break down a unit when it comes to planning standards. And if you want to implement STEM stations, I did a lot more STEM stations with my 2nd graders my first three years in this position. My schedule looked a lot different and I didn't have as much time to do things with kids. So I would switch off between STEM stations, and also doing a mini project with them. The last two years in my STEM position I have taught the kids K through five for the full week. So I have the same six classes every day for a week. And so I haven't had to do much stations. My kids are more used to me and we can actually do bigger projects. So the projects I would say lasts between three to four days. And then the fifth day is kind of like a makeup day slash free time. It just depends on the class and what is going on throughout the week. So when it comes to that water erosion project that I talked about in that Maker month or Earth Systems unit that takes about three to four days where we are researching or thoughtfully planning our designs by drawing and labeling. They are thinking about how much money they have in their budget so you can listen to episode six where I talk about how I use a Makerspace budget, but students are purchasing their supplies, they're building their design, and then we test it. And then we even share by taking a video. So I will actually take the video of it, I don't want them near water with devices. So I will actually add that to their Seesaw. So that is how a week will break down. If students need more practice, then again, you can implement STEM stations that go along with this standard. So it really depends on your kids and how much time you have with them. 

Naomi Meredith  17:11

So when it comes to a 2nd grader, what are the top three skills that they should walk away with from your STEM space. So based on my experience, working with K through five, here is what I have seen and what I would hope a 2nd grader could leave my classroom doing and in no particular order. I would definitely want a 2nd grader to be able to use research to inform their plan. So in Kindergarten and first grade, I still have them research. And they do use that information to help their plan. A lot of times when they start building, they change their mind and they do something else that is related, but not exactly what they wanted to do. That is fine, as long as they're still on topic. And they're learning how things are connected together. But in 2nd grade, I think they are very capable of starting to use that research to actually be more thoughtful. And yes, your plan will change but it's not going to change too much. And so using that research to thoughtfully plan is super important. Also, what I would hope a 2nd grader to do is to begin really making changes when things don't work the first time. A lot of times with the younger students, I will make something and they're one and done. I did it Whoo, yay. Look at my work. Look at my work. Look what I did. So a 2nd grader, they do that a little bit at the beginning of the year. But I really encourage them to think about ways to make their design even better. So yes, this didn't work. What could we do instead? or Yes, we have finished here some other ways to make it better. So starting to use modification checklists are really helpful to think through their actual design. And the final thing I would want a 2nd grader to leave my STEM classroom knowing is using more sophisticated tools. I use a lot of similar tools with my kindergarteners and first graders. But in 2nd grade, I have them use more of their computers. Now this can definitely depend on the devices that you have and what access you have to everything. But I have my 2nd graders use their computers a lot more. And they are capable of those things. So it does take more practice, it does take them a lot longer. When I use Tinkercad, the 3D printing software, there is a lot of tears the first day when they're typing in the class code, but they do it. They are capable, and then they are able to create something so it's not impossible. It's a little bit harder, especially if they don't use their computers very often in the previous grades or even with their classroom teacher. They are very, very capable. So that is something I really try to push my 2nd grade students is using things that are a bit more sophisticated and have more multi-steps compared to the click one click solution for a first and kindergartener. 

Naomi Meredith  18:07

As a recap here is what we talked about when it comes to a 2nd grade STEM curriculum. First, I broke down the overall year and what that can look like in terms of the lessons for your 2nd graders. Next, I explained what a sample week can look like for that actual unit. And then I gave you my top three tips when it comes to what a 2nd grader should walk away, leaving your class knowing. Of course, I have a lot of ways to help support you when it comes to the STEM space and for your second graders and all your elementary students. So make sure to sign up for that live masterclass that I have going on May 9, and I would love to see you there, definitely jump in on the link, you will get sent the recording and you can watch that. So make sure to sign that up if you haven't already at Naomimeredith.com/special. And all the lessons that I talked about are available for you that you don't even have to create them. They're already researched. Especially in second grade, I actually write a lot of the articles that they use research on, because they're doing these high level topics that aren't typically written at a second grade level. So I got you on that one. So you can buy the lessons individually or I have it in a second grade bundle for you. Or you can break it into the K through two bundle or go for the full year K through five. So that is all ready to go to save you some stress and overwhelm lessons that my second graders love. And I know that your students will too. Thank you so much again for joining me today and I will see you in the next episode where we will talk about STEM in third grade.