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Second Grade
Our theme for second grade is “What a Wonderful World.” The “WORLD” is an acronym for the components we study. The W stands for the “world around us” and is the component where we read stories about people from other countries, study continents, neighborhoods and mapping skills, and work on our science unit of pebbles, sand and silt. The O stands for “outer space” and it is the component where we learn about the solar system. The R stands for relationships and it is where we read stories dealing with relationships with families and friends. The L stands for living creatures and this is the component where we read stories about animals, study insects, and do community service type projects. The D stands for dinosaurs and we learn all about them by doing research and other projects.
In our classroom this year your child will be learning ten MegaSkills. The MegaSkills are: Teamwork, Responsibility, Motivation, Common Sense, Effort, Perseverance, Confidence, Problem Solving, Initiative, and Caring. We will be learning about these social skills through literature the first few weeks of school and then referring to them all year long. Be sure to ask your child each day what MegaSkills we have learned about so far.
Please put your child’s name on all of your school supply items. Throughout the year things get “misplaced” and it makes it easy to find the owner. Also, please ask your child periodically if they need any more pencils, glue, paper, etc. It is difficult and sometimes frustrating to try to complete projects without the proper supplies.
Each day students will bring home a yellow sheet titled SHOPTALK. This will be a sentenced they have copied from the board that morning and that we have discussed in class. It may be a reminder for them, or it may be about something we have learned that day. Students are to read the sentence to you and discuss it. You then will sign the sheet and they will return it to school the next day. This is used as a communication tool for your child to share about what is happening in our classroom. It will come home each night in their folder labeled HOMEWORK.
Here are some highlights of our curriculum in second grade:
Writer’s Workshop: Lucy Calkins Series:
Students do planning, composing and editing pieces of writing. We create Personal Narratives, How To Books, Letters, Poetry, & All About Books.
Word Study: It is a study of spelling, phonics and vocabulary development. Students will create their own word study lists following the pattern (phonetic rule) we are learning. There will be 8 pattern words and 4 must know words on their lists each week. They will select their words on Monday or Tuesday and test over them on Friday. There WILL NOT be a test every week, but occasionally non tested weeks will have a list coming home to practice and do activities with, such as Making Connections, Word Sorts, or Word Games. The goal of word study is to apply words to their reading and writing, not just memorize them for a test.
Handwriting: District developed curriculum using correct letter formation and spacing.
Snack: We usually have snack around 10:00. Your child may bring in a healthy snack to eat if they choose to. They may also bring in a water bottle to sue throughout the day as well, as long as it is not a distraction to them.
Reading:
2nd Grade Theme What A Wonderful World- Shared Reading (Reading textbooks will come home to read the class story to/with their families.) On occasion a homework activity will also come home.
Guided Reading- individual leveled book groups
Accelerated Reading & Literature Clubs are also opportunities for your child in the area of reading.
Reading skills such as contractions, suffixes, prefixes, compound words, synonyms, antonyms, sequencing, character traits, and story summaries will also be covered.
Math: Investigations (hands on) and Scott Foresman
(more traditional) curriculum is used as well as CGI problems
Science & Social Studies
Topics include: Pebbles, Sand and Silt, Balance and Motion, Solar System, Insects, Dinosaurs, Mapping, Neighborhoods, Communities.
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