Year 2 April News
It might be the final week of the spring term but that has not stopped year 2!
In English, we have been learning about traditional tales by exploring the Hans Christian Andersen story The Princess and the Pea. We explored the text by using our reading detective skills to answer questions about the text. We then looked at the language features included in traditional tales and had a look for some of them in the story. We have learned about apostrophes for contraction and possession and had a little refresh of our knowledge of conjunctions before using them to create our own sentences. We then combined all of our new writing skills to write an alternative ending to The Princess and the Pea and the children really enjoyed using their imaginations to come up with their own version. We had everything from the Princess being the real ruler of the kingdom and banishing the Old Queen to the Princess being a witch in disguise and turning all of the kingdom into frogs!
In maths, we have been looking at subtraction and using our existing skills to solve problems which include 2-digit numbers. I was very impressed with how quickly the children were able to solve trickier questions and how they used their maths skills to solve problems related to subtraction. Great work!
In Science, we finished two units which have ran side by side. The first was the result of our plant experiment where we grew some plants in the direct sunshine and others in the cupboard! Ask us what we found out about what plants need to grow. Our second Science unit that we finished this week was animals needs for survival. The children have loved finding out about lots of different animal groups and what they need to survive. We also had an exciting time designing our own inventions as part of our science week celebrations. There were some fantastic entries into the national competition including a machine which makes the bed (brilliant idea!).
In PSHE, we have completed our unit on safety and the changing body. The children have shown great maturity whilst covering some quite serious topics and we have had some wonderful discussions in class based on their questions. Themes covered have included internet safety, road safety and our private parts. We loved listening to and dancing along with the Pantosaurus song, I am sure they would love to perform for you!
Outside of the classroom we have enjoyed a performance of The Jungle Book, an Easter Egg trail and a visit from a local author, Chris Elliott. What an incredibly exciting time!
I can’t quite believe we are about to start our final term in year 2. The year has gone so fast! Enjoy your Easter break and I look forward to welcoming you back for summer term and a very busy term ahead!
Year 2 March News
What a marvellous March we have had in Year 2.
Since we have returned after the half term holiday, we have been working on building our writing skills to ultimately write a persuasive letter to the crayons from the story ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt. We have explored past and present progressive tenses and have learned about different types of sentences including commands, exclamations, questions and statements. We are busy editing and publishing our letters this week before sending them off in the hopes of the crayons returning to Duncan. Next week we will begin to explore our new text, the traditional tale, The Princess and the Pea.
In maths, we have been revisiting our addition skills and learning how to use what we already know to tackle questions that including 2d numbers. The children have shown great resilience in their work as some of the questions and methods have been quite tricky but we haven’t given up and have displayed some wonderful deeper understanding of number along the way.
In Geography, we have started our new unit ‘Why is our world wonderful?’. The children have explored the UK and each of the seven continents of the world and found out about the wonderful physical and human features that they could find there. They were super excited to find out about the Great Pyramids of Giza and Mount Etna. This week we have also looked at and been able to name the 5 oceans of the world, we were amazed at the size of the Pacific Ocean!
In Music, we have been learning about soundscapes and how sounds fit together to create a story, just like a landscape in a painting. The children worked in groups to create their own sounds to match a space adventure then joined together as a class to create the overall soundscape. Great teamwork Year 2.
We have also had a busy month outside of the classroom taking part in enrichment activities. For World Book Day, we were lucky enough to have the expertise of Mr Bailey who took us on a wonderful Now Press Play adventure with the story Jack and the Beanstalk. He then taught us how to use some very clever greenscreen technology to put us inside the worlds of the characters we were dressed as. Check out our pictures further down our class page.
We were also delighted to take part in the gymnastics festival organised by the School Games team. The children were amazing at joining in confidently with the activities and were a real asset to our school during the event. Find our pictures below!
What a busy March we have had!
I am so very proud of every single member of our class for their listening skills, politeness to the coaches and friendliness towards the other school that were taking part with us. One coach even mentioned 2 children who had been helping a little boy from the other school, noting how kind they had been. Lovely to hear and a credit to our school and yourselves.
Year 2 February News
Another fantastic month in Year 2!
In English, we have been busy reading the book The Tin Forest by Helen Ward. The children have loved exploring the beautiful illustrations and gathering descriptive language to help describe what we could see, hear, smell, touch and taste. We have also learned how to use adjectives to create expanded noun phrases and used all of these new skills to write some beautiful setting descriptions. Mrs Strachan and I were very impressed with the children’s determination to make this piece of writing their best ever!
In maths, we have been learning about halves and how to count them to write mixed numbers and improper fractions. We have also been looking at how many 1p’s we can swap amounts for and had great fun building our own 3D shapes using nets to explore the properties of the shapes.
In history, we have finished our unit ‘How did we learn to fly?’. The children have shown amazing enthusiasm for this topic and particularly enjoyed learning about the life of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. We completed a hot seating activity to answer questions about the moon landing.
We have also finished our Science topic about plants. We are patiently awaiting the results of our experiment to find out how plants grow in sunlight and in the dark, we can’t wait to keep you up to date with our experiment!
Last week we had a special treat with Mr Bailey who came to see us to do some computing enrichment. We had a great morning using AI to bring the Wright Brothers to life and talk about their achievements. We also did a great Now Press Play experience to further explore our science topic of plants.
Over half term it would be great if you could encourage the children to use Times Table Rock Stars to practise their tables, we are still waiting for our first bronze award from Mr Hodgson!
Have a fantastic half term Year 2.
Year 2 January News
Happy New Year! We have had a wonderful start to 2025!
We have begun a new English topic based on the Mini Grey picture book Traction Man. The children have enjoyed exploring the story by using their story teller voice to create a superhero voiceover to retell a small part of the story. We have also looked at proper nouns and conjunctions as part of our work. The children are currently busy publishing newspaper reports based on Traction Man’s heroic efforts, I can’t wait to read the end result.
In maths, we have been learning lots of new maths skills including adding and subtracting within 100. We also looked at subtracting one-digit numbers from 3-digit numbers. Our CLIC sessions have been focused on consolidating our learning on number bonds to 10, counting in 10s and reading 3-digit numbers. We have also been busy learning addition facts to help our mental maths become speedy! The children are very eager to learn their 2, 5 and 10 times tables to receive one of Mr Hodgson’s new times tables certificates, to earn their bronze award they need to be able to show off their knowledge of the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and their associated division facts. Please encourage your child to practise at home and lets see how quickly we can get our first awards!
In history, we have started our new topic answering the big question ‘How did we learn to fly?’. We have looked at the lives of the Wright Brothers and their influence on aviation and how they are historically significant. This week we completed a drama activity where we took the places of people at the first flight- the children decided that they would be excited to see the flight but also underwhelmed at the short time the flight took (ask us how long it was!). We can’t wait to learn more about people who have had an impact on our ability to fly around the world!
Our science topic for this half term is all about plants, consolidating our knowledge from year 1 and ending with a very exciting experiment about growing conditions. I have been very impressed with the knowledge the children have about plants and I am thrilled to see their enthusiasm for their science lessons.
Well done Year 2!