LITERACY

READING & WRITING WORKSHOP

A workshop model will be implemented in the classroom for both reading and writing. During reading and writing workshop, children will rotate through a variety of “just right” reading activities every day. Our goal is vigorous growth in comprehension, accuracy, fluency and vocabulary acquisition and usage. We begin with a brief mini-lesson focused on a strategy students can utilize in their independent work. Students have time to practice, work with partners and time to work with their teachers either in a one to one conference or in small groups. At the end of our workshop time we leave room to share something from the work of our day.

During the day we also have lots of opportunities for shared reading, interactive read alouds, interactive writing and word work. Children have writing journals for both brainstorming ideas and exploring all writing ventures independently.

Our reading units include work with fiction and non-fiction, emphasizing fluency and comprehension as well as continuing to develop strategies for reading longer , more complex books and solving harder words. During writing workshop, we continue to explore and build upon learning about personal narratives, nonfiction, persuasive writing and poetry.

MATH

MATH DIGITAL RESOURCES :

Investigations 3 Digital Resource Link

wellesleyps.org/technology/online-tools/math-digital-resources-for-families/

GRADE TWO DIGITAL SPECIFIC: media.pk12ls.com/curriculum/math/Investigations3/MWI/english/index.html#/Grade:2/

This year we will be implementing the third edition of Investigations in Number, Data, and Space mathematics curriculum. Each unit of the curriculum offers students the opportunity to investigate major mathematical ideas. In second grade we will be exploring the following units:

Unit 1: Coins, Number Strings, and Story Problems

Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 1

Unit 1 centers on students work on adding and subtracting single-digit numbers with a focus on adding numbers in any order, shifting from counting by all ones to counting in groups, particularly groups of tens and ones, (laying the foundation for work with place value and base-10), and continuing to develop and refine strategies to solve a variety of addition and subtraction problems. This unit also introduces the tools, processes, and routines of the workshop. Students begin to explore year-long routines that offer regular practice with composing and decomposing numbers, developing visual images of quantities, addition and subtraction facts, telling time, and counting, collecting, and analyzing data.

Unit 2: Attributes of Shapes and Parts of a Whole

Geometry and Fractions

In Unit 2, students will observe and describe defining attributes of 2-D and 3-D shapes (e.g., number and shape of faces, number and length of sides, and number of angles and vertices), and using those attributes as they sort, construct, draw, and compare shapes. They will also begin to develop ideas about equal parts of a whole, focusing specifically on partitioning and describing halves, fourths, and thirds of one whole and recognizing that the same equal part of a whole (e.g. one half of a square) can be different shapes.

Unit 3: How Many Stickers? How Many Cents?

Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 2

Unit 3 focuses on the place value of 2-digit numbers and operating on those numbers within 100. Students come to see 100 as ten 10s and multiples of 100 as being made up of some number of hundreds. They solve a variety of types of story problems (e.g. put together/take apart with one or both addends unknown, add to and take from with result unknown, problems with an unknown change or an unknown start). They play games that involve combining amounts to get to 100 or $1. Work on fluency with addition and subtraction within 100 continues, with a focus on using known facts and knowledge of the operation. Students also identify, read, and write numbers to 500, and mentally add and subtract 10 to numbers in that range.

Unit 4: Pockets, Teeth, and Guess My Rule

Modeling with Data

In Unit 4 students will work on sorting and classifying categorical data, ordering numerical data, and collecting and representing categorical and numerical data using a variety of representations. Students will explore their own representations as well as picture graphs, bar graphs, Venn diagrams, cube towers, and line plots. Students describe the data and discuss what the data tell them about the group surveyed. In doing so students develop the ability to model aspects of their world with data.

Unit 5: How Many Tens? How Many Hundreds?

Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 3

The focus of Unit 5 is on the place value of 3-digit numbers and operating on numbers within 100. Students come to see 100 as 10 tens and multiples of 100 as being made up of some number of hundreds. They solve a variety of types of story problems (e.g., put together/take apart with one or both addends unknown, add to and take from with result unknown, problems with an unknown change or an unknown start). They play games that involve combining amounts to get to 100 or $1. Work on fluency with addition and subtraction within 100 continues, with a focus on using known facts and knowledge of the operations. Fluency with addition within 100 is a benchmark in this unit. Students also identify, read, and write numbers to 1,000 and add and subtract 10 and 100 to numbers in that range.

Unit 6: How Far Can You Jump?

Linear Measurement

In Unit 6, students will develop strategies for accurately measuring length with nonstandard and standard units (e.g., craft sticks, cubes, inches, feet, yards, centimeters, and meters) and tools (e.g., inch-brick measuring tools, rulers, yardsticks, and meter sticks) and for considering the relationship between different units and tools (e.g., the larger the unit, the smaller the count will be). Students represent measurement data on a line plot and also solve story problems that involve adding, subtracting and comparing lengths.

Unit 7: Partners, Teams, and Other Groups

Foundations of Multiplication

Unit 7 work focuses on the idea of equal groups as the foundation of multiplication. Students will investigate even and odd numbers and represent equal groups with arrays and tables.

Unit 8: Enough for the Class? Enough for the Grade?

Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 4

In Unit 8 students will develop and achieve fluency with subtraction within 100 and work on achieving fluency with addition and subtraction facts within 20. Students work with a new kind of story problem-comparison problems with a smaller unknown. They end the year thinking about how the strategies they know and use for adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers translate to adding and subtracting 3-digit numbers, represented with place-value notation. Students also demonstrate fluency with time, ending the year telling time to the nearest five minutes, using A.M. and P.M.

If you would like to learn more about the curriculum by grade level and content area, learn more about the development of the curriculum, or read some of the research related to the curriculum, visit http://investigations.terc.edu/ . Here you can also check out the “For Families” link.

Other Helpful Links: Game Center and Math Words and Ideas

SCIENCE:

Second graders will explore Habitats, Wind and Water & Earth's Landscape, and Properties of Matter. Our goal is for students to be able to think scientifically while learning about their world. In each unit, students actively engage in the key science practices:

1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)

2. Developing and using models

3. Planning and carrying out investigations

4. Analyzing and interpreting data

5. Using mathematics and computational thinking

6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)

7. Engaging in argument from evidence

8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Second graders will study Geography and some Optional lessons from our Time Lines & Traditions Unit. During the Timelines & Traditions Unit, students will learn about major U.S. historical events, figures, and holidays as well as exploring their own family histories and where they fit on the timeline and in relationship to U.S history. In the Geography Unit, students will learn about maps and begin to understand their place in the world.

Open Circle Social Competency Program

The Open Circle curriculum is a social competency program created by the Stone Center at Wellesley College. Wellesley schools use this program because we realize how important relationships are to the social development and academic achievement of each child. The activities and discussions throughout the curriculum help to foster a sense of community in the classroom and the entire school, enhancing respect, caring, risk-taking, and the ability to constructively solve conflicts. Students develop skills for recognizing and managing their emotions, learn empathy, build positive relationships and work on problem solving to build a community where everyone feels safe, cared for and is engaged in learning.

Count Me In Curriculum

The goal of the curriculum is to provide experiences for each grade level in showing respect for the common human needs of everyone, including persons with differences; being sensitive to the needs of others; and making everyone feel included and safe. The lessons also aim to develop an understanding of people's feelings, even those who may look or act differently than we do. The second grade unit content focuses on learning differences.

FLES SPANISH

3 Times per week. Specific Information about FLES can be found on the WPS Website.