{"product_id":"what-your-second-grader-needs-to-know-revised-and-updated-isbn-9780553392401","title":"What Your Second Grader Needs to Know (Revised and Updated)","description":"\u003cb\u003eGive your child a smart start with the revised and updated\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat Your Second Grader Needs to Know\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e What will your child be expected to learn in the second grade? How can you help him or her at home? This book answers these all-important questions and more, offering the specific shared knowledge that hundreds of parents and teachers across the nation have agreed upon for American second graders. Designed for parents and teachers to enjoy with children, featuring a new Introduction, this second-grade volume of the Core Knowledge Series presents the knowledge and skills that should be at the core of a challenging second-grade education, including\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eFavorite poems\u003c\/b\u003e—old and new, from “Caterpillars” to Gwendolyn Brooks’s prizewinning “Rudolph Is Tired of the City”\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eLiterature\u003c\/b\u003e—from around the world, with African folktales, American tall tales, European fairy tales, and classic myths from ancient Greece\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eLearning about language\u003c\/b\u003e—the basic building blocks of written English, all explained with a touch of humor and common sense\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eWorld and American history and geography\u003c\/b\u003e—visit Japan, explore ancient Greece, travel the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eVisual arts\u003c\/b\u003e—with activities and full-color illustrations of masterworks by El Greco, Van Gogh, Matisse, and others\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eMusic\u003c\/b\u003e—basic theory, great composers, instruments, and fun-to-sing songs such as “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad” and “Do-Re-Mi”\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eMath\u003c\/b\u003e—challenging lessons ranging from telling time to doing fractions, numbers to 100, and a first look at geometry\u003cbr\u003e • \u003cb\u003eScience\u003c\/b\u003e—the cycle of life and the seasons, levers and magnets, the wonder of the human body, and more, with lots of hands-on activities and stories about famous scientists\u003cb\u003eE. D. Hirsch, Jr.,\u003c\/b\u003e is an emeritus professor at the University of Virginia and the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Knowledge Deficit, The Schools We Need,\u003c\/i\u003e and the bestselling \u003ci\u003eCultural Literacy \u003c\/i\u003eand the\u003ci\u003e Dictionary of Cultural Literacy\u003c\/i\u003e. He and his wife, Polly, live in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they raised their three children.I\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Language and Literature\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Reading, Writing, and Your Second Grader: A Note to Parents\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In the Core Knowledge books for kindergarten and first grade, we described some features of an effective reading and writing program in schools. A good program, we said, not only is rich in literature but also presents varied opportunities for a child to work and play with letters and sounds. An effective program presents important skills sequentially, with plenty of practice and review. It includes phonics and decoding (turning the written symbols into sounds) as well as practice at spelling, handwriting, punctuation, and grammar.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e By the end of second grade, a reasonable goal is for children to become independent readers and writers. By this we don’t mean that children should be able to read any book in the library or write a perfectly polished essay; rather, they should be able to read books appropriate to beginning readers, and write legibly.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Nothing is more important in a child’s schooling than learning to read and write confidently by the end of first grade or more important than extending that ability by the end of second grade.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Based on authoritative advice from mainstream scientific research, the Core Knowledge Foundation has compiled a description of reading and writing goals that a school should work to achieve with all students in second grade. Those goals are included in the Core Knowledge Sequence, the curriculum guidelines upon which this book is based, and in the Core Knowledge Language Arts Program used in schools across the country. Parents who wish to have some benchmarks by which to gauge the adequacy and effectiveness of the reading and writing programs in their child’s school should visit: https:\/\/www.coreknowledge.org for information on downloading or ordering a copy of the Core Knowledge Sequence.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In addition, as parents, you can do many things to help your children.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e • Read aloud regularly and talk with your children about what they are reading\u003cbr\u003e • Take your children to the library\u003cbr\u003e • Help your children write thank-you notes and letters to relatives\u003cbr\u003e • Play word games like Hangman or Scrabble Junior\u003cbr\u003e • Check on homework\u003cbr\u003e • Be encouraging and supportive of your children’s efforts to learn more about language\u003cbr\u003e Suggested Resources for Parents and Children\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The resources recommended here are meant to supplement at home the more thorough and systematic instruction that should take place in the classroom.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Ready … Set … Read: The Beginning Reader’s Treasury and Ready … Set … Read—and Laugh! A Funny Treasury for Beginning Readers, compiled by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson (Doubleday, 1990 and 1995). Two nicely illustrated collections containing stores, poems, riddles, and word games by well-known writers such as Arnold Lobel and Eve Merriam.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Spider. Colorful, attractive artwork illustrates each issue of this monthly magazine for children from six to nine years old, which features many stories, activities, and puzzles, with no advertising. Many libraries carry the magazine. For subscription information, go to the Cricket Magazine Group website (http:\/\/www.cricketmag.com).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Literature\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Introduction\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e For your second grader, we offer a selection of poetry, stories, and myths. The poetry includes traditional rhymes as well as a few favorites by modern writers. We encourage you to read many more poems with your child, to delight in the play of language, and occasionally to encourage your child to memorize a favorite poem.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The stories presented here are mostly traditional tales that have stood the test of time. Some of the selections from other lands may not be familiar to American readers, but by including them here we hope to make them so. Parents and teachers may want to connect the folktales we include from China, Japan, and India with the introductions to those lands in the World History and Geography section of this book. We also offer a selection of Greek myths, which you can tie in with the discussion of ancient Greece in the World History and Geography section.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The stories here are meant to complement, not replace, stories with controlled vocabularies and syntax that children may be given in school as part of their instruction in reading. While some second graders may be able to read the stories in this book on their own, those who find the language too complex can readily understand and enjoy these stories when they are read aloud and talked about with an adult. You may also want to try some “shared reading,” in which you read aloud parts of a story and your child reads aloud parts to you.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Many of these stories convey traditional values such as honesty, courage, generosity, and diligence. Those parents who hope that schooling will instill ethical values can feel somewhat reassured if their children are being taught good literature. Next to human role models who exemplify the desired virtues, good literature is one of the best means of instilling ethical values. Plato said that stories are the most important part of early education and advised parents and teachers to take great care in choosing the right stories: “Let them fashion the mind with such tales even more fondly than they mold the body.”\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e We offer the stories in this book as a good starting point, and we encourage you and your child to explore further. Your local library has a treasury of good books, fiction and nonfiction. You might want to consult the lists of recommended works in such guides as:\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Books That Build Character by William Kilpatrick et al. (Simon and Schuster\/Touchstone, 1994)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Books to Build On: A Grade-by-Grade Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers edited by John Holdren and E. D. Hirsch, Jr. (Dell, 1996)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children by Eden Ross Lipson (Harmony, revised and updated 2000)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Poetry\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Bed in Summer\u003cbr\u003e by Robert Louis Stevenson\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In winter I get up at night\u003cbr\u003e And dress by yellow candle-light.\u003cbr\u003e In summer, quite the other way,\u003cbr\u003e I have to go to bed by day.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e I have to go to bed and see\u003cbr\u003e The birds still hopping on the tree,\u003cbr\u003e Or hear the grown-up people’s feet\u003cbr\u003e Still going past me in the street.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e And does it not seem hard to you,\u003cbr\u003e When all the sky is clear and blue,\u003cbr\u003e And I should like so much to play,\u003cbr\u003e To have to go to bed by day?\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Buffalo Dusk\u003cbr\u003e by Carl Sandburg\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The buffaloes are gone.\u003cbr\u003e And those who saw the buffaloes are gone.\u003cbr\u003e Those who saw the buffaloes by thousands and how they pawed the prairie sod into dust with their hoofs, their great heads down pawing on in a great pageant of dusk,\u003cbr\u003e Those who saw the buffaloes are gone.\u003cbr\u003e And the buffaloes are gone.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Caterpillars\u003cbr\u003e by Aileen Fisher\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e What do caterpillars do?\u003cbr\u003e Nothing much but chew and chew.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e What do caterpillars know?\u003cbr\u003e Nothing much but how to grow.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e They just eat what by and by\u003cbr\u003e will make them be a butterfly,\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But that is more than I can do\u003cbr\u003e however much I chew and chew.\u003cbr\u003e  Support Common Core achievement with readings and activities in --Literature --Mathematics --History, science, the arts","brand":"Bantam","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300270264549,"sku":"NP9780553392401","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780553392401.jpg?v=1767743920","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/what-your-second-grader-needs-to-know-revised-and-updated-isbn-9780553392401","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}