Grade 2

Religion

The theme of the Second grade Religion curriculum is based upon the four parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church namely, believe, worship, live, and pray. Students are presented with the essentials of the Catholic teaching through a balanced and integrated approach that helps them to learn and deepen their faith and Catholic identity. Second grade is a time when most Catholic students prepare to receive the sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Communion. Although that preparation takes place in the students’ home parishes, the second grade curriculum complements that instruction. It has become a tradition at St. Bernadette School that members of the second grade class, dressed in their First Communion clothes, serves as readers and gift-bearers at the Ascension Thursday Mass.

The Progress in Mathematics program promotes conceptual understanding and procedural fluency while providing explicit in-depth instruction in essential mathematical concepts. Students focus on place value, addition and subtraction facts including two and three-digit numbers, geometry, fractions and probability, multiplication and division, and problem solving. Students develop their higher-order thinking skills, fluency with math vocabulary, and reflect on mathematical processes and patterns as well as their own ideas.

In Second grade, students master reading and language skills using the Superkids Reading Program. They read grade-level literary and informational texts to work on comprehension and fluency skills. Students learn essential phonics, spelling, structural analysis, vocabulary and grammar skills. Students use these skills in longer, more complex writing projects. This program helps students to master the foundational skills they need to become life-long readers and writers.

Second grade scientists focus on physical science and the way things work. The Nancy Larson Science Program provides students with meaningful science content that considers children’s interests and developmental abilities. Students’ understanding begins with an explanation of matter which then expands to an explanation of the characteristics of rocks and minerals. The curriculum proceeds to explore how things move which progresses to simple machines. The final concept included in a study of the physical world focuses on sound and light. The Second grade program concludes as students use their knowledge of physical science to understand its application to birds.

Second graders learn about the people and places of the United States using the Scott Foresman Social Studies program. Students develop an understanding of where they live, important features of the earth, how they can work together as citizens, functions of government, how the United States grew as a country, and how the country is a land of people with diverse ethnic origins. In this program, students gain citizenship, research, and geography skills.