English and Language Arts (ELA) We use the Superkids Reading Program by Zaner-Bloser. With this program, students will begin to learn how to turn what they read into meaning. The Superkids program is designed to help students be successful with phonemic awareness, fluency, grammar, and spelling. Not only does the Superkids program help students become better readers, it also helps them become better writers. The program teaches students the foundations of writing with sentence structure, poetry, and how to begin writing formally. The Superkids program helps students build confidence in their reading and writing.
Math The math curriculum we use is Progress in Mathematics by Sadlier-Oxford. There are twelve chapters. Each chapter begins with an introduction based on previous knowledge or strategies used. During each lesson, as a class we will work the practice problems or worksheet together while learning new information or reviewing previous. After practice, the students will have independent time to work on their. They may also choose to work with the teacher as well. Each lesson builds off of the previous one we have learned. At the end of each lesson is a short quiz over what we have learned during the week, then at the end of the chapter the chapter test. Students do have the opportunity to use manipulatives such as counters, snap blocks, white boards, etc. to help them engage in their learning.
Religion Second grade is such an exciting and special time in our students' relationship with the Lord. We use 3 different curriculums for our religion lessons. The main curriculum is Alive in Christ by Our Sunday Visitor. The book is broken into units and those units are broken into chapters. Each unit has an overall theme with chapter lessons being more specific. Our next two curriculums that we use are God’s Gift Reconciliation and Most Holy Eucharist by Loyola Press. These two books help us dive deeper while preparing us for such a special time.
Social Studies Our Social Studies curriculum is Studies Weekly. Each week we have a newspaper that teaches content that students need to know and follow along with TEKS. Throughout the week, we will break down a couple of parts and dig deeper into the information. During this time, students are encouraged to think critically and ask thoughtful questions. At the end of each week, there is a short quiz over that week's information.
Science Our Science curriculum is STEMscopes. This curriculum allows students the opportunity to be introduced to new science concepts, become confident in their critical thinking, and engage in many science experiments. Each unit is about two weeks long and during that time we explore many aspects of our topic. For example, when talking about properties of matter, we will take a day to talk about solid, liquids, and gas before moving onto how the three work together.