Hi all,
I hope you have all had a good week. We’ve been busy as normal in Year 2 and have been growing our brains every day and learning lots of new things.
In English, we have started our Read Write Inc Phonics Groups. Some children are in Mr Whetnall’s group and some are in Mrs Bowdell’s group to ensure we can give them the focus that they need. We will be doing Read Write Inc for our whole class’ literacy lessons for at least this term as we begin to revisit sounds and books with a focus on building our confidence in spelling and writing independently.
In Maths, we have been looking at numbers on place value grids and have also spent a few days learning about comparing numbers. The children have been really good at this but some are getting a little mixed up with the > (greater than) and < (less than) symbols so I have sent some homework home so they can continue to practise this. Next week we will also be looking at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s so if possible, could you please practise this with your child so they are confident - this can be done by grouping objects or finding things which are normally in these groups.
In Science, we have looked at the basic needs of animals and have written our own animal care fact sheets to explain how certain animals get their air, water, food and shelter. I have really enjoyed reading them!
In RE, we have concluded our work on Abraham by creating our own comic strip to retell the story.
In History, we learned about the events of the Great Fire of London and what happened on each of the 4 days it burned. Next week, we will look more closely at the reasons it burned for so long and spread so quickly.
In Art/DT we made our own 1666 London house using black and white paper. We looked carefully at the shape and height of these buildings and created some wonderful versions!
Homework
Please click on the ‘Year 2’ tab on our website and click on ‘Homework’ to see the tasks which have been set. There are electronic copies here too which can be downloaded.
Reading Books
You may have noticed that your child’s reading book seems ‘easier’ than previously. This is because in Year 2 we introduce a reading support and assessment tool called Accelerated Reader. On the computer at school, the children complete a reading assessment quiz which gives them a ZPD number (don’t worry, this just gives them a range of books they should choose from). When the children finish a book, they complete a quiz on it which checks their comprehension skills, rather than simply their word reading. This is an important skill for children to develop and it is much easier to build comprehension skills from shorter, ‘easier’ books. Do not despair, your child hasn’t fallen back and their books will soon increase in complexity as they continue to complete quizzes on the books they take home. Therefore, it is so important to ask them questions about what they read, rather than merely focusing upon how they read. This will support them in understanding their books and developing their comprehension skills.
PE
After half term, Year 2’s Wednesday PE session will change to Friday. This won’t be until the first week back after half term but I wanted to give you notice. I will remind of this before half term.
Coronavirus and Home Learning
Just to remind you that if you or anyone in your household develops symptoms of Coronavirus then please inform the school office or Miss Haggerty as soon as possible. Arrange a test as soon as possible.
Please also let me know as soon as you can so that I can upload the week’s learning activities to our Google Drive for you to complete at home.
Award Winners
Golden Award - Emilia - for super writing and a fabulous animal fact sheet.
Writing Award - Olivia S - for her fabulous work in Read Write Inc.
Maths Award - Corben - for contributing so well with our comparing numbers work.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mr Whetnall and Mrs Bowdell
