Ulysses Community Report

Dear parents and carers, 

Welcome to the November Newsletter. We would like to say a big thank you to all our families and students of the Ulysses community. As we near the end of the year, we look forward to celebrating all of our successes, achievements and learnings with you.

What we have learnt in November 

MATHS 

In Maths, students explored volume and capacity. They showed their understanding of the concepts by finding objects around the classroom with volume and capacity. Students identified the objects that were bigger than others and were able to put them in correct order. They learnt to double and half a number by using physical material like dice, counters etc. Students learnt to understand the relationship between double and half. They put into practice different addition strategies to add and subtract. Students used number lines, hundreds chart and identified facts of ten to solve addition problems. They used place value to solve simple subtraction equations. Students explored the relationship between addition and subtraction by using fact families.

READING 

In Reading, students worked on a variety of reading skills and made exciting connections with the texts they explored. The learnt how to connect personally with the characters in their books. They reflected on which characters they felt closest to and explained why. They also discussed the importance of valuing the differences in others, recognising that everyone has unique qualities.

Comparing Characters:

Students practiced comparing characters from different stories. Using tools like T-charts and Venn diagrams, students explored how characters were similar and different. They supported their ideas by looking closely at text and picture clues.

Text-to-Text Connections: Students made connections between two texts, identifying things that were the same and different. They used T-charts or Venn diagrams to help them compare the stories and share their findings.

Exploring Language: This month, we focused on how language changes depending on who we're talking to. Students learnt to identify formal and informal language and discussed when it’s appropriate to use each. They compared how characters spoke in their books to how they might talk in similar situations.

Making Inferences: Students worked on making inferences—using clues from the text and their own knowledge to understand the story better. They learned to explain their thinking by saying, “I know this because…”

Understanding Characters’ Emotions: Our readers focused on understanding how a character’s actions made them feel. They shared what the character was doing and how those actions made them feel while reading.

Students enhanced their knowledge of compound sentences by identifying sentences with two ideas and explaining how those ideas connect. They explored personal and possessive pronouns by identifying these pronouns and explaining who or what they refer to in the story.

It’s been a fantastic month of learning, and we’re proud of how students are growing as readers!

WRITING 

In writing, students have been exploring a range of Autobiography texts based on famous people and their life stories. Students were then given the opportunity to write their own Autobiography. They followed the writing process of prewriting, planning, drafting, revising, editing and publishing. We highlighted important aspects of our life such as: where and when we were born, our family, family celebrations, our school life and many other life milestones. The students loved writing about themselves and sharing some truly amazing achievements they had experienced. We are now moving into a Biography unit. The shift to biographies opens the door to a rich tapestry of human stories – tales of resilience, innovation, triumphs, and setbacks. Through this literary journey, our students will explore some amazing people and learn the structure and writing style of a biography.

INQUIRY 

In Inquiry, the Grade 2 students have been learning about Cultural Diversity. Students have worked cooperatively in a group and explored and discussed a range of different cultures and traditions in our local community and Australia. Students have developed an understanding that the Australian nation is enriched by a diverse range of cultures.

SEL 

In Social Emotional Learning, the Grade 2 students identified the different types of bullying and what bullying looks like, sounds like and feels like. Students discussed the importance of being an upstander, compared to a bystander. Students learnt about what empathy means and recorded examples of ways they have shown empathy towards others. Students discussed the difference between inside and outside traits and reordered their own inside and outside traits. 

Victorian Curriculum

Below is the link to the Victorian Curriculum if you would like to take a look at what we cover throughout the year.

https://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/level2 

Friendly Reminders

• Diaries and homework are checked weekly on Fridays. Readers are changed daily. 
• Doors open at 8:50am and dismissal is at 3:20pm.
• Ensure your child’s belongings are clearly labelled. This includes clothing, drink bottles, hats and lunchboxes (lids too).
• Please ensure that your child is reading their home reader for 15 minutes every night and that their reading log is filled in and signed by a parent/guardian.
• We strongly encourage students to bring along some brain food (fruit and vegetables) that they may eat in class. It is important that this is included as an additional snack in their lunchbox.

Best wishes,

The year 2 Ulysses Community Teachers

Britt, Belinda, Scott, Amandeep, Natalia, Amanjot and Dafina.