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Language
Arts
Students will become proficient and confident readers,
writers, speakers, and listeners who are discerning
media-literate participants in all forms of
communication.
In second grade, students will know and understand at a
grade appropriate level:
- how to use sounds, including vowel, consonants,
blends, consonant and vowel patterns, rhyming, blending,
and inflectional endings for decoding words
- a sight word vocabulary
- vocabulary and word study, relating words and
concepts, synonyms, antonyms, word categories, structural
analysis, multiple meaning words, homophones, homographs,
figurative language, and specialized vocabulary
- how to apply comprehension strategies when reading or
listening: how to preview, predict, confirm, or revise
predictions; how to use context clues to gain meaning,;
how to draw conclusions (prior knowledge, self monitor,
paraphrase, self correct; how to visualize, read ahead,
identify the main idea; how to use inference, ask
questions, identify cause and effect, relate to personal
experiences; how to identify a sequence of events,
compare and contrast, steps in a process; how to apply
critical thinking skills and extend meaning
- an appreciation of books and literature
- how to use and apply writing skills: write in
complete declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory
sentences; use of rules of capitalization and punctuation
in written work; the five step writing process (planning,
drafting, revision, edition, publishing)
- use of correct spelling in written work
- how to locate, select, and use specific materials in
the library media center
- participate in class and group discussions, follow
rules of conversation, asks and responds to questio
- how to listen to and appropriately respond to oral
communication
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Social
Studies
Students will acquire knowledge and skills necessary
to become informed, decision-making citizens of local,
national, and global societies.
In second grade, students will know and understand at a
grade appropriate level:
- people are alike and different and they belong to
many groups
- different groups and societies and cultures have
similar wants and needs
- how transportation nand communication connect
people
- the characteristics and role of a good leader
- citizenship and the rights and responsibilities of a
citizen
- the concept of government and the basic organization
of the U.S. government
- the process of voting as part of the democratic
process
- the need for community cooperation
- an awareness of their community including leaders and
services
- goods and services
- wants and needs
- the need for school rules
- the purpose of school service projects and service to
others
- map skills including the location of school, home,
neighborhood, community, state, and country
- map skills including directions, models, keys,
symbols, and spatial orientation
- landforms, land features, and landmarks identify an
area
- how people depend on the physical environment
- environmental issues including pollution and its
effects on the land and people
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Science
Students will develop the scientific knowledge,
skills, and attitudes that enable them to make informed use
of science in their lives.
In second grade, students will, at a grade appropriate
level,
- Gain early experiences that will contribute to their
understanding of several pervasive themes that relate one
scientific idea to another: Structure, Change,
Interaction, and Pattern
- Develop a growing curiosity and interest in the
objects that make up their world
- Investigate materials constructively during free
exploration and in a guided discovery mode
- Acquire the vocabulary associated with scientific
topics
- Use drawing and oral and written language to describe
scientific observations
- Recognize differences between solids and liquids
- Explore a number of liquid materials
- Observe and describe the properties of solid and
liquid materials and sort materials according to
properties
- Combine and separate solid materials of different
particle sizes
- Observe and describe what happens when solids are
mixed with water and when other liquids are mixed with
water
- Use information gathered to conduct an investigation
on an unknown material
- Develop an interest in air and weather
- Observe and describe the changes that occur in
weather over time
- Become familiar with instruments used to monitor
weather conditions
- Compare weather conditions using a bar graph
- Experience air as a fluid that takes up space and can
be compressed into a smaller space
- Observe the force of air pressure pushing on
objects
- Observe and compare how moving air interacts with
objects
- Develop a curiosity and interest in plants as living
things
- Experience some of the diversity of forms in the
plant kingdom
- Observe and describe the changes that occur as plants
grow and develop
- Become familiar with the structures of flowering
plants (root, stem, leaf, bud, flower, seed)
- Discover various ways that new plants can develop
from mature plants
- Compare change over time in different kinds of
plants
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Mathematics
The purpose of mathematics education is to build the
high levels of mathematical skills, process, thinking, and
problem solving necessary to meet the challenge of a
changing technological society.
In second grade, students will know and understand at a
grade appropriate level:
- how to add and subtract basic facts and two and three
digit numbers
- how to apply basic facts to everyday problems
- how to skip count
- place value of ones, tens, hundreds, and thousands in
numbers in a variety of math activities
- how to read, write, and compare numbers to 999
- basic geometry including shapes, spatial sense,
patterns, and area
- simple fractions and fraction notation
- how to tell time accurately to the minute, time
comparisons, sequence, units of time, and calendar
skills
- coin names and values, make change from $1.00,
$10.00, and $20.00, compare and estimate amounts of money
and determine equivalent amounts of money
- how to use linear, volume, and weight measures in
standard and non-standard units, as well as estimate with
appropriate units of measurements
- the basic concepts of multiplication and division
through use of arrays and equal grouping activities
- how to apply problem solving strategies in a variety
of ways to math in their daily lives
- how to communicate thought processes used in problem
solving in both oral and written forms
- how to gather, record, and graph information from
their own experiences
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Technology
Students in Whitefish Bay utilize technology to enhance
and extend their learning throughout the curriculum.
Technology available includes classroom computer and
computer labs with server and Internet access, classroom
monitor/TV/VCR units, portable word processors and a variety
of peripheral equipment. Teachers design and implement
technology experiences which allow students to access
technology at developmentally appropriate stages.
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Physical
Education
Elementary physical education offers a wide variety of
physical activities to our students. our theme of "Children
learning to move and moving to learn" guides us to teach not
only physical skills, but also movement concepts and
principles needed for their development.
Optimal fitness for students ages 4 to 11 is the priority.
Building healthy lifestyles through physical activity is
discussed and practiced in every class. Good sportsmanship,
teamwork, respect, and establishing positive attitudes and
self confidence are also common threads in each lesson.
Students will learn responsible social and personal behavior
in the gym while fitness and physical skills are practiced,
and aerobic and sport-specific games are played.
We hope that children will wholeheartedly enjoy physical
activity so it will become an integral part of their daily
lives and carry over into adulthood.
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General
Music
The kindergarten through fifth grade music program offers
a broad spectrum of opportunities designed to promote
develop of each child's musical potential. It is our goal to
provide each student with the skills necessary to both
create and enjoy music while understanding ti as a universal
means of expression. Lessons are designed to convey the joy
of music that will encourage each child to seek musical
opportunities later in life.
Beginning at the earliest level, students sing, chant, move,
and dance to music composed by others while they are
encouraged to alter, modify, expand, and improvise upon that
music later creating and composing music on their own.
Throughout the elementary school year the children build
skills of listening, and responding, reading, and writing
music. The students' own voice is nurtured and good choral
habits are stressed throughout the grades. The music
literature in the classroom is chosen to reflect the
backgrounds of our students as well as expose them to the
wide diversity of music created by the peoples of the
world.
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Art
There are four program areas in art:
- Aesthetics - valuing and understanding visual forms
in natural and human environments
- Art making - using visual media to communicate or to
express one's self, including drawing, painting,
sculpture, printmaking and graphics, and crafts
- Art Heritage - knowing about and understanding art,
artists, and cultures
- Art Criticism - interpreting art
Students experience a wide variety of materials and media
in the elementary art program. They are shown proper
techniques for creative use of materials. Projects are
assigned with specific goals and criteria in mind, but allow
for personal creativity and problem solving. When possible,
art experiences link to school-wide as well as classroom
learning themes and activities.
Learning experiences center around the Elements of Art:
color, value, line, texture, shape, form, and space, and the
Principles of Design: balance, emphasis, harmony, variety,
gradation, movement, rhythm, and proportion.
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French
The purpose of the World Language program in Whitefish
Bay schools is to give students the opportunity to listen
to, interact with, and begin to speak another
language.
The second grade World Language student will begin to
learn to:
- Use salutations
- Count from 1 to 100, by 10's - 100, and practice
simple math problems
- Identify group vocabulary - colors and shapes,
calendar (days, months, seasons, and weather), telling
time to the nearest five minutes, clothing, body parts,
family, animals, classroom objects, directional words and
prepositions
- Demonstrate understanding of simple commands
- Understand various aspects of culture - food,
music, holidays, and dances
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