Our learning this week
Week ending 14th February 2020
In English this week we have read the story 'Iggy Peck Architect' which we really enjoyed and found very funny. We did some work on adding the suffix -er and -est to make adjectives. We then used these adjectives to write a character description of Iggy Peck. We used our purple pens to edit our work.
In maths this week we have continued with 3D shapes. We have learnt about the edges and vertices and counted these on the shapes. We also came up with different ways that we could sort 3D shapes. We have also been telling the time to quarter to and past.
In art this week we learnt about Picasso and abstract art. We had a go at designing some abstract art. We also did printing. We used cardboard and elastic bands and paint to print different shapes and designs. Please see our art gallery for some photos.
* In English next term we will be reading the story 'Running shoes'.
* In maths next term we will be doing fractions.
* We will be continuing our topic and starting to compare Bristol to a contrasting country.
Please see our topic web and newsletter at the start of Term 4 for more information.
Week ending 7th February 2020
This week we have been working really hard through reading, grammar and maths booklets. We have been showing off our learning, persevering and having a really good try! We have also been practising answering grammar, punctuation and spelling questions as well as arithmetic style questions.
As part of story telling week, we have been sharing lots of stories in class. In pairs, we have been making up our own story using a story mountain. We have made our own setting using lego and made our own characters using puppets. We have then used the book creator app on ipads to create our story into a book. We then shared them with each other.
In topic, we have created maps of our own village, using a key and symbols with a compass. In RE we learnt about the Qur'an and how this important this is to Muslims.
* In English next week we will be reading the story Iggy Peck and doing some writing around this.
* In maths next week we will be continuing with shape.
* Next week we will be doing some string artwork inspired by Picasso.
Week ending 31st January 2020
In English this week we have been adding and picking the correct conjunction in Snail and the whale sentences. We planned and wrote a diary entry using conjunctions and descriptive language in role as one of the children from the story. We have been using adverbs ending in -ly to describe how actions are being done to add more information to our sentences. We practised some dictation of sentences that were read to us. We also had a go at a spelling and reading booklet.
In maths we have been counting the vertices on 2D shapes. We have also been exploring lines of symmetry by folding different shapes and using mirrors to check that they are symmetrical. We have also been drawing the lines of symmetry on to shapes and drawing the other half of the shape using mirrors.
In topic we have been exploring compass directions and directional language. We gave our partner directions using the language of right, left, clockwise, anti-clockwise, north, south, east and west. We then gave them directions using a counter and a map.
In RE, we have been learning about Moses and then ten commandments. We talked about the importance of rules and which ones we felt were the most important. We then designed our own Mezuzah and wrote our own Shema prayers.
* Next week we will be doing some more booklet practise.
* In topic we will be creating our own maps using a key.
Week ending 24th January 2020
In English this week we have been writing setting descriptions about the different settings in 'Snail and the whale'. We have been using adjectives, adverbs and expanded noun phrases to describe. We have written a postcard as the snail from the story, telling all our friends where we have been and what we have seen on our adventure. We used different sentence starters to make our writing more interesting. We have done some more work on using subordinating conjunctions in our sentences.
In maths we have been recognising 2D and 3D shapes, drawing 2D shapes and counting the sides on 2D shapes. We have also been practising our arithmetic skills for the four operations.
In science, we have been exploring every day materials. We have been squashing, folding and manipulating foil, cardboard, card, straws and lolly pop sticks to make them stronger and help us choose what materials to build a bridge from. We then worked in groups of 3 to design and build our own bridges, inspired by Brunel. We predicted how many cars our bridge would hold, tested it and then evaluated our design.
Some children attended a cricket festival with Miss Long, where they learnt games and skills to help them with playing cricket. When they returned to school, the children taught the rest of the children how to do the activities so that they could all have a go.
Next week we will be....
* In maths we will be continuing naming and identifying the properties of 2D shapes.
* In English we are going to continue with writing around The snail and the whale using grammar skills and knowledge we have already learnt.
* In topic we will be learning about compass directions and reading maps.
Week ending 17th January 2020
Thank you to everyone who came to our Year 2 worship this week - we really enjoyed sharing some of our learning with you. Thank you also to the parents that came to the Year 2 SATs information workshop.
In English this week we have read the story 'The snail and the whale' and discussed the language used. We have used adjectives and expanded noun phrases to write a setting description of one of the settings in the story. We have also done some cross-curricular writing. In RE, we continued our topic on special books and stories. We learnt the story of Adam and Eve and then wrote the middle part of the story in role as the snake. We also looked at past and present tense verb in our grammar books.
In maths this week we have continued with division. We started the week identifying and sorting odd and even numbers. We also solved problems involving dividing by 5 and dividing by 10, linking this to our known times table facts. We used a bar model to share and group.
We started our new topic 'Where in the world would you rather live?' We thought about what we already knew as a pre-assessment and then learnt about the seven continents and five oceans. We used atlases and globes to label the seven continents and five oceans on our own map. We also learnt about Isambard Kingdom Brunel and some of his greatest achievements.
Next week...
* In English next week we will be doing some more writing around 'The snail and the whale' and focusing on grammar.
* In maths we will be moving on to shape - recognising and drawing 2D shapes and using mathematical language to describe 2D shapes.
* In topic we will be exploring materials for bridges and building our own bridges.
Week ending 10th January 2020
Happy New Year! We hope you all had a lovely Christmas, the children have been excitedly telling us what they got up to and have all come back ready and eager to learn. In English, we have written a recount of what we did on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. We have also been reading the story 'The promise'. We have used this book in our guided reading sessions as well as our English sessions to really unpick what the story is about as well as predicting what we think might happen. We have been using the pictures to describe what the city was like before and after the new beginning. We have used our ideas to write our own poems. We have then edited them and published them.
In maths we have been doing division. We have been putting numbers into equal groups, grouping and sharing and dividing by two. We have been using counters and pictorial representation to do this as well as using our multiplication number facts.
In RE we have been thinking about stories that are special and have been learning about a special book to Jews - the Torah. We have also been thinking about the bushfires in Australia and have written some prayers for them. We have been thinking about new beginnings and reciting a poem, learning a song and acting out a scene in preparation for our worship on 'New beginnings' in worship on Monday. You are all invited to join our worship to see our thoughts on new beginnings on Monday 13th January at 9am.
*In English next week we will be doing some cross curricular RE writing, grammar and introducing our new class book 'Snail and the whale'.
* In maths we will be continuing with division as well as odd and even numbers.
* We will be introducing our new topic 'Where in the world would you rather live?' and learning the names of the seven continents and five oceans.
Week ending 20th December 2019
We have had a lovely Christmassy last week of term. We have been reading the poem 'Twas the night before Christmas' and thinking about the language, vocabulary and answering questions about it. We then drew a picture of St Nick using the description from the poem. In maths we looked at solving missing number sentences. We counted on or back on a number line as well as using the inverse. We have been thinking about Incarnation and how Jesus was born on Earth as a King and to serve the poor. We thought of the features and values that a King should have and what we would put in a shoe box to give to the poor at Christmas time. We have also been busy decorating and making Christmas tree decorations. We used the skills of rolling, cutting, measuring and pointilism to create our cracker Christmas cards.
We hope you have a lovely Christmas and will see you on Monday 6th January after a rested break.
Week ending 13th December 2019
We have had a very busy week. In English we wrote exclamation sentences starting with what or how. We also learnt about using commas for lists in our writing. We had a go at using commas to write our Christmas lists, what we are going to eat and do at Christmas. In maths we have been solving problems involving the 2, 5 and 10 x table.
On Tuesday we had a whole school day about John Wesley (the founder of the Methodist Church) and learnt about his life and what he did. We then sketched portraits of him. We used oil pastels to colour the background to show the colour that he brought to Churches and people's lives. We curled newspaper to show his curly hair. We enjoyed going around the school in the afternoon to see everyone else's artwork around John Wesley.
On Thursday, we had super fun being superheroes for the day. We thought about what our superhero names would be and what our superhero powers are. We then had a go at voting which real life person we thought was a superhero. We voted using a voting slip and ballot box. We counted the votes and made a tally. The real life person with the most votes in both classes was Florence Nightingale. Thank you for coming in to see our work - we loved showing you what we have been doing and all that we have learnt.
In DT we finished sewing our masks and evaluated them. We thought about what went well and what we would improve next time. We all enjoyed our Christmas dinner on Wednesday and it got us all in the Christmas spirit.
* Next week we will be doing some Christmassy writing and maths and being creative!
Week ending 6th December 2019
In English this week we have been identifying the features of a newspaper report. We looked at newspapers and thought about the features and why they had each of the features. We then used the iPads to film each other reporting and interviewing 'Neil Armstrong'. We made plans of what we would like to include in our own newspaper reports on the first landing on the moon. We then used our ideas and knowledge of the features of reports to write our own newspaper reports. In maths we have been making and identifying equal groups. We have been writing repeated addition and multiplication sentences from equal groups and using our knowledge of the 2,5 and 10 x table. We have also been drawing arrays for different multiplication sentences. In topic this week we have been researching Tim Peake on iPads and using information sheets to answer the questions that we came up with last week. We have been working hard to sew our masks ready for our WOW day next week.
* In English next week we will be focusing on grammar, sentence types and commas for lists.
* In maths we will be solving problems involving 2, 5 and 10 x table.
* In topic next week we will be answering our topic question 'Can real life people be superheroes ?' using what we have learnt.
Next week reminders
Tuesday- we are having a John Wesley (founder of the Methodist church) whole school topic day.
Wednesday- Christmas lunch.
Thursday - WOW day - please come to school in superhero colours or outfits (if you have one) The children will be wearing their masks that they have made in school.
Friday - Christmas jumper day and big sing on the playground 2.30pm.
Week ending 29th November 2019
In English this week we finished our own alternative Beegu adventure story and used our purple pens to edit our work. We used time words and wrote in the past tense when we wrote our recount of our star trail trip. We have also practised our reading and comprehension skills in guided reading and used our grammar books to write correct sentences.
In maths we have been making different amounts using different combinations of coins. We have been using < > and = to compare amounts of money. We have been adding amounts together using the column method. We have also had a go at finding how much change would be needed from a certain amount. We did this by using the column or counting on, on a number line.
In topic we found out about British astronaut Tim Peake. We enjoyed learning about the International Space Station (ISS) and seeing what it looked like inside. We wrote questions that we would like to ask Tim Peake.
We really enjoyed our visit to St Peter's Church to take part in the star trail. We were full of awe and wonder after the experience and it got us in the Christmas spirit!
* In English next week we are writing a newspaper report.
* In maths we will be revisiting multiplication.
* In topic we will be researching about astronauts and answering our Tim Peake questions.
Week ending 22nd November 2019
In English this week we have been thinking about the way the character Beegu feels at different points of the story. We put the feelings that we came up with on a zone of relevance depending on how she was feeling at different parts. We planned and started to write our own Beegu story. We based it on the original story but changed the setting in which Beegu's spaceship crashes and the other characters that she meets.
In maths we have been reminding ourselves of the value of coins, ordering coins and using this to count coins and notes. We have also been using coins to make different amounts of money and trying to find all the possible ways.
In topic we have been learning about Neil Armstrong and his achievements. We created our own astronauts and wrote facts about Neil Armstrong around the outside. In RE we have been thinking about forgiveness and thinking of times that we have forgiven others and times when they forgave us and how this made us feel.
* In English next week we will be continuing with our Beegu stories.
* In maths we will be continuing to solve maths problems involving money.
* In topic we will be learning more about astronauts.
We are also going on our star trail trip next week to St Peter's. Chives are going on Tuesday afternoon and Thyme are going Thursday afternoon. Please make sure your children have coats.
Week ending 15th November 2019
This week we have worked incredibly hard completing our first set of practise booklets. We have also practised maths reasoning questions as a class. We have experimented with different materials to see what materials are the most suitable for certain uses. We tested to see if the materials could be squashed, bent, twisted, were soft and waterproof. From our results, we found that felt was the most suitable material to make masks. We used our results to design our own superhero mask, which we will be making and sewing over the next few weeks, hopefully in time for our WOW day! In English, we read and immersed ourselves in our new text 'Beegu'. We did a variety of speaking and listening activities to really unpick the text. In topic we learnt about designer and inventor Dr Robert H Goddard, who invented and designed the first liquid fuelled rocket. We then pretended that we worked for him and designed our own rockets, ensuring they had everything they need for a successful flight.
* In topic next week we will be learning about astronaut Neil Armstrong.
* In Maths next week we will be learning about money and solving problems involving money.
* In English next week we will be continuing to explore Beegu and write our own narrative based on Beegu.
Week ending 8th November 2019
We hope you all had a lovely break during half term. The children have come back refreshed and eager to learn! In maths this week, we have been practising our arithmetic skills of the four operations. We have been using the column method to solve addition and subtraction, sharing to solve division problems and using our times tables. We had a go at doing an arithmetic booklet to show off our learning.
In English we have been thinking about conjunctions or, and, but and picking the correct conjunction to go in sentences. We have also been practising our reading and comprehension skills during guided reading sessions. We had a go at a Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling booklet and did a spelling test on the words that we have learnt so far. We also thought about our senses on bonfire night. We thought about what we could smell, see, hear, taste and feel and wrote a poem using these.
In topic we learnt about Guy Fawkes and why we celebrate bonfire night. We learnt about the silhouette artist Charles Burns and created our own silhouette artwork of the buildings in London. We then used chalk and paint to create fireworks in the sky.
* In English next week we will be doing some reading booklets and introducing our class text 'Beegu'.
* In maths we will be doing a reasoning booklet and practising our reasoning and applying skills.
* In science and topic we will be experimenting with different materials and designing our masks. We will also be learning about Neil Armstrong.
** Term 2 topic web and newsletter is now available online **
Week ending 25th October 2019
In English this week we have been publishing our non-fiction text about Trinity school into leaflets and illustrating them with pictures. We also looked at different sentence types including, statement, question, command and exclamation. We wrote some examples of each, identified sentence types and learnt when we would use each. We used commands when we wrote instructions on how to make a healthy fruit smoothie.
In maths we have been exploring with multiplication and division. We showed multiplication sentences in different ways including counting, arrays and repeated addition. We solved some division problems by sharing and grouping, using both concrete objects (counters)and pictorial representations.
In topic we learnt about healthy eating and the different food groups. We learnt that we need a balance of each food group to be healthy. We learnt that it is important that we eat fruit and vegetables the most so we made fruit smoothies on Thursday and tried them. They were yummy! Please see the photo gallery for some photos of us making and enjoying them.
* Next term we will continue our topic but focus on the astronauts that have been significant individuals.
* Please see our newsletter and topic web at the start of next term to see what we will be covering.
Thank you for your support this term and we hope you all have a lovely, restful break!
Week ending 18th October 2019
In English this week we have been working hard to write information texts all about Trinity school. We have been using paragraphs, headings, sub headings, bullet points, facts and questions. We have also used our purple pens to edit and correct our work. We have used our new grammar books to complete an activity about coordinating conjunctions.
In maths we have been continuing to solve addition and subtraction problems with two 2 digit numbers using the column method. We have learnt to exchange from the tens when needed.
In science we have been thinking about the importance of hygiene and exercise. We have been doing some experiments to show the importance of exercise on our heart rate and health. We have also done an experiment on washing hands to show the importance of hygiene.
* In English next week we will be publishing our information texts into our own leaflets.
* In maths next week we will be looking at solving multiplication and division number sentences.
* In science next week we will be learning about the importance of healthy eating.
Week ending 11th October 2019
In English this week we have been exploring non-fiction and information texts. We have been thinking about the 'voice' of an information text and how it differs from narratives. We received a letter from Mrs Nickells asking us to create a leaflet about Trinity School for our visitors so we have been thinking about what we could include. We have recorded ourselves talking about our school to explore how it sounds. We have also looked at other leaflets and picked out the features. We have planned our own leaflets making sure we include headings, sub-headings, information, bullet points and pictures.
In maths we have been rounding to the next 10 and using our number bonds to 10 to help add numbers that bridge 10. When adding 1 digit numbers we have added part of the number to make the next ten and then add on the next e.g. 34 + 8 = 34 + 6 + 2 = 42. We have also been adding 2 digit numbers and ones in a column and have been practising carrying the tens over.
In topic we have been using everything that we have learnt about Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale to compare the nurses. We sorted statements for each nurse and thought about the things that were the same.
* In English next week we will be writing our leaflets about Trinity school for visitors.
* In maths we will be continuing to add and subtract using the column method bridging 10.
* In science next week we will be thinking about the importance of hygiene and exercise.
Week ending 4th October 2019
In English this week we have planned and written our own Traction man adventure story, based on the Traction man stories that we have read in class. We used a story mountain to plan our story and then wrote our story part by part throughout the week. At the end of the week, we used our purple pens to polish our work.
In maths we have been adding and subtracting 2 digit and ones using the column method. Some of us challenged ourselves to add and subtract two 2-digit numbers. We have also been working on adding and subtracting ten, as well as counting in steps of 10 from different numbers.
In topic, we learnt about the timeline of Edith Cavell's life and then created our own timeline with the key events of her life. In art, we started to create our own superhero pop art.
* In maths next week we will be continuing with adding and subtracting using the column method.
* In English we will be thinking about non- fiction texts and the features of them.
* In topic we will be learning about the importance of hygiene and washing our hands.
Week ending 27th September 2019
In English this week we have been focusing on our power of reading text - Traction man. We have thought about the story and what we like and dislike and we have written a book review. We have written an acrostic poem about Traction man using adverbs, adjectives and expanded noun phrases. We have used co-ordinating conjunctions or, and, but in our sentences about Traction man to add more detail. We have written sentences that have been dictated to us by our teachers.
In maths we have been finding related number facts. As well as using the inverse to check our calculations. We have also compared number sentences using greater than, less than and equal to. We have begun to make number bonds to 100 using one hundred squares to help us. We have been working on our 10 x table and recalling the times tables as well as the division facts. You will see this in your child's homework book. Please practise any that your child is finding difficult.
In topic we have been learning about Edith Cavell. We learnt that she was a nurse in World War 1 and discussed whether we thought she was a traitor or a hero. We worked in groups of 3 to research all about her and made posters. We then presented them to the class.
* In maths next week we will be continuing with addition and subtraction.
* In English we are going to be writing our own Traction man adventure stories.
* In topic we are going to be learning more about Edith Cavell and plotting her life events on a timeline.
Week ending 20th September 2019
We have had another busy week! In English this week we have been using and finding adjectives and adverbs in sentences. We have been learning how to add -ly to the end of adjectives to make adverbs for example brave becomes bravely. We learnt that when the adjective ends in a -y we need to change it to an 'i' before adding -ly for example happy becomes happily. We have used the adverbs and adjectives that we have learnt to write our own character description of Traction man, our class guided reading story. Our character descriptions are going to be displayed on our 'Aiming high' boards in our classrooms.
In maths we have started our addition and subtraction unit. We have been focusing on related number facts and writing all the addition and subtraction number sentences we know using 3 numbers. We have used this to check our answers to calculations.
In topic, we have been looking at how hospitals have changed over time. We have been looking at photos of before and after Florence Nightingale and identifying the key changes that she made to hospitals and nursing. We have also compared these to modern hospitals today.
* In English next week we will be continuing with work around our story Traction man as well as learning about co-ordinating contractions.
* In maths next week we will be continuing with addition and subtraction.
* In topic next week we will be learning about nurse Edith Cavell.
Week ending 13th September 2019
In English this week we have been continuing with what makes a sentence. We have been learning what a verb, noun and adjective is and how to use them in a sentence. We have also been reminding ourselves about capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We have been correcting sentences as well as writing our own.
In maths we have been continuing with tens and ones. We have been partitioning numbers into a tens and ones grid and part whole models. We have been using our knowledge of place value and tens and ones to compare and order numbers. We have been using greater than, less than and equal to signs to compare the numbers. We have also been counting in steps of 2, 5 and 10 and working on the 10 x table (this is our focus this term as it links to our power surge challenge).
In topic we have been learning about Florence Nightingale and the incredible work that she did. We watched a video and found out lots of information. In RE we thought about what we think God is like and drew a picture of what we think God looks like.
* In English next week we will be continuing with writing and will be reading the story 'Traction man' and will use this to inspire our writing.
* In maths next week we will be starting addition and subtraction.
* In topic, we will be comparing hospitals in the past and modern hospitals and looking at what Florence did to make hospitals and nursing better.
*** This is me information is now on the class doors and in the topic web and newsletter star. Please have a read and check the door for your child's date. ***
Week ending 6th September 2019
Welcome back to school! The children have been amazing and have settled well into Year 2 life. We have really enjoyed getting to know your children this week and have already been very busy!! In English we have been practising our handwriting in our new handwriting lined books. We have also spoken about what is needed in a sentence and had a go at editing some sentences with capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. We have started our first power maths book and have been counting and representing numbers to 100 in different ways using lines and dots and part-whole models. We also started our topic and discussed what we already know about nurses and astronauts and what we would like to find out during our topic.
* In English next week will be continuing with grammar and handwriting based activities at sentence and word level.
* In maths next week we will be continuing with number and representing numbers in different ways.
* In topic we will be learning all about Florence Nightingale.