Second Grade
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Second Grade Curriculum
The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) creates instructional programs based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study as specified by the NC Department of Public Instruction. For an overview of WCPSS instructional programs, see WCPSS Connections.
Salem Elementary supplements the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and WCPSS instructional program with the concepts of Core Knowledge.
What Is Core Knowledge?
Core Knowledge is an idea for promoting academic excellence, greater fairness, and higher
literacy in elementary and middle schools by implementing a solid, specific, shared core
curriculum. Core Knowledge is designed to help children establish strong foundations of
knowledge, grade by grade. For more information on Core Knowledge, see
http://www.coreknowledge.org/.
Second Grade Core Knowledge
Language Arts
World History and Geography
American History and Geography
Mathematics
Science
Language Arts I. Poetry Bed in Summer (Robert Louis Stevenson) Bee! I'm expecting you (Emily Dickinson) Buffalo Dusk (Carl Sandburg) Caterpillars (Aileen Fisher) Discovery (Harry Behn) Harriet Tubman (Eloise Greenfield) Hurt No Living Thing (Christina Rossetti) Lincoln (Nancy Byrd Turner) The Night Before Christmas (Clement Clarke Moore) Rudolph Is Tired of the City (Gwendolyn Brooks) Seashell (frederico Garcia Lorca) Smart (Shel Silverstein) Something Told the Wild Geese (Rachel Field) There Was an Old Man with a Beard (Edward Lear) Who Has Seen the Wind? (Christina Rossetti) Windy Nights (Robert Louis Stevenson) II. Fiction A. Stories Beauty and the Beast The Blind Men and the Elephant (a fable from India) A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) Charlotte's Web (E. B. White) The Emperor's New Clothes (Hans Christian Andersen) The Fisherman and His Wife (Brothers Grimm) How the Camel Got His Hump (a "Just-So" story by Rudyard Kipling) Iktomi stories (legends of the Plains Indian trickster figure, such as Iktomi Lost His Eyes; Iktomi and the Berries; Iktomie and the Boulder) The Magic Paintbrush (a Chinese folktale) El Pajaro Cu (a Hispanic folktale) selections from Peter Pan (James M. Barrie) Talk (a West African folk tale) The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal (a folk tale from India) The Tongue-Cut Sparrow (a folk tale from Japan) B. Mythology of Ancient Greece · Gods of Ancient Greece (and Rome) Zeus (Jupiter), Aphrodite (Venus), Ares (Mars), Artemis (Diana), Hera (Juno), Poseidon (Neptune), Hermes (Mercury), Hades (Pluto), Apollo (Apollo), Eros (Cupid), Dionysus (Bacchus), Athena (Minerva), and Hephaestus (Vulcan) · Mount Olympus: home of the gods · Mythological creatures and characters Atlas (holding the world on his shoulders), Pegasus, centaurs, Cerberus, and Pan · Greek Myths Prometheus (how he brought fire from the gods to men) Daedelus and Icarus Pandora's Box Arachne the Weaver Oedipus and the Sphinx Swift-footed Atalanta Theseus and the Minotaur Demeter and Persephone Hercules (Heracles) and the Labors of Hercules C. American Folk Heroes and Tall Tales Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, John Henry, Pecos Bill, and Casey Jones D. Literary Terms myth tall tale limerick III. Sayings and Phrases Back to the drawing board Better late than never Cold feet Don't cry over spilled milk. Don't judge a book by its cover. Easier said than done Eaten out of house and home Get a taste of your own medicine. Get up on the wrong side of the bed In hot water Keep your fingers crossed. Practice what you preach Turn over a new leaf Two heads are better than one. Where there's a will there's a way. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. World History and Geography I. Geography A. Spatial Sense (Working with Maps, Globes, and Other Geographic Tools) · Name your continent, country, state and community · Understand that maps have keys or legends with symbols and their uses. · Find directions on a map: east, west, north, south. · Identify major oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic. · The seven continents: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia. · Locate: Canada, United States, Mexico, Central America. · Locate: the Equator, Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, North and South Poles. B. Geographical Terms and Features · coast, valley, prairie, desert, oasis II. Early Civilizations: Asia A. Geography of Asia · The largest continent, with the most populous countries in the world Locate: China, India, Japan B. India · Indus River and Ganges River · Hinduism Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva Many holy books including the Rig Veda · Buddhism Prince Siddhartha becomes Buddha, "the Enlightened One" Buddhism begins as an outgrowth of Hinduism in India, and then spreads through many countries in Asia. King Asoka (also spelled Ashoka) C. China · Yellow (Huang He) and Yangtze (Chang Jiang) Rivers · Teachings of Confucius (for example, honor your ancestors) · Great Wall of China · Invention of paper · Importance of silk · Chinese New Year III. Modern Civilization and Culture: Japan A. Geography · Locate relative to continental Asia: "land of the rising sun" · A country made up of islands; four major islands · Pacific Ocean, Sea of Japan · Mt. Fuji · Tokyo B. Culture · Japanese flag · Big modern cities, centers of industry and business · Traditional craft: origami · Traditional costume: kimono IV. Ancient Greece · Geography: Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, Crete · Sparta · Persian Wars: Marathon and Thermopylae · Athens as a city-state: the beginnings of democracy · Olympic games · Worship of gods and goddesses · Great thinkers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle · Alexander the Great American History and Geography I. American Government: The Constitution · American Government is based on the Constitution, the highest law of our land. · James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution" · Government by the consent of the governed: "We the people" II. The War of 1812 · President James Madison and Dolley Madison · British impressment of American sailors · Old Ironsides · British burn the White House · Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, and "The Star-Spangled Banner" · Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson III. Westward Expansion Pioneers Head West · New means of travel Robert Fulton, invention of the steamboat Erie Canal Railroads: the Transcontinental Railroad · Routes west: wagon trains on the Oregon Trail · The Pony Express IV. The Civil War · Controversy over slavery · Harriet Tubman, the "underground railroad" · Northern v. Southern states: Yankees and Rebels · Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee · Clara Barton, "Angel of the Battlefield," founder of American Red Cross · President Abraham Lincoln: keeping the Union together · Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery V. Immigration and Citizenship · America perceived as a "land of opportunity" · The meaning of "e pluribus unum" (a national motto you can see on the back of coins) · Ellis Island and the significance of the Statue of Liberty · Millions of newcomers to America Large populations of immigrants settle in major cities (such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, San Francisco) · The idea of citizenship What it means to be a citizen of a nation American citizens have certain rights and responsibilities (for example, voting, eligible to hold public office, paying taxes) Becoming an American citizen (by birth, naturalization) VI. Civil Rights · Susan B. Anthony and the right to vote · Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights and human rights · Mary McLeod Bethune and educational opportunity · Jackie Robinson and the integration of major league baseball · Rosa Parks and the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama · Martin Luther King, Jr. and the dream of equal rights for all · Cesar Chavez and the rights of migrant workers VII. Geography of America North America · North America: Canada, United States, Mexico · The United States Fifty states: 48 contiguous states, plus Alaska and Hawaii Territories Appalachian and Rocky Mountains Mississippi River Great Lakes · Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, West Indies · Central America VIII. Symbols and Figures · Recognize and become familiar with the significance of Lincoln Memorial Statue of Liberty U.S. flag: current and earlier versions Mathematics I. Numbers and Number Sense II. Fractions III. Money IV. Computation V. Measurement VI. Geometry Science I. Matter · Basic concept of atoms · Names and common examples of three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas · Water as an example of changing states of matter of a single substance II. Cycles in Nature A. Seasonal cycles · The four seasons and earth's orbit around the sun (one year) · Seasons and life processes Spring: sprouting, sap flow in plants, mating and hatching Summer: growth Fall: ripening, migration Winter: plant dormancy, animal hibernation B. Life cycles · The life cycle: birth, growth, reproduction, death · Reproduction in plants and animals From seed to seed with a plant From egg to egg with a chicken From frog to frog From butterfly to butterfly: metamorphosis C. The water cycle · Most of the earth's surface is covered by water. · The water cycle Evaporation and condensation Water vapor in the air, humidity Clouds: cirrus, cumulus, stratus Precipitation, groundwater III. Insects · Insects can be helpful and harmful to people. Helpful: pollination; products like honey, beeswax, and silk; eat harmful insects Harmful: destroy crops, trees, wooden buildings, clothes; carry disease; bite or sting · Distinguishing characteristics Exoskeleton, chitin Six legs and three body parts: head, thorax and abdomen Most but not all insects have wings. · Life cycles: metamorphosis Some insects look like miniature adults when born from eggs, and they molt to grow. Some insects go through distinct stages of egg, larva, pupa, adult. · Social insects Most insects live solitary lives, but some are social. Ants: colonies Honeybees: workers, drones, queen IV. The Human Body A. Cells · All living things are made up of cells, too small to be seen without a microscope. Cells make up tissues. Tissues make up organs. Organs work in systems. B. The digestive and excretory systems · Salivary glands, taste buds · Teeth: incisors, bicuspids, molars · Esophagus, stomach, liver, small intestine, large intestine · Kidneys, urine, bladder, urethra, anus, appendix C. Taking care of your body: a healthy diet · The "food pyramid" · Vitamins and minerals V. Classification of Animals · Scientists classify animals according to the characteristics they share, for example: Cold-blooded or warm-blooded Vertebrates (have backbones and internal skeletons) or invertebrates (do not have backbones or internal skeletons) · Different classes of vertebrates Fish: aquatic animals, breathe through gills, cold-blooded, most have scales, most develop from eggs that the female lays outside her body Amphibians: live part of their lives in water and part on land, have gills when young, later develop lungs, cold-blooded, usually have moist skin Reptiles: hatch from eggs, cold-blooded, have dry, thick, scaly skin Birds: warm-blooded, most can fly, have feathers and wings, most build nests, hatch from eggs, most baby birds must be fed by parents and cared for until they can survive on their own (though some, like baby chickens and quail, can search for food a few hours after hatching) Mammals: warm-blooded, have hair on their bodies, parents care for the young, females produce milk for their babies, breathe through lungs, most are terrestrial (live on land) though some are aquatic VI. Science Biographies Anton van Leeuwenhoek Elijah McCoy Florence Nightingale Daniel Hale Williams