GRADE TWO - Curriculum
International School Component
In social studies the students will begin their year exploring "Who We Are". They will answer three core questions: what is a classroom community, what is a local community, and what is a global community. The international theme will be integrated into other areas of the second grade curriculum through multicultural literature and our science units. Using technology, the students will communicate and learn about one global community.
Language Arts
Reading, writing, listening, speaking, spelling and handwriting are all important components of language arts. Skills and strategies in each area are modeled, taught and practiced, taking into account the unique needs of each learner. Knowledge and skills are acquired through connected experiences between home, school and community. Students read from a variety of texts, including fiction (short stories and whole books), poetry and nonfiction (textbooks, newspapers and magazines). Students read (or are read to) and write daily.
Reading:
- Main ideas and supporting details
- Main events or ideas in sequence
- New word pronunciation
- Reading aloud fluently with appropriate expression
- Appropriate techniques for learning new vocabulary
- Character traits, plot and setting
- Distinguishing between fact and opinion
- Using graphophonic (sounds), syntactic (language) and semantic (meaning) strategies to understand text
- Making predictions and connections
- Asking thoughtful questions
Writing
An important component of your child's literacy is the writing workshop. During this time students learn and practice the skills of the writing process including planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. A new resource that all of the 2nd grade teachers are using this year is Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum written by Lucy Calkins.
The writing workshop portion of our day usually begins with a mini lesson focusing on a particular aspect of the writing process such as choosing a topic to write about or how to revise while writing. Students then have the opportunity to incorporate the information from the mini lesson into their writing.
While students are writing the teacher confers with individuals about their work. These conferences allow a teacher to best meet the instructional needs of each child and help them become a more proficient writer.
The writing workshop concludes with a reflective sharing session. During this time children talk about what they have learned and written.
Word Study
The goals for the Word Study Curriculum are:
- Learn spelling strategies - Your child will learn spelling strategies that will assist him/her when he/she is trying to spell unfamiliar words. Sounding out a word is only one of several strategies. Other strategies that will be taught are making connections to other words and using a known word to spell an unknown word.
- Learn how to memorize words - Your child will learn how to memorize words that are used in everyday writing from a list of "Must Know Words." We will support your child in determining which of these words will require additional practice.
Speaking and Listening
- Correct grammar in speaking
- Oral presentation
- Identifying purpose and summarizing ideas of an oral presentation
Mathematics
The second grade math program at Diamond Path consists of hands-on and practice activities to teach a variety of math topics. Two new curriculum resources are being used this year. The Scott Foresman Addison Wesley Program and the Investigations program were chosen after an in-depth study of how children learn mathematics. These two resources will allow children to practice their skills with number sentences as well as understand the application of number sentences to story or real life situations. Students will be taught skills with a problem solving approach, allowing them to use strategies which make sense to them at their individual developmental level. Each topic covered will be listed on the monthly calendar.
Homework will come home in the Friday Folders. This homework is important practice for each child. Please be sure to return the homework to your child's teacher the following week. Parents are encouraged to discuss children's strategies to help them develop the necessary language to communicate their mathematical thinking effectively.
Science
The science curriculum provides opportunities for students to learn science concepts through hands-on activities. Students learn to observe, compare, collect data, organize and analyze information, and communicate what they have learned. The investigations focus on physical and life science concepts. The topics being studied this year are Insects, Pebbles, Sand, and Silt, and Balance.
Social Studies
Second graders will begin a new social studies curriculum this year called "Social Studies Alive!" They will study communities and how they change, mapping, geography, the environment, economics, citizenship, and sharing. Many of these topics will be integrated with our global theme.
Health/Guidance
Guidance, which is integrated into other curriculum areas, helps establish goals, expectations, support systems and experience for all students. It is designed to enhance student learning by helping students acquire and use lifelong learning skills in three broad areas of development: academic, career and personal/social. The curriculum employs developmentally appropriate strategies to enhance academics, provide career awareness, encourage self-awareness, foster interpersonal communication skills and convey life success skills for all students. The guidance and health curricula complement each other to provide knowledge and skills in the area of drug prevention.
Please feel free to contact your child's teacher to clarify any questions you may have.