Second Grade Curriculum Overview

Math: Everyday Math provides students with a hands-on approach to real

life situations and problems. The new version is aligned to the Common
Core and has been structured as units of study. This means that students will
not be switching between topics as frequently, allowing more continuity and
skill mastery. There is also an online component for students to play games,
refer to the student reference book, and use the Etools at home.

Reading: We blend resources from the MONDO program with Reading

Workshop practices. Students have opportunities to read in different settings
while engaging in authentic literature discussions and nonfiction research
activities. The whole reading program is designed to reach readers of all
levels and abilities, ensuring each student is working to his or her potential.
Their reading stamina should increase as well as their abilities to ask
meaningful questions about their text.
Writing: In second grade, we use the Writing Workshop model to teach
writing. This model is process, not product centered. It focuses on allowing
students to write about what they know and experiment with different
writing styles. We will study different authors, learn ways to make writing
more interesting, and integrate skills learned in our phonics program to help
students become stronger writers and conventional spellers.
Word Study: The phonics program we use in second grade is designed to
help children attend to, learn about, and efficiently use information about
letters, sounds, and words. This year we will be using Fundations, which is
the foundation for reading and spelling. It provides a structured, sequential,
and cumulative phonics/spelling program using multisensory teaching
techniques. It’s part of the balanced literacy instruction, delivered to all
students for 30 minutes per day. It emphasizes phonemic awareness,
phonics-word study, high frequency word study, fluency, vocabulary,
handwriting, and spelling.
Additionally, we use G.U.M. to practice grammar, usage, and mechanics
pertinent to second grade.
We continue to use Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop as an instructional
resource in grades 2-6. It is a research-based program that supports explicit
teaching of words in context with authentic texts to produce robust
vocabulary learning. Through the program we are teaching a variety of
strategies for acquiring new vocabulary and helping students understand
figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. We
are promoting students’ understanding of these words through multiple
exposures in lessons, texts, activities and games.
Science: Second grade students will become familiar with the new science
standards this year as they are implemented through hands-on experiments
in the classroom and the steam lab. We will explore several units of study
including matter, processes that shape the Earth, and Interdependent
relationships in ecosystems.

Social Studies: Students will engage in units of study such as Communities,

Forming an American Identity, Maps, and Oceans and Continents.
Health: In Health we focus on topics such as personal safety, functions of
the brain and heart, hygiene, the 5-senses, and child development.
Technology: The second grade is lucky to have one-to-one Chromebooks in
each classroom. We will be spending time each week to provide students
with opportunities to become comfortable with the laptops and incorporate
them into our lessons! We will work on cross-curricular projects,
keyboarding, and learn to use Google and many other academic websites in
order to practice important skills necessary for the upper-grades.