April News 

Welcome back to our very last term of Year 2! How has that happened! I hope you all had a lovely Easter break, it definitely sounds like a busy time from the stories I have heard.

The children have settled straight back into school life wonderfully and we have already been full of busy. In English, we have started our next unit of work based on the story ‘The Dragon Machine’ by Helen Ward. The children were quick to spot that this is the second story from this author and illustrator we have looked at, the previous being the Tin Forest. Last week we explored the story before looking at the features needed to write a diary entry based on the book as this will be our end piece of writing for this unit. We have then looked at range of literary features which we can use in our own diary entries including capital letters for proper nouns, the past and present tense including the progressive forms and apostrophes of possession. Some very tricky concepts but lots of resilience shown during our lessons! This week we have moved on to begin to plan our diaries and I am already excited to see the final product soon.

In maths, we have been looking at addition and subtraction including 2 digit numbers. We looked at how partitioning the numbers into tens and ones can help us do some easier addition and subtraction sums and then how to combine our answers back together to answer the question. We have also focused on how our number bonds to 10 can help us with subtraction. This is all in preparation to begin column addition and subtraction very soon!

We have started lots of new units this past week since our return from Easter. In history, we have begun to look at the role of the monarchy in our unit ‘What is a Monarch?’ and so far, we have explored some of the different jobs that the King does in his day to day life.

We will move on to learn about different Monarchs in history as well as learning about different types of castles and their purpose.

In computing, we have started our new unit about programming where we are looking at the importance of algorithms. We explored the importance of short and precise instructions by playing a game. The children had to follow my terrible instructions to try and draw a picture. We then tried again with clearer instructions which the children were able to follow successfully to draw the correct picture. We then turned into robots ourselves and had to direct each other around the room. Lots of fun throughout!

May News 

Another busy month in Year 2! 

In English, we have nearly finished our writing journey based on the story ‘The Bear and the Piano’ by David Litchfield. We explored the text using our comprehension skills to answer questions about the text. We then created a breaking news interview using our questioning skills to interview the Bear. I was incredibly impressed with our speaking and listening skills to create some wonderful interviews. We are currently writing our own version of the story using some direct speech and description to create effect which we have looked at during our model and enable lessons. The ideas the children have come up with are wonderful and I can’t wait to read the final results towards the end of this week.

In maths, I have been amazed with the resilience on display during some of our trickiest work to date. We have looked at using the column method to add and subtract which the children were amazing at using independently. The set out the columns in their books superbly. We have also revisited multiplication and division using the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Each of us are getting closer to achieving our bronze awards too, one final push to get them before the end of the school year!

In Science, we have been exploring lifecycles including humans and a range of animals. We have compared the stages of each and how some are different to others. We have also learned some new key vocabulary including offspring, adolescent and parent. In our research we have found out that there are only 5 mammals in the entire animal kingdom that lay eggs! In preparation for our next unit, we have planted some sunflowers in our classroom and are excited to see them grow!

 Wonderful work Year 2, well done!

June News 

It is hard to believe it is June already! No resting in Year 2 just yet however.

In English, we have completed yet another writing unit. The key text for this unit was How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth. We explored the features of instructional writing, learned how to use commas to write a list and looked at how fronted adverbials and adverbs can be used in instructions. We then had a go at writing our own instructions to help people wash their own woolly mammoths and I have to say I was incredibly impressed. I could definitely follow each set of instructions to wash my woolly mammoth.

We have since started our final writing unit of Year 2 which is based on the Roald Dahl classic James and the Giant Peach. We have enjoyed listening to the story so far and have began to explore the text using our reading comprehension skills. We have created a simple fact file based on one of the creatures featured in the story and have reminded ourselves of the key features of a newspaper report as we work towards writing our own report based on the events of the story.

In maths, we have worked on multiplication and division and how these facts are related. I am pleased that the number of children who have earned their Bronze Award over the past few weeks, hopefully everyone will get theirs before the end of the year- keep practising using TTRS! We have also used our division knowledge to explore fractions of amounts and how we can change quarters to halves. A very tricky concept but the children got it with ease!

In PSHE, we have started our new unit Economic Wellbeing. So far, we have looked at how we use money and how adults get money. Lots of us shared which jobs we would like to have when we are older to earn our own money to spend.

Last week, we also had a wonderful time at sports day where our sportsmanship shone all day. We cheered on our friends and congratulated the winners proudly. I was very impressed with everyone the entire day, they really gave it their all and had a fabulous time in the process.

Useful Links for Year 2

Top Marks provides a range of games and activities to support learning across the curriculum.

TTRS is the perfect place to practise those tables.

BBC Bitesize has a range of resources perfect for practising English skills for Year 2. There are resources for other subjects available.

Fonetti is a read aloud app to encourage a love of reading.