Term 1, 2021 

The Year 2 children have settled in beautifully to their new learning environment and have made a great start to the school year. The teachers and students have enjoyed getting to know each other and have learnt a lot already about how our feelings and emotions influence how we communicate with each other. We are all excited to continue learning about Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness in the classroom thoughout the year.

Literacy

Reading

Home Reading is encouraged each night. Students are required to bring their Take Home Reading Folder to school each day to change their Take Home Book as required (we are aware some books require more than one night of reading). Students will participate in Guided Reading sessions in the classroom as well as individual reading with their teacher on a weekly basis.

 

Writing

Students will be exposed to the qualities which make for good writing through the Writing Traits. 

These are:

  • Ideas - the main message.
  • Organisation - the internal structure of the piece.
  • Voice - the personal tone and flavor of the author's message.
  • Word Choice - the vocabulary a writer chooses to convey meaning.
  • Sentence Fluency - the rhythm and flow of the language.
  • Conventions - the mechanical correctness of writing which includes basic punctuation skills such as capital letters, full stops, exclamation marks and question marks.

Our Writing sessions this term have focused on letter writing including how to set out a letter and the types of information to include. The students enjoyed writing their first letter to their pen pal and are eagerly awaiting a reply. 

 

Grammar

Students have revised capital letters and full stops and learnt that all proper nouns require capital letters and the pronoun ‘I’.

 

Spelling

Students will continue with the SMART Spelling approach and have 5 words to learn each week based on a Spelling focus and two BOB words. ( words they have misspelt in their personal writing) SMART Spelling is based around whole words with an emphasis on meaning and vocabulary development. Students must be able to read their spelling words, understand what they mean and how to use them. Students will be introduced to the new spelling focus on a Monday and will choose their words for the week, which they will bring home in their ‘Home Spelling’ Book. Please assist your child with learning these spelling words. Throughout the week these words will be learnt daily through a variety of activities, with a test and dictation taking place on a Friday morning.

Numeracy

Number and Algebra

During the term the students have concentrated on developing a firm understanding of place value to the thousands. We have looked at the positional value of each number, written in extended notation and used a number expander to break down given numbers. We used hands on manipulatives to assist with this

 They will continue to consolidate their understanding of place value, odd and even numbers and ordinal numbers.

 

Measurement and Geometry

The students have been exploring reading and writing time to half past, quarter past and quarter to. We have been looking at special events/days, seasons, months of the year and how many days are in each month. The students have learnt to locate specific days and dates on a calendar. 

 

Mathseeds

BNPS have changed from Mathletics to Mathseeds as the digital program to supplement our year 2 maths curriculum. Students have been given a pre-assessment which allows them to work on topics that best suit their understanding. In class students will be set tasks on the topics they are learning that week. They are also able to practise maths fluency in a fun, merit-based environment.

 

Units of Inquiry

HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES

Communication is influenced by feelings and emotions

 

Lines of inquiry:

  • Exploring our emotions
  • The ways in which we share are ideas and feelings
  • The ways are emotions affect our communication. 

 

Speaking & Listening

This term we are focusing on listening carefully and with respect when teachers and other students are speaking. 

The Resilience Project

For our Resilience Project learning the students have been focusing on Emotional Literacy. As part of our 'Inside Out' focus, we have been discussing various emotions, events that make us feel this way, what happens in our body and things we can do to manage big feelings. 

Whole-school Focus on PYP Learner Profile

February: Caring

March: Communicator