Year 2 Term 1 Overviews

To all our Year 2 families,

Welcome back to all our returning families and a warm welcome to DCC for our new families. This year we have 11 fantastic teachers in the Year 2 team: 

Learning to learn

As a cohort we have been spending the first few weeks of the term setting our classrooms up for success for the year. The students have been learning about our school values (Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Kindness, Learning) and expectations through our routines and lessons. It has been fantastic to watch the children connect and form new relationships in their new classroom environments. 

Term 1 Curriculum:

Reading 

This term in Reading, Year 2 students will develop their reading skills through engaging in guided reading small groups, reading conferences with the teacher and independent reading. In reading sessions, students will work on practising decoding (solving words), building fluency (noticing and using punctuation to make meaning) as well as engaging with a range of comprehension (understanding) strategies. Students will also identify the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts, make inferences based on character change (feelings and traits), make connections by comparing and contrasting amongst books in a series, and selecting the most important information from a text in order to verbalise an organised summary after reading.   

Writing

This term in Writing, Year 2 students will develop an understanding of themselves as a writer.  They will explore how writers construct personal recounts to share an experience or event with others. Students will use a ‘Writer's Notebook’ to document their ideas (seeds) which they will then use later in their writing. For this process to be effective, students are encouraged to bring seeds from home such as; movie tickets, photographs, brochures, tickets. Students stick these into their writers notebooks and they become seeds for their future writing. Students will be guided through the writing process which involves collecting ideas, planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. We will also be looking at using correct punctuation, forming letters correctly and recording sounds in the unknown words. 

Mathematics

This term in Maths, Year 2 students will be looking at the following areas; Measurement, Number and Statistics. Students will represent multiplication and division by grouping and dividing collections into halves, quarters and eighths. Place value will be a core focus area throughout the whole year. This term students will be focusing on counting to and from, and ordering numbers up to 1000, performing simple addition and subtraction problems using a range of strategies and recognising increasing and decreasing number sequences involving 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s. In statistics students will be collecting, representing and interpreting a range of data that they will collect. Students will create different graphical representations of data (using software where appropriate) and compare the different representations amongst their peers. Throughout the measurement unit  your child will be exploring hour and half hour times.

Units of Inquiry

This term in Units of Inquiry, Year 2 students will explore the theme of Collaboration and self-awareness through an inquiry into identity, creativity, and wellbeing. The unit will focus on understanding what collaboration is, where it happens, and how we can work effectively and respectfully with others to achieve shared goals. Students will reflect on their unique qualities, strengths, beliefs and achievements and explore how these contribute to their identity. Students will develop an understanding of their emotions and wellbeing and how these influence their actions and interactions with others. They will explore strategies that support personal safety, help-seeking, and positive decision-making.

Through this inquiry, students will develop resilience, empathy, self-awareness, and inclusive behaviours to build healthy and respectful relationships. They will explore shared expectations, values, rights and responsibilities, and consider how their actions impact others. They will also explore the role of the arts in self-expression, creativity, and communication, deepening their understanding of how collaboration supports growth and change.

Artefacts

Throughout this year, students will be asked to bring in an artefact or a picture of their artefact to share with their class.  This should be something that is special and meaningful to your child.  When your child is preparing to bring their artefact to school it would be helpful if you could please discuss the following questions to support them to share during class;

• Why is this artefact special and important to me?
• How does looking at this artefact make you feel?
• Where did you get this artefact from / where was this photo taken?
• How does this artefact connect with my strengths and interests?

Each class is creating an ‘Artefact Book’ that will be added to throughout the year within the classroom and the students are excited to be a part of this experience. The artefacts that have been shared already have been wonderful and the students have loved getting to know each other more both inside and out of schooling life. 

Ways to Help Your Child At Home:

Home Reading - We have started our Home Reading program. The expectation is for your child to bring their Yellow reading log inside their reading satchel to school each day. When students arrive at school, they are to change their book for another text (at their level or one below). Take home books are for enjoyment and for your child to practise their reading strategies, and are not meant to be a challenging task for your child. After your child reads their book, they are to log it in their yellow reading journals themselves. This will be checked by their teacher once a week to track how they are going. 

Learning Apps - This year students will have access to Wushka, IXL and Seesaw.  These apps are currently in the process of being set up and you will receive the login details for these as soon as they become available.   Once you receive the login details for these apps your child will be able to log in and utilise these programs at home to support their learning in mathematics and literacy.