Second Grade

The social studies theme is the Woodland Indians/Iroquois and the History of The Albany Academy. The students begin the year by studying Woodland Indians/Iroquois. During this unit they will take a field trip, eat an Iroquois lunch, and build a model of a longhouse village. Once the unit is complete the students will begin their study of the History of The Albany Academy. They will visit the archives and hear about the Academy experience from guest speakers. They will complete two research papers this year.

The reading curriculum consists of books that the boys chose on their own about specific topics, whole group books, and Literacy Stars. To begin the reading curriculum the boy will select a chapter book. Weekly conferences are held to discuss the book and the students use a composition journal to keep notes. At the conclusion of a book, the students will either be assigned or will choose from a variety of projects as a final assignment. The boys will also participate in Book Buddies. The students are paired up with Pre-K students and read aloud to them.

The Harcourt Language program (grammar and writing) introduces a grammatical topic and allows the boys to practice it. Then the boys apply their knowledge by writing a paragraph or short essay. The writing process is emphasized. The second graders are taught how to develop a story, the importance of rough drafts, revision, and editing techniques.

The program focuses on visual learning, proofreading, and spelling well in everyday writing. Within each unit, there are daily lessons that take place over five to eight days, and at the end of each unit is a Word Test and a Skills Test. The words that the student has not mastered become his spelling words.

The Handwriting program will help the students refine their printing.

The Math program begins the year by reviewing concepts taught in first grade. The topics for the year are addition and subtraction, length, multiplication, division, money, time, fractions, capacity, tables and graphs, and geometry. Throughout the year, emphasis is placed on solving word problems.