Trinity Lutheran School
Second Grade
Teacher: Mrs. Heather Dimmel
For more information about Trinity's second grade, please call the school office at 507-231-6646 or email Mrs. Dimmel.
Curriculum Overview
Religion
The Concordia Publishing House, Voyages curriculum is used to teach the faith to second graders. There are nine units (books) in this course. At the end of each month, the students take home their books to keep. The Bible stories in each unit are connected by a common theme. All stories are presented to survey God's story of love and salvation for His people as found in the Old and New Testaments and continuing on to touch our lives today. Through a planned memory pro0gam, students learn scripture verses, hymns, and portions of Luther's Small Catechism.
Reading
In second grade, the students review first grade phonics and word re3conginition skills. The students also work on becoming more effluent readers and to comprehend on a higher level. The students learn skills such as cause and effect, making inferences, context clues, time order works, possessives 's and s', and suffixes ly, tion, and ful. Grammar mechanics and spelling are also integrated into the Treasury of Literature reading curriculum published by Harcourt Brace.
English
Macmillian English teaches sentence structure, types of speech (noun, verb, and adjective), sentence types, and sentence parts (subjects and predicates). We learn capitalization, titles, and initials, punctuation, synonyms and antonyms, prefixes and suffixes, and words with multiple meanings. Writing activities include sentences, paragraphs, stories, description, and letter writing. Other writing opportunities are presented in journal writing and the reading workbook. Students also learn may research skills (dictionary, library, parts of a book, and encyclopedias).
Daily Oral Language
DOL for grade two review and reinforces basic skills in the areas of spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage. In addition, the program gives students repeated opportunities to develop and to practice oral language and proofreading skills.
Spelling
In second grade the students use Month-By-Month Phonics and Houghton Mifflin Phonics in Action! Both texts are used by second grade students to help them become better readers and writers through systematic multilevel instruction. Both resources contain activities that help students develop phonic awareness, enhance letter and sound recognition, and increase vocabulary.
Handwriting
The students review the manuscript alphabet using the Zaner -Bloser Spelling Series. Cursive is introduced to second grade students. With Zaner-Bloser, students learn to write manuscript with continuous strokes. That means that when it's time to begin cursive, the transition comes naturally because they already know the flow of continuous strokes.
Math
Saxon Math begins the second grade year with a review of first grade number concepts. Addition and subtraction facts through 20 are reviewed extensively. Students learn to graph, tell
time, read a thermometer, count money, write number sentences, and fractions. We identify measurements, geometric shapes, and add three or more single digit numbers. Toward the end of the year, students are introduced to multiplication and division concepts.
Science
Discovery Works Science by Concordia Publishing House is introduced in second grade and continues through the fifth grade. Through the study of science, we learn more about our God -
the One who made the world, redeemed it, and supports and preserves all things for the benefit of humanity. The science lesson in our text, all build on the foundation of God's Word. Units covered in our text are: Interactions of Living Things; Light and Color; Earth Through Time; and Solids, Liquids, and Gasses.
Social Studies
Second grade students discover and appreciate the importance of patriotism and good citizenship. The five units coved in Macmillan/McGraw-Hill second grade Social Studies are: Our
Community, All bout Earth, Our Past, All About Work, and Our Government. The students learn abut important people such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Computers
Second grade students use the computer to reinforce skills and extend what is learned to other areas. They continue to gain some familiarity with keyboarding, learn to identify and use the components of a computer system, and the care of hardware and software. In second grade, students begin to use the computer for taking Accelerated Reading Tests.
Art
Students in second grade have the chance to use a variety of media such as pencil, crayon, paint, paper, glue, chalk, and others. Students will not only practice cutting, gluing, and drawing skills, they will also have an opportunity to express their own creativity and style through many different elements of art. Second graders develop a better understand of the formal elements of line, color, shape and texture, and will practice using many other elements expressing themselves through art.
Physical Education
In Physical Education classes, students are taught a blend of knowledge, motor skills, and fitness as well as the development of appropriate social skills through the various games and activities in class. Students become aware of the importance of a physical and healthy life-style.
Choir/Music
In second grade, the students continue to build on their music theory skills. By the end of the school year, the students will be able to name all the notes on a music scale, and identify the count value of notes and rests on a music staff. They will develop their singing voices to praise God by singing in church and chapel services.