Second Grade

Language Arts

Reading in small groups focusing on oral expression, comprehension and analytical skills, with weekly phonics rules and spelling practice; handwriting and grammar; creative writing with emphasis on the stages of the writing process; introduction to freeform poetry.

Mathematics

The use of individual and cooperative hands-on activities and manipulatives helps students develop concepts and skills which lead to logical reasoning and problem solving. The second grade curriculum helps students add and subtract basic facts to 18, add and subtract multiple-digit numbers with and without regrouping, and use a variety of methods to problem solve. Place value, number order to 1000, multiplication and division concepts, two and three dimensional shapes and fractions comprise some of the other topics studied.

Social Studies

Second graders learn about the value of communities through a combination of exploration of Ho Chi Minh City, recall of home-countries’ communities, and book study. Students learn map skills, geography terms, and some basic information about their host country of Vietnam. The land of Southeast Asia is studied in more detail and the children begin to do some guided research. Reading and enjoying literature from a variety of Asian cultures encourages students to appreciate the area of the world in which they are currently living.

Science

The second-grade science program addresses earth science and covers the following topics: Rocks and Minerals, the Solar System, the earth and its Resources, Oceans and Water, Weather, Earthquakes, Tornadoes, and Volcanoes.

Mandarin

Movement, games and elementary vocabulary designed for a playful introduction to oral communication in a second language.

Library

Weekly period for listening to stories, learning the location of fiction and nonfiction, and checking out books; a unit on stories from around the world in the second semester.

Arts

An exploration of visual density through the creation of overlapping shapes. Subject matter varies, but often refers to the art of other cultures and to areas explored in science, social studies and language arts.

Computers

Painting, drawing and short writing projects; introduction to the file server, saving and retrieving files, how to learn new computer applications and copying and pasting objects.

Music

Expansion of rhythmic and intervallic vocabulary through songs with richer texts and more complicated melodic structure; continued work with the full five-line staff and pentatonic melodies.

Physical Education

Three general physical education classes each week focusing on locomotor skills, basic sports skills, including throwing, catching, dribbling; jumping and landing techniques, body control and coordination; swimming for one trimester.