Second Grade Curriculum Outline
Denise Parodi’s
Curriculum Information
I am excited about having your child in my class this year. I know that your child’s education is important to you. I have put together this curriculum information in hopes of answering any questions that you may have about second grade. I also intend to send home weekly notes to let you know what we are currently working on. Please look for these letters. Feel free to call me with any questions or concerns that you may have. I want your child to have a positive year.
Jump to: Language Arts | Journal Writing | Writing Process | Spelling | Accelerated Reader | Mathematics | Accelerated Math | Social Studies | Health | Science | Homework | Classroom Procedures | Classroom Web Page
Reading groups and literacy centers take place Monday through Friday. The students are placed in flexible groups. Children may move among the groups as needed. The number of students per group varies. When the students are in small group reading they are working on reading skills from our Macmillan/McGraw-Hill reading series. Literacy centers reinforce the skills that the students are working on in their small groups. The skills your child will work on in second grade are cause and effect, compare and contrast, fact and opinion, metaphors, similes, sequencing, main characters, main idea, summarizing, grammar, and dictionary skills.
Students will also do a lot of writing during language arts.
The students do journal writing daily. I encourage students to write on any topic that interests them. Some choose to write stories or describing trips that they have taken. I model journal writing often to help them see and hear what I do when I am writing. The students have the opportunity to share their journal writing when we do author’s chair.
Each week we will have a large block of uninterrupted time for writing. During this time there will be additional adult support to assist students in their writing. The steps of the writing process are prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. The students are working on organization, sentence fluency and the conventions of writing. We will work on writing narratives (stories, poems, fables), procedures (how to, directions, rules, lists), expositions (to persuade, letters, notes), explanations (to explain, letters, notes, notices), reports, and recounts (letters, autobiographies, journals, articles).
Spelling is another activity that we do daily. Our district has adopted the Rebecca Sitton Spelling Program. This program emphasizes correct spelling in writing and uses a list of the 100 most frequently used words in children’s writing. These words are called Priority Words or No Excuse Words. New words are introduced weekly and reviewed throughout the year. The students are responsible for spelling these words correctly in their everyday writing.
This is an individualized reading program in which students read books and answer comprehension questions on the computer. Each quarter, students set goals and work to meet 100% of their goal. The students love taking AR tests.
Our district has adopted a new math curriculum using two different components. Every Day Counts will be implemented during calendar time. Investigations in Number, Data, and Space will be the program that we use during our math block. This program was designed to engage students in key mathematical content as they develop number sense, learn to visualize and describe geometric relationships, and collect and analyze real data. As they explore mathematical problems in depth, students work together, use a variety of concrete materials and appropriate technology, and express their mathematical thinking through talking, drawing, and writing.
Accelerated math is a technology program that targets your child’s individual skill level in the area of mathematics. This program is new to Berney this year.
In second grade the focus for social studies is on communities. We work on several different areas within this theme. These include Belonging to Different Groups, Living Responsibly on Earth, US History, Economics, Neighbors Near and Far, and Geography.
Our district’s health curriculum focuses on healthy habits and staying safe.
In second grade we have three main science kits: Soils, Balancing and Weighing, and Butterflies. We will also do several other science units throughout the year. In October we will be studying bats.
I ask that parents read with their child for at least 20 minutes each night. Children who read and are read to on a regular basis are better readers. Children benefit from reading silently, reading to someone, and being read to. I will be sending home books at your child’s level with a reading log. Please remember to initial after the title showing that your child has read this book. Every time your child fills up a reading log they will receive a prize from the treasure box. Your child will also receive a homework packet every Monday. The packet is due on Friday. Homework will consist of a combination of reading, writing, and math. It may also include work related to special units of study. Your child will also have homework that accompanies the unit we are studying in math.
I feel strongly about having students take responsibility for their learning and their actions. We continually practice classroom routines so that students know the different expectations during the school day. We have a behavior management plan in place in our classroom. Each student has a pocket with several tickets. If students continue to make inappropriate choices they are told what the undesirable behavior is, what behavior is desired, and asked to pull a ticket. Everyone starts on (and usually stays on ) Outstanding, the other consequences are as follows : 1) Warning 2) Recess 3) Lunch Recess 4) Call Home 5) Principal
I work very hard to have children engaged in their learning so any disruptive behaviors are kept to a minimum.
Your child should have a take -home folder that they take back and forth to school each day. Please take the time to check with your child about the contents of this folder. It will contain completed work and notes from the office and me.
Please look for our classroom’s web page. This site can be accessed by visiting the Berney School website at http://tech.wwps.org/Berney. Tracy Williams, Jono’s mom, has volunteered to create the web site. She has integrated different areas of the curriculum in order to make the site a learning tool for your child. As well, it will be a location for us to showcase what we are doing in our classroom. Thank you Tracy! Bill Calhoun served as a volunteer Web Master for the design and initial implementation.