Grade 2

English And Language Arts

Our second grade language arts program teaches and reinforces reading skills – comprehension, phonics, and vocabulary. In spelling there is continued focus on phonetic patterns and their relationship to spelling. There is a formal review of the manuscript alphabet in handwriting. Work continues with sentence structure, parts of speech, capitalization, and punctuation. Journal writing, informational writing and creative writing are all areas of focus.

History & Social Studies

Students in second grade learn the difference between life today and long ago. They study family history and traditions and can put events in the order in which they occurred. They learn to identify landforms and oceans and can navigate with a map or globe. The concept of community is expanded. They are taught that all communities throughout the world have similarities and differences and change over time. They study the basic form of our government & process a bill follows to become a law. They study basic economic concepts, discover how people use resources and interact as producers and consumers. They also study people in our distant and recent history who are heroes and made a positive difference in the world.

Mathematics

In the second grade math program, students are expected to master addition and subtraction through 20. They are able to add and subtract with regrouping. They focus on place value with two and three digit numbers. Word problems and estimation become very important skills. They are introduced to simple multiplication and division. Students continue to work on understanding the concepts of fractions, measurement, geometry, money and time. Students use charts and graphs for data analysis and practice mathematical reasoning in problem solving.

Religion Studies

The major area of focus for the second grade religion program is the preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion. Included in this preparation is the celebration of belonging to the Christian community. Students also learn about forgiveness and begin to understand the meaning of sin, sorrow and reconciliation. Students celebrate the life of Jesus and develop a relationship with Him through His presence in the Eucharist. They also study all the parts of the Mass.

Science

Second grade students continue to learn more about different animal/plant groupings, their habitats and life cycles. They observe and measure the motion of objects. They are introduced to geology with the study of rocks, soil and fossils. They begin to learn the scientific process of asking questions and conducting careful investigations.

Foreign Language - Spanish

Spanish class begins with greetings, prayers, and today’s weather and date. Through music, games, and conversation, students review colors, alphabet, numbers, months of the year, days of the week, and body parts as warm up. Students learn new vocabulary weekly and perform oral and written activities using a workbook. Students grades are based on their classwork, participation and behavior in class.