Second-Grade Goals for Students After the New Year

Second-Grade Goals for Students After the New Year In order to hit developmental benchmarks, it helps to have parents on your side. These are a few second-grade goals for students to complete after the new year. Share them with parents during conferences so they will have a rough idea of the expectations you have for their child. All children learn differently and are not alike, but it helps to have a few general goals listing which skills students will need to know by the end of the school year. Goals to share with parents should include a focus on reading, math, writing, and what to work on at home. Reading Goals Second-grade students should be able to recognize words as chunks, not just individual letters. For example when looking at the word cheat, the second-grade student should be able to recognize the word eat. Other reading goals include: Increase reading fluency and expression.Use punctuation appropriately.Identify an increasing number of words by sight.Be able to identify the speaker in a story.Retell a story by providing details. Students should also be able to use graphic organizers- visual and graphic displays that organize ideas and demonstrate relationships between different information and concepts- to show an understanding of story elements such as the main character, plot, main idea, supporting details, setting, solution, and theme. Additionally, second-grade students need to strengthen their comprehension skills when reading independently.  They should  be able to identify the main idea in the story as well as locate supporting details, infer, and be able to answer text-specific questions. (This is now a part of the  common core.) Math Goals Second-grade students must able to simplify word problems and directions when needed. They need to have the ability to take their time and work through a problem until it is completed properly. Other math goals include: Recite 25 math facts in one minute.Understand math vocabulary and recognize it. For example, they must be able to recognize what the question is asking, such as: What is place value?Use appropriate tools to strategically to solve a problem.Mentally calculate sums and differences for numbers with only tens or hundreds.Develop a foundation for understanding area and volume.Be able to represent and interpret data. Additionally, second-grade students should extend their understanding of the base-10  system. Writing Goals By the end of second grade, students must be able to capitalize and punctuate correctly and use punctuation to add effect to their writing. Second-graders should also be able to: Provide a strong beginning that will grab the readers attention.Create an ending that will show that their writing piece is finished.Use strategies to plan writing, such as brainstorming and using graphic organizers.Show their personality through their writing.Use a dictionary to self-correct during the drafting phase.Add details to support the main idea. Additionally, students should begin to use transition words in their writing to construct logical order, such as first, second, and third, or next and finally. At Home Goals Learning does not end in the classroom. While at home, students should: Practice math facts- three to five facts at a time- each night or at least five times a week.Study spelling patterns and practice spelling words in a variety of ways besides memorization.Read independently for at least 10 to 15 minutes each night.Have plenty of age-appropriate books available to help them develop vocabulary skills.Work with their parents to develop study skills that will last a lifetime. Even at home, children should use punctuation correctly and write in complete sentences in letters, shopping lists, and other writing.