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Second Grade Foundations

 

Reading in Second Grade

Literacy is the foundation for all learning. Our reading program is focused on providing the student with opportunities to:

1. Develop the skills and strategies that are essential to reading.

* use letter/sound association (phonics)

* increase knowledge of: consonants, short vowels, long vowels, blends, digraphs, irregular vowel combinations, and prefixes (re, pre, en) and suffixes (ed, ing, s, est, ly) and compound words (playground, baseball) to decode words.

* use alphabetization skills

* build their knowledge of sight words and contractions

* begin to use reading strategies appropriately depending on the text and purpose

2. Understand meanings of word and text.

* retell the details of the text, puts the details in sequence

* identify main characters, setting, and events in a story

* use expression during oral reading to show awareness of meaning

* participate in guided literature discussions

* begin to identify point of view

* make predictions, compares and contrasts

* make inferences from text and illustrations

* develop vocabulary and comprehension skills

3. Read different materials for a variety of purposes.

* read and follow simple directions

* choose reading material independently

* identify basic genre (fiction, non-fiction, poetry)

* interpret information from diagrams, charts and graphs

* read voluntarily for interest and own purposes

* begin to read chapter books

* use book features to locate information

4. Become confident as a reader.

* read silently for 15-20 minutes

* set goals to improve reading fluency and comprehension

* connect reading to real life experiences

* self correct for meaning

* explain why literature is liked or disliked

* the fluency goal for a second grade reader is 90-100 per minute.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS IN READING

  • Read to your child every day.
  • Limit how much time is spent playing video games or watching TV.
  • Expand vocabulary by talking about details in stories and pictures.
  • Encourage your child to retell stories and predict what might happen next.
  • Visit your local library. Choose both fiction and non-fiction books.
  • Leave notes for your child.
  • Play games that provide simple instructions to read and follow.
  • Ask your child to retell stories they read or have listened to at school.
  • Model reading in your home, take time to read together. (Everybody reads)
  • If your child makes a mistake while reading to you, allow time to self-correct. If they still need help, try asking "What makes sense?", or "What is the beginning sound?" and if you tell them the word, have them reread the sentence for you.

Create an opportunity to listen to your child read everyday. Contact your child’s teacher for suggestions.

Mathematics in Second Grade

WASHINGTON STATE ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS IN MATHEMATICS as approved by the Washington State Commission on Student Learning.

The student will:

* understand and apply the concepts and procedures of mathematics.

* use mathematics to define and solve problems.

* communicate knowledge and understanding in both everyday and mathematical language.

* understand how mathematical ideas connect to the other subject areas and real-like situations.

As the second grade students in the Eatonville School District work toward achieving the essential learnings in math they will have an opportunity to:

  • Count, read, and write numbers to 1000
  • Place value 100’s, 10’s and 1’s
  • Count by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s to 100
  • Add and subtract facts to 18
  • Begin to add and subtract 3 - digit numbers with regrouping (carrying and borrowing)
  • Begin to multiply by 2’s, and 5’s
  • Use mathematical vocabulary and symbols (<,>,+, $,)
  • Use estimation, graphing, and measurement
  • Explore patterning, shape, space, and symmetry
  • Solve simple story problems using a variety of strategies
  • Use and explain in pictures, words, and numbers problem solving strategies (guess and check, draw a picture, look for patterns, choose an operation, use objects, make a table)
  • Connect mathematical across other subject areas and their everyday life
  • Tell time to nearest five minutes
  • Understand units of money (pennies, nickels, dimes quarters, dollars)
  • Recognize and identify the relationship between parts and a whole

Writing in Second Grade

The "writing process" continues in second grade as students use parts of the six-trait writing system taught in the Eatonville School District. Not every step of the process will be used with each writing activity but you may see: Pre-writing activities such as reading books, drawing pictures, making lists of ideas, or using graphic organizers such as webs, creating a rough draft in order to organize their ideas, revising and editing their writing in order to improve their work, and presenting or publishing their completed work.

The SIX-TRAITS:

1. Ideas - the "heart" of the message, the content of the piece,the main theme, together with all the details that enrich and develop that theme.

2. Organization - the internal structure of the piece of writing. The student focuses on one idea in the writing.

3. Voice - the writer coming through the words, the sense of the real person speaking to us about the topic.

4. Word Choice - the use of rich, colorful, precise language. The vocabulary of the message creates, enlightens, persuades, clarifies, or paints pictures in the reader’s mind.

5. Sentence Fluency - the rhythm and flow of the language and the sound of word patterns as they are read aloud.

6. Conventions - those items we look for in editing: spelling, grammar and usage, paragraphs, use of capitals, and punctuation.

Writing Opportunities for Second Graders:

* to start using the various phases of six trait writing

* to tell and read their own writing (they become an author), use pictures and print to convey meaning

* to organize their writing into a beginning, a middle, and an end.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS IN MATHEMATICS

  • Play counting games at home and in the car.
  • Ask your child if they want fruit or other food cut in halves or fourths.
  • Sort coins, then count the pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters so they understand monetary value.
  • Make patterns using blocks or legos.
  • Find numbers and geometric shapes in the environment.
  • When shopping, involve the child in counting, comparing prices and making change.
  • Create problems for your child to solve using math vocabulary (larger than, less than, how many more, how many altogether, predict, total, tally).
  • Practice addition and subtraction facts and learn the fact families (3+4=7, 4+3=7, 7-3=4, 7-4=3).
  • Play cards, dice, and board games that involve counting.
  • Practice telling time.
  • Look at your children’s work everyday.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS IN WRITING

Be your child’s audience - a great listener that is enthusiastic, asks questions, and is eager to hear more. Provide your child with writing materials of all kinds - colors, textures, and sizes. Read with your child. Talk about the author’s message. Find ways to build a bank of words. Talk about words. Praise your child’s effort at writing and concentrate on their "ideas", not errors in spelling and punctuation. Provide them with a beginning dictionary. Give students an opportunity to create a journal, write letters or thank you notes. Brainstorm ideas orally that could be used in writing.

TECHNOLOGY

Students are being introduced to correct methods of keyboarding. They will utilize their skills by practicing their spelling and creative writing. Students also participate in KIDPIX in which they can create projects for science and social studies.

SECOND GRADE READING TEST

The legislature of Washington State had mandated that all second grade students be tested in reading. The purpose of the test is to provide the teacher, the parent, and the child with information to assist students in targeting areas for improvement

 

Foundations for Learning

in

Second Grade

Eatonville School District

2005-06