Year 2
Welcome to the Year 2 blog!
All children have made a brilliant start to the term and have settled really well into their learning. Please see below for a brief overview about what the children have been learning. Please also see the 'learning web' tab where you will find the Autumn 1 learning web. At the start of every term, the learning web will be printed and placed in the window of your child’s classroom.
Writing: we have focused on the lovely book 'Beegu' which is about an alien feeling lost on Earth. The children have just finished writing their own story about their own alien. The children learned about using the conjunction ‘and’ and use of adjectives to modify a noun.
Maths: we have focused on place value so far this term and the children have placed numbers to 100 on a number line, compared numbers to 100 using the comparison symbols (< > =), partitioned 2-digit numbers into 10s and 1s and have read and written numbers to 100 in digits and words.
History: our focus this term is ‘Explorers’. The children have learned about Ranulph Fiennes, Amy Johnson and Christopher Columbus.
Science: in our Science lessons this term, we have focused on how exercise impacts our heart and the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet. Last week, we looked at the sugar content of popular drinks. The children were amazed by how much sugar was in a smoothie and Ribena!
DT: the children have just designed their own ‘moon buggy’ and will start to make these this week – keep an eye out for photos of the brilliant creations over the next few weeks!
We have the exciting Explorer Dome in on Monday 16th October – please contact the office to discuss payment for this experience if you need extra support.
Friday 13th October 2023
Writing: over the past two weeks, the children have focused on the book How To Catch A Star by Oliver Jeffers. It’s a lovely book about a boy who loves stars so much that he wants one of his own…he tries many different ways to try and catch a star of his own but none of them seem to work until one day he sees one floating in the sea. Does he catch the star? Please do ask your child to tell you the rest of the story! In lessons this week, the children have recapped using adjectives to describe a noun plus they have learned about the conjunctions ‘and’ & ‘but’. Before the children start planning and writing their own stories next week, they have focused on sequencing sentences to create a short narrative.
Maths: we have moved onto our addition and subtraction unit in maths. The children have been learning about number facts to 10 and 20 and using these facts to solve ‘odd one out’ problems. Next week, we will focus on adding ones to a tens number and adding three 1-digit numbers together.
History: our focus this term is ‘Explorers’. The children have now learned about Neil Armstrong and the 1969 Apollo 11 mission to the moon.
Science: our focus for the past two lessons has been personal hygiene and how we can keep ourselves clean and healthy. We have discussed the importance of a balanced diet, exercise, getting enough sleep and showering/bathing regularly.
DT: the children have had a brilliant time in DT lessons over the past two weeks. They have been busy making excellent moon buggies using axels and wheels. All the children were really proud of their projects.
Friday 10th November
All children have made a brilliant start to the term and we’re excited for the term ahead. The children loved the Space Dome last term and were mesmerised by the light show. The children also really enjoyed crawling through the tunnel to get into the dome!
Writing:
In writing, we have started looking at the book ‘Penguins can’t ride a bike’ which is a non-fiction text all about penguins and how they survive in Antarctica. In our lessons, we’ve been learning how to identify question and statement sentences, how to use the conjunction ‘because’ and how to use effective adjectives to describe a noun. In the coming weeks, we will focus on how to make notes about a chosen animal and how to write a non-fiction information text about a chosen animal.
Maths:
We’ve continued our focus on addition and subtraction with a specific focus on finding 10 more and 10 less, adding and subtracting a multiple of 10 to a 2-digit number, adding and subtracting two 2-dgit numbers using a number line.
Geography:
This term we are learning about colder climates with a specific focus on Antarctica. So far we’ve learned about the physical geography of this continent and how penguins are well adapted to live there.
Science:
Our Science this term is animals including humans. So far, we’ve learned about what a human wants and needs in order to survive, the children we able to provide some brilliant definitions of what a ‘want’ and ‘need’ is. We’ve also learned about the different stages of the human lifecycle.
Art:
We’ve had some lovely art lessons so far this term – our first focus was on pattern making and the children had time to explore and create their own patterns using a range of colours and objects. The second session focused on rubbings which the children thought was magic! We explored different textures and created a range of different rubbings.
RE:
Our RE focus this term is ‘Why does Christmas matter to Christians?’. So far, we’ve learned about the Nativity story and to understand the living conditions Jesus was born into.
Home learning spellings - please see the 'home learning' tab for weekly spellings.
Friday 24th November
We’ve had another brilliant two weeks in Year 2. Please see below for details about our learning:
Writing:
In writing, the children finished writing their information texts about an animal of their choice. The children worked hard using questions, statement sentences, the conjunction ‘because’, adjectives and their writing targets! We have now started a new narrative text called Augustus and his smile – this book is all about a tiger who has lost his smile so needs to head off on an adventure to try and find it. He looks under bushes, he climbs the tallest trees and he even swims with fish. Next week, the children will be learning about contractions (can’t/didn’t etc) and effective vocabulary before moving on to planning their own narrative.
Maths:
We have finished our addition and subtraction unit and have moved onto shape. So far, the children have learned about 2D shapes and have identified different shapes (pentagons, hexagons, octagons). Today, the children have learned about vertices, regular and irregular polygons. Next week, we will continue our focus of 2D shapes to include drawing 2D shapes and recognising 3D shapes.
Geography:
This term we are learning about colder climates with a specific focus on Antarctica. The children have compared Antarctica to the Sahara Desert, they really enjoyed looking at different photographs including satellite images. The children have also compared Antarctica with the Arctic and have thought carefully about key similarities and differences.
Science:
Our Science this term is animals including humans. Over the past two weeks, we’ve completed an investigation key questions such as ‘Does having the largest hand span mean you can pick up the most cubes?’ and ‘Does the tallest person in our class have the largest handspan?’ The children were fascinated exploring these Scientific concepts and really enjoyed the comparative investigations. This week, we’ve learned about offspring and how offspring can look different from its adult version.
Art:
Last week, the children learned about ‘Frottage’ and the artist Max Ernst. The children created more rubbings using texture and turned these rubbings into animal of their choice – we had some brilliant examples and the children loved being creative. This week, we’ve learned about shading and how to create depth and shadow to make an image look 3D.
RE:
Our RE focus this term is ‘Why does Christmas matter to Christians?’. We’ve considered the living conditions Jesus was born into and the message behind Christmas cards and why people send them.
Home learning spellings - please see the 'home learning' tab for weekly spellings.
Friday 8th December
The children have been working exceptionally hard over the past couple of weeks and we’ve all been really impressed with their ‘can do’ attitude.
Writing: In writing, we have used a lovely text called Augustus and his smile – this book is all about a tiger who has lost his smile so needs to head off on an adventure to try and find it. He looks under bushes, he climbs the tallest trees and he even swims with fish. Using this structure, the children have planned and written their own story based on an animal losing something (we’ve had cats losing their purr, lions losing their roar and a bird losing its song). In each of their stories their animal has travelled high and low looking for their lost item. Our key focus has been using expanded noun phrases to describe, conjunctions to extend sentences, apostrophes for contraction and ‘er’ and ‘est’ words (bigger, taller, biggest, tallest). At home, please do talk with your child about the wonderful vocabulary they have used in their stories.
Maths: The children have continued their focus on 2D and 3D shapes over the past couple of weeks. The children have learned about symmetry and have drawn shapes with 1 line of symmetry. Using 3D shapes, they have learned about vertices, edges and faces. The children have sorted 3D shapes using set criteria and have used their own criteria for sorting shapes. Next week, we will progress to money so please do talk to your child about the values of different coins and making different values using different coins.
Geography: The children have continued their learning about colder climates with a specific focus on Antarctica. The have compared Antarctica with Zambia, focusing on the physical features of both places. They have also learned why polar bears are not found in Antarctica.
Science: Our Science this term is animals including humans. Over the past couple of weeks, the children have focused on lifecycles including the lifecycle of a human, a frog, a chicken and a butterfly. The children have also learned names for the offspring of various animals and how some offspring (such as tadpoles) do not look like their adult animal.
Art: The children have thoroughly enjoyed our Art focus this term. In the past two lessons, the children have used their new skills of ‘frottage’ (rubbings) to design and create a range of ideas. Next week, we will be bringing together their ideas to create a small final piece.
RE: Our RE focus this term is ‘Why does Christmas matter to Christians?’. Over the past two sessions, the children have learned about ‘advent’ and how this is shown in a Church. The children have also thought about how Christians use this time of year to show their gratitude. The children thought carefully about what they are grateful for. Please see below for some of their lovely ideas:
- family
- friends
- my house
- coming to school
- having fun
- going on fun trips and holidays
- being able to help others
Home learning spellings - please see the 'Home Learning' tab for weekly spellings.
Friday 19th January 2024
We have been working really hard in Year 2 over the last couple of weeks and the children have made a brilliant start to the Spring term.
Writing: In writing we have enjoyed reading 'Giraffes Can’t Dance' and exploring how we use subordinating conjunctions to expand our sentences and give our reader more information. We are in the process of planning to write our own story about an animal that can’t do something – we have had bees that can’t fly, kangaroos that can’t jump and snakes that can’t hiss! Can your child tell you about their animal that can’t do something they should be able to do?
Maths: In maths we have just finished looking at money and the values of different coins and notes. We have familiarised ourselves with the terms change, difference and total. We used our skills of using number lines to help us the price of two objects together and find the difference between two amounts. We are now moving onto multiplication, where we will look at how we group objects to make equal groups as the building blocks for understanding the concept of multiplication.
Geography: Our focus this term is based on how the geography of Kampong Ayer compares to Exeter. So far, we have learned that Kampong Ayer is in the country of Brunei, on the island of Borneo, in the continent of Asia. We will soon be comparing their homes to ours, which the children will find really interesting!
Design and technology: In DT, we have explored the hidden sugar in foods. Did you know there are 9 cubes of sugar in a mango? We will soon be making our own wraps using the cutting skills we have researched. We have spoken about good and bad combinations in a wrap – we had some interesting ideas!
On Monday 22nd January, we have the Devon Educational Recycling Project coming to run a workshop with us which we are looking forward to, this will emphaise our Science learning about materials and their properties.
Please see the weekly home learning tab for spellings.
Friday 2nd February 2024
Writing: We have just started our new unit on poetry and have been exploring the key features of a poem. We have looked at alliteration, repetition and rhymes which we have really enjoyed. We have learnt actions for the poem ‘The Magic Box’, which was great to act out to each other with the hinges made from the toe joints of a dinosaur and the box being big enough to surf in. Can your child tell you their favourite part of the poem?
Maths: We are fully immersed in our topic of multiplication now and have learnt some new language this week. We have learnt that multiplication is commutative, which means that it can be done in any order and the answer is always the same! We have used this to represent multiplication in arrays – identifying the columns and rows.
Geography: We are really enjoying our Geography unit on comparing Exeter to Kampong Ayer. We have looked at the homes in Kampong Ayer and learnt that as it is a water village, their homes are made from wood and are on stilts, to protect them from the water. We have also learnt that because Kampong Ayer is so close to the equator, it is really hot but wet there – this was a concept we found quite tricky to get our heads around. We spoke about how when we think of a hot location, we normally think of somewhere we can be on the beach or at a water park!
DT:We are really looking forward to making our wraps that we have designed next week. This week we designed and made packaging that our wraps could go in if they were in the shops. We spoke about the purpose of an ingredients list and why it is important to wrap food up. The children really enjoyed designing and making these and they were great fun to make.
Science: We discussed to suitability of materials this week and considered what makes a material suitable. We wrote about different every day objects such as a vase and shoes and identified what material they are made from and why they are made from this material. We looked at an example of when a material is not suitable – anyone for a cardboard shoe?
RE: Continuing with our topic of ‘Who is Muslim and how do they live?’ in RE, we looked at the period of Ramadan this week and the events that happen during this time. We discussed how Muslims fast during the hours of sunlight and try and donate money to charity to show their gratitude and appreciation.
Please see the home learning tab for this week's spellings.
Friday 23rd February 2024
We have had a busy but great week back!
In writing, we have enjoyed our new text 'The Boy Who Cried Ninja'. Can your child tell you who came into Tim's house and stole something from him? Next week, we are going to be writing a letter from Tim's point of view using subordinating conjunctions and question sentences.
In maths, we have started to look at division and what the term 'equal groups' means. We have explored how we can divide by sharing and next week we will divide by grouping. We have also introduced our times table booklets which we will complete throughout the week. We have started with the 2 times tables. This is something we will continue to develop throughout the year. The children enjoyed being timed while using their times table facts to help them fill in the booklet. We then chanted the answers as a whole class.
In science, we have started our new topic on Living Things and Their Habitats. Yesterday we explored the terms living, dead and never lived and their meanings. We were then able to categorise different objects based on whether they were living, dead or never lived.
In History we started our new topic on Pompeii and how we know so much about what happened 2000 years ago.
This week we looked at the different type of people in Pompeii - some people were wealthy and had more than one house, while some people were poor and had to work really hard trading and selling and some people were even slaves. We discussed the definition of wealthy and what it really means, we spoke about how we could tell someone was wealthy by looking at pictures of Pompeii and the people that lived there.
In RE we started our new unit on Why does Easter Matter to Christians? This week we explored the Holy Week and the importance of it for Christians. Can your child tell you what happened on any of the days? What is so important about Easter Sunday?
In Art, we started our new topic on Sculpture and Mixed Media. We made 3D human forms. First of all, we worked in pairs and we had to pose as a superhero for our friend while they sketched our superhero pose onto their whiteboard. We then used this to re-create the pose using pipe cleaners. It was great fun!
Please see the home learning tab for this week's spellings.
Exciting Y2 World Book Day opportunity with Winkworth estate agents.
This year, to help us celebrate World Book Day, we have partnered with Winkworth estate agents to provide the children with an exciting opportunity to design their own book cover (this can be a design based on a book of their own creation or an alternative book cover for one of their favourite books). The children’s book covers need to be taken to Winkworth’s office and not the school office (Winkworth’s office can be found at 65 Magdalen Rd, Exeter, EX1 1TB) who will then display their wonderful creations for a week or so. When the children hand in their book cover design, Winkworth will give them a book voucher which they can bring into school and give to their class teacher. Once we have collected the vouchers, Winkworth will sponsor our school with a generous sum to spend on new books for our school library. We will give out the book cover design templates on Friday 23rd February. If you could take them into Winkworth estate agents by Monday 11th March.
Friday 8th March 2024
What a jam- packed week we have had in Year 2!
We had a visitor from Forestry England who came into school to talk to us about Haldon forest ahead of our visit there next Wednesday. He showed us pictures of the different types of trees, animals and insects we can expect to see there, which made us even more excited to explore!
We are just about to finish our topic on division before moving onto fractions. We have been really impressed with the amount of children accessing Times Tables Rock Stars. If need your child’s login details, please speak to their teacher.
In English we have created our own stories based on ‘The Boy who cried Ninja’. We have had ‘The girl who cried Elephant’, ‘The Boy who cried Rhino’ and ‘The Boy who cried Gruffalo’. We have been able to use the skills we have learnt, such as using subordinating conjunctions and using ambitious adjectives, to make our writing more interesting for our readers. Can your child tell you what characters were in their story?
In History we have continued to look at the destruction of Pompeii and the impact this had on people’s lives. We explored how people had to try and escape by boats as the roads were covered in lava and ash. Can your child tell you how many years ago this happened?
In RE we discussed why Easter is important to Christians. We introduced the new term ‘salvation’ and ‘resurrection’ and what this means for Christians.
If your child reads a library book to take home, the newly renovated library will soon be open for the children to come and change their books. Mrs Slaven will send a message out once the library is open for children. Thank you for your patience with this.
For the trip next Wednesday, please can children come into school wearing their own clothes that are OK to get muddy! Please see below for an advised clothing list:
- Comfortable clothes suitable for walking around a forest in.
- Waterproof, warm coat as we will be outside all day.
- Suitable wet weather footwear in case of rain – wellies/walking boots.
- Waterproof trousers/coverings if necessary.
- Backpack for children to carry their water bottle and packed lunch in.
- Woolly hat or gloves for warmth if you feel your child would benefit from them.
Friday 22nd March 2024
Wow, what a busy couple of weeks we have had!
We had such a lovely day at Haldon last week, we were very fortunate that it stayed dry! We made bug hotels, camouflage dens and looked for habitats and microhabitats which linked really well with our current Science topic of Living Things and Their Habitats. Thank you to the parent helpers who gave up their day to help us.
We are currently looking at Non – Fiction texts and their purposes. We have explored imperative verbs and have enjoyed acting some out. Can your child give you an instruction using an imperative verb? Next week, we are going to create our own information pages - using the structure from ‘Outdoor Wonderland’ - about how to make either bug hotels or dens in the woods.
In maths we have learned about fractions and now know that a fraction in an equal part of a whole. We have identified what a ½ and a ¼ is and next week we will be learning about 1/3 and ¾. We thought of our whole objects as cakes and pizzas to help us make sure each part was equal and fair!
In RE, we acted out the days of Holy Week in groups and then acted them out to the rest of the class. We spoke about how Jesus and his followers would be feeling on each of the days and how we could show this through our actions and facial expressions, which has linked well to our Art session earlier on in the term where we looked at different facial expressions in stories.
In History we learned about artifacts and how they help people discover what happened a long time ago. We looked at some pictures of artifacts discovered after Pompeii, including gold rings, soldier’s helmets and fossilised bread. The children found this really interesting.
In science we identified what makes a camel suitable to living in the desert and what features of their body means they are adapted to their habitat. Can your child tell you why camels close their nostrils or why they have wide feet made out of leather?
Friday 25th April 2024
What a great start to the Summer term we have had in Year 2!
Traction Man is our key text in writing for the first couple of weeks. We have learned how to use the past and present progressive tense in our writing along with continuing to use expanded noun phrases to make sure our writing is exciting for our reader. Can your child tell you their favourite part of the story?
In maths, we have started our new unit on length. We learned how to use rulers and metre sticks to measure objects depending on their size – even the classroom which was really fun! Can your child tell you how many centimetres are equivalent to 1 metre?
In RE, we are focusing on Islam. We have looked at why prayer is so important to Muslims and what happens before, during and after prayer.
In History, we are learning about World War 1 this term and the significance of this. This week we explored the impact the war had on people’s lives – men had to leave their homes and families to go and fight on the front line. While women had to work in factories creating resources for the war. The children found this really interesting!
In science, we are learning about food chains. We looked at the terms ‘producer’, ‘primary consumer’ and ‘secondary consumer’, while recapping our knowledge from Year 1 on carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. It was great fun acting out the different part of the food chains with masks!
The fire service have also been in to keep us informed around the importance of fire safety and what we can do to prevent this. The children demonstrated great listening and were really engaged.
Finally, we have been really busy practising for our Year 2 performance of ‘Nice Weather for Ducks’. The children have worked hard on learning the new songs and the actions to go along with them. This is something we will continue to work really hard on! Please remember this will be performed to parents/carers on Thursday 23rd May at 2:30pm.
Home learning spellings
rhino
wrist
school
make
kitten
will
mess
feel
fell
Home learning spellings
mess
hill
cross
off
if
yes
dinner
bigger
mixer
shorter
Home learning spellings
wishes
dress
foxes
catches
bag
mix
mixes
humming
running
Home learning spellings
foxes
wishes
books
brushes
snacks
clapping
skipping
sitting
school
could
Home learning spellings
class
many
like
little
could
cutting
running
jumping
jumped
door
Home learning spellings
door
because
kind
children
today
house
come
bath
could
any
Home learning spellings
knock
knee
knife
knight
gnaw
gnome
gnash
sign
design
Home learning spellings
knocking
knitting
wrapping
knowing
once
two
liked
scared
danced
hoped
Home learning spellings
liking
scaring
dancing
hoping
nicer
later
driver
dancer
baking
baker
Home learning spellings
jam
hedge
giant
change
sponge
jelly
magic
orange
dodge
village
Home learning spellings
want
was
wasp
wash
swap
squash
watch
warm
work
award
Home learning spellings
warm
reward
award
towards
swarm
quarter
word
world
worth
worm
Home learning spellings
bus
buses
dress
dresses
buzz
buzzes
vanish
vanishes
match
matches
Home learning spellings
happy
lolly
trolley
donkey
monkey
valley
chimney
jelly
berry
turkey
Home learning spellings
circle
circus
pencil
exercise
cycle
juicy
city
fancy
Home learning spellings
vision
version
explosion
treasure
measure
busy
pretty
who
whole