Mrs. Smiths Second Grade Class

Thomas Merton Academy

Curriculum

RELIGION/FAMILY LIFE

Our main topics of study in the Second Grade are the Sacrament of Baptism, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We begin our year by working on the Family Life themes of belonging to our family, our school, our community, and our parish. In our Family Life lessons we work on learning about ourselves and how we work with others. We do "Family Home Projects" as part of our Family Life lessons. We do remind the students that all families are different and all families were created by God and belong to God. During the year we learn about the feast days, the lives of the saints, and the Church seasons of Advent and Lent.
*Catholic students in the Second Grade receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Eucharist in their own home parish. You will receive a letter in the mail about the class times and parent meetings from your parish priest or DRE.

LISTENING/SPEAKING/WRITING/READING:

We integrate all subject areas into learning to read and write. The students use trade books, poems, and writing activities to practice their reading skills. Some skills that we work on are decoding, phonics, comprehension, details, topic and main idea, sequence of events, and following oral and written direction. We use the Scott-Foresman reading series for our reading text. The students use the Accelerated Reader Program as one tool for developing their reading skills.
READING APPROACHES THAT ARE USED IN GRADE 2 INCLUDE:
*MODEL READING-I read aloud to the students (Storytime)
*SHARED READING-Students read along with me (ex. choral reading)
*GUIDED READING-help the child read
*INDEPENDENT READING-child reads alone
*COLLABORATIVE READING-reading with friends/partners/Reading Buddies
*PERFORMANCE READING-watching the child read

* Spelling- We use the five-step method. The student looks at the word, says the word, spells the word, prints the word, and says the word again. We work on alphabetical order, word families, and correct sentence structure in our spelling lessons.
* Creative Writing- We write in journals, create student-made books, and write our own stories, poems, and songs. We use a word wall, dictionary, or inventive spelling to help with their writing.

*Handwriting-We use the Zaner-Bloser handwriting method. I expect neat, legible writing on all papers. The students are taught the correct letter formation and spacing of words and letters. Cursive handwriting begins in January. We learn the lower-case letters first and then move on to the upper-case letters. The students really enjoy this new learning experience.