Grade 2

What a Wonderful Term 3!

What a busy, exciting and memorable Term 3 it has been! Over the past seven weeks, our Grade 2 students have embraced so many wonderful opportunities to learn, explore, create and celebrate together. It has been fantastic to see their curiosity, enthusiasm and growing confidence across all areas of the curriculum.

📚 Book Week

Week 6 was a very special week as we celebrated Book Week! There were so many highlights, making it difficult to choose a favourite. We thoroughly enjoyed our fantastic Book Week incursion performance, which brought stories to life and had everyone engaged and entertained. We also loved taking part in our weekly Battle of the Books, where students listened to a range of wonderful stories and eagerly voted for their favourite book.

In our classrooms, we continued our love of literature through an exciting Marcia Vaughan author study, with a particular focus on Wombat Stew. Students explored Marcia Vaughan’s distinctive writing style and identified some of the engaging features she uses in her stories, including repetition, rhyme, rhythm and onomatopoeia. Students had the opportunity to read and respond to a range of her texts before having a go at incorporating some of these features into their own writing.

Our Wombat Stew learning connected beautifully with our procedural writing unit. Students explored how instructions need to be clear, sequenced and easy for others to follow. They wrote their own bush game procedures and created imaginative recipes for their very own versions of Wombat Stew. The creativity and humour in some of their recipes were fantastic!

The unit culminated in a sensational Grade 2 performance at our whole-school Assembly. Each class represented a different character from the story, while selected students rehearsed and performed lines as part of the show. It was wonderful to see the students working together, practising their lines, building confidence and supporting one another. We were incredibly proud of their enthusiasm and effort, and it was certainly a performance to remember!

✏️ English

In English, we have been learning all about procedural texts. Students explored the purpose and structure of procedures and identified the important features that help a reader successfully complete a task. We discussed the importance of using a clear goal, ordering steps correctly, including time connectives and using precise language.

Students then had the opportunity to become authors themselves, creating their own procedures for others to follow. As their understanding developed, they began experimenting with more imaginative and entertaining procedures, including wonderfully creative ideas such as ‘How to Teach a Banana to Do the Splits!’ These activities encouraged students to think carefully about sequencing and clarity while also having fun with their writing.

🔢 Mathematics

It has been a busy term in Mathematics as we have explored a variety of important mathematical concepts. Students have developed their understanding of the four operations — addition, subtraction, multiplication and division — through practical activities, problem-solving and real-life examples.

We have also explored money and considered how mathematics is used in everyday situations, including recognising Australian coins and notes, calculating amounts and thinking about spending and making change.

Our learning about fractions has been particularly hands-on. Students explored the idea of equal parts by sharing and partitioning objects, identifying halves, quarters and other fractions, and explaining how they know that parts are equal.

We have also begun exploring measurement, investigating length, capacity and mass through practical classroom activities. Students have enjoyed estimating, comparing and measuring a variety of objects and considering which units and tools are most appropriate for different situations.

💡 Integrated Studies — Discovery

Our Integrated Studies focus this term has been Discovery, and we have certainly been busy discovering how the world around us works!

We have explored light and sound through a range of hands-on investigations and experiments. Students have investigated the difference between natural and man-made sources of light and discussed where we encounter light in our everyday lives. We have also explored how sound is created, using everyday classroom objects to experiment with vibrations, volume and pitch.

A major highlight of the term was our incredible excursion to Scienceworks in Week 4! Students had the opportunity to participate in a STEM room activity, engage with the interactive Think Ahead exhibition, explore Sportsworks and experience the famous Lightning Room. It was fantastic to see students asking questions, making observations and enthusiastically engaging with the hands-on experiences throughout the day.

Our exploration of light and colour will continue as we investigate shadows and prepare for our upcoming shadow puppet shows. Students will have the opportunity to apply their understanding of light, explore how shadows are formed and use their creativity to design and perform their own shadow puppet stories. We are very excited to see what they create!

💕 Special Celebrations

We have also been very lucky to share some special moments with our families this term. Grandparents’ Afternoon was a wonderful opportunity to welcome our special visitors into the classroom and share some of our learning and experiences with them. We also loved celebrating our Father’s Day Special Morning, and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to celebrate and appreciate the important people in our students’ lives. These occasions created some truly special memories for our Grade 2 students.

As always, we are incredibly proud of the effort, enthusiasm, resilience and kindness our students bring to their learning each day.

There is still plenty of exciting learning ahead for the remainder of Term 3, and we look forward to continuing to learn, discover and grow together!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and for the wonderful partnership you share with us.