Year 2 News
Reading
In the last fortnight Year 2 students have been busily developing their summarising skills by reading non fiction texts. They have been finding the main idea and then searching for the most important information to help them summarise. In Week 3, Year 2 students developed their comprehension skills while reading fiction texts. They explored how the character emotionally developed throughout the story and students were encouraged to think about how the character felt at the beginning and the end of the story.
In Phonics Year 2 students have been learning how to accurately spell and read ‘oo’ (as in moon, move, chew, blue, soup) and ‘ie’ (as in try, tie, might, time) words. They have been learning that one sound can have many different spellings and it is important to identify the number of sounds and the different sounds in a word to accurately read and spell it. Year 2 students have been playing games, creating nonsense words and completing word searches to consolidate their skills.
“In Phonics we’ve been learning about sounds, there’s lots of different ways to spell some sounds.” - Alana 2A
Writing
In Writing, Year 2 students have continued to work on their persuasive texts. They are building on their confidence by identifying the different techniques an author may use to persuade their audience. Year 2 students continue to plan and draft their persuasive pieces about why each class should or should not have a pet dog.
In Grammar, students continued to learn about past tense and adding -ed to regular verbs. They have also been practising how to use conjunctions ‘if’ and ‘when’ to create longer sentences and develop their writing skills.
In Handwriting, students are continuing to develop their understanding of the placement of letters on dotted thirds by practising high frequency words.
“Handwriting makes me better when I practise in my book, my writing is better.” - Ayliuo 2A
“Practising handwriting hurts my hand.” - Veer 2A
“In Writing we’ve been writing about persuasive writing to convince people about things.” - Alana 2A
“In Writing, I like writing, sometimes it makes my hand hurt.” - Aleyna 2A
Maths
In Maths, Year 2 students have been developing their understanding of division. Firstly, they began by sharing in groups. They equally shared a number of objects between 2, 5 and 10 groups. Next, Year 2 students moved onto showing their working out skills by using arrays which deepened their understanding of division. Recently students have been able to solve division problems using the division sign and making the link between division and multiplication.
“I like doing multiplication, it’s very good! I like it!” - Armaan 2A
“I like learning Maths.” - Justin 2A
“Maths makes me smarter, everytime we do Maths it makes me smarter.” - Ayliuo 2A
Inquiry
In Week 2 during Inquiry, Year 2 students focused on different types of animals and their needs. They were able to identify that all animals need food, water, air and shelter, which then led them to create a poster. Next, Year 2 students looked closer at pets and discussed if they had any further needs. Students were able to identify that in addition to basic needs pets also need exercise, love and care.
In Week 3, students delved deeper into animal adaptations and how they are necessary for the survival of each animal. Year 2 students discovered many interesting facts about camels and how they have adapted to the harsh environment they live in.
“I liked the ideas on the poster. I made my poster with Veer.” - Tyson 2A
“I made the poster with Justin. We did rock, paper, scissors to decide which animal to do. Justin won, so we did lizard instead of dog.” - Ayliuo 2A
Social and Emotional Learning
In Respectful Relationships Year 2 students have started to engage in the Gender Norms and Stereotypes Topic. They began the topic by identifying some of the different things they enjoy to do and compared them to the preferences of their peers and discovered how some were similar or different. By the end of the lesson students were able to identify how knowing about their peers' interests and preferences could improve the way they work and play together.
AUSLAN
Year 2 students have been learning how to sign words related to birds and bird watching. Some of the birds students have been learning how to sign are kookaburra, cockatoo, parrot, and binoculars. Other signs Year 2 students learnt to sign were related to materials from which objects can be made of, such as paper book, plastic chair, wood bed and leather goods.
Special Event
NAIDOC Week
NAIDOC Week is a national celebration honoring the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In Year 2, students researched influential Aboriginal Australians, such as Aunty Helen Morgan and Cathy Freeman. The next activity students participated in was, creating a purple circle inspired by Aboriginal art, with things that made them happy and resilient. These will then be collated into a whole school display.
