Grade 2 Curriculum
In grade two, the students are in a period of change, fluctuating between reverence and mischief. Fables and stories of saints give them examples of the polarities they now experience. Trickery, foolishness, courage and selflessness are experienced as part of life and examples of different behaviour.
There is more emphasis on writing, and the students, guided by the teacher, create their main lesson books. The students practice reading from the board and their own books, and typically graduate to an early reader by the end of grade two. They will also have been introduced to upper case, lower case and sometimes cursive writing by the end of the school year.
In mathematics, addition, subtraction, division and multiplication are expanded into larger numbers and deepened through mental math work. Grade two participates in the Michaelmas play and performs the Martinmas play. Developmental assessments are undertaken by a teacher in the school for each student in this grade.
- Builds on grade one foundation, using folktales, saint stories and fables; retelling more accurately
- Daily recitation of poetry, tongue twisters and alliterative verses, often accompanied by gesture and movement form a solid foundation for the acquisition of reading and writing skills; increasing focus on pronunciation and enunciation
- Practice correct pencil grip, careful formation of letters and proper posture
- Writing upper and lower case letters supported by form drawing, free write phonetically, copy known material from board, participate in class compositions
- Simple grammar, punctuation, vowel sounds, consonant blends, word families, syllable clapping
- Participate in Michaelmas play, St. Martin play and often an additional class play
- Educational Support assessment to observe their developmental progress
- Number bonds 1-20, recognize numbers up to 1000, knowing difference between odd/even numbers
- Visual/rhythmic patterns in times tables
- Use place value to 4 places
- Carry numbers across columns in addition
- Times tables, building knowledge of tables 1-12
- Simple mental math in narrative form**
Students in the first two grades participate in regular nature walks where they learn about the complexities and richness of plant and animal life. In these early grades the students have experiences and hear stories that engender enthusiastic involvement and respect for the world around them-an important basis for later studies in biology, physics, chemistry and the other sciences.
Stories of the Saints give students images of human beings who have devoted their lives for the good of humanity. Fables highlight the foibles of humanity.
French & German
In Grades 1, 2 and 3 the foreign language teacher works strongly with the element of imitation. The French/German language is introduced through group recitation, singing, verses, finger games, movement, dances, and circle games. The content is understood through gestures, props and imitation and deals with weather, festivals, colors, numbers, parts of the body and clothing.
Much of the material is learned by heart and learning is very much a group activity. Individual children will gradually start speaking on their own as it reflects their comfort level with the new language. In the early Grades the emphasis is on having the children experience the sounds, gestures and mood of the foreign language.
In Grade Two, the children continue learning to sing a wide variety of beautiful and fun songs, many with coordinated movements and actions. They learn to echo rhythms, pitch and dynamics as well as the musical alphabet. The class plays many songs on the Pentatonic Recorder. These songs are still learned by rote, often with coordinated actions and movement.
The main Lesson teacher takes the class for one movement class per week, along with a nature walk for two periods a week. Starting in Grade 2 and continuing until Grade 4 the students participate in two 45 minute periods of ‘movement” classes a week with the Movement Teacher. The classes are held outside unless the weather is extreme then the classroom is used. Activities and games are chosen that strengthen the students sense of movement in space, their sense of balance and their sense of others around them. Consideration is given to activities that engage their gross motor muscles in a coordinated way, and balancing games that improve fine motor movements. Each class consists of bean bag or ball work, a running/tag game, then a group/circle game, and skipping. In addition, Audrey McAllister’s Zoo Exercises are incorporated into the lesson depending on the needs of the students.
The presentation of activities and games in these grades is made vivid and alive with appropriate images, poems or even a story. A ‘walk through’ of the game is completed before the real play begins. Weaving nature, the seasons, animals, and fairy-tale themes in this way into the activities engages the students’ imagination and helps to keep them involved.
- Access for free drawing with coloured beeswax crayons
- The teacher models reverence for the task which the children imitate
- The children are given the three primary colours with which to paint, out of which they will experience the secondary colours
- Have an art class once per week with their class teacher doing wet-on-wet painting reflecting the subject matter of the main lesson.
- The creation of main lesson books with beeswax crayons and/or coloured pencil crayons.
Practical Arts: Handwork
Introduction to crochet and completion of practice square and seat cushion; emphasizes one hand over another (differentiating L and R); deepening concentration and awareness; rhythmical, repetitive activity with the hands strengthens the will and brings clarity to thinking – requires effort and perseverance; powers of observation strengthened (different from knitting).
Students might make a day trip to an apple orchard in the fall.