About 2nd Grade

Second Grade Curriculum

The following will outline the curriculum we will be teaching this year.

READING

We use the Luck Calkins Units of Study for our curriculum, integrated into a Reading Workshop structure.  Through this program, the students will learn to decode, read fluently, and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction stories.  The students receive a whole group mini-lesson, independent reading practice time, partner work, whole group sharing, and strategy reading groups daily to enhance their skills.  The students will grow as readers as well as learn how to talk about their books in a variety of ways.  In Second Grade, your child will learn to use decoding strategies, retell stories, focus on characters and their traits, read nonfiction to learn new information, compare and contrast books and themes, and discuss all parts of books with classmates.  We utilize sticky notes and reader’s notebooks throughout the year to track our thinking while reading.  Also, we have 5 iPads in the classroom to enhance every area of reading and responding!  

Your child will be expected to read for fifteen minutes per night five nights a week.  Students in second through fifth grade will participate in a reading program this year~The Scholastic Reading Program.  I will keep you informed with the details of this program as we continue through the year.  This book will always be at your child’s independent reading level, meaning that it should be easy for them to read on their own.  This promotes a positive attitude about reading!

WRITING

We use the Lucy Calkins Units of Study for our curriculum.  Each day, the students participate in a Writing Workshop that consists of a whole group lesson,  independent writing time, partner work, and whole group sharing.  We will be learning various forms of writing such as narrative, informational, and opinion. You will see various pieces of writing coming home.  Some will be published and have spelling and grammar corrected.  Some will be rough drafts and will not have these corrected.  Please take the time to read through your child’s writing with them and celebrate their improvements as writers!

WORD STUDY

We will do a variety of daily activities to help learn the Second Grade spell words correctly as well as use correct grammar in our daily writing.  We will also work on proofreading skills.  Included in this folder is a list of Level 2 Core Words.  Core Words are the words your child will be learning in word study.  The words with dots in front of them will be learned throughout second grade; the rest were taught in first grade.  There will be some take-home tasks as well as “Words to Learn” lists that will be coming home for homework.  Please see the attached letter for further details! 

MATH

In Math, we will be completing daily lessons according to the standards we teach in second grade.  Students will have workbook pages that we will use on a daily basis.  We will also have fun, hands-on activities and games that help students fully grasp the standards.  Every few weeks, your child will take an assessment over a specific unit that was taught.  There will be some homework in math that should not take very much time.  The homework will be sent home in your child’s Friday Folder.  Look for more information in my newsletter as to when this will start!

SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES

Your child will be learning some exciting things this year!  They will learn about plant life, earth surface features, the uses and properties of water, and our community.  My newsletter will keep you informed of what unit of studying we are working on and the dates of upcoming assessments.  You will also receive a study guide prior to most class assessments.  This will allow you to review all the information learned in class with your child.