Second Grade

Welcome to Kellogg second grade!

The second grade team values both academic and social emotional growth. We use a variety of tools and curriculum, including the Second Step program, to encourage life skills and personal development.

Second grade is a pivotal year to foster the love of reading. In our Wonders language arts curriculum, we focus on reading skills and strategies, academic vocabulary, and reading fluency. We emphasize writing in complete sentences and learning paragraph structure. Students write opinion, explanatory, and narrative pieces using their knowledge of spelling patterns and proper grammar.

Second grade Bridges math curriculum allows students to collaboratively explore numbers through games and hands-on activities. Students learn a variety of mathematical strategies for two and three digit addition and subtraction. An additional key concept is understanding place value.

Jenny Van Steyn	This is my twelfth year teaching at Kellogg. I have taught kindergarten, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and a ⅔ combination class. I also spent a year teaching art, GATE, and PE. I feel so lucky to be a part of the Kellogg community. As a student, I often found math challenging and it took awhile for it to “click”. I was so fortunate to have many encouraging teachers who helped me to understand my own learning style and who inspired me to become a teacher. I strive to create a nurturing classroom environment in which all students feel valued and successful. I love getting to learn and laugh with my students each year. It is exciting to witness them discover a love of reading, become problem-solvers, and encourage each other. Outside of school, I enjoy reading, exploring new places, and spending time with my family and friends.
Etta Murray	My name is Etta Murray, I’ve been working in the Goleta Union School District since 2015! At Kellogg I have taught grades 6th and now 2nd! I grew up in Santa Barbara, attended undergrad at UCSB and later graduated from UC Santa Cruz with my teaching credential and Masters in Education. Post graduation, I moved to teach English in China for a year and a half teaching children ages 3 to 16. As an undergraduate student I studied abroad in France. This experience stemmed my continued love for travel and an interest in language acquisition. My interest in education developed as I grew up watching my parents work towards their degrees at UCSB and through my own struggles to learn to read. I finally did in second grade and later majored in literature at UCSB! As an educator I hope to encourage confidence in each child’s self-worth and value within our classroom. I strive to create an environment where students feel challenged, successful and heard. As a learner myself, I am very interested in new research surrounding culturally responsive and trauma informed teaching and the use of mindfulness in the classroom. In my time outside the classroom I enjoy going on camping trips with my husband and our dog, traveling to different countries, skiing, and spending time at the beach!

Jenny Van Steyn

This is my twelfth year teaching at Kellogg. I have taught kindergarten, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, and a ⅔ combination class. I also spent a year teaching art, GATE, and PE. I feel so lucky to be a part of the Kellogg community.

As a student, I often found math challenging and it took awhile for it to “click”. I was so fortunate to have many encouraging teachers who helped me to understand my own learning style and who inspired me to become a teacher. I strive to create a nurturing classroom environment in which all students feel valued and successful. I love getting to learn and laugh with my students each year. It is exciting to witness them discover a love of reading, become problem-solvers, and encourage each other.

Outside of school, I enjoy reading, exploring new places, and spending time with my family and friends.

Etta Murray

My name is Etta Murray, I’ve been working in the Goleta Union School District since 2015! At Kellogg I have taught grades 6th and now 2nd! I grew up in Santa Barbara, attended undergrad at UCSB and later graduated from UC Santa Cruz with my teaching credential and Masters in Education. Post graduation, I moved to teach English in China for a year and a half teaching children ages 3 to 16. As an undergraduate student I studied abroad in France. This experience stemmed my continued love for travel and an interest in language acquisition.

My interest in education developed as I grew up watching my parents work towards their degrees at UCSB and through my own struggles to learn to read. I finally did in second grade and later majored in literature at UCSB! As an educator I hope to encourage confidence in each child’s self-worth and value within our classroom. I strive to create an environment where students feel challenged, successful and heard.

As a learner myself, I am very interested in new research surrounding culturally responsive and trauma informed teaching and the use of mindfulness in the classroom. In my time outside the classroom I enjoy going on camping trips with my husband and our dog, traveling to different countries, skiing, and spending time at the beach!