Second Grade Curriculum Synopsis

Second Grade Curriculum Synopsis

Religion - (Text: Faith First: Legacy Edition, 2007 and Reconciliation: Pardon and Peace. Benziger 2006)

Content: In the second grade religion text, students learn about the Holy Trinity, God as our Father, Psalms, the role of John the Baptist, Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit, and the Church. Students will be introduced to the following prayers: Glory Be, Stations of the Cross Prayer, Morning Offering, Act of Contrition and Gloria.

To prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, students learn about how much God loves them, and wants them to make good choices. Students are given a step-by-step plan that helps them make moral decisions, as well as how to apologize for a bad decision. Parental involvement is very important during this time of preparation.

First Communion - (Text: Eucharist: We Give Thanks and Praise. Benzinger2006)

Content: The focus of First Communion preparation is for students to recognize that when they receive the Body and Blood of Christ, they are the living Eucharist. By receiving Communion, they are to live their life close to God, and spread His love to others. Parental involvement is very important during this time of preparation.

Phonics - (Text: Modern Curriculum Press: Level B, 2003)

Content: Students learn about word patterns, and letter sounds that help them become more fluent readers and successful spellers. Areas of focus include long and short vowels, compound words, contractions, endings, suffixes, vowel pairs, vowel digraphs, diphthongs, prefixes, synonyms, antonyms and homonyms.

Reading - (Text: Treasure and Friends. Houghton Mifflin, 1999)

Content: Students learn how to tackle new words by using various strategies, such as recognizing word patterns, looking and the picture, and skipping the word and returning to it after reading the entire sentence. These strategies will help students become more fluent readers. There is a heavy focus on comprehension. During guided reading groups, students learn how to monitor their own comprehension, and are tested by answering questions orally and through written work. Bi-weekly book reports are completed as homework on a book that the student has selected, at their reading level. Reading levels are determined using the Fontas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System. In addition to a large classroom library, students also have access to myON, the world’s largest interactive digital library with over 4,000 books geared for Pre-K through 12th grade.MyON tracks students’ interests, reading levels, books that they have read and suggests new books they may enjoy at their level.

Writing - (Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing: A Common Core Workshop Curriculum by Lucy Calkins, 2013)

Content: Students are introduced to the principles and methods that underlie high-quality writing. The 4 units of study are organized around narrative, information, and opinion writing. Each unit of study walks students step-by-step through the entire writing process from planning and drafting to revising and editing and eventually to publication.

Students are encouraged to read as writers, to learn from models of effective writing and develop background knowledge.

English - (Text: Houghton Mifflin: Level 2, 2006)

Content: Students learn about sentences, using nouns, writing good paragraphs, using verbs, working with words, using punctuation marks, using pronouns, and how to improve a sentence. Students also complete a Daily Language Review each morning as a warm-up. Students have to correct sentences, identify nouns, adjectives and verbs, and identify subjects and predicates.

Spelling – (Text: Treasure and Friends. Houghton Mifflin, 1999)

Content: Weekly spelling lists are sent home each Monday. Throughout the week, students are given time to practice by using the words in sentences, drawing pictures and completing spelling activities. Three bonus words are also include on each spelling list for those students who may be above standard.

Math - (Text: enVision Math, Pearson, 2012)

Content: Students learn about addition and subtraction, fact strategies, place value to 100, money, how to perform mental math, two-digit addition and subtraction, measurement/data, telling time, geometry and are introduced to the concept of multiplication. Math games and partner work are done frequently to help students understand the concepts that they are presented with. Each student is provided with a login for in order to access the student text and support animations at home.

Science - (Next Generation Science & Scholastic Science Spin)

Content: Students use reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret informational text about life, physical, Earth and space sciences. Students also use strategies of the writing process to express ideas about food chains, weather, materials, and the basic structure and functions of the human body.

Social Studies – (Text: Houghton Mifflin: Neighborhoods, 2008Scholastic News)

Content: Students learn about culture, geography, economics, history and citizenship. At the beginning of the year, students learn about their community and how people can work together to make their community a better place. Students also explore the world around them, learning about landforms and the various climates around the world. Students learn about how money and how to earn, save, and spend it. American history is introduced, with the focus on exploration and settlement. Finally, students learn about customs, traditions and diversity, America’s government, and the rights and responsibilities of each citizen.