Mrs. Murphy’s 2nd Grade Classroom
Philosophy of Education
A child’s development occurs on an individual timeline and his/her learning is most effective when the child is fully engaged. Because of varying backgrounds and developing brains, there is a need for approaching education not only through discovery and integration but also through direct instruction. Though the journey of learning is incredible when it can occur purely out of inquiry, many children need information broken down and organized to meet their learning needs. In my classroom you will find a mixture of inquiry and direct instruction at different times of the day depending on the subject and the small group with which I am working.
Discipline
All students have the desire to achieve and be loved. From this belief, I accept that no student interrupts learning out of malice, but rather it is normally a developmental or frustration issue. I also believe that we are building a community within our classroom. As a large group, students will earn beans toward classroom rewards. Students will also earn group rewards for good behavior. On the other side, when individual behaviors need correcting, consequences are necessary. Students in my classroom have color-coded strips for behavior that they will change as needed during the day depending on behavior. At the end of each day, students color in their behavior on their calendars to bring home to share with their families.
Homework
At second grade, homework should be minimal. When given, homework will be a time for improving efficiency in reading and math. Students will have one math page each night for practice. And, though Fundations homework comes as a packet that is due approximately every two weeks, students should spend about ten to fifteen minutes each night practicing the words phrases, and skills for each unit. Students are also required to read or be read to each night for at least 20 minutes from a high-interest book.
Reading
Besides having regular, stimulating conversations with your children, reading out loud is the most effective interaction between adult and child. It has the biggest impact on cognitive development. This impact increases as the student ages. Therefore, the most important thing you can do with your child is Family Reading. For this reason, students will be responsible for nightly reading however it may occur. Whether a parent is reading or they are reading on their own, it must be done for 20 minutes a day, five times a week. Telling the story through pictures, making predictions about what will happen next, and retelling the story after reading are great activities that will help with comprehension too.
In class, students receive a variety of reading instruction. Students will receive instruction through whole group, small group and individual arrangements where we will work to develop decoding, fluency and comprehension and analytical skills. Programs used at Bandelier include "Treasures" and "Fundations." This year we will also be incorporating the Daily Five and CAFE strategies into our reading routines. The Daily Five is a framework that instills a sense of urgency for learning to read and fosters an environment of independence during reading time. CAFE is a management system for monitoring students' growth as they develop their reading skills and strategies. Developing student independence is the very core of both of these reading routines and for this reason parent will be asked to volunteer their time outside of the reading block.
Spelling
Spelling words will come from the Fundations program. In this program, decoding and encoding skills are intertwined. As students learn to read new patterns of words, they also will learn to spell these words. Though students will practice reading and spelling these words, we will not have weekly spelling tests. Instead, we will progress as students master the patterns and rules associated with syllable types.
Math
Everyday Math is used by the entire school district. This program comes out of the University of Chicago Lab School and is a spiral learning curriculum. This means that skills and concepts are never just introduced, taught and then dropped, instead they are constantly revisited throughout the year. The program is heavily activity-based and offers the opportunity to differentiate these activities as needed.
Writing
In 2nd grade, students are still developing their skills and attitudes toward writing. We will take time to free write and create individually inspired work and really understand how writing is used in everyday settings. We will create stories and work on other forms of writing as a class to share and perform. Finally we will begin learning to edit work for grammar, spelling, organization and word choice.
Science
We are fortunate enough to be using kits developed by the Center for Hands on Learning. These kits offer lots of hands on exposure to science concepts that could otherwise be difficult for the students to grasp. These units are aligned to the state science standards. Every student also receives a workbook for each unit in which they have opportunities to record experiments, read, and develop their vocabularies.
Social Studies
2nd grade Social Studies is somewhat general and encompassing. Four subtopics we will cover include history, geography, government and civics and economics. Instead of text books, second grade uses kits which allow for hands-on activities, group discussions and writing on topic.