Yesterday you might have seen a post by Yvonne at Sassy in Second as she kicked off our Common Core Curriculum Map overview! If you missed it, you might want to go back and read her post so you know how the book works!
It is time to kick off the Second Grade version of our Common Core Curriculum Map book study for Unit 1!! Below is a thumbnail of the book. Many teachers across the country are using this book to make sure that we are all on the same page. The curriculum map focused on here was developed by the writers of the common core and a team of teachers. If you want to purchase this book, just click on the book below and go to Amazon. I suggest getting the book <not the Kindle version> so that you can get the pacing guide that goes along with the curriculum map.
Well....this six week unit kicks off the school year....and yes, what is normally a Kindergarten unit is now in second grade. If you are like me you are wondering (1) Why? (2) How are we going to implement this? I can't tell you why, but I CAN give you some ideas on implementation as I have been thinking about this all summer.
It is time to kick off the Second Grade version of our Common Core Curriculum Map book study for Unit 1!! Below is a thumbnail of the book. Many teachers across the country are using this book to make sure that we are all on the same page. The curriculum map focused on here was developed by the writers of the common core and a team of teachers. If you want to purchase this book, just click on the book below and go to Amazon. I suggest getting the book <not the Kindle version> so that you can get the pacing guide that goes along with the curriculum map.
There is very explicit vocabulary that is recommended....or more plainly, specified, to be taught. The CCSS vocabulary is mapped out in this book also so that it is easy to refer to when teaching. I expect to keep it very close at hand through the year so that I can make sure that I use this vocabulary when teaching. This vocabulary is going to have to become common place with our students as we plunge headlong into more and more testing.
So, now, on to the unit!!
Well....this six week unit kicks off the school year....and yes, what is normally a Kindergarten unit is now in second grade. If you are like me you are wondering (1) Why? (2) How are we going to implement this? I can't tell you why, but I CAN give you some ideas on implementation as I have been thinking about this all summer.
So, we are going to 'kick it up a notch'!!
So...we are teaching about the seasons....think of all of the science and social studies that can be taught!
*Rotation
*Revolution
*Weather
*Skin Care/Health
*Proper Clothing
*Maps
*Survival Skills
*Safety Precautions/Positions
*Goods/Services
*Needs/Wants
On pg 123 of the book, there are recommended interdisciplinary connections:
Art: Van Gogh, Seurat, Bruegel, Caillebotte, Tiffany
Geography: both general and specific landforms such as the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Rocky Mountains, among others
Science: Seasonal cycles, water cycle, solar system
On pg 123 of the book, there are recommended interdisciplinary connections:
Art: Van Gogh, Seurat, Bruegel, Caillebotte, Tiffany
Geography: both general and specific landforms such as the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and the Rocky Mountains, among others
Science: Seasonal cycles, water cycle, solar system
I made you some posters, too!! You can download them <HERE>! Graphics were provided by DigiWeb Studios, Scrappin Doodles, and LBDesigns.
But, alas, our focus in the book is on language arts! The essential question for this is, 'When is language beautiful?'
This is a unit that mixes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to show students that although reading can be a challenge, it can also be beautiful and fun. Using a mixture of poetry, art (Vincent Van Gogh!!), and music (Vivaldi's The Four Seasons).
The unit emphasizes questioning (all of those W's and H's), strong beginnings and endings of stories, adjectives and adverbs, complete sentences, and shared research. In the realm of poetry, the unit emphasizes rhythm, rhyme, imagery, repetition, and alliteration. The non-fiction that is recommended also allows discussion of those all important text features.
One of the poems recommended for use is Nikki Giovanni's "Knoxville, Tennessee." Seeing how I grew up just 20 minutes from Knoxville, in Clinton, I was thrilled to see this poem in the book! Since my blood bleeds orange and white for my UT Vols, I typed the poem out for you and used those colors!
When I read this poem, it truly does take me back into time back to when I was a little girl, running barefoot through the yard or climbing trees to be the 'lookout' for whatever scheme we had cooked up that day! I can remember going to my parents' friends garden and picking fresh vegetables and canning or freezing in the summers and helping lay out food in the homecoming shed for our church's homecoming. Homecoming was like no other....we started with our morning service, ate lunch together and all of us kids would play games like 'One, Two Three, Off My Father's Apple Tree' and then we would either sit and listen to more 'pickin' outside, or if it was too hot, go back inside of the church to listen to the 'special singing'. I love this poem!!
I spent the summer gathering links for all of the exemplar texts and suggested texts for this unit. If you would like more information about them, feel free to go to my blog and search 'common core books' or 'common core literature' on my blog!
The 'Season for Chapters' unit focuses on these standards from Common Core:
RI2.2, RI2.4, RL2.5, SL2.1 SL2.2, W.2.7
If you have lessons or activities or any science/social studies lessons that support any of these standards/related content, feel free to link up below!
Now....tomorrow you can go and visit my good friend Michelle at Teach123 as she covers Unit 2--The Wild, Wild West!! That one is going to be fun!
This is a unit that mixes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry to show students that although reading can be a challenge, it can also be beautiful and fun. Using a mixture of poetry, art (Vincent Van Gogh!!), and music (Vivaldi's The Four Seasons).
The unit emphasizes questioning (all of those W's and H's), strong beginnings and endings of stories, adjectives and adverbs, complete sentences, and shared research. In the realm of poetry, the unit emphasizes rhythm, rhyme, imagery, repetition, and alliteration. The non-fiction that is recommended also allows discussion of those all important text features.
One of the poems recommended for use is Nikki Giovanni's "Knoxville, Tennessee." Seeing how I grew up just 20 minutes from Knoxville, in Clinton, I was thrilled to see this poem in the book! Since my blood bleeds orange and white for my UT Vols, I typed the poem out for you and used those colors!
When I read this poem, it truly does take me back into time back to when I was a little girl, running barefoot through the yard or climbing trees to be the 'lookout' for whatever scheme we had cooked up that day! I can remember going to my parents' friends garden and picking fresh vegetables and canning or freezing in the summers and helping lay out food in the homecoming shed for our church's homecoming. Homecoming was like no other....we started with our morning service, ate lunch together and all of us kids would play games like 'One, Two Three, Off My Father's Apple Tree' and then we would either sit and listen to more 'pickin' outside, or if it was too hot, go back inside of the church to listen to the 'special singing'. I love this poem!!
I spent the summer gathering links for all of the exemplar texts and suggested texts for this unit. If you would like more information about them, feel free to go to my blog and search 'common core books' or 'common core literature' on my blog!
The 'Season for Chapters' unit focuses on these standards from Common Core:
RI2.2, RI2.4, RL2.5, SL2.1 SL2.2, W.2.7
If you have lessons or activities or any science/social studies lessons that support any of these standards/related content, feel free to link up below!
Now....tomorrow you can go and visit my good friend Michelle at Teach123 as she covers Unit 2--The Wild, Wild West!! That one is going to be fun!
