Curriculum Information
Reading
Second grade readers are working on word solving strategies for longer, harder words throughout the year while building stamina for reading for longer periods of time. There is also a strong focus on reading comprehension.
September-November
This unit is broken up into three parts. The first part of the unit launches our year by building reading fluency, stamina, and comprehension. The next part asks students to use strategies to tackle harder words in their reading. Lastly, the final part identifies author’s craft moves within texts.
November-December
During the month of November, we introduce students to non-fiction texts. In this unit, students learn how to read nonfiction texts by paying attention to details on the page (i.e. captions, text boxes, diagram) and put all of the parts together to understand the topics. Students continue to use decoding strategies for tricky words. Towards the end of the unit, readers learn how to grow knowledge across multiple texts.
January-February
This unit asks students to study characters closely through fairytales, folktales, and fables. Together, we use many texts to identify character changes, problem and solutions. Students also explore the theme of certain texts and discover the author's purpose. We continue our work on stamina, fluency, and decoding.
February-March
At this time during the year, students are reading longer and more difficult books. Many are transferring from shorter texts to longer texts across chapters. This unit supports the hard work that readers need to do as they begin reading longer books. Students work on reading with fluency, understanding literary language, noticing dialogue among characters and its purpose, reading with expression, and being able to hold onto a story even when the books are long.
March
Students revisit nonfiction reading skills during these months. They move from fact collection to a deeper understanding of main ideas and supporting information. They continue to link information across books to grow knowledge.
April
Students use skills learned in previous units. They build on their knowledge of literary language, craft moves in mentor texts, and use of details in reading poetry. We continue to work on fluency and expression.
May-June
Students start to come together to explore series books. They become experts on character, author's crafts, and sharing their opinions with the world. In their groups, they share their thoughts, reactions, and ideas as they read through their series chapter book. The groups all share the same series book so conversation is key!
Writing
September-October
Writer’s begin the year by reviewing some of the important skills learned in first grade. Students focus on writing personal narrative stories and stretching out their small moments by adding details, bold beginnings and meaningful endings. Throughout this work, students practice appropriate conventions. Editing and revising are also a part of this unit. Students begin to connect craft moves they find in reading and apply them into their own writing.
November-December
Students begin writing nonfiction chapter books about expert topics. Students also learn how to consider what their audience wants to know and are taught to keep this in mind throughout their writing. The hope is that students learn to write with a purpose. Some key lessons taught in this unit are using keywords to explain their topics and including text features to help teach their reader more.
January
Students use the letter writing format to express opinions about the characters they meet in their texts. They must include reasons, details, and examples to support their opinions. We continue to work on elaboration and conventions throughout this unit.
January-February
During this writing unit, students move to fiction and begin generating ideas for short fiction stories. They continue to learn how to edit and revise their stories with the purpose of pulling readers in throughout the story. Towards the end, students begin to think about how to incorporate a message to their readers that they can connect to the real world.
February-March
Students begin writing nonfiction chapter books about topics that they will need to research instead of those they feel they are already experts. They apply the same skills from the previous informational unit.
April
Students use skills learned in previous units to write poetry. They build on their knowledge of literary language, craft moves in mentor texts, and use of details in writing their own poems.
May-June
Students revisit the skills learned in the opinion unit to generate letters and recommend their favorite books to the upcoming second graders and other students in the school.
Math
Science
Life Science
Students will develop and use models to compare how plants and animals depend on their surroundings and other living things to meet their needs in the places they live. The will use texts and media to compare: different kinds of living things in an area, and differences in the kinds of living things living in different types of areas.
Physical Science
Students will describe properties of matter (solids, liquids and gases) and classify different kinds of materials by observable properties of color, strength, flexibility, hardness, texture, and absorbency. They will test different materials and analyze the data obtained to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
Students will analyze a variety of evidence to conclude that when a chunk of material is cut or broken into pieces, each piece is still the same material and, however small each piece is, has weight. They will show that the material properties of a small set of pieces do not change when the pieces are used to build larger objects.
Students will construct an argument with evidence that some changes to materials caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
Earth Science
Students investigate and compare the effectiveness of multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land.
They will map the shapes and types of landforms and bodies of water in an area.
Students will use examples obtained from informational sources to explain that water is found in the ocean, rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, and may be solid or liquid.
Students will observe how blowing wind and flowing water can move Earth materials from one place to another and change the shape of a landform.
Social Studies
Geography
-On a map of the world and on a globe, locate all the continents and some major physical characteristics on each continent (e.g., lakes, oceans, rivers, mountains and mountain ranges, and peninsulas, deserts, plains).
-On a map of the world and on a globe, locate the oceans of the world
History and Cultures
-Conduct interviews with family members, neighbors, friends, or school staff to discover where their families came from, how and why they moved to where they now live, and when and why their families came to Massachusetts.
-Identify what individuals and families bring with them (e.g., memories, cultural traits, goods, ideas, and languages or ways of speaking) when they move to a different place and identify the significant impacts of migration; identify elements that define the culture of a society (e.g., language, literature, arts, religion, traditions, customs); explain how the community is enriched by contributions from all the people who form it today.
-Locate and analyze information and present a short research report on the physical features, and people of a country outside the United States. (Students should choose a country of interest, for example, a country where they, their families, or their ancestors lived)
Economics
- Explain what it means to be employed and define the terms income, wages, and salary.
-Give examples of products (goods) that people buy and use.
-Give examples of services people do for each other.
-Give examples of choices people have to make about buying goods and services (e.g., food for the family or a video game; bus fare to get to work or a movie ticket for entertainment) and why they have to make choices (e.g., because they have only enough money for one purchase, not two)
Phonics
Phonics is taught through direct, explicit instruction using the Wilson Language Fundations units of study that provide a strong foundation for reading and writing.
Unit 1
Short vowel sounds, consonant letter sounds, and digraphs
Example words: kid, math, much
Unit 2
Bonus Letters and Glued Sounds
all, am, an, ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk
Example words: miss, puff, call, bang, bank, chunks, pink, flung
Unit 3
Glued Sound Syllable Exceptions: ild, ind, old, ost, olt
Example words: wild, post, cold, colt
Unit 4
suffix -s, -es, -ing, -ed, -er, -est
Example words: bugs. hills, crunches jumping, stronger, quickest, folded, smelled, splashed
Unit 5
Suffixes -ful, -ness, -less, -ment, -able, -en, -ish, Sound of 'ck' in a two-syllable word
Example words: kindness, thankful, childish, enjoyment, freshen, countless, useable, panic
Unit 6
Two sounds of suffix s (s and z) and suffix -ive
Example words: maps, rings, give, inventive
Unit 7
Multi-syllable words, -y at the end of words, open/closed syllables
Example words: silly, shy, predict, crunchy, demolish, comprehend
Unit 8
'R' controlled vowels: ar, or, ore
Example words: store, torn, smart
Unit 9
'R' controlled vowels: er ir, ur
Example words: turn, twirl, fern
Unit 10
Long a vowel teams: ay and ai
Example words: painting, complain, delaying
Unit 11
Long e vowel teams: ee, ea, and ey
Example words: speeches, beast, chimney
Unit 12
Sounds of oi, oy
Example words: coin, enjoyed, spoiled
Unit 13
Long o vowel sounds: oa, oe, and ow
Example words: charcoal, window, loading, foaming
Unit 14
Sounds of ou, ow
Example words: trout, snow, plow
Unit 15
Long u vowel team sounds: oo, ue, ou, ew
Example words: school, book, blue, soup, rescue, chew
Unit 16
Sounds of au and aw
Example words: August, saw, astronaut, launch, yawned
Unit 17
consonant-le syllable
Example words: candle, simple, giggle, cuddle