Year 2 News
Reading
This fortnight in Reading, the Year 2 students have been making text to text connections with nonfiction texts. They read nonfiction texts and thought about what other text, movie or TV show it reminded them of. The students read a range of texts including one about celebrations around the world, a text about following a recipe and another with facts about animals. They discussed what was similar about these texts to others they have read.
Also, the students have been learning about the features of a fiction text. They have identified the title, author, illustrator, characters, settings, problem and solution. The students have been thinking about the purpose of a fiction text being to entertain and how it is structured. They have been learning the term ‘genre’ and what it means by sorting the texts into two categories: fiction and nonfiction.
“I enjoyed making text to text connections” Kaila 2B
“One fiction text feature is main characters that you can see all throughout the book”- Leo 2A
“I learnt that different genres have different features and types of texts” - Veer 2A
Writing
During the last few weeks of Term 1, Year 2 students continued to develop their narratives. Once they completed their drafts, they edited and revised their work before publishing them and illustrating them. The Year 2 students completed the rest of the term by revising all the conjunctions they have been learning about and using them to join simple sentences and creating compound sentences. Students completed the term by building on their handwriting skills. They have been practising and refining their handwriting skills by forming letters using correct anticlockwise movements.
“I can put two sentences together by adding ‘and’ in the middle”- Tyson 2A
“I can edit by spelling the words right in my work”- Stela 2A
“ I like trying hard to do neat handwriting” Ellie 2B
Maths
Over the past fortnight in Maths, our Year 2 students have been developing their understanding of place value by representing numbers in different ways using MAB materials. They have been learning to explain how a certain number of ones can be changed into tens and ones, and how groups of tens can be changed to make hundreds. Students practised trading ones for tens and tens for hundreds to deepen their understanding of how our number system works. They also began exploring money as a way to represent place value, helping students make real-life connections while strengthening their knowledge of tens and ones. It has been fantastic to see students confidently explaining their thinking and using different strategies to represent numbers.
"We worked on equivalence, we made 135. It’s very hard, I tried my best.’ - Armaan 2A
‘I got more ideas but sometimes more people can get other ideas and it doesn’t matter what happens. What matters is how hard you work.’ - Ayliuo 2A
‘I like when we are doing maths. Sometimes it’s easy. Mab is easy sometimes you draw it sometimes you make it.’ - Helena 2A
‘Sometimes when we do maths we do blocks, it is fun and easy.’ - Christopher 2A
“I love learning about exchanging ones to tens” - Angie 2B
Inquiry
Year 2 students completed the term by continuing to develop their understanding of various celebrations. Firstly they focused on ‘Country’ and how important it is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the special connection they have to it. Year 2 students described the importance of looking after Country and discussed how to look after it. Students created artwork inspired by the creation story The Rainbow Serpent. In addition, they explored how people celebrate Diwali by leaving lights on and creating colourful rangoli patterns. Year 2 students also explored how people celebrate Ramadan by showing kindness towards everyone, they wrote kind words on sticky notes and shared them with their peers.
“I liked making my Rangoli colourful” Jordan 2B
“We created a Rangoli pattern in our books with lots of colours”- Leo 2A
“I liked how we used different shapes to colour in”- Helena 2A
Social and Emotional Learning
Over the past fortnight in S.E.L, our Year 2 students have continued exploring what can cause stress and the different strategies we can use to help calm our bodies and minds. They discussed ways to recognise when they are feeling overwhelmed and discussed calming techniques to support their wellbeing. Students also celebrated Harmony Day with a special parade and a meaningful activity where students used a hand template to draw the flags of the countries they are connected to. This helped them celebrate our diversity and recognise the importance of inclusion, respect and belonging within our classroom community.
“ I liked drawing my countries flag on my hand print” Aishanvi 2B
“I liked learning about Diwali day in class.”- Stela 2A
“I drew the indian flag because I came from India.”- Armaan 2A
AUSLAN
Over the past two weeks in Auslan, Year 2 students have been expanding their knowledge by learning signs for different types of shops. They also explored signs related to ‘Outside the House’, helping them sign places and environments beyond their home. Students also explored signs for ‘vegetables’. They have been practising these signs, building their confidence and fluency in Auslan. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm as they continue to develop their communication skills.
“We can all sign pumpkin, potato and carrots!”- 2A
“I can sign lawnmower using my hands”- Helena 2A“I can sign shops like chemist”- Hafsa 2C
Special Events
Literacy Open Classrooms
On Wednesday the 25th of March Year 2 parents and carers had the opportunity to see students participating in Phonics, Reading and Writing activities. It was a valuable opportunity for students to share their learning and demonstrate their skills with their families. Thank you to all who attended this special morning.
Harmony Day
In Week 8, Year 2 students engaged in learning about the meaning and importance of Harmony Day. They completed an activity using a hand template to represent how everyone contributes to our community. On Friday the 20th of March students attended the Harmony Day celebrations held in the gym. It was wonderful to see students wearing the official colour of orange or wearing traditional cultural clothing, celebrating the diversity within our school community.
