Grado+2+units

The landform theme is used throughout the second grade Social Studies and Science curriculum. It lends itself to teaching about geography in Spanish speaking countries and map skills. As well, it spirals in weather and cultural appropriate animals.
 * Unit 1: las tierras (landforms) **

During the landforms unit, students name and describe landforms and the animals that live in them. We read postcards from a boy named Felipe that lives in Mexico and likes to camp and travel around Mexico with his sister María. The postcards have pictures of the different landforms in Mexico and information about those spots. We find those places on a map and sing songs about them. We take a “trip” through the landforms and talk about what we saw. The unit ends with the children rotating through centers: computer center, reading center, basic vocabulary center, and a writing center. As students work in centers, they are individually assessed on how well they remember the landforms in Spanish.

//Enduring understanding:// I can talk about weather around the world. I can talk what the world looks like.

//Essential Questions:// Where are the different landforms in the Mexico? What animals live in the landforms?

**Unit 2: el océano (the ocean)**

We learn about the oceans and the animals that live in them. Students study oceans also in the science curriculum with their classroom teacher. In this unit, students are given the opportunity to study about oceans, directions, and animals. We compare ocean and animal sizes as well as talked about the food chain. We learn new songs and a game played in Mexico. We graph information about the animals: favorites, colors, size, and where they live.

//Essential Question:// What lives in the ocean?

//Enduring Understanding:// I can talk about the ocean in Spanish.


 * Unit 3: los Maya (the Maya) **

This unit is on a group of Native Americans in Mexico called the Maya. It connects with the Native American unit taught in the social studies curriculum. In the Maya unit we talk about where they lived, the numbers they used, the foods they ate, the games they played, the tools they used, and the communities they lived in. We make lots of comparisons between the Maya and the other native Americans studied. We end the unit by trying some Mayan foods and planting marigolds, a flower important to the Mayan people.

//Essential Questions:// Who were the Maya?

//Enduring Understanding:// I can talk about life in the Mayan society.

Our last unit is on plants. During the plant unit we watch seeds grow and talk about the different parts of a plant. We learn what a plant needs to live and what products come from a plant. We learn a song called "La bella hortelana", a song about a gardner. As we learn the song we have discussions about making home made tortillas.
 * Unit 4: las plantas (plants) **

//Essential Questions:// What does a plant need to grow?

//Enduring Understanding:// I can describe a plant in Spanish.


 * Songs we sing in Spanish class: **

//Landforms rap// Las llanuras, las llanuras, el bosque. //(The plains, the plains, the forest)// El río, el río, la península. //(The river, the river, the peninsula.)// El lago, el lago, el desierto. //(The lake, the lake, the desert.)// Y la isla y la isla. //(And the island, and the island.)// ¿Dónde están? //(Where are they?)// En la Tierra, en la Tierra, en la Tierra //(On the Earth, on the Earth, on the Earth)// Aquí en la Tierra. Allí // (Here on the Earth. There.) //

//Opening song// - to the tune of "La cucaracha" Buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches amigos. Buenos días, buenas tardes, buenas noches amigos.

//Closing song// - to the tune of "If you are happy and you know it" Adiós amigos adiós. (clap clap) Adiós amigos adiós. (clap clap) Adiós amigos adiós. Adiós amigos adiós. Adiós amigos adiós. (clap clap)