Second Grade Overview Curriculum: Language Arts Our reading program is Journeys by Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt Purblishers. It will focus on advancing student s phonemic awareness, phonics, and high-frequency word-recognition skills, extending their understanding of narrative and informational text, and increasing their efficiency in written communication using 6 + 1 Traits writing program. Spelling Spelling is an important area of study in second grade. The focus is not on memorizing spelling words, but on understanding how a word is spelled and why it is spelled that way. Each week there will be a specific spelling rule that the class will learn. Religion Second grade is the year when children have the honor of participating in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist (First Communion). We will be strengthening our Catholic faith by learning about the importance of Mass and the Church as a community. We will study scripture and pray together. We will learn about Jesus life and explore ways we can live our lives in more thoughtful, meaningful ways.
Math The focus is not only on retaining specific math skills, but on the reasoning behind solving problems. Second graders will develop strategies for learning basic facts, for solving problems, and for communicating how they solved a problem. The students will study three main focal points fluency with addition and subtraction facts to 20, base-ten and place value (including money), and measurement. Science Observation, identification, classification, and comparison skills are developed throughout our science units. Second graders will study topics such as organisms and habitats, life cycles, magnets, change and consistency, and earth and space sciences. Students are guided in the scientific inquiry process to question, hypothesize, collect data, and communicate their findings through reports and graphs. Social Studies The focus during the year will be civics and government, economics, geography, history, and social science. We will study communities, goods/services, wants/needs, natural resources, and recycled materials. Also we will study national symbols, holidays, different cultures, current events, kinds of maps and landforms.
2 nd Grade Procedures: Traveling Folder Each day the folder will come home with a variety of papers and notes. Go through the folder each day. If papers are graded they can stay at home. Be sure to return the folder to school the following morning. This folder is my daily communication with you. Homework Homework will be given out daily throughout the week. Reading Logs are due on Mondays. Math and other assignments will be due during the week. During the year students will have a few reports to complete. Grading System The grading system is similar to last year: O-outstanding, S+-above average, S-average, N-Needs improvement. I will grade completed and accurate daily work with a star, check, smile face, or sticker. Also a lot of daily work that comes home is completed as a group, so there might not be any grade on the paper. Quizzes, tests, projects, and homework will also be graded.
Reading Goal Our Reading Goal this year is 3,500 of out loud reading minutes! Your child has a popcorn ball on the bulletin board to keep track of his/her progress. Reading out loud helps the students work on expression, volume level, tone, smoothness, phrasing, fluency, and decoding skills. As a new level is reached by the student rewards will be given. Math Facts The class is practicing math facts with a program called Otter Creek. The test includes 40 problems to be completed in 1 minute. As the students reach their goal they move on to the next level. Once all addition facts are passed they move to subtraction. There is a practice time in class before, but students should practice at home, too. You can also make copies of the tests that come home and use those to practice. Flashcards can be used, too. Student of the Week Each child will be spotlighted in Student of the Week. I will send home a letter before the actual week explaining the activities involved for Student of the Week.
Behavior Policy Mass The second grade adopted a class pledge to follow at school (A copy of the pledge came home this week). The students will follow the ASK program at our school. Panther Prides are awarded often to students who exemplify the four Student Wide Learning Expectations. Students will be praised in a variety of ways often when the class pledge is followed. As a class we are earning marbles when we are all on task and following our class pledge. Join us on Wednesdays for our School Mass. Mass is at 11:00 a.m. Birthdays Birthday free dress will be once a month (first Friday of the month).