Year 2 w/b 7th March
Date: 12th Mar 2022 @ 3:58pm
What an enjoyable week it has been in Year Two! On Monday, we were introduced to our model text and text map as we discovered that we would be writing our own circular narratives. Using synonyms to help clarify our understanding of new vocabulary, we explored the following words and phrases from the model text: emerald, squint, snaked, edge, prized possession, towards the horizon, overlooked, explore, bustling city, peered, cruise, seemed familiar. On Tuesday, we analysed our model text to identify the key features of a circular narrative. We collected examples of: adverbials of time, expanded noun phrases, conjunctions, questions, similes and repeated phrases. Across Wednesday and Thursday, we planned our own circular narrative; we planned a new route for our own characters to follow. I am looking forward to watching these stories come to life as we write next week. This week, we have also learnt all of the handwriting joins and we will continue to practise these joins within our handwriting sessions.
Our spelling rule this week has been: adding the suffix ‘ing’ to words ending in ‘e’ (e.g. make, ride, phone). Our rule has been: drop the ‘e’ before adding ‘ing’ (e.g. making, riding, phoning). Our red words of the week have been: bought, Thursday, children, eye, where, busy.
In our whole class guided reading sessions, we have been reading the book: The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. It has been such fun exploring another twisted tale and this allowed us a wonderful opportunity to make comparisons between this story and the traditional tale.
This week, we were excited to begin our work with shape. On Monday, our focus was to recognise and name 2D and 3D shapes and make links between them, beginning to identify common features of different types of 2D and 3D shapes. We looked at: squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, semi circles, pentagons, hexagons, cubes, cuboids, spheres, cylinders, prisms. We were interested to discover that a 4-sided shape is called a quadrilateral. On Tuesday, we applied what we had learnt about the properties of shapes in order to accurately draw 2D shapes using a ruler. On Thursday, we were counting the number of sides on 2D shapes and using this knowledge to categorise different shapes. It was interesting to learn that polygons are 2D shapes with straight sides, not curved; we recognised that circles and semi circles are not polygons. On Friday, we learnt to use the mathematical term ‘vertices’ rather than ‘corners’ to describe points where two or more sides of a polygon meet. The children could then classify shapes by the number of vertices. Next, we learnt to find lines of symmetry. As they explored reflective symmetry, the children were able to identify shapes and images that have reflective symmetry and identify where the line of symmetry lies. It was such fun to use the mirrors to help us! It would be wonderful if you could continue to talk about shape at home. I wonder how many different shapes you can find all around you?
In Forest School, we worked on our position and direction skills, an important aspect of mathematics. Within this session, we particularly focused on: forwards, backwards, left and right. It was such fun to pretend to have a remote controller to control a partner! We then enjoyed some free time to explore Forest School.
In history, we learnt more about Elizabeth I and the Tudors. First, we explored how Elizabeth became queen, referring to the Tudor family tree. Next, we learnt what life was like during the Tudor period, thinking particularly about the huge differences between rich and poor Tudors. This will help us to compare the three queens and three time periods at the end of our unit. Finally, we researched Elizabeth’s major achievements during her reign. Following a debate and discussion, children were able to decide which achievement they thought was the most significant and why.
In RE, we continued to think about salvation as we were introduced to the Parable of the Lost Son Luke 15:11-32. After reading and reflecting on the story, we enjoyed acting it out to consolidate our understanding. Finally, we probed our understanding further through a hot seating activity, asking some insightful questions to the father and both sons.
In art, we continued to work towards our Hannah Dunnett inspired pieces. This week, our focus was colour. First, we experimented with white to make a colour lighter. Next, we were surprised to learn that a colour can be made darker by mixing it with a tiny bit of its opposite colour on the colour wheel (e.g. blue mixed with orange and green mixed with red). Using this knowledge of colour mixing, we began to paint the pictures we had drawn last week. We painted each section a different shade of green or blue by mixing colours.
In PE, we continued to work on our Fundamental Movement Skills , focusing on: travelling backwards safely by glancing periodically over both shoulders; sharing space considerately; jump in a variety of ways and land safely.
In HeartSmart this week we all took part in a whole school assembly to introduce this half terms unit of work – don’t hold on to what is wrong. The message we took away from the assembly was that it is better to forgive and move on that to stay cross and hold on to our feelings of anger.
In Collective worship, the Ethos Council introduced to us the theme of Kindness. They helped us think about how we can follow Jesus’ example in showing kindness to others. Whether it’s small acts of kindness that brighten the lives of others or the bigger questions of how we can help those in real need, we know that a kinder world is a better world. Each class was given a Jar of kindness to be filled when kindness is shown to us and a Kindness post-box will be outside the hall so you can send messages of kindness to someone in school. Finally, we filled red hearts with the people in our lives that have shown us kindness.
Have a lovely weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday.
Miss Witham
