Year 2 curriculum newsletter

Term 1 Curriculum Newsletter

In this edition we will be focusing on Reading, Writing, and Maths, and exploring the exciting new concepts and skills we will be learning this term.

Reading

In Reading, we will be reading a variety of texts for different purposes. Narratives are stories that ‘entertain’ the reader, and factual texts ‘inform’ the reader. We will also be learning about fiction and nonfiction texts. Fiction texts tell a story, and they may contain pictures that add detail to the plot. Nonfiction texts contain information that is organised under headings and contain diagrams, maps or photographs.

Writing

This term, we will be working on creating short personal narratives and learning how to create seeds/memories in our Writer’s Notebooks. We will also be editing common punctuation marks including full stops, question marks, and exclamation marks, as well as how to edit our writing to publish.

Maths

In Maths this term, we will be focusing on Problem Solving, Time, and Counting Patterns. We will be learning about the concepts of time including years, months, weeks, and days. We will also be practicing how to tell the time to the hour, half-hour, and quarter-hour on an analogue clock and digital clock. In addition, we will be comparing, and ordering shapes and objects based on length.

Inquiry

This term we will explore the key concept of being healthy, safe, and active. We will take a closer look at how our personal and social capabilities, as well as our experiences in Health and Physical Education, can shape our identity.

Our personal and social capabilities refer to the skills, knowledge, and dispositions that help us interact effectively with others and navigate the world around us. These capabilities include self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, social management, and responsible decision-making.

We will also explore the key concept of the family unit. In this topic, we will take a closer look at the concept of family, its origins, and how it has evolved over time.

Specialists

VISUAL ARTS

This term students investigate the tools of drawing, creating artworks using pencils, markers, crayons and oil pastels.  Students discover the elements of art – line, shape, and colour. 

• Line- When exploring lines, they will learn that lines can change in size, colour or direction. Lines can differ as in long to short, straight to curly, thick to thin, or up to down. Students use lines when creating 2- dimensional drawings and they identify and name shapes as geometric. 
• Shape- When exploring shape, they discover that they can change in size, colour and texture or that they can be combined to make patterns. 
• Colour- When exploring colour, students identify primary colours as red, yellow and blue. These colours can be combined to make secondary colours: orange, green and purple. Students will learn about complimentary colours as well as warm and cool colours.

PE

This term we will be focussing on Motor skills including running, jumping, hopping and skipping. Students will be working on long and short distance running to improve their fitness levels. They will play tag games where they will need to be able to run and be aware of their personal space. (spatial awareness). 

PERFORMING ARTS

During Term One in Performing Arts, Grade Two students will be using masks to explore character development and how voice and body language can be used to convey emotions. Through a variety of improvisations and role-plays, students will experiment with the impact of changing their body language and voice to demonstrate character intention and motivation. 

JAPANESE

This term in Japanese the Year 2 students are learning about the importance of Japanese New Year and the year of the rabbit by making their own ‘Ema’ (a wooden plaque used in Japan to write goals or wishes on). They are also creating mini books titled ‘All about Japan’ where the students are learning about Japan and saying ‘This is ____’ in Japanese e.g. “This is Japan”. Students are continuing to develop their vocabulary through various learning activities such as games.