Resumen

This paper aims to investigate the organization of the teaching of Mathematics in Year 2 of the Primary School, and discusses the manner geometric concepts are taught at this level. Methodology comprises documental characteristics in which sources were school tasks in the students´ exercise books and textbooks. Ten exercise books of ten groups in Grade 2 from five schools in Maringá, Brazil, and a textbook used in the schools of the municipality formed the sample. Theory and methodology were foregrounded on the Cultural-Historical Theory, Activity Theory and Teaching Guided Activity. Analysis showed that the contents of Geometry were not given priority at the start of the schooling process due to the few school days devoted to the subject matter. Data revealed that the teaching of geometric concepts is mainly characterized by naming and memorizing the geometrical figures through repetition, association, sensorial observation and empirical knowledge of objects, without exploiting scientific concepts. School work included the reproduction of pre-established models without positing any conditions that would trigger any type of investigation, analysis, hypothesis and comparison. These would have made possible inferences on geometric concepts and the development of the students´ theoretical thought.