Year 2 - Super Scientists - 27th April 2017

This week the children have enjoyed finding out more about the plants and animals that we have in and around the school grounds.  We very much enjoyed hunting for wildlife in the garden with our RSPB visitor on Tuesday and will be going out again on Friday to see what we can spot.  We have also been photographing different types of plants using the ipads.  The children had to look really closely to find things that they wouldn't normally notice.  We have also been looking at how animals have young, some of which don't look anything like their parents!  We have looked at the life cycle of a plant and have set up our own experiment with cress seeds.  We have been observing what happens to the cress seeds that we have placed in different locations around the school and have
been surprised with the results so far!  Perhaps you could try growing some cress at home, if you do the different location test as we have at school remember to keep everything the same except for where you place the pots of seeds.

Year 2 - Maths Learning - Week Beginning 24th April 2017

This week we have been working on telling the time.  The children's

confidence has grown enormously and many are now attempting to read the time to the nearest 5 minutes.  To practice this at home try setting a clock to an o'clock time and then counting the minutes with the minute hand from the 12, counting in 5s around the clock until you get to the correct number.
So for 8:40, set the clock to 8:00 and then with the minute hand at the 12, count in 5s for each section of the clock until you get to 40. 
A couple of finer points to really master telling the time: 
1.  Notice how the hour hand moves between two numbers as the hour passes.  It doesn't stay on one number and suddenly move to the next.  For example at 10:30 the hour hand will be half way between the 10 and the 11.  Challenge:  See if you can tell the time by just looking at the hour hand on a clock!
2.  Be sure to know which hand is which!
3.  Once you have mastered the 5 minute intervals, try the nearest minute.
We have used the template in the picture to make our own clocks.  You can download the template from busythings.co.uk

Year 2 - Literacy Learning - Week Beginning 24th April 2017

This week we have been using traditional stories, particularly Little Red Riding Hood.  We have used the story to look at punctuation, adjectives, ordering events and to give the children an opportunity for drama and storytelling.  The children really enjoyed taking on the roles of the wolf (as grandma) and little red riding hood to act out the scene at grandma's house.  Next week we will be using the same story, changing the settings and characters to make a new version of the story.  We have several versions to read and we will be creating our own red riding hood stories.  At home you could try telling each other a traditional story from memory, or even act one out if you are feeling brave!

Year 2 - The Amazing Pudding Lane - 27th April 2017

Wow, what an amazing effort everyone has put in with their model houses for our "Pudding Lane".
Please come and have a look at our wonderful display of Tudor houses.  We will be taking some photos to add to the blog very soon.  Each child will be coming home with a certificate to say that they have built a house on pudding lane!  Thank you for your support.

Birds and Wildlife - 24th April 2017

This week we will be taking our learning outside!  We have a visitor from the RSPB who will be working with the class during the day on Tuesday 25th April and / or Friday 28th April.  So that we can all go out and enjoy our learning please could you provide your child with outdoor shoes (wellies or boots) and a warm coat to wear on these days?

Welcome Back - 24th April 2017

Welcome back!  We hope you had a wonderful and sunny Easter break and are coming back raring to go!  We will be beginning the term by getting stuck into our animals and plants science topic.  We will also be looking more specifically at Sea Turtles in the next few weeks.

Y2 - Literacy Learning - Week Beginning 3rd April 2017

This week we have been writing reports about The Great Fire of London.  We have been applying all of our sentence writing skills to write about what happened in 1666.  The children have really impressed me with their historical knowledge too.  At home you could look at reports in newspapers and magazines.  What do you think of how they are written?

Y2 - Maths Learning - Week Beginning 3rd April

This week we have been drawing and moving 2D shape and have begun to look at 3D shape.  Using a ruler is a skill that needs lots of practice, and is essential for drawing shapes and lines as the children progress through the school.  A challenge for you over Easter is to practice using a ruler.  Perhaps measure something or make a picture just using straight lines.  Can you improve your ruler skills?

Y2 - Spellings - 7th April 2017

This week's spellings are a range of words we have looked at over the last term.  Have a go at learning at least 6 of them.  Maybe your could try all of them.

We will check them on the first Friday back after Easter.

Y2 - Home Learning - 7th April 2017

In year 2 children are required to tell the time to the nearest ¼ hour.  A good place to start is by reading o’clock and ½ past hours.  Try these games over the holidays as we will be covering time when we come back after Easter.

The Hickory Dickory Dock game at: 

http://www.ictgames.com/hickory4.html

 Or try playing STOP THE CLOCK: Set the time on the clock to 6 o'clock to start the game.

Decide who will go first (player 1) and who will go second (player 2).
Take it in turns to choose to move the hands of the clock on by ½  hour or by 1 hour. For example, player 1 could choose ½  hour, so the clock hands move to 6.30, then player 2 might choose 1 hour, moving the clock hands to 7.30 ... etc.
The winner is the player who moves the hands exactly onto 12 o'clock.

Can you work out a winning strategy so that you can always beat your opponent?

Play on the sheet given drawing in the hands for each time or go to the website to use an interactive clock.

http://nrich.maths.org/6071/index

If your child is finding this difficult concentrate on o’clock and see if they can spot when the big hand gets to the top of the clock.  Look at the small hand to spot the hour.