Year 2 News
Year 2 Update!!
What a busy first two weeks of term 4 we’ve had in Year 2. The students have been working beautifully and are engaged in their learning across all areas of the curriculum. It is going to be a busy term with many fun activities and lessons planned.
Inquiry
HOW THE WORLD WORKS
Forces change the way things move
Guess what?
Karina from Supreme Incursions paid our school a visit, and it was awesome! She brought along a bunch of fun stuff including these awesome billy carts for all of the students to try out.
They also had a blast building cars, scooters, and trolleys – it was like being in a DIY car workshop and the best part? They actually got to ride some Billy Carts and Ezy Rollers - talk about fun on wheels!
Oh, and the grand finale was a thrilling race that got everyone's adrenaline pumping. Our students couldn't get enough of it. It was a day filled with excitement and adventure!
So, there you go, a little taste of the action-packed day our students had with Karina and her cool billy carts.
Can't wait for the next exciting school adventure! 😄🏁
Numeracy
We have begun term 4 focusing on fractions, specifically ½ and ¼ of numbers and shapes. Students have participated in a range of activities and engaging hands-on games to consolidate their understanding of fractions.
The students really enjoyed playing ‘The Quarter Game’ this week. The students took turns flicking the spinner and placing a counter on the board that represents one quarter of the number they spun on. Aiming to get 3 of their counters in a row. It was lovely to see the students working beautifully with their partners.
Fraction Dancing
The highlight of our maths session this week was our fraction dancing. All students began with a large piece of paper that that had to label a whole. All the students stood on their piece of paper. Once the music began, they had to dance around the room. When the music stopped, the students moved to their piece of paper folded it in half, labelled ½ and then stood on it again. This continued until we managed to folder our paper in 1/32and some students were able to balance on their paper.
The next game we played was similar, but when the music stopped, the teacher called out one of fractions the students had made, and the students had to fold their paper into that fraction and stand on it again. There was definitely a great deal of laughter during this activity.
Fraction Avenue
The students all completed the ‘Fraction Avenue’ activity. All students were given a sheet with a street of 8 eight houses. Their task was to read the list of instructions and colour and add various things to the pictures that were written. E.G Put a for sale sign out the front of 1/8 of the houses, 2/8 of the houses have dogs out the front, ¾ of the house have trees out the front etc. The students thoroughly enjoyed this activity.
Roll a Fraction
The students enjoyed playing the ‘Roll and Fraction’ game. Students were placed in pairs and given dice containing several fractions on them. They were also given a game board with several shapes divided into fractional parts. The students had to roll the dice and then colour in the fractional part on the board. The winner was the first students to colour in 4 in a row.
Literacy
Holiday Selfie Recount
Last week the students began the week with a ‘selfie recount’ about their holidays. The template included a mobile phone outline where the students drew a picture of what they did on the holidays, added the location and then wrote about their adventures.
The students thoroughly enjoyed this activity and produced some amazing work.
We are excited to bring you the latest news from our literacy lessons in Year 2.
Persuasive Writing
One of the skills our students are developing in their literacy classes is persuasive writing. This skill not only helps them express their opinions effectively but also equips them with the ability to influence others in a meaningful way.
Step 1: Brainstorming Ideas
The journey towards persuasive writing begins with brainstorming ideas. Students are encouraged to think about a topic, identify their stance, and gather evidence to support their viewpoint. This process fosters critical thinking and helps them understand the importance of their perspective in an argument.
Step 2: Writing Reasons
Once students have a clear understanding of their view and supporting evidence, they move on to the next step: writing reasons. This is where they explain their arguments, providing logical explanations and adding examples to persuade their audience. During this phase, students learn to organize their thoughts coherently, ensuring their message is clear and convincing.
Step 3: Structuring the Persuasive Essay
Creating a structured and organized persuasive piece is important for effective communication. Students learn to divide their essays into sections:
- Introduction: The introduction hooks the reader's attention, presents the topic, and clearly states the writer's position.
- Body Paragraphs: Each paragraph focuses on a single reason, supported by evidence and examples
- Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the key points, reiterates the writer's position, and leaves a lasting impression.
The Power of Commas in a List
In addition to persuasive writing, our students are also honing their skills in grammar and punctuation. One important lesson they've been mastering is the correct use of commas in a list.
Commas in a List: Why They Matter
Commas play a vital role in improving the clarity and readability of sentences. In a list of items, commas help to separate each item, ensuring that the reader can easily distinguish between them. Here's an example:
- Incorrect: I need to buy eggs milk bread and cheese.
- Correct: I need to buy eggs, milk, bread, and cheese.
Word Work
During our Word Work session in Literacy Groups the students had to study the spelling word and write how many, vowels, consonants and syllables the word had. This teaches the students to analyse the word completely, which enables greater understanding when attempting to spell unfamiliar or challenging words.
Listen to Reading
During our Literacy Groups this week the students listened to 2 stories to tie in with our current unit of Inquiry, ‘How the world works’. The first story was, ‘And Everyone shouted pull’ and the second was Forces Physical Science from Kids.
Wellbeing
Students have continued participating in respectful relationship lessons to begin term 4. Students have been actively engaged in class discussions throughout these sessions and have contributed to meaningful discussions related to the scenarios presented.
Lessons on The Resilience Project and Cyber Safety are also continuing. The focus of The Resilience Project is gratitude while cyber safety lessons in week 2 focus on students recognising and responding to their emotions when online.
Respectful Relationships
This week our Respectful Relationship lesson was Respect my Space, Respect my Body. Our learning intentions were:
- Students will learn ways to tell people when they don’t like the way their body is being treated by others
- Students will learn ways to seek safety or seek help when in the presence of violence or inappropriate forms of personal contact.
The students learnt NO, GO, TELL which helps them remember what to do if someone else is making them feel uncomfortable or scared.
NO, Everyone knows how to say No, Everyone can tell people to stop doing something, or to tell someone that they didn’t want to do something
GO, Go means I can move away. I can find a safe place to go.
TELL, Tell means I can tell someone what has happened. I can tell someone how I feel, I can tell a safe grown up if someone is hurting my body.
It was a successful session with the students learning how to use the NO, GO, TELL strategy.
Local Walk To Black Rock Primary School
We are all looking forward to our visit to Black Rock Primary School tomorrow, Friday October 13 where we will get to spend some time with our pen pals. We all had a wonderful time when they visited BNPS last term and cannot wait to share another fun filled morning with them!