D.O.L. 

Daily Oral Language

 Reviews and reinforces basic skills in the areas of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage. Gives students repeated opportunities to develop and practice oral language and proofreading skills.

 Spelling 

Zaner–Bloser Spelling Connections

 Connections to Thinking -    Word lists are presented in manuscript for easy reading.  Spelling words are presented in complete sentences and used in context to underscore meaning.  Practice activities and spelling strategies help students develop mastery of spelling words. 

 Connections to Phonics -     Systematic and explicit instruction helps students learn and apply sound/symbol relationships.  Phonics instruction improves reading and spelling skills through increased pattern and word recognition.

 Connections to Reading-    Spelling activities help students understand word meaning and stimulate reading comprehension.  Students use and apply what they know while learning reading comprehension strategies.

 Handwriting

Zaner-Bloser Handwriting

 Keys to Legibility:                  Shape, Size, Spacing, and Slant

 
Vocabulary Development

Wordly Wise 3000

 This series focuses on improving students’ vocabulary by furthering their understanding of new words and concepts.  To know a word, students need to see it in context and learn how its meaning relates to the words around it. 

Language Arts

Harcourt Language

 Sentences                                                                  Nouns
Parts of a Sentence                                                  Plural Nouns
Statements and Questions                                      Proper Nouns
Exclamations and Commands                                Pronouns
Present-Tense Verbs                                               Adjectives
Past-Tense Verbs                                                     More Adjectives
Forms of Be                                                               Adjectives for Size and Number
Forms of Have                                                           Adjectives That Compare
Come, Run, and Give                                               Using Nouns and Pronouns
Go, Do, and See                                                       Using Verbs
Helping Verbs                                                           Fixing Sentence Problems
Adverbs                                                                      Troublesome Words

 Writing

 The Writing Process:            Prewriting

                                                Drafting

                                                Revising, Conferencing

                                                Editing, Conferencing

                                                Publishing

 Writing Genres:                     Response to Literary and Informational Text

                                                Report

                                                Narrative

                                                Poetry

 Reading

3-Minute READING ASSESSMENTS

Houghton Mifflin – Leveled Reading Passages, Assessment Kit

 Components of an Effective Literacy Program:                            Reading Aloud

                                                                                                            Shared Reading

                                                                                                            Individual Reading

                                                                                                            Guided Reading

                                                                                                            Readers’ Theater

                                                                                                            Home Reading

Focus:                        Accuracy

Comprehension

                                    Fluency

                                    Identifying Story Elements

Retelling                    

Vocabulary Development

Mathematics

Investigations

Concepts -     Unit 1 -            Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 1

Unit 2 -            2-D and 3-D Geometry

Unit 3 -            Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 2

                        Unit 4 -            Data Analysis

                        Unit 5 -            Patterns, Functions, and Change

Unit 6 -            Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 3

Unit 7 -            Fractions

Unit 8 -            Addition, Subtraction, and the Number System 4

Unit 9 -            Measurement

 Skills -             Math Minutes   (One Hundred Minutes to Better Basic Skills)

                        Math 4 today    (10-Minute Daily Skills Practice)

                        Daily Mental Math  

 Computation –

By the end of second grade, students are expected to:

            Find the sum of three or more single digit addends.

            Find the sum of two, 2-digit numbers with and without regrouping.

            Find the difference of two, 2-digit numbers with and without regrouping.

 Math Facts -

Second graders are expected to add and subtract fifteen out of thirty number facts with answers up to 24 in two minutes or less.

Second graders are required to complete four (4) assessment tasks

            in the following concept areas:

                        Arithmetic, Number and Operations

                        Geometry

                        Functions and Algebra

                        Statistics

Second graders must also complete working portfolio tasks in the concept areas of Measurement and Probability.

Science  - Focusing Questions

 Physical Science –   How does force affect motion?

                                    How do objects move?

                                    How does force influence an object?

                                    Why is gravity important?

                                    Why do magnets affect a variety of objects?

What is the relationship between vibration and sound?

Life Science -           How can the human body be affected by the environment?

                                 Why are our senses important?

                                 Why is it important to know the difference between toxic and

                                 non-toxic things in the environment?

Ho w do we know extinct organisms ever existed?

                                 What does it mean to be extinct?                                                                                          

Earth Science -         How are changes in the sky predictable?

                                    What moon changes do we observe?

                                    What do you observe in the night sky? 

                                    What is the effect of soil on food production?

                                    What are some ways you could classify rocks or soil?

                                    What is the connection between food and plants/animals?

 Social Studies

 Communities   (classroom, school, town)  

 A Pilgrim Community

 An Australian Community

Social Development

• Self-esteem
• Peer relationships
• Communication with adults
• Personal space
• Spacial awareness
• Individual and team problem solving activities

Physical Development

• Gross motor movements

• Fine motor movements
• Rhythmic movements
• Awareness of body posture and conditioning
• Manipulative skills
• Cleanliness and minor first aid
• Nutrition and food pyramid
• Elementary individual games
• Elementary team games
• Beginning orienteering activities

The art program will consist of a spiraling curriculum. Each lesson/project will build on the previous one. It will reflect the Vermont Standards and be based on the elements and principles of design, incorporating art history, aesthetics and art criticism with projects appropriate to each grade level. A wide variety of media and techniques will be used. All activities will be structured to accommodate different learning styles and paces. Art education will be available for all students.

The art program includes content from the four foundational art disciplines known as Discipline Based Art Education:

• Art history – art in a cultural or historical setting
• Art production – the concepts and skills used to make art
• Aesthetics – the philosophy or nature and value of art
• Art criticism – making judgments and analyzing art objectively.

Assessments will be conducted on a regular basis. Assessments will be teacher assessments in the form of grades, mid-term reports, report cards and oral critique. By the end of the school year students should be able to demonstrate understanding of:

• Line, shape, pattern, texture, color and form
• Balance, movement, composition and the color wheel – warm and cool colors
• Landscape, still life and collage
• 3-D clay construction – pinch and coil pots and 3-D wood construction
• Impressionism, artistic problem solving and abstract art - Kandinsky

Second grade students spend much of their time using computer programs to support academic goals such as math and reading.

Social/Ethical Use and Practices

• Uses and advantages/disadvantages of IT

Sample Activities

• Enter to start paragraph
• Corrections in word processing
• Highlight
• Fonts and sizes
• File print
• File save

In the Library Media Program the two main focuses are to encourage the students to have a love for reading and to teach them to be information literate. To be information literate means to be able to access, evaluate and use information efficiently and effectively. The Library Media Program operates on a flexible schedule. This allows the library media specialist to collaborate with the classroom teachers so that these skills are taught as the students need to use them for their classroom assignments instead of in isolation.

The students will:

• Be introduced to the research process by following a simple research model
• Learn about the different sections of the library media center with an early focus on picture and easy reader books, and later the fiction, non-fiction and reference sections
• Learn the difference between fiction and non-fiction
• Be introduced to the different parts of a book including the title, author, illustrator, call number and spine.

The students will:

• Be guided to select books that interest them and that they enjoy reading
• Be encouraged to check books out on a regular basis
• Be encouraged to choose books that they enjoy reading
• Be introduced to different genres to help students read a variety of literature

The student will:

• Be able to find a book using the online catalog by title, author and subject

The student will:

• Learn to use and care for books and other resources in a respectful way
• Be able to return books on time