SECOND GRADE LEVEL


CONTACT SECOND GRADE TEACHERS

Welcome to Second Grade.
There are five second grade classes at Balfour Elementary School with approximately one hundred students combined. The following is a glimpse of what a second grader at Balfour will learn during the school year. Technology is integrated into all subject areas.

During the year, various field trips are scheduled to enhance the curriculum and expand vocabularies through real-life experiences.

High expectations are held for everyone involved in second grade including students, parents and teachers. By working together as a team, parents and teachers can ensure that each child reaches their potential. Some things parents can do to help student achievement include: proper amounts of rest, proper nutrition and arriving to school prepared and on-time. Parents are encouraged to read with their child every night and check over homework.

Literacy
Second grade students become proficient readers, writers and thinkers through Balanced Literacy instruction. This research-based approach towards teaching reading, writing, phonics and spelling is implemented fully in all second grade classrooms. Our protected literacy block includes guided reading, literacy centers and writer’s workshop. Carpet time includes read-alouds to model comprehension strategies, phonics lessons and shared reading.

Literature Circles and Book Clubs
Students are able to explore different genres and enjoy ways to demonstrate comprehension of literature. After completing an assigned book, the students explore the book further through literature-based projects. A variety of formats are offered to the students. These projects are on-going throughout the entire school year.

Spelling
Spelling words are introduced weekly, and are taught using a phonetic approach. Words are a combination of basic sight words, phonics lessons as well as students’ own writing.

The Accelerated Reader Program is used. This is a self-paced, computerized reading program used to improve reading comprehension.
Reading is Thinking!

Science
Throughout the year, the students will engage in hands-on experiments related to second grade science curriculum. They will begin to understand concepts and principles related to life cycles, states of matter, weather and sound.

Wild weather causes great excitement in the second grade classrooms and technology lab. Technology and science are integrated in lessons about different weather phenomenon and how they affect our lives are taught to the children. The children observe cloud formations and predict what type of weather they will cause. The children create a variety of tools to measure temperature, rainfall, and wind direction. The children also use the internet to find daily forecasts as well as handhelds to enter data gathered from research.

Mathematics
Second graders at Balfour are encouraged to think and solve problems using strategies that make sense to them. They often communicate their reasoning with each other during Cognitively Guided Instruction. This encourages students to deepen their understanding and make connections to all strands in mathematics. Through the use of manipulatives and hands-on activities, students will expand their knowledge of the following concepts:

Number Sense

  • Addition/ Subtraction facts fluently to 18
  • Addition/ Subtraction 3-digit numbers with regrouping
  • Fractions
  • Multiplication (repeated addition) /Division (fair shares)
  • Place value

Measurement

  • Inches, feet, yards
  • Centimeters, meters
  • Time to five minute increments
  • Money – counting and making change

Geometry

  • Properties of plane shapes (2 dimensional)
  • Properties of solid shapes (3 dimensional)
  • Symmetry
  • Congruency

Data Analysis and Probability

  • 2 and 3 way Venn diagrams
  • Pictographs
  • Become familiar with the terms: impossible, likely, unlikely and certain

Algebra

  • Growing and repeating patterns
  • Equality (balancing number sentences)

Social Studies
The social studies curriculum covers a wide range of topics. Second graders learn about communities, government, geography, various cultures, economics and map skills. Classroom magazines are used weekly to bring topics of current interest into the classroom.

Procedures
All second grade teachers at Balfour follow the Asheboro City School’s literacy and mathematics pacing guides to guide their instruction. Each teacher uniquely incorporates their own interests as well as those of their unique students.

Fieldtrips
Tour of the Town, North Carolina Zoological Park and other opportunities for enrichment.

Testing
Reading, writing and mathematics are assessed throughout the year using formal and informal methods.