Second Grade Curriculum

Reading:

Our reading series is Scott Foresman Reading Street. There are a total of 6 units. Each unit encompasses a theme and contains 5 stories related to that theme. The priority skills taught in each unit will include Phoenemic Awareness, Fluency, Vocabulary and Text Comprehension. Each week we cover one story.

Math:

Our math series, Saxon Math, provides an outstanding foundational program especially designed to align with how young children learn and build fluency with math skills. All new concepts are developed through hands-on activities and rich mathematical conversations that actively engage students in the learning process.

Concepts are developed, reviewed and practiced over time:

•    Understanding follows doing and discussing.
•    Mastery follows learning over time.
•    Fluency follows practicing over time.

Religion:

The Blest Are We series is based on the Four Pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

   1. What Catholics Believe
   2. How Catholics Worship
   3. How Catholics Live
   4. How Catholics Pray

Your children's faith journey this year includes the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Eucharist. We will be preparing for these sacraments throughout the year by means of text and classroom discussion; however, nothing is more important than the family reinforcing the value of these sacraments at home.

Writer's Workshop:

Our writing curriculum focuses on required writing skills for second grade. These include a Personal Narrative, Friendly Letter, Stories, How to Report, Descriptive Paragraphs, and a Research Report.

Science:

Our Science expectations include the following themes and concepts:

1. Earth Science – Space, and Earth’s Structure/Composition
2. Physical Science – Forces, Motion, and Energy; Electricity and Magnetism; and Sound and Light
3. Life Science – Animals, Plants, Environment, and Human Body

Social Studies:

The following five elements of Social Studies are included in our exit expectations:

1. History – Time, People and Events
2. Geography – Location, Regions, Movement, Human Environment Interaction, and Map Skills
3. Economics – Production/Consumption/Distribution, and Exchange
4. Political Science – Citizenship, Laws, and Government
5. Behavioral Science – Individual, Institution, and Society

We also learn map skills using Maps, Globes, and Graphs which includes the five themes of Geography; location, place, human/environment interaction, movement and regions.

*** We alternate Science and Social Studies within our schedule throughout the year.  We will focus on Social Studies during the First Semester and then move on to Science for the remainder of the year. ***

Handwriting:

From September through December we continue our practice with D'Nealian Manuscript which will prepare us for Cursive in January.