Second grade is an exciting and wonderful year for students at Hilltop School. They have moved upstairs from first grade and will be working on developing their independence this year to prepare them for third grade next year. While we review a lot of concepts that were taught in first grade, there are many new skills that are taught and developed in second grade.
The weekly spelling lessons will review all of the vowel control sounds that were developed last year, as well as new sounds, sight words, and challenge words. The grammar lessons will cover topics such as types of sentences, subjects and predicates, parts of speech, plurals, synonyms and antonyms, and writing. Both the spelling and grammar lessons will coordinate with the weekly stories in the Reading Street series. Reading Street consists of a variety of thematic stories in two different texts. There are also two complementing practice workbooks to reinforce what is learned in the texts. This series develops vocabulary, oral reading, listening, comprehension, writing, inference, and a variety of other reading skills. In addition, through the use of the Lucy Calkins writing series, the students will continue to develop and improve their independent writing skills.
The new Scott-Foresman math series, entitled enVision, will introduce and develop the following skills: addition and subtraction with regrouping; solving word problems step-by-step; fact families; coin value, telling time; graphing; fractions; skip counting; and multiplication. The Scott-Foresman science series develops vocabulary for each chapter. We will be studying topics such as plant and animals and their relationship to each other, natural resources, weather and seasons, fossils and dinosaurs, matter, and energy. The Social Studies Alive text explores several aspects about communities, maps & geography, the environment, good & services, community leaders, and citizenship.
For penmanship, students will practice printing letters (upper & lower case), words, sentences, and proper nouns. Cursive writing will be introduced sometime in the late winter / early spring. In technology, the students will complete a math and language arts section each week in Study Island, which is an online tool that helps to enhance their skills in these areas. Students are encouraged to complete the periodic weekend challenges for which various incentives will be awarded.
As you can see, second grade is a big transition for students. To help your child succeed, please be sure to check their folder each night and make sure they are completing their homework assignments. To provide them with an important source of energy, please send them to school with a healthy snack each day. We look forward to working with parents and students to ensure the success of all students and prepare them for their move to third grade next year!