Second Grade
This and more make second grade a year that is marked by excitement, exploration, and new challenges encountered and surmounted. The seven- and eight-year-old's developmental progression is one of consolidation of skills across the board. During second grade we work with each child and his/her family to facilitate their growth academically, socially, emotionally, and physically.
* Developing skills of working productively both independently and collaboratively.
* Capable of doing their best work when there is one cognitive focus.
* Enjoying the routine and structure of school and prizing close relationships with teachers.
* Wanting their work to be perfect, and thus are in need of support and encouragement to persevere through challenges and struggles.
* Navigating developing, and sometimes fluctuating, friendships with peers.
* Experiencing heightened sensitivity to slights (real or perceived) from peers and their environment, necessitating their strong classroom community and practice with developing conflict resolution skills.
* Increasingly able to learn new skills/concepts and represent understanding without concrete manipulatives.
* Improving their ability to listen to and learn from others.
At the end of each week, families receive a newsletter with highlights from the week, and forecasting the learning and activities that lie ahead. We encourage families to contact us early and often with questions.
English Language Arts
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Second grade writing workshop is structured to help students grow as writers. Teaching writing begins with the recognition that children come to writing workshop with concerns, ideas, memories, and feelings. They write about what is alive, vital, and real for them. Their writing is experiential and, in a sense, these experiences become the workshop’s curriculum. Through the study of children’s literature and poetry, students are exposed to a variety of writing strategies such as rhyming, simile, and alliteration. The result is a rich assortment of writing reflecting each child’s unique voice. Tuxedo Park School uses a research-based reading and writing curriculum developed by Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project is a research and staff development organization housed at Teachers College, Columbia University. The teacher-educators who staff the Project are involved in long-lasting collaborations with teachers across the world. The Project has a lasting and deep affiliation with six hundred schools and develops ideas that are foundational to literacy instruction across the globe. While this program is the foundation of our curriculum, we believe thoughtful educators adapt and enrich the curriculum to meet students’ unique learning abilities. |
Phonics
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word-analysis skills in decoding words
- Segment syllables into sounds (phonemes)–up to six sounds
- Identify word structures such as vowels, consonants, blends, digraphs, and digraph blends
- Identify parts of words (syllables, base-words, suffixes) and divide words into parts
- Identify all six syllable types: closed, vowel-consonant-e, open, r-controlled, vowel digraph/diphthong, and consonant-le
- Distinguish long and short vowels when reading regularly spelled one-syllable words
- Read and spell words with short vowels, long vowels in vowel-consonant-e and open syllables, r-controlled vowels (ar, er, ir, or, ur), vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, ey, ea, oi, oy, oa, ow, oe, ou, oo, ue, ew, au, aw), unexpected vowel sounds (old, ild, ind, ost, olt, ive), suffixes (-s, -es, -ed,-ing, -est, -ish, -able, -ive, -y, -ful, -ment, -less, -ness, -ly, -ty), common prefixes (un-, dis-, mis-, non-, trans-, pre-, pro-, re-, de-), and phonetically regular one-, two- and three-syllable words
- Identify words with inconsistent but common spelling-sound correspondences
- Read and spell the first 200 high frequency words including irregular words
- Use synonyms
- Know some multiple meaning words
- Apply dictionary skills
- Use correct writing position and pencil grip
- Write clear, legible manuscript at an appropriate rate
- Apply correct punctuation (period, question mark, exclamation point)
- Apply capitalization rules for beginning of sentences and names of people
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
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Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
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Reason abstractly and quantitatively
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Construct viable arguments – verbally explain mathematical reasoning
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Model with Mathematics – Apply the math you know to solve real life problems
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Use appropriate tools strategically
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Attend to precision
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Look for and make use of structure and patterns
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Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning: look for general methods and for shortcuts
Social Studies
The second grade social studies curriculum focuses on community and early American history. Early in the year, students use social studies time to help develop our classroom community. They work together to become a caring unit and establish rules which help to govern the classroom.
Next, students learn about the communities that existed in Colonial America. Students learn about the roles, responsibilities, and jobs that existed during this time and study the ways geography impacted community formations. They also begin to examine events that lead up to the American Revolution.
The study of the 13 Colonies leads directly into our Culture Study. In recent years, second graders have focused on one of the following countries during the months of November and December:
- India
- England
- Bahamas
After returning from winter break, students will study the American Revolution. They look at the ways new communities formed during this difficult time. Students compare and contrast Loyalist and Patriot views, and chronicle the events that preceded American independence. Key historical figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Deborah Sampson are studied.
During the spring, the second graders study the formation of the United States and learn about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the structure of the government, and formation and importance of the District of Columbia. Second graders also examine their roles, rights, and responsibilities as members of the “American Community.”
Science
Second grade science continues to build on the process skills learned in previous grades. Emphasis is placed on predicting, observing, measuring, and drawing conclusions. Students are stretched to look beyond Earth with yearlong connections to astronomy and basic biologic and geologic cycles. The opening unit’s exploration of the Earth/Sun/Moon system encourages students to explore the causes of day and night, the phases of the moon, and the apparent motion of the sun and moon in the sky.
The energy from the sun then becomes the driving force in the next unit of study: properties of water. While exploring the water cycle, students acquaint themselves with water as a solid, liquid, and gas. Students explore the properties of water, learning about surface tension, capillary action, adhesion, and cohesion. This unit culminates in an in-depth exploration of water quality, for which students analyze the content of their own drinking water. Students present the results of their investigations at their science celebration.
Following winter break, the class begins to study simple machines, building and testing levers, wheels and axles, and inclined planes. This exploration of physics continues as the class discusses force and motion and, ultimately, distinguishes between simple and complex machines.
Explorations with energy as waves producing sound and light is the next unit. The emphasis is on vibrations, pitch, and volume. The music teachers visit the class to present how these terms apply to vocal and instrumental music.
Come spring, students study plants and what they need to grow. Explorations with a light box explain geotropism and phototropism. Introducing photosynthesis as a way that plants use the sun’s energy to make their own food establishes the knowledge that plants are the base for food webs. Students also investigate different types of seeds and discover how they are scattered. On Earth Day, students plant seeds and seedlings in cold frames for the school garden.
Following the life cycle of plants, students observe the life cycles of frogs from egg, to tadpole, to adult frog. The year culminates with students’ reviewing the cycles that they have observed all year.
French
| Second Grade French builds upon the previous year’s program. Students continue to use general French directives and conversational phrases, and they learn new ones; for example, students learn to talk about age, birthdays, weather, and the seasons. Other specific topics include classroom objects, family members, the house, and clothing. During this year, students develop word recognition and are able to complete simple written assignments. Also this year, students discuss the gender of nouns and learn to use the definite and indefinite articles. In the spring, the French class works on a presentation connected to their science curriculum. |
Art
Second grade student projects are often prompted by classroom curriculum, holidays, or the work of well-known artists both historic and contemporary. Students use their observational and imaginative skills for projects in many mediums, including drawing, painting, collage, papier mâché, stitched fabrics, cardboard, and clay to produce images and objects. Recent projects have included:
- a tissue paper collage based on the work of Paul Cezanne;
- a ceramic owl based on the pottery owls of Pablo Picasso;
- a three-dimensional painting based on The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Grant Wood;
- Chinese dragon costumes.