Our Philosophy
At Antelope Trails, we encourage a lifelong love of learning. We aim to get to know each and every one of our students as a whole child. From their passions and interests, to their family and life beyond school, we understand that each child has needs and strengths to support and foster. Primary students experience across subject levels lessons through inquiry based learning with STEAM.
Second grade students have frequent opportunities to work with others. Engaging in collaborative learning allows students the opportunity to practice their social and self-management skills - areas we know to be vitally important to student success. These experiences also allow students to learn from others. Second graders put on our annual Holiday Fair, learning about economics and marketing. Through IB practice, students are encouraged to be caring, inquirers, and principled.
The Antelope Trails community holds many events throughout the year. We welcome volunteers and value family participation. We are excited to partner alongside you and your family to make your child's elementary experience the best it can be.
Second Grade Daily Schedule
Soft Start/Morning Work
WIN Time (What I Need in Reading)
Writing
Reading
Lunch
Recess
Science/Social Studies
Specials (Music, Art, P.E., or Spanish)
Math
Recess
Read Aloud
Pack Up/Dismissal
Curriculum
Language Arts
Reading
At Antelope Trails Elementary, we are in our second year of a reading program called Superkids. This is one of the most successful reading series when it comes to providing a strong foundation for continuing the development of reading phonics and vocabulary skills.
Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear, identify and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words.
Phonics: The relationship between phonemes (the sounds of the spoken language) and graphemes (the letters and spellings that represent those sounds in written language)
Vocabulary: The development of information about the meaning and pronunciation of words.
Fluency: The ability to read text accurately and quickly.
Comprehension: Understanding, remembering and communicating with others about what has been read.
Spelling
Our spelling program is a component of our reading curriculum. The spelling list will consist of words that are directly related to the phonics we are working on in reading. There will be weekly tests.
Writing
Writing is part of the Superkids reading curriculum. Writing will be integrated within daily reading instruction. Handwriting is also supported through the Superkids curriculum. In addition, throughout the school year we also incorporate the Write from the Beginning basic paragraph writing to help prepare students as they move from the primary to the intermediate grades.
Mathematics
We utilize the Reveal Math curriculum to instruct math. By encouraging curiosity, exploration, and a growth mindset, Reveal Math allows students to see math as a dynamic set of problem-solving strategies instead of the application of memorized algorithmic or computational procedures. At each grade level, math instruction is taught with the approach of both whole group and small group instruction. Math practice is supplemented with the online component of Redbird and fact fluency practice using Rocket Math.
Science
We will be using the following units of study to learn scientific methods and address state and district science standards:
Ecosystem Diversity
Matter
Earth Materials
The science program that we use is a "hands-on" experimental approach to the study of science concepts.
Social Studies
At Antelope Trails we use the Social Studies Alive program. In second grade, the unit of study is My Community. We teach the state and district standards through this program and our reading program. We also teach mapping and geography.
Homework
At Antelope Trails, we do not send “traditional” homework home. In 2nd grade, we highly encourage students to read (or be read to) for at least 20 minutes each night, as well as to practice addition and subtraction math facts. We do offer extra practice homework packets that align with current units of study for those who request it.
International Baccalaureate (IB)
At Antelope Trails, we are proud to be an International Baccalaureate (IB) school. Culture, character and community are the focus in a stimulating academic environment where everyone knows and cares for each other. In 2nd grade we have six themes throughout the year which we tie to both academic standard, as well as global citizenship. Our themes (planners) are:
How We Express Ourselves - Humans make a difference. (Routines, procedures, how to be a good classroom citizen)
Sharing the Planet - Life depends on resources. (Animal habitats and adaptations)
How We Organize Ourselves - Decisions impact humans in many ways. (Economics and Holiday Fair)
How the World Works - Changes affect humans and the planet. (Wind, water, states of matter)
Who We Are - How changes occur over time. (Studying the past through biographies)
Where We Are in Place and Time - People are connected to their location. (Map skills and geography)