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Grade 2 · 8 weeks

Care & Connect

The Ocean

Morning Meeting: wave breathing before a hard topic · Week 6, Monday · 10 min

Open with three wave breaths. Breathe in slowly through the nose as the wave gathers and rolls toward shore, pause as the wave crests, breathe out as it falls back. Then reconnect it to what has changed: 'This is the ocean we have been getting to know, and this week we learn about how people can hurt it. Some of that can feel heavy. Breathing like the ocean helps us stay steady while we think about hard things.'

  • Gather at last week's food web with a plastic bag, or a photograph of ocean plastic.
  • Literacy follows with Somebody Swallowed Stanley by Sarah Roberts, chosen because it shows real harm without frightening: gentle, rhyming, and it resolves. Chart the chain of cause and effect as you read.
Wellbeing: self-regulation before difficult contentCharacter: facing a hard truth without being overwhelmed by it

How the same arc opens its hardest week: a breathing ritual the class has used since day one, then a gentle book about a plastic bag.

Grade 2, Colorado pilot, 2026 8-week arc

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Grade 2 · 8 weeks

Recognize & Act

The Ocean

How could we clean up an oil spill? · Week 6, Wednesday

Daily big idea: there is more than one way to solve a problem. The class already wrote its shared problem statement: the problem is ___; a good cleanup needs to ___.

  • Literacy (15 min): revisit the 'what we know about the problem' chart and reference images of real cleanup tools: booms that corral oil, skimmers that lift it, sorbents that soak it up.
  • Math (15 min): finalize the fair test. How exactly will we judge which method works better? Count droppers of oil removed, rate the water 1 to 3 for clearness, or compare how clean the feather looks.
  • Inquiry Centers (25 min): each group sketches two cleanup approaches, labels how each is meant to work, and gathers materials from the supply table: cotton balls, sponges, spoons, string, a drop of dish soap, paper towels, mesh.

+ 1 more in the full excerpt

Grade 2, Colorado pilot, 2026 8-week arc

Grade 2 · 8 weeks

Reflect & Learn

The Ocean

What did I used to think about the ocean, and what do I think now? · Week 7, Monday

  • Morning Meeting (10 min): begin with wave breathing, slower and longer today to match the reflective mood. 'We have been breathing like the ocean for seven weeks. Today we look back at how much our thinking has grown.' Gather at the Week 1 Wonder Wall and flag the wonders the class can now answer.
  • Literacy (20 min): learners revisit their own Ocean Journal from Week 1 and write a reflection using the frame: I used to think ___, but now I know ___.
  • Math (10 min): revisit the arc's own data (the Week 2 line plot, a Week 4 depth comparison, the Week 6 test results) and read it with fresh eyes: what did this show?

+ 2 more in the full excerpt

Grade 2, Colorado pilot, 2026 8-week arc

Preschool · 8 weeks

Care & Connect

Exploring the Wonders of Space

Morning Meeting and Enrichment · Week 1, Monday · 60 min

  • Circle time sky observation: children share what they already know about the sky.
  • Interactive storytelling that introduces the theme: looking up and wondering.
  • Enrichment: a group mural of the night sky with collaborative star placement, then a movement activity simulating zero-gravity exploration.
Preschool, 2026 8-week arc