Word Study:
The phonics program we use in second grade is designed to help children attend to, learn about, and efficiently use information about letters, sounds, and words. This year we will be using Fundations, which is the foundation for reading and spelling. It provides a structured, sequential, and cumulative phonics/spelling program using multisensory teaching techniques. It’s part of the balanced literacy instruction, delivered to all students for 30 minutes per day. It emphasizes phonemic awareness, phonics-word study, high frequency word study, fluency, vocabulary, handwriting, and spelling. Additionally, we use G.U.M. to practice grammar, usage, and mechanics pertinent to second grade. We continue to use Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop as an instructional resource in grades 2-6. It is a research-based program that supports explicit teaching of words in context with authentic texts to produce robust vocabulary learning. Through the program we are teaching a variety of strategies for acquiring new vocabulary and helping students understand figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. We are promoting students’ understanding of these words through multiple exposures in lessons, texts, activities and games Science: Second grade students will become familiar with the new science standards this year as they are implemented through hands-on experiments in the classroom and the steam lab. We will explore several units of study including matter, processes that shape the Earth, and Interdependent relationships in ecosystems.
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Technology:
The second grade is lucky to have one-to-one Chromebooks in each classroom. We will be spending time each week to provide students with opportunities to become comfortable with the laptops and incorporate them into our lessons! We will work on cross-curricular projects, keyboarding, and learn to use Google and many other academic websites in order to practice important skills necessary for the upper-grades.
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