Year 2 News 

Reading

In Reading this week, the Year 2 Cohort has been looking at the main idea of nonfiction texts. They have also been learning about nonfiction texts being an informative piece of writing that teaches the reader different facts. Students have applied their skills to identify the clues in a nonfiction text that help them to find the main idea. These clues include the title, subheadings, bold words, keywords and phrases, photographs and diagrams. Students have been super engaged in reading a variety of books and using their knowledge to play detective and search for the important clues. Once they have found the clues, they have put clues together to structure sentences to record the main idea. 

“To find the main idea I look for the keywords.” - Azlaan, 2C

“For the main idea I have been looking for what the whole thing is about. We had to figure it out by reading the whole book and looking for clues.” - Ivaan, 2C

“We look at the title, keywords and the contents page to help us.” - Guntas, 2C

Writing

In writing, the Year 2 students have been focusing on using non fiction texts and prior knowledge to create a list of keywords. They then used those words to write factual sentences. For each factual sentence students focused on using a capital letter for the beginning of their sentence and a full stop to end their sentence. 

‘We were writing about our bag. They were all facts.’ - Hunter, 2A

‘Factual sentences are real life facts, it's been excellent!’ - Saskia 2B

‘Pluto used to be a planet, now it's a dwarf planet!’- Ahri 2B

‘I wrote factual sentences about ships! The Titanic had 16 compartments below, 4 flooded first’- Harry 2B

Maths 

The Year 2 Cohort has been learning about data. Students firstly created a question that had a yes or no answer. Then they walked around the classroom asking their questions to their classmates and creating a tally of answers using tally marks. Next the students created a question, like “What is your favourite fruit?” and recorded the answers from their classmates using tally marks. Once the students collected their data, they made pictographs and bar graphs to show their results. 

‘I collected data from 2A, my question was ‘What is your favourite colour?’ The most popular colour was pink.’ - Indy, 2A

‘We've been collecting data in 2A, with Mrs Ozen.’ - Zoe, 2A

‘We collected data from our classmates in the class and we saw how much people liked different stuff. Then we drew up a pictograph and then we created a bar graph.’  - Lexi, 2A

‘We collected data from our friends. Last week we did a pictograph, it was lots of fun. Now we are moving onto bar graphs.’ - Zareen, 2A

Inquiry

In inquiry, our Year 2 students are continuing their exciting exploration of Earth's resources by learning how to care for animals, plants, and natural resources like water. They are discovering just how important it is to look after the world around us and what can happen if we don't—such as animals losing their homes, plants struggling to grow, and water becoming too dirty to use. Through hands-on activities and discussions, the students are developing a deeper understanding of how small actions can make a big difference in keeping our planet healthy for everyone.

"We figured out lots of Earth’s resources and how we need to keep animals alive and keep water clean in the ocean.’ - Lexi, 2A

“We use drink taps at school when we need water outside” -Talal 2B

“At home we use water hose for gardens and cars” - Hamza 2B

“We use water to shower or take a bath at home” - Ruth 2B

“We need water to survive” - Hunter 2B

Social and Emotional Learning

As part of Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships (RRRR) during the last two weeks Year 2 students have been learning about and practising ‘Help Seeking’ from their peers and teachers especially outside in the yard. Students have been encouraged to seek adult help when someone is sick or hurt, or when something unsafe is happening in the yard. They have been role playing different scenarios where they would need to approach a teacher or another student to ask for help. Students have been reminded to say what the problem is and state that they need help. 

‘In 2A we were learning about how to speak kindly and show respect to others. Me and Eliz made up a funny show and everybody laughed.’ - Zareen, 2A

"We were doing acting and then me and Jessica were bumping into someone and saying sorry to them.’ - Indy, 2A

Special Event

Education Week

This year, Education Week runs from Monday 19 May to Friday 23 May. The theme ‘Celebration of Cultures’ highlights the diversity of our communities and the importance of every child feeling safe and welcome at school. Craigieburn Primary School celebrated Education Week by having an Open Morning on Thursday 22nd of May. Year 2 students celebrated Education Week by learning new facts about each other in the classroom and writing them into factual sentences. The children used their knowledge and skills from writing sessions to interview each other, gather information then record factual sentences in their book using connectives to make compound sentences. 

The classrooms were filled with smiles as parents and carers joined them in their learning. The children demonstrated our school values throughout and were so proud showing off how hard they have been working. 

“I liked having my Mum, Aunty and my cousin sit next to me and help me do my work.” - Lucy, 2C

Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week - 

In Year 2 the children discussed what it means to get along with others and include everyone. We read the book Respect by Aunty Fay Mui and thought about what it means to be fair and how we can share respect. The children also recognised the importance of saying sorry and how apologising can help situations. 

Literacy Intervention Groups

Some of the Year Two students have been part of Literacy Intervention groups where they have been practising their spelling, reading and writing skills with Miss Certoma through a program called Sounds-Write. The groups run three to four times a week and students have the opportunity to undertake activities focussing on different skills such as segmenting and blending phonemes in words. These activities are planned in an engaging way for students to further develop their Literacy Skills in a new and fun way, targeted to their individual needs.

“I love playing the sound swap game. It is my favourite”- Amira 2B

“I enjoy the games we play because they help me learn”- Azlaan 2C

“I loved doing a word search to find words with the ch, sh and th sound”- Raff 2A

“I have enjoyed how we learn with fun activities”- Lexi 2A