• Reading Program

    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journeys

    Journeys is a reading program designed to meet the diverse needs of all students by using a balanced literacy approach. Students will progressively learn and develop different skills related to phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension.

    Balanced literacy is an approach in which teachers support each reader’s development. The teacher will utilize materials from the program that allow for differentiation, whole group or small group instruction. The teacher can support the student which leads to the ultimate goal of independent reading.

    Some of the reading terms you may hear from our Journeys program include:

    - Read aloud - the teacher reads to the students exposing them to various types of literature and develop reading strategies.

    -Shared reading - children participate in reading with the teacher and classmates and learn critical concepts of how print works.

    -Guided reading - students are reading independently at their instructional level while discussion is facilitated by the teacher.

    -Independent reading

    (Primary teachers - discuss the use of decodable books within your classroom)

    Through this balanced literacy approach the teachers will be evaluating students in several ways.

    - Observation

    - Running records

    - Small group instruction

    - Weekly phonics, vocabulary, and tests

    - Cold reads

    - Unit tests

    - Benchmark tests

     

    The balanced literacy philosophy is an effective way to help children improve their skills one step at a time. The better your child learns to read, the more successful they will be in years to come.


    Vocabulary

    The students will be given a spelling list every Monday or on the first day of each week if there is no school on Monday. Some of the words may seem easy, but our goal is to have each student master the spelling of these words for all assignments, not just to memorize them for the vocabulary test.

    See vocabulary list at Spellingcity.com.

    HANDWRITING

    Correct letter formation and neatness are stressed. Handwriting will be introduced during the second semester.

    WRITING PORTFOLIOS

    Students in second grade use writing portfolios. Children collect, select, and reflect upon their work throughout the year. The portfolios demonstrate student progress and self-reflection.


    MATHEMATICS
    Bridges

    In first grade math, students deepen and extend their understanding of concepts introduced in first grade. The Common Core Standards focus on four critical math concepts in second grade math:
    •Understanding place value relationships with numbers up to 1,00
    •Building computational fluency with addition and subtraction
    •Using metric and customary units of measure
    •Describing and analyzing shapes