Second Grade is built on the national frameworks that most state standards are based on or closely resemble: the Common Core State Standards for math and English language arts, the national K-12 science framework (the Next Generation Science Standards*), and the C3 Framework for social studies. Every lesson lists the standard it teaches.
Tennessee Academic Standards for Mathematics
Based on the Common Core, with the state's own changesAdopted 2021
The State Board adopted the revised math standards in February 2021, and classrooms have used them since 2023-24. They are Tennessee's revision of its earlier Common Core-based standards.
Official standards (opens in a new tab)Tennessee English Language Arts Standards
Based on the Common Core, with the state's own changesAdopted 2016
Approved April 2016 and in classrooms since 2017-18. K-5 includes a separate Foundational Literacy strand. A revision went to the State Board in 2026, with classroom use planned for 2029-30.
Official standards (opens in a new tab)Tennessee Academic Standards for Science
Based on the national science framework, with the state's own changesAdopted 2022
Adopted October 2022 and in classrooms from 2025-26. They were written from the Framework for K-12 Science Education, but Tennessee places several topics in different grades than the Next Generation Science Standards* do.
Official standards (opens in a new tab)Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies
The state's own standards
The standards in effect were adopted in July 2017, and revised standards adopted in February 2024 start in 2027-28. Grade 2 in the 2017 standards is 'Life in the United States': culture, simple economics (supply and demand, imports and exports), U.S. geography, how government works and important Americans.
Official standards (opens in a new tab)ELA: cursive starts in Grade 2 (2.FL.WC.4: write many upper- and lowercase letters in cursive). Common Core has no cursive standard.
Add at homeAdd 10 minutes of cursive practice 3 times a week from Week 19, starting with the lowercase letters c, a, d and g, which all begin with the same stroke. Use lined paper and have your child trace, then copy, 3 letters a session, and later join them into short words like cat and dad.
Science: Grade 2 covers pushes, pulls, friction and collisions (2.PS2, 2.PS3). The Next Generation Science Standards* place forces in Kindergarten and Grade 3.
Add at homeAdd a 15-minute test: push a toy car across a smooth floor and a rug, then roll two cars into each other, and have your child say how pushes, friction and collisions changed their motion.
Science: Grade 2 covers vibration, sound and light as ways to communicate (2.PS4). The Next Generation Science Standards* teach this in Grade 1.
Add at homeAdd a 15-minute sound and light session: stretch rubber bands over a box to feel vibration, then send a flashlight signal (one flash for yes, two for no) across a dark room.
Science: Grade 2 sorts animals into vertebrates and invertebrates and studies how parents help their young survive (2.LS1).
Partly coveredWeek 26 sorts animals by body features. Add a 10-minute sort of animal pictures into those with a backbone (vertebrates) and without (invertebrates), and talk about how animal parents, such as birds, feed and protect their young.
Verified: 2026-09-30. Standards change; always check your state's official page.