LANGUAGE ARTS
Course Description

In Grade 2, students read and write independently. Students have many opportunities to use spoken language. Second grade students understand that there are different purposes for speaking and listening. Students know how to attract and hold the attention of their classmates when they make announcements or share a story. Second grade students recognize a large number of words automatically and use a variety of word identification strategies to figure out words they do not immediately recognize.

Students read regularly for understanding and fluency in a variety of genres, including selections from classic and contemporary works. Students read texts from which they acquire new information.

Students summarize what they read and represent ideas gained from reading with story maps, charts, and drawings. Students use references, including dictionaries and glossaries, to build word meanings and confirm pronunciation.

Second grade students revise and edit their own writing to make ideas more clear and precise. Students use appropriate capitalization and punctuation. Students use singular and plural nouns and adjust verbs for agreement. In Grade 2, students' penmanship is characterized by letters that are properly formed, words that are properly spaced, and overall compositions that are legible. Students begin to take simple notes and compile notes into outlines.

KINDERGARTEN-GRADE 2 MATHEMATICS
Course Description

Within a well-balanced mathematics curriculum, the primary focal points at Kindergarten are developing whole-number concepts and using patterns and sorting to explore number, data, and shape.

 Throughout mathematics in Kindergarten-Grade 2, students build a foundation of basic understandings in number, operation, and quantitative reasoning; patterns, relationships, and algebraic thinking; geometry and spatial reasoning; measurement; and probability and statistics. Students use numbers in ordering, labeling, and expressing quantities and relationships to solve problems and translate informal language into mathematical language and symbols. Students use objects to create and identify patterns and use those patterns to express relationships, make predictions, and solve problems as they build an understanding of number, operation, shape, and space. Students progress from informal to formal language to describe two- and three-dimensional geometric figures and likenesses in the physical world. Students begin to develop measurement concepts as they identify and compare attributes of objects and situations. Students collect, organize, and display data and use information from graphs to answer questions, make summary statements, and make informal predictions based on their experiences.

 Throughout mathematics in Kindergarten-Grade 2, students develop numerical fluency with conceptual understanding and computational accuracy. Students in Kindergarten-Grade 2 use basic number sense to compose and decompose numbers in order to solve problems requiring precision, estimation, and reasonableness. By the end of Grade 2, students know basic addition and subtraction facts and are using them to work flexibly, efficiently, and accurately with numbers during addition and subtraction computation.

 Problem solving, language and communication, connections within and outside mathematics, and formal and informal reasoning underlie all content areas in mathematics. Throughout mathematics in Kindergarten-Grade 2, students use these processes together with technology and other mathematical tools such as manipulative materials to develop conceptual understanding and solve meaningful problems as they do mathematics.

SCIENCE
Course Description

In Grade 2, the study of science includes planning and conducting simple classroom and field investigations to help students develop the skills of making measurements using standard and non-standard units, using common tools such as rulers and clocks to collect information, classifying and sequencing objects and events, and identifying patterns. Students also use computers and information technology tools to support their investigations.

As students learn science skills, they identify components and processes of the natural world including the water cycle and the use of resources. They observe melting and evaporation, weathering, and the pushing and pulling of objects as examples of change. In addition, students distinguish between characteristics of living organisms and nonliving objects, compare lifelong needs of plants and animals, understand how living organisms depend on their environments, and identify functions of parts of plants and animals.

Science is a way of learning about the natural world. Students should know how science has built a vast body of changing and increasing knowledge described by physical, mathematical, and conceptual models, and also should know that science may not answer all questions.

A system is a collection of cycles, structures, and processes that interact. Students should understand a whole in terms of its components and how these components relate to each other and to the whole. All systems have basic properties that can be described in terms of space, time, energy, and matter. Change and constancy occur in systems and can be observed and measured as patterns. These patterns help to predict what will happen next and can change over time.

Investigations are used to learn about the natural world. Students should understand that certain types of questions can be answered by investigations, and that methods, models, and conclusions built from these investigations change as new observations are made. Models of objects and events are tools for understanding the natural world and can show how systems work. They have limitations and based on new discoveries are constantly being modified to more closely reflect the natural world.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Course Description

In Grade 2, students focus on a study of their local community by examining the impact of significant individuals and events on the history of the community as well as on the state and nation. Students begin to develop the concepts of time and chronology by measuring calendar rime by days, weeks, months, and years. The relationship between the physical environment and human activities is introduced as are the concepts of consumers and producers. Students identify functions of government as well as services provided by the local government. Students continue to acquire knowledge e of important costumes, symbols, and celebrations that represent American beliefs and principles. Students identify the significance of works of art in the local community and explain how technological innovations have changed transportation and communications. Students communicate what they have learned in written, oral, and visual forms.