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Following is a brief outline of subjects covered in Second Grade:
Religion: Second grade is such an exciting year as the children learn more about God, themselves, their families, Church, and Jesus. Second graders will learn about the sacraments, and prepare their minds and hearts to receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. We will be walking closely together with the DRE and the Priests to prepare your children. Prayers will be reviewed and practiced. New prayers will be introduced, the Act of Contrition will be taught and memorized. The Religion book utilized in second grade is Christ Our Life by Loyola Press. Visit www.christourlife.com for more family resources.There is a file at the bottom of this page that will direct you to the Second Grade Standards of the Religion Curriculum from the Rockford Diocese.
Math: Students will be mastering addition and subtraction facts of 0-18. The concepts of time, measurement, and money are further developed. The students are introduced to length, perimeter, and area; naming numbers 1-999, exploring fractional parts, adding and subtracting two and three place numbers, and multiplication. Timed tests will be given regularly on the basic addition and subtraction facts. This is done in order to help your child master the facts. I strongly encourage you to drill the facts with your child on a regular basis. Once mastery occurs, a self-confidence emerges, and math becomes the stimulating challenge it should be. Speed and accuracy are the primary goals of the timed tests. With great emphasis being placed on higher level critical thinking skills in all areas of the curriculum, fact mastery will compliment the critical thinking process.
The Math Book used in second grade is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt GoMath Common Core Edition, www.hmhschool.com.
Science: Students investigate science through a combination of observation, hands on experiments, and textbook/reference materials. Students study topics in life, earth, and pysical science.
Science textbook utilized is: Pearson Interative Science Grade 2
Social Studies: The primary focus during this year is the study of people and places, and the childrens' roles in communities-family, play, school, and neighborhood. Map skills are developed. A new Social Studies Program will be implemented this year.
Language Arts: Second graders are becoming increasingly independent in their reading activities. Word and comprehension skills continue to be emphasized. Independent writing is stressed. Manuscript writing skills are refined. Cursive writing is introduced. The Handwriting book used in second grade is Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 2B. Spelling words will be introduced, practiced, and tested weekly.
Spelling: On Wednesdays, spelling lists will be posted on School Speak. A list written by your child will also be in their take home folder. These should be practicied daily. The following Wednesday a test will be given covering this week's words. Words will be studied and practiced within the classroom. Games will be played to help with the memorization of the weekly spelling words.
English: Many grammar concepts are introduced. These concepts include subjects, predicates, nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs. Concepts to be mastered include capitalization, punctuation marks at the end of sentences, and writing various forms of sentences.
Writing: Your child will be encouraged to write frequently in second grade. Story Journals will be used daily. In these journals your child will be responding to literature read by me or your child. These journals will also include original stories written by your child which will be reviewed, edited, and rewritten into book form. These books will then be shared with the class, other classes, and possibly the school library. Most of the stories written in these journals will be written and revised and made into books in the classroom. These journals will not be given a point or letter grade. However, they do prove to be a valuable assessment tool when determining a child's writing and spelling ability and progress. The purpose of these journals is to provide practice and for your child to become comfortable writing and expressing thoughts and ideas.
Reading: Reading is a skill, therefore, it requires practice. Your child will be encouraged to read, read, and read some more. My hope is that your child will continue to, or begin to love reading simply for the joy of reading. I will read a wide variety of literature to your child. I will provide a wide variety of literature for your child to read. I encourage you to visit the public library frequently with your child.
The reading materials used include the school's basal readers (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt-Journeys Common Core) in which phonics, word recognition and decoding skills, vocabulary, high frequency words, comprehension, and critical thinking skills are taught, modeled, and emphasized. Other materials include the "Dolch Sight Words", reading games, reading tapes, and lots of children's literature. In order to expose your child to a wide variety of literature our class will be using a wide variety of themes. We will read and study many different books based upon our monthly theme. During the month we will also be working on a monthly project which will first be written in your child's story journal. (See above) The projects are usually completed in class during the month.
Various suggestions on ways you can help your child become a better reader will follow throughout the year. Please continue to take time to read to your child on a regular basis.
Tentative Monthly Theme Schedule
September - Animals, Dinosaurs
October - Animals, plants, and Halloween
November - Indians, Pilgrims, Frontier Days (history)
December - Holidays
January - Biographies/Autobiographies/Presidents
February - Mysteries
March - Folk and Fairy Tales
April - Poetry and verse
May - Travel, culture (other lands)
Please try the listed links for practice at home:Spelling City
2nd grade Educational WebsitesABCya
FILES: FILES:
Grade 2 Standards-Religion Curriculum from the Rockford Diocese