Academics
Lower School

Second Grade

In This Section

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  • ELA

    The second grade ELA curriculum includes reading, writing, spelling, speaking and listening. It includes the necessary skills of phonics, English language usage, and the elements of proper writing including printing and cursive handwriting.
     
    Through the course of a year, students read and identify various genres of literature with a focus on accuracy, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. Students work in a whole class setting as well as small, differentiated groups. We utilize the Orton-Gillingham approach to literacy. In addition, we incorporate lessons from the WONDERS series, as well as chromebooks/technology to develop and reinforce skills.
     
    Daily journal writing serves as an opportunity for students to express themselves, write poems, reflect on a story, explain a math process, share insights on science and social studies topics, and apply their independent spelling and phonics skills. The second grade writing goal is for students to follow the writing process in order to independently complete a paragraph including a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and closing sentence. Students explore different types of writing genres including narrative, opinion, sequence, persuasive, and letter writing.

  • Math

    The Lower School math program  follows the tenets of the Singapore Math method where there is a focus on mastery achieved through intentional sequencing of concepts.  Students learn to think mathematically as problem solvers via their depth of knowledge gained from previous lessons.  Key features of the approach include the CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract). 
    Skills focused on include addition and subtraction through 20, numbers and place value to 1000, addition and subtraction of two and three digit numbers with and without regrouping, identifying and counting coins and dollars, data analysis, time to the minute, measurement, geometric shapes and their attributes, and fractions.  All skills are applied within word problems and spiraled daily.
    The children work independently, with partners, and in groups to practice skills. They use a variety of manipulatives to discover and master concepts. Math books, Chromebooks, games and center activities are incorporated to explore and gain further understanding. Math is used across the curriculum in science, social studies, and language arts.

  • Social Studies

    Second Grade Social Studies covers the diverse areas of communities: urban, rural and suburban. Students also learn about geography-continents, oceans and our country. History and culture are also introduced through celebrating holidays and traditions. A brief unit on economics introduces the concepts of needs versus wants, goods and services, and producers and consumers. The students also learn about our government, American symbols, the Pledge of Allegiance, and citizenship. Students become aware of the world through the use of Scholastic Magazine. Students are exposed to skills and ideas they will use across the curriculum, including usage of a compass rose, reading and making bar graphs, time lines, maps and a calendar.

  • Science

    Students use the Amplify Science curriculum that blends hands-on activities, literacy, and digital tools to develop skills that help them think and argue like real scientists. 
     
    Through the science curriculum the second graders are exposed to three different areas of science: Life Science, Earth Science and Physical Science. In Life Science the children learn about how plants, animals and people grow and change. In Earth Science the students  learn about Earth’s resources, earth long ago, our solar system and weather. In Physical Science, the second graders observe and measure matter, learn about changes in matter, forces and motion, and sound.

  • World Language

    In second grade, students move to a new program that immerses them in a world of the language they are studying. This year is important because they begin to use the concepts they are learning in their other subject classes and apply them to the foreign language. They explore a multidisciplinary foreign language classroom which centers on fun as its main goal. Inspiration and self confidence in the language are the main focuses this year.

  • Religion

    Our second grade Religion lessons follow the Diocesean curriculum, and teach about God and the life and death of Jesus. We discover ways in which we see God, hear God, and feel God in our daily lives. There is a focus on the Sacrament of Reconciliation through the introduction of decision making, examination of conscience, prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Character development is integrated as we collectively practice what it means to be an honest, kind person in our hearts, with our words, and through our actions.
A private, independent, Catholic school in Buffalo, NY, with coed Montessori, Lower and Middle Schools and a college preparatory High School for young women.

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