Second Grade celebrates LI with heart, hands-on learning, home-island pride

Nestled in the center of the Lower School Library, a year of cumulative studies and field investigation in second grade recently came to life with a vibrant learning celebration for parents and families as students presented, Top 24 Reasons to Love Long Island! This engaging, interdisciplinary project united research, writing, math, science, music, and public speaking—all centered around the beauty and excitement of Long Island.

As part of the program, students took turns describing their favorite places on Long Island, presenting their research with pride and enthusiasm. The project culminated in a shared declaration:
“The Number One Reason to Love Long Island Is… Us!”

Exploring Long Island—One Place at a Time

Each student selected a category—such as museums, beaches, or adventure parks—and was assigned a specific destination within that theme. Working with the Second grade teachers, Sara Weinstein and Paige Atwood, they conducted internet-based research, learned how to highlight important facts, take organized notes, and shape those notes into a final write-up. The research process, which began earlier in the year, took flight a month ago with in-depth exploration, field trips, and hands-on learning experiences.

Some of the highlights of their "Top 24 Reasons to Love Long Island" included:

• #22 Oheka Castle – “The song “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift was filmed there and it has 127 rooms.”

• #19 Montauk Point Lighthouse – “There are 137 stairs to the top and was the first lighthouse built in New York in 1796.”
• #8 White Post Farms – “It is a farm from 1876.”
• #7 Jones Beach – “A scientific wonder where special grasses are planted to prevent sand erosion (Did you know 8 million people visit every year?).”
• #6 Cradle of Aviation Museum – “Charles Lindbergh flew across the ocean from here in 1927.”

• #4 Lavender By the Bay – “Where everything smells as good as it looks… and, fun fact! The owner was born in France.”
• #3 The Big Duck – “It is a store where you can get ducks, duck eggs, and milk!”
  
  

• #2 Old Bethpage Village Restoration – “It’s supposed to look like Long Island long ago. And, do you know what the first building was that was moved to the village? A church!”

“We All Love Long Island”— A Song, a Map, and a Math Adventure

To kick off their presentation, students sang an original song, “We All Love Long Island,” (and written by Mrs. Weinstein) to the tune of “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.”

Every part of the Second Grade Learning Celebration was a celebration of integrated learning. In math, students created various graphs – including line plots, tally graphs, and picture charts – based on Long Island food tastings and class experiences. They even graphed the number of pizza slices eaten (an impressive 96!) and tracked favorite class trips.

Using a giant map of Long Island, each student attached a string tracing their research journeys – proudly noting that the only school labeled on the map was theirs: Friends Academy.

Field Trips, Flat Stanley, and Real-World Research

An accompanying “Flat Stanley Project” broadened Second grade’s geographical horizons. A 30-year-old global student initiative, which is based on the 1964 book by Jeff Brown, Friends Academy students first read the book and then experienced it live at the Northport-based Engeman Theater. Given a list of local sites to visit with their Flat Stanley in tow, second graders (and their parents!) documented their adventures with photos and wrote about far-flung places like LaGuardia Airport, the Cold Spring Harbor Fish Hatchery, Islanders games, the Long Island Children’s Museum, and the New York Hall of Science.

Another field trip took them to the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center to study our coastal environment, the impact of erosion and ways to prevent it – connecting directly to their science curriculum. Students had constructed soil erosion prevention models in Science class with Science teacher Katie Schlicht. Students made the very real connection between Long Island’s changing coastlines and how erosion occurs. 

A Celebration of Skills and Growth

Throughout the year, students worked to strengthen their public speaking, writing, research, and math skills in a natural and engaging way. Mrs. Atwood shared how the students took more control over their learning this year: “This year, we tried to give them more independence and within this they learned how to conduct research, highlight what’s important, edit, revise, and present.”

The teachers noted how rewarding it was to see the students react with pride and awe at their finished projects. “Wow, that’s my picture! I wrote that!” was a common refrain.

Mrs. Weinstein summed it up best: “We really try to make this celebration embody everything we do, because that’s how children learn best.”

And in the end, among all the beaches, museums, ducks, and lavender by the bay, the most powerful takeaway was clear: the students themselves are what make Long Island – and this learning celebration – so special.

Photography by Alvin Caal/Friends Academy