GRADE 2

CURRICULUM STANDARDS

Dear Parents;

This document is a brief overview of the curriculum taught at St. Patrick School . It is a combination of Diocesan and State of California Standards . It includes textbooks used at the school and special projects assigned by classroom teachers. This is a living document that will be updated each year. More detailed descriptions are available to parents in the school office and soon on the school’s website.

Mrs. Kelly Stevens

Principal

Developmental Characteristics

Children develop in a natural sequence, moving through similar, predictable stages of development. We must be careful, however, not to expect all children to move at the same pace. Children are unique individuals and will pass through the developmental stages at their own rates. Generally, children in kindergarten through third grade are similar in the ways that they learn. They tend to learn best by doing and experiencing and using their senses. Broad characteristics for second grade students include the following:

Physical

• Is becoming more coordinated

• Is increasing in strength

• Is less distracted visually

• Is increasing fine motor control

• Prints more easily and neatly

• Has perseverance

• Begins to realize others have differing perceptions, views

• Expresses tension in noises and body movement

• Tends to make “safe” choices

• Criticizes own performance, frequently

• Seeks praise

• Desires perfection, has strong likes, and strong dislikes

• Restricts creativity, is sensitive and calm

• Is often moody, easily disappointed

• Dawdles, is not a good self-starter

• Takes interest in spelling/meaning of words

• Expands use of adverbs

• Uses language more precisely

• Likes to read and be read to

• Has limited short-term memory, 2–3 items

• Thinks, observes, reflects rather than verbalizes

• Is interested in time and space, can tell time

• Uses trial and error in problem solving

The religious and family life education program of St. Patrick School offers students a curriculum that intentionally strives from one grade level to the next to build on the cognitive foundations established in the previous years’ programs. Its content serves to inspire and to inform a way of life. The key learning objectives for each grade level have been grouped under the rubric of twelve basic expectations. Each of these expectations falls under four major thematic headings that convey the essential philosophical underpinnings of the entire program.

1. Demonstrate the ability to read and reflect on scripture and its meaning for life today

3. Demonstrate an understanding that we are drawn to God who, in creating us, has placed a desire for happiness in our hearts

4. Demonstrate a basic understanding and appreciation of doctrine and dogma found in the Creedal Statements

5. Demonstrate a basic understanding and appreciation of the Trinity as the central mystery of the Christian faith

6. Demonstrate knowledge of the Church as people of God, body of Christ and community of faith

7. Demonstrate an understanding of the sacraments as important moments in the life of the community, with an emphasis on the Eucharist

8. Demonstrate an understanding that the Eucharistic Liturgy (the Mass) is the communal celebration of the Paschal Mystery in which each is called to full and active participation

9. Demonstrate a knowledge of and ability to participate in the Catholic tradition of prayer

10. Demonstrate an understanding of moral teaching, and an ability to make good moral decisions and act in a responsible, Christian manner

11. Demonstrate comprehension of seven key principles of Catholic social teaching and have the ability to apply them to personal and societal situations:

• Use phonics, spelling patterns, and basic syllabication rules to decode regular multi-syllable words when reading

• Read aloud fluently and accurately and with appropriate intonation and expression

• Use knowledge of individual words in unknown compound words to predict their meaning

• Read and understand narrative and expository text (e.g., social studies, science) appropriate to second grade

• Use titles, tables of contents, and chapter headings to locate information in expository text

• Read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children’s literature

• Compare and contrast plots, settings, and characters presented by different authors

• Compare and contrast different versions of the same stories that reflect different cultures

• Write compositions that describe and explain familiar objects, events, and experiences

• Progress through stages of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing)

• Write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea

• Write brief narratives based on experiences using a logical sequence and detailed descriptions

• Write a friendly letter complete with the date, salutation, body, closing, and signature

• Correctly spell, using previously studied words and spelling patterns in one’s own writing

• Speak in a manner that guides the listener t understand important ideas by using proper phrasing, pitch and modulation

• Determine the purpose or purposes of listening (e.g., obtain information, enjoyment)

• Report on a topic with supportive facts and details, drawing from several sources of information

Children move through stages as they develop spelling and writing skills. Learning to spell correctly happens over time and progresses through stages somewhat like learning to talk. Second graders typically move through the following stages:

Students understand place value and number relationships in addition and subtraction, and they use simple concepts of multiplication. They measure quantities with appropriate units. They classify shapes and see relationships among them by paying attention to their geometric attributes. They collect and analyze data and verify the answers.

• Understand the relationship between numbers, quantities, and place value in whole numbers up to 1,000,000

• Estimate, calculate, and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of two-and three-digit numbers

• Model and solve simple problems involving multiplication and division (facts 0-5)

• Understand that fractions and decimals may refer to parts of a set and parts of a whole

• Model and solve problems by representing, adding, and subtracting amounts of money

• Use estimation strategies in computation and problem solving, using numbers in ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands places

• Model, represent, and interpret number relationships to create and solve problems involving addition and subtraction

• Understand that measurement is accomplished by identifying a unit of measure, repeating that unit, and comparing it to the item to be measured

• Identify and describe the attributes of common figures in the plane and of common objects in space

• Collect numerical data and record, organize, display, and interpret the data on bar graphs and other representations

• Demonstrate an understanding of patterns and how patterns grow and describe them in general ways

From kindergarten through Grade Five, students are introduced to facts, concepts, principles, and theories organized under the headings of physical, life, and earth sciences. They also learn and practice essential investigation and experimentation skills at each grade level.

• Measure length, weight, temperature, and liquid volume with appropriate tools and express those measurements in standard metric system units.

• Compare and sort common objects according to two or more physical attributes

• Use magnifiers or microscopes to observe and draw descriptions of small objects or features of small objects.

Students in grade two explore the lives of actual people who make a difference in their everyday lives and learn stories of extraordinary people from history whose achievements have touched them, directly or indirectly. The study of contemporary people, who supply goods and services, aids in understanding the complex interdependence in our free-market system.

• Differentiating between things that happened long ago and things that happened yesterday

• Demonstrating map skills by describing the absolute and relative locations of people, places and environments

• Explaining governmental institutions and practices in the United States and other countries

• Understanding basic economic concepts and their individual roles in the economy and demonstrating basic economic reasoning skills

• Understanding the importance of individual action and character and explain how heroes from long go and the recent past have made a difference in others’ lives (e.g., from biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Louis Pasteur, Sitting Bull, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Golda Meir, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride)

• In the Healthy Food Choices unit, the students will be introduced to the keyboard functions and one-finger touched typing in labeling the food pyramid.

• Students will use the stamping tool in Kid Pix to categorize food items into the correct food group

• Students will be introduced to diagram drawing and labeling with the Kid Pix drawing tool.

• Students will create a dinosaur drawing with backgrounds appropriate for the dinosaur era using Kid Pix.

• Students will save and retrieve documents from a designated file from a specific location.

• Students will be creating mini book, “Knowing My Family” with the Heritage Unit in Social Studies by using the Easy Book Deluxe program in the computer lab.