Curriculum

The goal of second grade is developing our students to achieve a higher lever of independence as learners.  More emphasis on personal responsibility for remembering to complete work and use time in the classroom wisely.  Interest and curiosity go hand-in-hand with learning. The students have many opportunities to explore and expand their interests and to make choices about what and how they learn. In doing so, they are developing their God-given talents. Academic choice allows children to work at their own ability level and be appropriately challenged. This allows them to feel successful and develop a sense of competence.

Religion

At Trinity Academy, we incorporate the Christian life-style into all areas of the curriculum. To help students further their understanding about our Father as well as how we should live our lives, students participate in a Religion curriculum developed by Concordia Publishing House (CHP). Students are nurtured in their understanding and living of the Christian faith as they are taught a sequential selection of Old and New Testament Bible stories.  Within this context they learn key concepts of faith such as Law and Gospel, confession and repentance, forgiveness and grace. 

Second graders participate in daily devotions which include singing and prayer.  They also begin to lead others in worship.  Through a planned memory program, students learn Scripture verses and prayers.

Language Arts  

Reading
The second grade reading program continues to develop reading fluency, leading to greater comprehension and enjoyment of reading and the ability to use reading skills and strategies for inquiry and research.  The children review phonetic work knowledge and skills.  Students explore concepts in science, social studies, literature and the arts.  Each week during whole group instruction (Shared Reading) students review and continue developing new reading strategies. A whole group lesson can also be used to introduce new strategies or develop common vocabulary. Guided Reading (Flexible Grouping) is a small group of students who work to progress toward a common goal. Groups can be formed in a variety of ways to work on a variety of specific skills. Groups change and evolve throughout the year. The final component in the second grade reading program is literacy centers. Students choose to work on tasks that interest them. Centers are teacher developed to practice a specific set of skills. Students are expected to try new things, but they may practice in a way that best meets or challenges their needs.

Writing
Writing is used as a form of learning and personal communication.  The writing process is used to develop the student’s skills in the written word.  Sentence structure, parts of speech, punctuation and capitalization are all emphasized.  Much of the student’s written work is shared with classmates and displayed in the classroom. 

Spelling
The spelling program consists of words taken from the material in the reading text, high frequency words, and curriculum-linked challenge words.  Students practice working with word families, word sorts, and spelling rules both directly and indirectly.

Handwriting
The children practice proper handwriting techniques in their daily work.  D’Nealian printing is reviewed weekly. Cursive writing is introduced in the second semester.

Science
The science program offers students a chance to use text and experimentation to better understand the world around them. In science we use a variety of resources to instruct: Foss learning kits, Christian perspective textbooks, and hands-on experiments. The topics taught at this level are landforms; balance & motion; insects; sun, earth, moon; bat ecology and caves; plants; body organs and health. 

Math
Student’s mathematical skills are being learned and refined using the Macmillan McGraw-Hill curriculum in second grade. The students begin the year practicing addition and subtraction facts through 20.  Numbers and patterns to 1000 are discussed.  Graphing, money, time, measurement, geometry and fractions are included.  The addition and subtraction of two-and three-digit numbers is emphasized and multiplication and division concepts are introduced. We begin each day with review questions and a story problem. We work together on each lesson to build common vocabulary and understanding. Students finish each day in math challenging themselves with a variety of learning experiences. Concepts are practiced and mastered using games and hands-on activities.

Social Studies
The second grade social studies program helps children understand the working of their community and the world around them.  The units in the program are People All Around; Earth, Our Home; A Working World, We the People; Discovering Our Past; People, Places and Holidays.  Special emphasis is given to Hudson History and Christmas Around the World. Second grade students team up with fourth grade students to create a display and presentation for an open house.