First and second grade are crucial stepping-stones in the development of reading skills

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Reading

• Starting with building a solid foundation in letter-sound relationships

• As the year progresses students work with:

  • Blends, digraphs, chunks, prefixes and suffixes, parts of speech, and more

• Students also develop skills in

  • Comprehension, classification, and summarization

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Language and Writing

As students progress in their knowledge of letters and sounds, their writing skills improve

• Students practice and apply phonemic awareness through various writing activities including:

  • Books, letters, and poems

• A specific emphasis is placed on:

  • Developing complete sentences and paragraphs

  • Using appropriate punctuation

  • Identifying simple parts of speech

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Spelling

A focus on phonemic awareness to help students identify spelling patterns

• First grade begins with a single sound or concept and develops it further

• Second grade continues with the practice of vowel sound spellings and consonant blends

• Students engage in a variety of activities each week to improve their reading and writing skills​

 

Handwriting

Written communication skills improve when students can form letters without guesswork

• TLO encourages the development of penmanship

• Emphasis and thorough practice on proper:

  • Letter formation, slant, spacing, and the way to hold writing utensils

• Second grade students learn the formation of cursive letters