Education is a joint venture involving the combined efforts of students, parents, and educators.  These grade level booklets have been developed as a resource for parents seeking ways to assist their children in their educational journey.  Each grade level booklet was produced through the efforts of many dedicated professionals and is designed to help you understand more fully the educational growth your children will experience in the Huntington Beach City School District. 

 

Given adequate resources and enough time, we could easily achieve the objectives outlined in these booklets with the vast majority of our students.  In the real world of public education, however, limited time and resources require that we work diligently as a team to equip our students with the essential skills, attitudes, and beliefs that they will need to be successful now and in the future. 

 

In addition to assisting parents, these booklets are also designed as a resource for our entire educational community.  Teachers, administrators, support personnel, and community partners will benefit from a careful and thoughtful reading of the books.  If you should have questions, or if there are parts that you do not understand, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher, a school administrator, or the district office.

 

We are proud to be partners in your child’s education.  We know that we play an important role in your child’s progress, but we are equally clear that you are his or her most important teachers and models.  Together, we can chart a course of success for each student in the Huntington Beach City School District.

 

Superintendent of Schools

 

 

Character Counts	Respect, caring, trustworthiness, fairness, responsibility, and citizenship are the ethical foundations upon which our district is built.  We value each individual who practices, teaches, and serves as the role model for these virtues.
Academic Excellence And Accountability	Academic excellence is the highest priority in our district.  Students will demonstrate academic proficiency by meeting world class standards. To that end, all stakeholders in the organization – board members, employees, students, and parents - are accountable for carrying out their responsibilities toward that end.
High Expectations	We believe that each child is an individual of great worth entitled to develop to his or her full potential.  All children can and will learn, and each deserves equal access to a quality education that is built upon high expectations.
Parent and Community Involvement & Teamwork	Families, staff, and the entire community are full partners, actively working in a collaborative manner for the benefit of each child’s education.  We welcome, seek, and expect active participation and involvement of all stakeholders.
Shared Responsibility	We believe that education is a shared responsibility where the student, the school, the home, and the community work together toward common goals.
Civic Pride and Social Responsibility	It is important that students understand the origins of the nation, principles of the Declaration of Independence, and ideals and hopes of the founding patriots.  They should develop a respect for the fundamental law of the land, together with a concern for the just enforcement and improvement of the law.
Lifelong Learning	We are committed to display, and develop in our students, habits of the mind and heart that will lead to a lifetime love of learning.

 

 

Every child is an individual who grows and develops at his/her own rate. Children in the same grade may be expected to differ widely from others in their group.  There are, however, general characteristics which apply to most of the children at a certain age.

 

The second grade child may:

·       Be developing an increasing ability to be reasonable.

·       Tackle a job with unbounded energy but run out of energy or interest before the job is done.

·       Find it demanding to sit quietly for extended periods of time.

·       Be aware of issues of fairness.

·       Be anxious to be perfect.

·       Tend to think others don’t like him/her.

·       Worry about school or friends.

·       Enjoy collections.

·       Be sensitive.

The second grade child needs:

·       A dependable routine and structure, within a safe environment.

·       Adults to turn to for assistance when needed.

·       Nutritious foods.

·       Specific instructions.

·       Frequent periods of rest and relaxation.

As parents, you can help by:

·       Modeling responsible behavior and character traits.

·       Communicating support for your child when he/she tries something new and challenging.

·       Establishing routines for meals and bedtime.

·       Involving your child in aspects of planning family activities.

·       Listening to your child and engaging him/her in conversations.

·       Providing a quiet place where homework can be completed.

·       Maintaining close contact with your child’s teacher and having knowledge of the school and classroom programs.

·       Showing your child how to use telephone emergency response systems, such as 911.

·       Discussing that medicines should be taken only under supervision of responsible adults.

·       Teaching the potential harmful effects of some medicines and substances on his/her body.

·       Choosing limits that fit your child’s age and establishing behavior consequences and rewards.

·       Talking with your child about his/her interests.

·       Notifying the teacher about problems in the home that could cause emotional stress for the child (i.e., divorce, death in the family, a parent being away for an extended amount of time).

 

 

The English-Language Arts curriculum provides students, through their study and understanding of literature, with intensive experiences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Students progress at their own individual pace through levels of mastery.  In grade two, the major focus will be developing fluency skills.

 

The second grade student will…

READING

 

Word Analysis, Fluency, and Vocabulary Development

·       Identify and use knowledge of spelling patterns such as dipthongs, and special vowel spellings when reading.

·       Apply knowledge of basic syllabication rules when reading.

·       Decode two-syllable nonsense words and regular multisyllable words.

·       Recognize common abbreviations.

·       Identify and correctly use regular plurals and irregular plurals.

·       Read aloud with fluency and accuracy, and appropriate intonation and expression.

·       Understand and explain common antonyms and synonyms.

·       Use knowledge of individual words in unknown compound words to predict their meaning.

·       Know the meaning of simple prefixes and suffixes.

 

Reading Comprehension

·       Identify and use sequential or logical order of elements to gain meaning from expository text.

·       State a purpose for reading.

·       Use knowledge of author’s purpose(s) to comprehend informational text.

·       Ask clarifying questions concerning essential textual elements of exposition.

·       Restate facts and details in text to inform and organize facts.

·       Recognize cause and effect relationships in text.

·       Interpret information from diagrams, charts and graphs.

 

Literary Response and Analysis

·       Compare and contrast plots, settings and characters presented by different authors.

·       Recognize linear and circular plot structures in stories.

·       Generate alternative endings to plots identifying reason(s) for, and impact of, substitutions.

·       Compare and contrast different versions of the same stories reflecting different cultures.

·       Identify rhythm, rhyme, assonance and alliteration in poetry.

 

WRITING

 

Writing Strategies

·       Group related ideas and maintain a consistent focus.

·       Create readable documents with legible manuscript printing.

·       Understand the structure of various reference materials (dictionary, thesaurus, atlas).

·       Revise original drafts to improve sequence and provide more descriptive detail.

 

Writing Applications

·       Write brief narratives based on one’s experience that 1) move through a logical sequence of events, 2) describe the setting, characters, objects and events in detail.

·       Write a friendly letter complete with date, salutation, body, closing and signature.

·       Be assessed for proficiency in the Imaginative/Narrative domain of writing, while continuing to write in the three remaining areas; Practical/Informative, Sensory/Descriptive, and Analytical/Expository.

 

LISTENING AND SPEAKING

 

Listening and Speaking Applications

·       Determine the purpose(s) for listening (e.g., get information, solve problems, for enjoyment).

·       Ask for clarification and explanation of stories and ideas.

·       Paraphrase information shared orally by others.

·       Give and follow three- and four- step oral directions.

·       Organize presentations to maintain a clear focus.

·       Speak clearly at an understandable pace.

 

Speaking Applications

·       Recount experiences or present stories that 1) move through a logical sequence of events, 2) describe story elements such as characters, plot and setting.

·       Report on a topic including appropriate facts and details, drawing from several sources of information.

 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS – ORAL AND WRITTEN

 

·       Distinguish between complete and incomplete sentences and recognize and use correct word order in written sentences.

·       Identify and correctly use various parts of speech, including nouns and verbs in writing and speaking.

·       Correctly use commas in greeting and closures in a letter and with dates and words in a series.

·       Use quotation marks correctly.

·       Capitalize all proper nouns, words at the beginning of sentences and in greetings, months and days of the week, and titles and initials of people.

·       Spell high frequency irregular words correctly.

·       Spell basic short vowel, long vowel, r-controlled, and consonant blend patterns correctly.

 

As parents, you can help by…

·       Reading to your child every day.

·       Having your child read to you every day.

·       Discussing and making predictions about what you read together.

·       Having your child ask you questions after reading together.

·       Being supportive and positive of his/her approximations in spelling.

·       Having times of uninterrupted conversation with your child.

·       Taking trips to the library.

·       Getting a library card in your child’s name.

·       Letting your child see you reading.

·       Talking to your child about books you like to read.

·       Providing materials for and encouraging the writing of simple notes, lists, letters, and journals.

·       Writing notes to your child on a regular basis.

·       Discussing the books your child reads at school.

 

 

 

By the end of second grade, students understand place value and number relationships as they add and subtract and they use simple concepts of multiplication.  They measure quantities with appropriate units.  They classify and see relationships among shapes by paying attention to the elements that compose them. They collect and analyze data and verify answers.

 

The second  grade student will…

 

NUMBER SENSE

·       Understand the relationship among numbers, quantities and place value in whole numbers up to 1000.

·       Estimate, calculate and solve problems involving addition and subtraction of two- and three-digit numbers.

·       Model and solve simple problems involving multiplication and division concepts.

·       Understand that fractions and decimals can refer to parts of a set and a whole.

·       Model and solve problems by representing, adding and subtracting amounts of money.

·       Use estimation strategies in computation and problem solving that involve numbers that use the ones, tens, hundreds and thousands places.

 

ALGEBRA AND FUNCTIONS

·       Model, represent and interpret number relationships to create and solve problems involving addition and subtraction.

 

MEASUREMENT AND GEOMETRY

·       Understand that measurement is accomplished by identifying a unit of measure, repeating that unit and comparing it to the item being measured.

·       Identify and describe the elements that compose common figures in the plane and common objects in space.

 

STATISTICS, DATA ANALYSIS AND PROBABILITY

·       Collect, record organized, display and interpret numerical data on bar graphs and other representations.

·       Demonstrate an understanding of patterns and how they grow, and describe them in general ways.

 

MATHEMATICAL REASONING

·       Make decisions about how to set up a problem.

·       Solve problems and justify their reasoning.

·       Note connections between one problem and another.

 

As parents, you can help by…

·       Practicing basic math facts.

·       Providing experience with money (making change, paying for purchases).

·       Providing experiences with time (analog), such as reading a schedule.

·       Providing experiences reading graphs, charts, and schedules.

·       Involving the child in solving real-life problems using math skills.

·       Involving the child in estimating amounts (money, time, etc.).

·       Providing opportunities to measure things.

 

 

Students in grade two explore the lives of actual people who make a difference in their everyday lives and learn the stories of extraordinary people from history whose achievements have touched them, directly or indirectly.  The study of contemporary people who supply goods and services aids in understanding the complex interdependence in our free marketplace.

 

The second grade student will…

 

·       Differentiate between those things that happened long ago and those that happened yesterday.

 

·       Demonstrate map skills by describing the absolute and relative locations of people, places, and environments.

 

·       Explain the institutions and practices of governments in the United States and other countries (e.g., making and enforcing laws, the ways in which nations interact with each other).

 

·       Understand basic economic concepts (wants and needs, supply and demand) and their individual roles in the economy.

 

·       Understand the importance of individual action and character and explain how heroes from long ago and the recent past make a difference in others’ lives.

 

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

In addition to the standards for grades 1-5, students demonstrate the following

 intellectual, reasoning, reflection and research skills.

 

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

·       Students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying both in a chronological sequence and within a spatial context; they interpret timelines.

·       Students apply terms related to time correctly, including past, present, future, decade, century, and generation.

·       Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same.

·       Use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through the map’s legend, scale, and symbolic representations.

·       Judge the significance of the relative location of a place and analyze how those relative advantages or disadvantages can change over time.

Research, Evidence and Point of View

·       Students differentiate between primary and secondary sources.

·       Students pose relevant questions about events encountered in historical documents, eyewitness accounts, oral histories, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos, maps, art and architecture.

·       Students distinguish fact from fiction by comparing documentary sources on historical figures and events with fictionalized characters and events.

Historical Interpretation

·       Students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain their historical contexts.

·       Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying.

·       Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events.

·       Students conduct benefit/cost analyses of historical and current events.

 

 

 

CHARACTER EDUCATION

 

The district’s character education program seeks to instill in students habits of the heart, mind and will that contribute the development of a “person of character.”  Six core values have been adopted to guide and systematically address ethics in the instructional program, as well as in the school community.

·       Trustworthiness

·       Respect

·       Responsibility

·       Justice and Fairness

·       Caring

·       Citizenship

 

As parents, you can help by:

·       Taking trips to the museum.

·       Sharing stories about family heritage.

·       Modeling good character and acknowledging the child for good choices.

·       Teaching map skills.

·       Giving children responsibilities in the home.

·       Sharing primary and secondary resources with your child.

·       Involving children in archiving family photo albums.

 

 

The district science program encourages children through inquiry to comprehend the nature of the physical universe (the interdependence and the connection) in a laboratory setting.  Major science themes (Energy, Evolution, Patterns of Change, Scale and Structure, Stability, and Systems and Interactions) and the scientific thinking processes (observing, communicating, comparing, ordering, categorizing, relating, inferring, and applying) are crucial to the sciences.

 

The second grade student will demonstrate an understanding that…

 

EARTH SCIENCE

Earth is made of materials that have distinct properties and provides resources for human activities.

·       How to compare the physical properties of different kinds of rocks.

·       Smaller rocks come from the breakage and weathering of larger rocks. 

·       Soil is made partly from weathered rocks and partly from organic materials, and that soils differ in their color, texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants.

·       Fossils provide evidence that plants and animals lived long ago.

·       Rocks, water, plants, and soil provide many resources including food, fuel, and building materials that humans

use.

 

LIFE SCIENCE

Plants and animals have predictable life cycles.

·       Organisms reproduce offspring of their own kind.  The offspring resemble their parents and each other.

·       The sequential stages of life cycles are different for different animals, for example, butterflies, frogs, and mice.

·       Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents.  Some characteristics are caused by, or influenced by, the environment.

·       There is variation among individuals of one kind within a population.

·       The germination, growth, and development of plants can be affected by light, gravity, touch, or environmental stress.

·       In plants, flowers and fruits are associated with reproduction.

 

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

The motion of objects can be observed and measured.

·       The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background.

·       An object’s motion can be described by recording the change of its position over time.

·       The way to change how something is moving, is to give it a push or pull.  The size of the change is related to the strength or the amount of the “force” of the push or pull.

·       Tools and machines are used to apply pushes and pulls (forces) to make things move.

·       Objects near the Earth fall to the ground unless something holds them up.

·       Magnets can be used to make some objects move without being touched.

·       Sound is made by vibrating objects and can be described by its pitch and volume.

 

INVESTIGATION AND EXPERIMENTATION

Through inquiry, the students develop questions and perform investigations.

·       Make predictions based on patterns of observations rather than random guessing.

·       Measure length, weight, temperature, and liquid volume with appropriate tools and express measurements in standard and non-standard units.

·       Compare and sort common objects based on two or more physical attributes (including color, shape, texture, size, weight.)

·       Write or draw descriptions of a sequence of steps, events, and observations.

·       Construct bar graphs to record data using appropriately labeled axes.

·       Write or draw descriptions of a sequence of steps, events and observations, and include the use of magnifiers or microscopes to extend senses.

·       Follow verbal instructions for a scientific investigation.

 

As parents, you can help by:

·       Taking family trips to science-themed places.

·       Start a rock collection.

·       Look at similarities of family members in pictures.

·       Using the scientific method to answer questions as they arise (form a hypothesis, research, experiment, form a conclusion).

 

 

The physical education program provides students with opportunities to achieve motor skills and movement knowledge, develop a positive self-image and recognize personal achievement, and develop social skills of respect and acceptance of others.

 

The second grade student will…

 

·       State that they can improve or learn a movement skill by imagining it first.

·       Working with a partner, demonstrate the ability to throw, kick, strike, and catch different objects.

·       Working with a partner, demonstrate different tempos, directions, and pathways as they perform locomotor and nonlocomotor skills.

·       State the reason for playground rules related to use of equipment, safety, and games.

·       Explain how speed, acceleration and deceleration can improve their movement performance.

·       Describe cardiorespiratory exercises as activities that make your heart beat faster and force you to breathe harder.

·       Participate in physical fitness activities that develop cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength and endurance and flexibility, and includes a comparison of pre- and post-test fitness scores.

·       Describe how individual growth rates vary and have an impact on movement performance.

·       Choose to participate in movement-related activities during recess and lunch.

·       In pairs, develop a cooperative movement experience (e.g., taking turns, leading, following).

·       Learn to work cooperatively with a partner in a movement-related experience.

·       Describe how current, successful, influential people have made a difference through physical activity.

 

As parents, you can help by:

·       Getting involved in extracurricular activities that reinforce fitness (team or individual).

·       Modeling good health choices (eating well, exercising).

·       Taking walks with your child.

·        

 

 

The health curriculum provides students with opportunities to explore concepts in depth, analyze and solve real-life problems, and work cooperatively on tasks that develop and enhance their conceptual understanding.  It also provides students with the knowledge and skills that can lead to lifelong positive attitudes related to health.

 

The second grade student will…

 

·       accept personal responsibility.

·       demonstrate respect for, and promotion of, the health of others.

·       understand the processes of growth and development.

·       use health-related information, products, and services.

 

As parents, you can help by:

·       Modeling healthy habits (eating, sleeping, physical fitness).

·       Encouraging healthy hygiene, grooming, and health practices.

·       Scheduling regular dental and medical appointments.

 

 

Dance, music, drama, and visual arts are a means to develop personal dimensions within the learning process; thus, they provide the necessary curriculum balance in developing the whole person.  They are integrated throughout the curriculum, though at times become subject-centered fine arts classes.

 

The second grade student will…

 

DANCE

·       Communicate an understanding of dance through creative expression, aesthetic perception and valuing, and dance theater heritage.   Examples:

-        Create a simple repeatable dance

-        Engage in rhythmic movement

-        Experience the creative process of dance

-        Attend or participate in a school production

 

MUSIC

·       Express and communicate an understanding of music by creative expression, aesthetic perception, and valuing.  Examples:

-        Sing songs with limited range

-        Experience playing with percussion instruments

-        Become aware of differences in pitch

-        Distinguish between singing and speaking

-        Experience music of various cultures

 

DRAMA

·       Communicate an understanding of drama through creative expression, aesthetic perception and valuing, and drama theater heritage.

-        Begin to participate in story dramatization

-        Move as an object or storybook animal

-        Begin to acquire a sense of drama through storytelling and improvisation

 

VISUAL ARTS

·       Express and communicate an understanding of visual arts by creative expression and aesthetic perception and valuing.

-        maintain a portfolio with art work produced throughout the year

-        create a number of products that represent an initial understanding of the design elements: line and color

-        be introduced to drawing, painting, and constructing techniques using pens, tempera, crayon, and watercolor

 

As parents, you can help by:

·       Exposing children to a variety of cultural entertainment experiences (performances, concerts, galleries).

·       Playing music from various cultures and styles in your home.

·       Monitoring your child’s exposure to movies, music, videos and television.

 

 

 

Our vision is to prepare students for a changing future through the expanding use of technology that serves as a catalyst for learning.  To this end, students will regularly use computers and other educational technologies.  Through a district network, teachers have access to electronic mail and both teachers and students have access to selected educational sites on the Internet.  In second grade, the major focus is on understanding technology and its use indifferent environments.

 

The second grade student will…

 

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

·       operate computer independently

·       use educational software independently