What We Do in Grade 2

This is an overview of what our year will look like. 

All of our elementary grades (K-4) use the Responsive Classroom approach; this  is a widely used, research-backed approach to elementary education that increases academic achievement, decreases problem behaviors, improves social skills, and leads to more high-quality instruction.  To learn more, check out the Responsive Classroom website: http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/

Math:  Odyssey uses the Eureka Math Curriculum.  Eureka was written by a team of mathematicians and classroom teachers to address the instructional shifts required by the new Common Core Standards.  In the classroom, math is taught in a workshop model. Class begins with a mini-lesson, then students work in groups to Meet with the Teacher for small group instruction, practice the skills for each lesson on the Problem Set work pages, and complete the daily lesson on Zearn. To learn more, visit Eureka's parent support website at: http://greatminds.net/parents and the Zearn website at: https://www.zearn.org/

Language Arts:  At Odyssey, we use the Amplify CKLA curriculum. Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) is a language arts program for Grades PreK-5 that combines an explicit, multisensory approach to phonics with rich texts carefully sequenced to build content knowledge—so that learning to read and reading to learn develop together. Every day in Grades K–2, students complete one full lesson that builds foundational reading skills, as well as one full lesson that builds background knowledge. . You can learn more about CKLA at this link. 

We highly encourage you to visit ufli.education.ufl.edu/resources/parent/  to view some amazing videos produced by the The University of Florida Literacy Institute to explain early literacy learning and how you can help at home.

Much of our Science and Social Studies content will be integrated into our literacy units throughout the year.  Below is a breakdown of the CKLA knowledge units that fit within each subject.

Science:  Cycles in Nature, Insects, and The Human Body  

Social Studies: Early Asian Civilizations, The Ancient Greek Civilization, The War of 1812, Westward Expansion, The U.S. Civil War, Immigration, and Fighting for a Cause.

Additionally, as time allows,  Second grade will implement units from Mystery Science that are aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These units are:  Animal Adventures- In this unit, students begin to develop an understanding of the world's animal biodiversity. They explore animal classification and the traits that define each group. Students then turn their focus to habitats and how the surrounding environment affects what organisms live in a particular environment. Plant Adventures- In this unit, students continue to explore the needs of plants through hands-on investigations. They explore why and how plants disperse their seeds, what those seeds need in order to grow, and what the adult plants need in order to survive and thrive.  Work of Water- In this unit, students explore how water shapes the Earth's surface. Students construct and use models of mountains to demonstrate that water flows downhill, and in the process, transforms huge rocks into the tiny grains of sand we find at the beach. Students also construct and use model hills to determine the causes of erosion, and to design solutions to problems caused by erosion. Material Magic- In this unit, students explore the properties of materials and matter! They describe and classify different types of materials by properties like hardness, flexibility, and absorbency, and they investigate how those properties are useful in meeting basic human needs (such as clothing and cooking). They also investigate how heating and cooling affect the properties of materials.

Students will also learn about creating a community within the classroom, and our responsibilities as members of a learning community.  We will also use a weekly magazine, Scholastic News, to learn about a variety of topics throughout the year.