GRADE TWO
COURSE OF STUDY

RELIGION – MRS. VASQUEZ

Second grade students are taught to love and trust God. They are encouraged to share these beliefs and feelings as part of the Christian community. They celebrate two sacraments this year, Reconciliation and the Eucharist. All principal rites and prayers of these sacraments will be explored.

Text: Faith First, Level 2. Resources for Christian Living, 2007.
Explaining God's Word. Ligouri Press.

Class meets 30 minutes four times per week.

LANGUAGE ARTS – MRS. VASQUEZ

In primary grades the Language Arts program covers reading, English, writing and spelling. The emphasis is on the reading/writing connection.

The four topics are intertwined daily during a two-hour period.

READING

The second grade Reading curriculum provides a balance between the whole language and phonics approach. Oral reading and discussions take place in small groups. Various comprehension skills and reading strategies are the focus.

Text: Delights. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Adventures. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Teacher created materials.

ENGLISH

The English program is based on the essential language-art skills appropriate for second grade level such as sentences, nouns, verbs, adjectives, punctuation and capitalization.

Text: Delights Workbook. Houghton MIfflin, 2001.
Adventures Workbook. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

WRITING

The Writing program in second grade explores the six traits of writing (ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice and conventions). The program uses the web as one organizational tool, followed by a rough draft, editing for spelling and sentence structure by self, peer and teacher. The final copy follows this with a presentation of the finished work to the class.

Text: Informational books for reference in writing.
Delights. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Adventures. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Internet.

SPELLING

In Grade 2, the reading series incorporates a spelling list. These lists often focus on one phonetic sound. The words are practiced and used throughout the week following a Monday pretest. A spelling test is given on Friday.

Text: Delights Workbook. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Adventures Workbook. Houghton Mifflin, 2001.

HANDWRITING

In second grade, lower and upper case manuscript letters are practiced and reviewed during the first semester. Cursive lower and upper case letters are practiced during the second semester. It is a logical program of continuous skills progression which emphasizes the size, shape, slant and spacing of letters.

Text: D'Nealian Handwriting, Book 2. Scott Foresman, 2008.

Class meets 10 minutes 5 times per week.

MATHEMATICS – MRS. VASQUEZ

The Math program is organized into 8 units. Each chapter within each unit starts with an open-ended investigation of student knowledge. It reviews what was learned in first grade and builds from that point. There is a mid chapter check as well as a chapter review and test. This encourages customized instruction to meet the needs of all students. Topics covered include addition and subtraction facts through 20, place value through 100, 3 digit numbers with regrouping, plane and solid figures, area and perimeter, length, money, temperature and time.

Text: Houghton Mifflin Math, Grade 2. Houghton Mifflin, 2007.

Class meets 60 minutes five times per week.

SOCIAL STUDIES – MRS. VASQUEZ

The curriculum in second grade for Social Studies is integrated into the subject areas. The history of the United States is addressed in Language Arts as students study explorers, presidents and Native Americans. In Geography, the focus is on land and water forms, map making, and how land and water forms of an area can affect the community. The United States is explored during the second semester as a cooperative learning project.

Text: Teacher prepared materials.
Scholastic News.
My American Geo Journey. Modern Learning Press, 2002.
United States Video Collection. 100% Education Videos, 1998.

Social Studies lessons are presented as a subject area 60 minutes per week. Lessons are incorporated into the Language Arts program throughout the week.

SCIENCE – MS. PILARSKI

Grade 2 Science deals with life science, earth science and physical science. The science-process skills developed in first grade are built upon adding estimating, measuring, inference, drawing conclusions and formulating models. Students do hands-on activities and experiments suggested in the textbook. In addition, instructor-based activities are used. Areas of study include astronomy, plant and animal growth, change and habitat. Physical science explores matter and sound. Life science includes units on the skeletal, circulatory and digestive systems.

Text: Harcourt Science. Harcourt, 2000.

Class meets 45 minutes two times per week.

MUSIC – MRS. SCHWARTZ

The basic purpose of the Music program is to help children appreciate the value of music in their lives as an art form; as a source of enjoyment; as a part of their historical, cultural and social awareness; and as a source of beauty and creative expression.

The Orff approach is used as in Grade 1 to transfer rhythmic movement to instruments. Kodaly hand signals are used to develop pitch awareness. Concepts such as steady beat, timbre, upward and downward melody, musical form, instrument sounds (strings), musical style, verse and refrain, strong and weak beats, harmony/no harmony, long and short sounds, solo and chorus, steps, leaps, and repeats in melody, loud and soft, fast and slow, beats grouped in twos, patterns that repeat and phrases are taught in second grade using the McGraw-Hill music series, Spotlight on Music. Liturgical music is taught as well. Attendance at the Christmas and Spring Concerts is expected.

Text: Spotlight on Music. McGraw Hill, 2005.

Class meets approximately 30 minutes four times per week.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE – MRS. ARATA & MS. HARMON

The French and Spanish languages and cultures are taught. During one semester half of the students study French while the other half study Spanish. In January, at the end of the semester, the students will explore the other language.

Text: Gerard et ses Copains. Symtalk Language Systems, 2004.
Text: Pablo Y Sus Amigos – Junior Book. Symtalk Spanish, 2004.

Class meets 30 minutes two times per week.

ART – MRS. WALTHER

Students are introduced to the elements of art - line, shape, texture, value, color and space. Through use of different media and techniques, the students will be able to incorporate these elements into their art work.

Class meets 30 minutes two times per week.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION – MRS. SITEK

The units taught in Physical Education are designed to develop the movement principles of space and body awareness, creative expression, rhythmic movement, leadership skills, self-esteem and a sense of fair play. Sport games through lead-up activities are introduced. These activities develop muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, and overall coordination. Students run/walk the mile in the fall and participate in the Presidential Physical Fitness Testing in the spring.

Class meets 30 minutes four times per week.

HEALTH – MRS. SITEK

The program includes a comprehensive health, substance-abuse and violence- prevention program. The topics will include nutrition, illness prevention, drug and alcohol prevention, safety, etc. The Great Body Shop Program contains information to help the student understand her body, the way it works and the best ways to keep it healthy.

Class meets two times per month.

COMPUTER EDUCATION – MRS. WILEY

The curriculum begins with learning the PC desktop. Students choose from these applications: Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point and Publisher), Inspiration, Kid Pix, Kidspiration, Kid Keys and Internet Explorer.

The focus is one of incorporating these applications into project-based learning in the various subjects of the academic curriculum, which gives students experience using paint and draw programs, word processing and multi-media.

All students are taught to save and retrieve their projects from their own folder on the server.

All students, closely monitored by teachers, are taught to use the Internet with a focus on safety, the value and quality of sources, and copyright issues.

Grades 1-6 meet for 45 minutes twice a week with both the homeroom and computer teacher present.

LIBRARY – MRS. BYRD

The purpose of the library is to excite the girls about reading, set the foundation for their research skills, and supply students and teachers with books. Students visit at least twice each week to check out books, hear stories, and participate in plays and puppet shows. The library provides teachers with classroom collections dovetailing areas of study to enrich the supply of materials they have available for the girls on a daily basis.

ACADEMIC POLICIES
PRIMARY GRADES

A. Progress/Performance

• Parent-Teacher conferences in fall and winter for Grades 1, 2 and 3
• Narrative reports in fall for Grades 1, 2 and 3
• Summative reports in spring for Grades 1, 2 and 3

B. Homework Expectations

Students in primary grades may expect homework assignments most evenings to develop a habit of study and to reinforce concepts learned during the day. Homework should be completed when assigned. Homework may consist of written work, study work or both. Reading is a very important part of learning. Becoming a fluent reader requires daily practice. Grade 1 students should read independently about 10 minutes each night. Students in Grades 2 and 3 are expected to read at least 15 minutes each night.

C. Primary Grade Standardized Testing

• Grade 1 - Stanford 10 Language Arts and Math is administered in the spring.
• Grade 2 - Otis-Lennon School Ability Test is administered in January and Stanford 10 (Language Arts and Math) is administered in the spring.
• Grade 3 – ERB Test of Basic Skills (Education Records Bureau) is administered in the fall.