Teaching a Second Grader The Importance of Continued Learning by Melinda

Teaching a Second Grader The Importance of Continued Learning by Melinda - March 2018 Scholarship Essay

I would start teaching a second grade student the importance of continued learning by asking the seven year old boy or girl if they had a favorite book, or perhaps even a favorite author. I would then tell the student to create for me, an alternate ending to the story in which they choose, as this would allow the student to be able to branch out of structured works, such as literary pieces, and spark an essence of creativity. The student writing their own ending to a story falls into the concept of second grade being a time where reading and writing transitions into “language arts,” as children are able to learn how to inventively use new vocabulary words.

After the student has finished writing their ending, I would urge the student to explain to me how they came up with the event(s). In the end, no matter what the second grader had written about, it would display the action of expanding writing skills, as the student is forced to have no other choice than to come up with something beyond what the actual ending of the story was and to use words that may not have been in the original closing of the text.

I would then reveal to the second grade student how continued learning is most important because they would not have been able to “adapt” to the change in their circumstances if they did not acquire the new skill of being creative with their writing, having to produce a piece of writing on the spot. The second grade student realizing this would hopefully encourage them to continuously gain knowledge throughout the rest of their life, as it will always be beneficial in some way.