2nd Grade Curriculum

Reading and Oral Comprehension

  • Use implicit information from a passage to make inferences about the motives or behaviors of characters.
  • Synthesize explicit and implicit information to make predictions or draw conclusions about a text.
  • Describe the main idea of a passage.
  • Describe a supporting idea in a passage.
  • Compare and contrast elements from two texts.
  • Synthesize information from texts to make predictions or draw conclusions.

Vocabulary

Lessons begin dictionary style with alphabetized word lists and definitions and end with fascinating grade-appropriate nonfiction narratives that include the lesson words in context. A variety of exercises help students see how interesting words really are. Students in second grade also learn how to use a thesaurus.

Phonics and Spelling

  • Recognize vowel and consonant sounds and blends in varying positions within a word.
  • Compound words.
  • Understand the correct use of contractions and what they mean.
  • Root/base words.
  • Common words that are vital to reading fluency, especially those that do not follow basic rules of sound-letter correspondence.

Literature

Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature. They begin to find ways to clarify ideas and make connections between literary works. Students are encouraged to learn and practice different strategies for getting involved with literature. Active reading strategies include predicting, questioning and visualizing. Students are also expected to circle, highlight, underline and take notes. This is complimented with an extensive independent reading program and with materials from SRA Reading Laboratories. This provides our students with a range of reading levels that enable all students to learn independently and at their own pace.

Writing

Second grade students learn The Steps in the Writing Process and demonstrate Traits of Effective Writing.

  • The Steps in the Writing Process
    Prewriting.
    Writing the first draft.
    Revising.
    Editing and proofreading.
    Publishing.
  • Traits of Effective Writing
    Stimulating ideas.
    Logical organization.
    Personal voice.
    Original word choice.
    Smooth sentences.
    Correct and accurate copy.

Grammar Skills

  • Capitalization of proper nouns.
  • Capitalization of the first word of a sentence.
  • Capitalization in titles and forms of address.
  • The proper use of the comma.
  • The correct use of the apostrophe in contractions and possessives.
  • Proper punctuation for dialogue and letter writing.
  • Correct end punctuation.
  • Correct pronoun use, including pronoun-antecedent agreement.
  • Correct verb form and tense, including subject-verb agreement.
  • Rules of correct and effective expression at the sentence level.
  • Rules of diction within the context of a sentence.
  • Rules of sentence boundaries, including avoiding run-ons and fragments.

Forms of Writing

Students write narrative, expository, and descriptive texts.

Sentences and Paragraphs

Writing Sentences
Writing Paragraphs

Personal Writing

Writing in Journals
Writing Personal Narratives
Writing Notes and Letters

Subject Writing

Writing News Stories
Writing About Math
Writing Book Reviews
How–To  Writing
Writing Business Letters
Creating Posters

Story, Play and Poetry Writing

Writing Stories
Writing Plays
Writing Poems

Report Writing

Writing Reports
Making Picture Dictionaries

Social Studies

Unit

Social Studies

Corresponding Literature

Early Colonial America – 1700’s

The Eastern Woodland Indians
Colonial Life
The physical and human geography of the 13 colonies.
The geography of the territories.
The capitol moves from Jamestown to Williamsburg
Slavery
Frontier Life
Daniel Boone

Molly’s Pilgrim
By
Barbara Cohen.

It’s Thanksgiving
Poems.

The Drinking Gourd
By
Monjo/Brenner.

The Courage of Sarah Noble
By
Alice Dalgliesh.

George Washington’s Mother
By
Jean Fritz.

The Sign of the Beaver
By
Elizabeth George Speare.

The French and Indian War

English – Iroquois alliances
The Iroquois Nation
French Huron Alliances
The Hurons
The French and Indian War
The 7 continents
The World’s major oceans
Compass Directions
Major Land forms.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield
By
Eastern National Park and Monumental association.

Mathematics

The following content strands are emphasized:

Numeration

Counting: reading and writing numbers.
Identifying place value.
Comparing numbers.
Working with fractions.
Using money to develop place-value and decimal concepts.

Operations and Computation

Recalling addition and subtraction facts.
Exploring fact families.
Adding and subtracting with tens and hundreds.
Beginning multiplication and division.
Exchanging money amounts.

Data and Chance

Collecting, organizing, and interpreting data using tables, charts, and graphs.
Identifying landmarks in data sets, including range, median, mode, and mean.
Exploring concepts of chance.

Geometry

Exploring 2- and 3- dimensional shapes.
Classifying polygons.

Measurement and Reference Frames

Using tools to measure length, capacity, weight and volume.
Using U.S. customary and metric measurement units.

Patterns, Functions and Algebra

Exploring number patterns, rules for number sequences, relations between numbers, and attributes.

Science

Science is an integral part of the FASSV curriculum, and is taught in both programs simultaneously. The second grade features:

  • Environmental Education; Water
    Earth and the water planet.
    3 kinds of water.
    Water in the air.
    Water conservation.
    Ways of saving water.
  • The Living World
    Plants.
    Animals.
    The Life cycles of plants and animals.
  • The Human Body
    The 5 Senses.
    Caring For Your Teeth.
    Growth.
    Food and Nutrition.
    Personal hygiene.
  • Space
    Food pyramids.
    Simple animal classification and characteristics.
    Simple plant classification and characteristics.
  • Matter
    Gases.
    Solids.
    Liquids.
    Electricity.
    Dangers of electricity.