Second grade Curriculum night

1. Second gradeCurriculum night

2. Grading Policy and Report Card • 2nd Grade students are graded on a scale of 1-3. 3 – Mastery (Meets grade standards) 2 – Partial Mastery (Progressing toward grade level standards) 1 – Not Mastered (Not meeting grade level standards) • Math Investigations assessments will be graded based on the scale above. • Weekly ImagineIt! Tests for reading correlate in the following manner: 3 – 80 to 100 2 – 60 to 79 1 – 59 or lower • As the school year progresses, a grade of 4 will be added to the scale: 4 – Expands grade level standards Second Grade Report Card.docx

3. Homework • Read daily for 20 minutes • Math will be assigned 1-2 days per week depending on the lesson • Reading response is assigned 1-2 days per week • Work on RAZ-kids at your convenience or when assigned once a week • Homework should only take about 30 minutes for a 2nd-grader to complete • Each student is responsible for copying his/her homework assignment in the agenda in their binder and turning in the completed assignment to their teacher the following day • Please check and initial homework and agenda daily

4. Daily 5 • Daily 5 is a structure that helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing, and working independently that will lead to a lifetime of literacy independence. • During the week students rotate through reading to them selves, working on writing, word work, reading to someone, and listen to reading. • While students are working independently the teacher is working with small groups for guided reading. • In between rotations the teacher teaches mini-lessons on writing, phonics, and comprehension skills and strategies.

5. Guided Reading What is Guided Reading? Guided reading is a strategy that helps students become good readers. The teacher provides support for small groups of readers as they learn to use various reading strategies (context clues, letter and sound relationships, word structure, and so forth). What is its purpose? When the proper books are selected, students are able to read with approximately 90% accuracy. This enables the students to enjoy the story because there is not an overwhelming amount of "road blocks" that interfere with comprehension. Students focus on the meaning of the story and application of various reading strategies to problem solve when they do hit a road block in their knowledge or reading ability. By providing small groups of students the opportunity to learn various reading strategies with guidance from the teacher, they will possess the skills and knowledge required to read increasingly more difficult texts on their own. Independent reading is the GOAL - guided reading provides the framework to ensure that students are able to apply strategies to make meaning from print.

6. Writing • This year we will use the "Writer's Workshop" approach that was developed by Lucy Calkins, a renowned educator from Columbia Teacher's College. • The goal of the Writer's Workshop technique is to allow children to see themselves as real writers because they have experiences from their own lives to share. • Students will use the writing process of planning, drafting, revising, editing, publishing and illustrating • Students will compose personal narratives, nonfiction writng, opinion pieces, letters, poetry, short reports, and other works. • Students will also be learning to write in cursive. • Students will listen to and read mentor texts to learn how to become writers.

7. Math • Winget Park continues to use the math program entitled "Investigations" which features a hands-on approach to learning math. • Topics this year include number sense, addition, subtraction, geometry, time, graphing, algebra, and fractions. Students will manipulate cubes, pattern blocks, clocks, calculators, shapes, and other math tools. • Students will have access at school and home to games and the curriculum through www.pearsonsuccessnet.com • Daily problem solving strategies will also be part of the math curriculum. • In addition, some students will be responsible for completing enrichment using "Sunshine Math" and/or "Math Stars" which will meet with the teacher weekly to enhance their understanding of math and problem solving. • All students will be working towards basic addition and subtraction fact mastery.

8. Tips for helping your second grader with Math • Practice skip counting. State a starting number and ask your child to continue counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. Practice starting at odd numbers such as 6, 16, 26, 36, 46…. • Practice addition and subtraction facts. This is a MASTERY year! The goal is to respond quickly and correctly to facts. Your child should be able to say the answer within 3 seconds. • Do cooking and measuring activities. Guide your child in reading a recipe and in using the appropriate measuring tool. • Plan a menu and compute the cost. Using a grocery flyer, create questions such as “How much do you save by buying . . . ?” • Make change. Your child should know their money! With real or play money, involve your child in playing “store” where change is counted for payment made with a $5 bill. • Use a clock to record time. Ask your child what time it is using an analog clock. Write the time down in digit form. • Identify 2 and 3-dimensional figures. Find examples in our environment. Use blocks to build 3-D figures.

9. Science Our Science Curriculum is experimental and hands on! Units of Study • Matter: Properties and Change Students will understand properties of solids and liquids and the changes they undergo. • Forces and Motion: sound Students will understand the relationship between sounds and vibrating objects. • Earth Systems, structures and Processes Students will understand patterns of weather and factors that affect weather. • Structures and Functions of Living Organisms Students will understand the animal life cycle. • Evolution and Genetics Students will remember that organisms differ from or are similar to their parents based on the characteristics of the organisms. • Students will read, write, and conduct experiments following the Scientific Process. • Students will also study these units with Mr. Fisher during their Science special once per week.

10. Social Studies • Exploring Where and Why: We call our program EWW for short. Exploring Where and Why is Nystrom’s hands-on social studies program for Kindergarten and grades 1, 2, and 3. Exploring Where and Why reinforces reading, writing, and oral language development, as well as math skills such as numbers, counting, graphing, and charting. Lessons are completely activity-based. That’s why there are no textbooks. Hands-on materials focus students’ attention on their own learning. • Two Themes: Focus moves from the world students know best-their own community- to the larger, less familiar world- the United States and the World. Lessons integrate the social sciences… civics, culture, economics, geography, and history—in age appropriate contexts. • EWW (Exploring Where and Why) builds a framework for studying people and places near and far-now, long ago, and even in the future. • We are excited about our Social Studies Program and we know our students will gain a great deal of learning experiences from the activities that offered in the program.

11. Classroom Website • Classroom website is updated weekly • The following information is available on the website: • Weekly Homework • Curriculum • Pictures of Students • Websites for Student Support • Calendar and Upcoming Events • Math Masters • http://klaudiadombkowski.cmswiki.wikispaces.net