Y2 - Fun at the Farm - 30th March 2017

Thank you very much Hazel, who welcomed us to the farm on Wednesday.  The children were brilliantly behaved and learned lots about Spring on the farm.  The weather wasn't the best, but we managed to avoid the worst of the showers!  We particularly enjoyed the lambing shed where the children showed how calm and sensible they could be around the lambs and ewes.  Hazel showed us how they fed some of the orphan lambs and we were even allowed to stroke them and feel their warm woolly coats.  It was also amazing to feel how warm the freshly laid eggs were!  Hazel also showed us the eggs she had in a special incubator, these should be hatching at Easter, so we look forward to seeing some more chickens next time we visit the farm.

Y2 - Wonderful Sewing - 27th March 2017

We hope you enjoyed your special mother's day presents.  The children have spent a long time sewing their beautiful Victorian handkerchiefs.  This project related to our Victorians topic at the beginning of the term.  The children have been investigating, designing, making and evaluating to complete their finished design.  They have become quite accomplished with the needle as you can see!  We hope you treasure them as they took a lot of effort and determination.

Y2 - We're off to the farm - 27th March 2017

This Wednesday 29th March we are off to the farm.  Hopefully we will some spring lambing and find out about what else the farmer is up to at this time of year!  If any more parents are able to come along, please come and ask one of the year 2 team.

Y2 - Well Done for Assembly! - 24th March 2017

Well done year 2 for a great effort in assembly this morning.  We aimed high with our acting, singing and speaking and you really pulled it off.  Thank you everyone for coming to watch, we very much enjoyed performing for you today.  The highlight for me was definitely your wonderful singing to the signing song and your "put a nose on it" dance moves!  There will be marbles in the jar on Monday!  I wonder how many?

Y2 - Literacy Learning - Week beginning 20th March 2017

This week we have been using a wider range of conjunctions to join our sentences together.  Please see blog from last week.

Y2- Maths Learning - Week beginning 20th March 2017

This week we have been revising our subtraction skills as this is one of the areas most children are finding quite difficult to master.  Subtraction is always tricky, doing things backwards is always harder, its not as well rehearsed as counting forwards or adding on.  Have you ever tried to say a nursery rhyme backwards?  It's a bit like this for children when they try to count backwards.  So to make it easier there are several approaches you can take, you might like to try these at home:
1.  Don't count backwards!  Find the difference between two numbers by counting forwards, especially if they are close together.  For example for 56-44.  Start at 44 and count on up to 56 to find the difference.
2.  Use your knowledge of 10s and 1s.  See if you can practice subtracting multiples of 10, for example: 34-10, 65-20, 44-20, etc.  Practice counting back small amounts: 44-2, 65-3, 42-5.  Using a hundred square like the one in this blog may help with this.  To subtract a 10, just jump up a square, to subtract a 1 move left.
3.  Know those number bonds.  When subtracting over 10s boundaries (when your subtraction takes you into the previous 10, for example you know 35-7 is going to take you into the 20s) it is essential to know your number bonds to work this out quickly.
We know that 35-5 takes us back to 30, but we wanted 35-7 so we also have to know that if we have already subtracted 5 that we have 2 more left to subtract.  Furthermore we also need to know that if we take 2 from 30 we are going to land on 28.  In class we use a hundred string to help.  I've included one in this blog.
4.  Finally, we have started to learn formal methods for subtraction where you lay out the subtraction with one number on top of another.  Some children are beginning to understand how to use a ten to exchange for 1s to enable them to take away.
Above all it is important that the children have lots of practical experience of subtraction, so try it at home with whatever is to hand - pasta, seeds, toys, etc.  It will all help!

Y2 - Spellings - 24th March 2017

There are no spellings this week, a bit of a break to celebrate all of the hard work the children have put in to rehearse their class assembly.  Normal spellings to be resumed next week!