Overview
Courtyard provides a very focused curriculum for our blossoming 2nd graders. This class incorporates a comprehensive and interrelated sequence of lessons for students to continue building their proficiency in literature and comprehension, writing skills, vocabulary, spelling, math, and handwriting. Common Core Standards are integrated throughout the curriculum and help provide a pathway for continued student success across grade levels.
Mathematics
Our 2nd Grade math program focuses on depth rather than breadth, building conceptual foundations, and, most importantly, engagement in the process and application of math concepts. Students are expected to problem-solve, explain their thinking, and prove their answers. Each unit begins with an inquiry-based activity to activate thinking, access prior knowledge, and address preconceptions. Foundational to our mathematics instruction is the understanding that there are multiple paths to solving a problem. Providing a math learning environment that goes beyond memorization, rote learning, and basic computation allows students to learn with understanding, which then leads to transference and the ability to apply learning in new situations.
English Language Arts (ELA)
Our guided reading approach builds comprehension strategies and gradually transitions students to independent reading assignments. Leveled reading selections progressively expose students to new challenges, including greater length, more complex content, and new vocabulary.
- Writing Skills: Students learn about parts of speech, usage, capitalization, and punctuation, then apply this knowledge as they write sentences and paragraphs. Students are introduced to the process of writing, as they pre-write, draft, revise, and proofread their work before they share it with others. Written products include letters, poems, literature reviews, research reports, and presentations.
- Vocabulary: Students increase their vocabulary through word study, comprehension, and word analysis, then apply their knowledge in a variety of authentic contexts.
- Spelling: Students continue their exploration of spelling conventions with lessons in sound–symbol relationships and patterns.
- Handwriting: Courtyard provides detailed direction for good handwriting techniques. Students will practice consistent letter formation for the PreCursive alphabet and transition to the cursive alphabet. Student activities reinforce the basic material and enhance the handwriting educational materials.