Sample Course Syllabus

Sample Course Syllabus

With technology more and more prevalent in classrooms for students of all ages, schools are presenting students with more options to interact with curriculum through a digital platform. This syllabus is designed for a hybrid second grade class, meaning a class that meets in person as well as in an online environment. This syllabus was designed to be read by parents and guardians of students.

Course Syllabus

SECOND GRADE ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS

1. Course/Class Structure:

Our class is a hybrid class. This means that some materials will be covered in the classroom, and others will be presented and developed using online and digital tools.
Our school year is from August 2018 until June, 2019. We will be covering new materials every day, so please make sure your child attends as many school days as possible! If your child is going to miss a day of school, please see me to receive your child’s homework packet, which will include all the assignments your child needs to complete. 

2. Objectives:

The objectives of our Language Arts classroom are taken from the California Common Core State Standards Initiative, and they are summed-up as follows (2018):

1. Recognize parts of a story including the beginning, middle, and ends, setting, and also participating in storytelling.

2. Locate the main idea of a sample of writing, place statements in chronological order.

3. Understand the difference between fact and opinion, produce writing samples expressing their opinions and providing reasoning behind their statements.

4. Demonstrate knowledge of English grammar when writing, speaking, and working in groups.

3. Texts and Resources:

We will be using the school-assigned curriculum materials for our second grade classroom. Our class also has a subscription to GoNoodle, which I will use for “brain breaks” periodically throughout the day. 

If you would like to supplement your child’s reading, a great resource to use is the “free books” section from Willbooks (2018, www.willbooks.com). 

4. Course Abstract/Summary:

Second Grade Language Arts is typically a favorite subject for many students. This portion of our classroom time is dedicated to learning how to read and write. Most students are readers by the time they reach second grade, though we will begin the year with a little phonics review. We’ll continue learning about phonics and the way words work through spelling tests. We will also be covering the way stories work, and your student should be able to describe the who, what, when, where, why of a story by the end of the school year. By the end of second grade, students will have gotten lots of experience with producing short writing samples about themselves, their classmates, characters in the stories we read, and their own thoughts, opinions, and stories which they will create themselves.

5. Student Expectations:

Just as a reminder, students are expected to raise their hand when they have a question, and to wait patiently for their turn to speak.
When in small groups, students are expected to be kind and courteous with neighbors, and to get along. Students producing disruptive or inconsiderate behavior will be coached to make amends with their neighbors. Students producing destructive or hurtful behavior will be held accountable through our classroom management system, which provides multiple warnings and progresses toward a call home to parents and a visit to the principal’s office. 

Our library day is every TUESDAY. Students should bring their library books back to school on this day in order to check out a new book. Students who do not return their library books will not be allowed to check out another one. 

Homework is to be brought to class every day. Homework provides extra practice and builds confidence in the subjects we explore during the school day. When homework is missing for two or more consecutive days, that student is moved through the classroom management system directly to a call home to parents and a scheduled meeting with the teacher. 

6. Assignments:

“One may walk over the highest mountains, one step at a time.” –John Wanamaker.

The goal of assignments is not only to guide your student through second grade materials, but also to produce consistent study habits that perpetuate success for your student. In our classroom, this will be accomplished through study habits we will work on every day, week, month, and quarter. These habits produce the following assignments:

DAILY:
▪Homework packet, bring to and from school, completed
▪Homework pages are completed with 95% accuracy
▪95% or less: Your student will be sent home with a fresh copy of the assignment, in order to re-do it. Please see the classroom website for supplemental coaching if your child needs more time or instruction on a subject, or arrange a tutoring session with me personally. Your child must produce a score of 95% on a homework worksheet in order to be given the next worksheet, which is usually just a little bit more challenging.  

WEEKLY:
▪Spelling test: On grade-level words and sounds. Students have multiple opportunities to practice these words during the week. Tests are administered through computer audio every ▪Friday. Students must score a 95% or higher in order to move on to the next test. 

MONTHLY:
▪Reading/Sight Words check: Your student will be asked to read selected grade-level sight words for me, as well as to provide a writing sample. This is a way for me to assess your student’s progress in literacy. My findings will likely inspire selections for further practice in your student’s homework packet. 

QUARTER PROJECTS:
▪We will tackle projects in every subject during each part of the school year. Our first project in Language Arts is:
▪Pop-Up Books: Your student will be asked to produce an original story in the form of  a Pop-Up book. Blank books will be provided to your student. This assignment requires that your student be able to write an original fiction story which has a beginning, middle, and an end, and also to illustrate their writing with pictures that correlate to the main idea of each page. 

7. Assessments:

Student assessments come in the form of spelling and writing tests and quarter projects. Grades reflect the scores of your student, plus the total scores of all assignments available. Grades are broken down as follows:

90% to 100%: Excellent, “E”
80% to 89%: Good, “G”
70% to 79%: Average, “A”
60 to 69%: Needs Improvement, “NI”
0% to 59%: Unsatisfactory, “U”

Sometimes I will also provide additional comments on report cards:
Improvement Made, “IM”
Schedule Appointment, “SA”
Further Assessments Needed, “FAN”

8. Course Calendar:

Here is a sample of what your student’s weekly schedule will likely look like:

MONDAY: Bring home homework packet. Phonics, language arts curriculum. Literacy assessments (ongoing throughout week—please see me to know when your student is scheduled for his/her next assessment).

TUESDAY: Turn in homework packet, Turn in library book, check out new book. Story time in library. Phonics, language arts curriculum.

WEDNESDAY: Turn in homework packet. Phonics, language arts curriculum.

THURSDAY: Turn in homework packet. Phonics, language arts curriculum. Work on quarter project.

FRIDAY: Turn in homework packet. Spelling test. Student of the week. Story time.

Quarter Grades will be submitted by these deadlines:
First Quarter: October 15^th, 2020
Second Quarter: December 20^th, 2020
Third Quarter:  March 15^th, 2021
Fourth Quarter: June 1^st, 2021

Sources:

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2018). English Language Arts Standards: Grade 2. Retrieved from: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/L/2/

Willbooks. (2018). http://www.wilbooks.com/free-resources-free-online-books-second-grade