Reading

We have a very strong reading program in second grade at Randolph Heights focused on phonics, fluency, comprehension and vocabulary development.  Students learn phonics and sight words to provide a strong foundation.  They are taught a variety of reading comprehension skills aligned with the Minnesota literacy standards as well as important metacognitive skills like making connections, monitoring comprehension and rereading, paraphrasing, visualizing, asking questions and summarizing.  Students work in reading groups as well as individually and sometimes in pairs.  Teachers read out loud to students on a regular basis to model, teach and inspire students.  RHS students also have access to arguably the strongest independent reading program in the district - the Accelerated Reader (AR) program.  All of the AR books in our school library are leveled so that students can choose books at their "just right" independent reading level.  They take a short quiz on their iPads after they finish the book and move up levels as they demonstrate mastery.  Beginning readers also receive support from volunteers who participate in our Book Club program.  Students read to community volunteers and continue reading with someone at home for extra practice.  Finally, parents and students can learn about their progress via teacher assessments and via the FAST and STAR reading assessments.  Second grade students love reading at RHS!

Writing
In second grade, students write poetry, letters, expert books, non-fiction stories, personal narratives, famous American biographies and product and place reviews.  Students are exposed to a variety of craft skills including writing topic sentences and strong leads, "painting pictures with words", sharing opinions supported with evidence, using feelings and the elements of story, and other craft-related skills.  In addition, students are taught basic grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and printing skills.  Writing is scored with rubrics that help students and families understand their progress.  Students regularly share and celebrate their writing with one another.   

Mathematics
We use the district TQ&E, ST, Khan Academy and IXL Math curricula to provide students with a comprehensive math experience and to give them a strong math foundation.  Students also work on their basic addition, subtraction and easy multiplication facts.  Students are assessed regulary with unit and quarterly tests to help ensure students are mastering the material.  There are many hands-on learning opportunities as well as enrichment activities for students who have mastered the grade level skills.