Welcome to Year 2
Miss Dove's Class
WB 11.3.24
In English we finished our story by writing our own story about an animal that started off colourful and ended up black/white. The children used some fantastic vocabulary and really showed off their writing skills by producing some fantastic end pieces.
In Maths we have been reading the time and sequencing events. We discussed how there are 24 hour hours in the day and we could have two 7 o'clocks. We also talked about how the minute hand moves in 5 minute intervals.
In Science we looked at different plants that we can eat. We were surprised to learn that you can eat all parts of a vegetable!
In PE we pretended we were at the circus and continued to count to 8 to act out how different circus acts might move.
This week we also enjoyed celebrating world book day! We invited our parents in for a booky breakfast and also enjoyed a trip to the library. We loved dressing up as our favourite book characters ☺️
Have a fabulous weekend everybody!
WB 4.3.24
This week in English we have continued our work on 'The Crow's tale' and have enjoyed describing the change in the crow's feathers from multicoloured to black, we came up with some fabulous similes!
In Science, we looked at what plants need to survive. To investigate we planted seeds in 5 different pots, each one with a different variable. Over the next few weeks we are going to observe them and record any changes and differences.
In RE we have been looking at Islam. We have been comparing how and where Muslims pray to what we have already learned about Hindus and Christians. It was really interesting to see how some things are similar.
In Geography we created our own route map around the school. We looked at google maps and got an aerial view of the school before walking around to notice what physical and human features we could see. We then wrote directions to tell our friends how to get from one place to another.
Have a lovely weekend :)
WB 26.2.24
In English, we have continued looking at our class text 'The Crows Tale' and used questions and exclamation marks to express how the animals would be feeling when they had to go on a perilous journey to the sun. We also looked at extending our vocabulary to find synonyms for how the crow flies and how he might feel.
In Maths we have continued to look at time and looking at the vocabulary we might use when describing the time. We looked at digital clocks and analogue clocks and the different ways to write and say the time.
In Science we looked at the different plant lifecycles and how plants grow. We then compared a sunflower and strawberry plant and how they grow, linking these to wild flowers and garden plants. We also looked at different types of seeds and bulbs and observed the similarities and differences.
In Geography we looked at a range of different maps and discussed when and why we might use them. We then used a range of objects to create our own messy map of the classroom.
In DT, we are going to be creating our own fairground wheels. We have looked at a range of items with wheels and axles and designed our own Fairground wheel. We then discussed and explored a range of different materials that we think would be suitable for the different parts. We are very excited to create our own over the next few weeks.
In PE, we have been practicing mirroring and matching our partners using a range of actions to demonstrate how we might plant a flower.
Have a lovely weekend :)
WB 19.2.24
In English we have been using our class text 'The crow's tale' by Naomi Howarth to use exciting adjectives in our writing. We also created links to science by looking at how woodland animals survive in winter.
In Maths, we have started to look at time. We recapped our year one learning by using o'clock and half past and then started looking at quarter past and quarter to.
In PE, we have started our new dance topic linked to 'The Secret Garden'. We introduced the count of 8 and used this to keep in time with the music and our partners. We then used hoola hoops to practice different balances.
In Geography we have looked at our new topic 'Magical Maps'. We learned how to use at atlas and the index page to find places and then tried to locate them on the map. We also practiced putting places in alphabetical order.
Have a lovely weekend everyone :)
5.2.24
In Science we have been exploring why exercise is good for our body. We did a little investigation to see what happens to our heart rate when we exercise. We performed an exercise for 2 minutes and then checked our heart rate afterwards. We enjoyed discussing our results with each other and evaluating what they meant.
In PE we practiced different jumps and landings using the shapes we have previously learned. We created a sequence of three jumps and performed them to our friends.
To celebrate Safer Internet Day, year 2 watched a live assembly where they learned tips on how to stay safe online by using passwords and checking privacy settings. We also talked about the importance of internet kindness and how we need to think about the choice of words when we are online.
In Art, we have been creating our own picture books. We drew our own character and the backgrounds for our character to travel through using all of the drawing skills we have learned over the last few weeks.
This week was our silent disco too, we loved choosing our own music and dancing with our friends.
To acknowledge Children’s Mental Health week, each class was asked to perform a song in assembly based around the theme “You’re voice matters”. It was so lovely to see all of the children expressing themselves and understanding the importance of having a voice.
Have a lovely half term!
WB 29.1.24
In PE we have been using the different equipment to practice different ways to travel and balance. We took it in turns to move across, over, under and through the different stations.
In Science we have been looking at what makes a healthy balanced diet. We discussed different foods and whether they are healthy or unhealthy. We then made our own healthy plates using a range of different food groups.
In English, we used drama and music to imagine what it would be like to bring an inanimate object to life. We watched a clip from Beauty and the Beast and fantasia and re-enacted different sections. We then used a range of musical instruments to create the music to the animation.
in Music we have been using the glockenspiels to play a melody in two parts. We had to keep the beat and listen to our friends play to be able to play at the same time. We then had the opportunity to compose our own melody and perform it to the rest of the class.
We also really enjoyed celebrating Number Day by creating our own number hats and wearing different number clothes.
WB 22.1.24
This week we introduced our new book 'The Building Boy' by Ross Montgomery and David Litchfield. We looked at different time adverbials to show the time of the day and used synonyms to uplevel our sentences. We also investigated what an architect was (linking back to Sir Christopher Wren from our Great Fire of London history topic) and worked together as a team to create our own structure from the blocks. We linked in our knowledge from DT when we made baby bear's chair to ensure our structure was stable.
In Maths, we have continued looking at fractions and introduced the terms 'half' 'whole' 'thirds' and 'quarters' we have had lots of hands on practical experiences to find and recognise the different fractions of shapes and numbers.
In Art we enjoyed doing observational drawings of our teddies. We used shapes to sketch the outline and then added texture using the skills we have previously learned.
This week was National Handwriting week and so we were able to create our own comic strip based on a super hero story linking to our POWERS heros.
Have a lovely weekend everyone :)
WB 15.1.24
This week we completed our own adventure story based on 'The Dragon Machine' By Helen Ward - the children loved magpieing their favourite bits and twisting them to suit their own character's adventure. We then published our stories on book creator, linking all of our previous knowledge from our computing lessons to help us with the audio, pictures and text.
In Maths, we started to look at fractions. We began by recognising and finding equal parts of a shape and then moved onto equal parts of a number linking to our previous division topic.
In PE this half term we are doing gymnastics. We practiced different shapes and held them for 5 seconds. We then worked with our partner to create a sequence of 3 shapes.
In Art, we used a range of coloured oil pastels to recreate different types of textures and patterns. The children loved using a range of skills to blend and mix the colours.
In Music, we used different instruments to practice keeping in time to the beat with our classmates.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
WB 8.1.24
Welcome back everybody! We hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year!
This week we continued our learning on The Dragon Machine by Helen Ward. We have been inferring how the character felt through role play - one of us pretended to be George and an interviewer to find out how Geogre felt when the dragons disappeared and then we have been designing our own machine using noun phrases.
In Maths we continued our work on shape by looking at different positions and directions. We gave our partners instructions and they had to turn or move the correct number of spaces to see if they could reach the end point.
In Music, we learnt a new rhyme and found the pulse using different instruments. We then performed our rhyme alongside the instruments keeping to the beat. It was lots of fun.
In Art, we used charcoal to practice making different marks. We realised that the way we hold or apply pressure affects the marks that we can make. We practiced making marks that were 'soft' 'powerful' and 'gently'.
We have come back to school extremely sensibly and with a ready to learn attitude and we cannot wait to see what this term has in store for us :)
Have a lovely weekend everybody!
WB 11.12.23
This week we have been really busy practicing our Christmas performance and we cannot wait to perform for our parents next week.
We also enjoyed watching a puppet show all about the Christmas story. It was lots of fun and we laughed a lot.
In English we continued our work on ‘The Dragon Machine’ and wrote our own non chronological report about dragons. We used our imagination and used what we already know from our science topics of habitats and animals to help us decide what the dragon might eat and where it might live.
In Science, we looked at the rainforest and different animals that might live there. We discussed why the animals had different features and how that helped them to survive in the rainforest. We also looked at deforestation and how the environment changing affects these animals. We liked this to Geography by locating the rainforests on our wall map.
In Geography, we compared Spain and England. We looked at the differences and similarities between food, language, location, capital cities, royal family and famous landmarks. We also recapped whether these things were human or physical features.
We ended the week with PJ day. We drank hot chocolate and watched a movie to end a busy week.
Have a lovely weekend everyone x
WB 4.12.23
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas this week! We came into class to see our cheeky elf had decorated our Christmas tree and put all of our gorgeous decorations up! We have enjoyed watching a panto production of Cinderella and also wore our Christmas jumpers for our special festive dinner with our friends. It was lots of fun!
This week we have also started practicing our Christmas nativity - we have some fantastic singers and actors and we cannot wait to perform our production to all of our family and friends.
In English we have started looking at our new text - "The Dragon Machine" by Helen Ward. The children used lots of different clues to predict what they think the story might be about and used their observations to explain what the clues might tell us. We then asked questions we would like to find out. We have also used our imagination to write a character description of a dragon using conjunctions to add more detail.
In Maths, we are looking at 2D shapes. We have been exploring the names of different polygons and investigating how many vertices and sides they have. We have started to look at symmetry and working out which shapes have a vertical line of symmetry.
We had a visitor this week for our RE lessons as Father Dan came to talk to us all about Advent. We made our own Advent wreath and learned what the candles mean and why Christians celebrate it. We also made a human christingle in our assembly and discussed what each part means.
We ended the week with a whole school trip to Gullivers world to see the magical winter wonderland! We got to watch another show, ride on a train through the winter wonderland and even met Father Christmas! We are still working hard but slowly getting into the Christmas spirit now!
Have a lovely weekend!
The Year 2 team!
WB 27.11.23
This week in English we finished our persuasive letter based on “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt. We used different emotive adjectives and time adverbials to apologise to the felt tips for leaving them without their lids on and promised it would not happen again. The children were so proud of their final write and rightly so ☺️
We have also been helping to improve our school grounds by planting trees on our field. This has also linked into our science topic about the environment and we loved educating the other children on the importance of looking after our environment.
In Computing, we finished off our PowerPoint presentation. We used the drawing tool to draw pictures of our family and friends and the audio clip to say something nice about them.
In Geography the children have been looking at hot and cold climates, they looked where the country was on a globe and discussed whether they think the country was hot or cold and why.
In RE, we started to look at Advent and why Christians celebrate it. We then made our own wreaths and explored how other countries get ready for Christmas.
WB 20.11.23
This week we enjoyed spending time in our forest area for some outdoor learning. We linked this to science and our topic on the environment.
We also invited our parents in for a special reading workshop where we shared with them all about how we read at Grange Valley. It was lovely to share our wonderful reading and take part in lots of different activities with them.
In PE we have been focussing on our fitness. We took part in a range of different exercises and timed ourselves to see how many we could do in 1 minute. Then next week we will repeat the exercises to see if we can beat our best. We talked about the importance of physical health and how it helps our mental health.
In Geography, we used the globes to create our own journey lines. Then we plotted the route from one side to the other discussing which continents and oceans we passed to consolidate our learning.
In computing we have been making PowerPoint presentations all about us. We used photographs, audio clips and changed the font to create the first few slides about us. We loved taking selfies for our front cover!
In Science we started looking at the phrase Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. We started off by sorting different items into groups based on their materials linking it to our previous topic and then created posters to spread the word about the importance of recycling.
WB 13.11.23
This week we developed our reading for pleasure with a trip to our local library. We worked with the staff to do a poetry workshop and create our own acrostic poems and enjoyed some time reading our favourite books.
In Maths we continued looking at division and sharing numbers into equal groups. We used counters, bar models and arrays to help us.
In Science we have been looking at the environment and how greenhouse gasses are causing the earth to heat up. To investigate, we did a little experiment with two pieces of ice and covered one with cling film to represent the greenhouse gasses. We timed them both to see which one melted the quickest. We found that the one covered in cling film melted faster than the one without!
In Geography, we used the Ipads to research facts about different continents. We looked at population, location, weather and different foods.
Have a lovely weekend :)
WB 6.11.23
Welcome back everybody! We hope you have all had a lovely half term and are well rested!
In English this term, we have started looking at our class text ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’ by Drew Daywalt. We received a letter from our felt tip pens who were very upset that we forgot to put the lids on before half term. We have been looking at different features of a letter and will be writing our own letter back to the pens over the next few weeks.
In Maths, we have started looking at division. We have been using the counters to share numbers into equal groups of 2, 5 and 10.
In RE, we are continuing our studying of Christianity and looking into why Christians believe Jesus was the light of the world. We looked at different light sources and discussed how it made us feel to be in the light and the dark.
We also started our new Geography topic which is ‘Our Wonderful World’. We learned the seven continents of the world using a very catchy song. We also learnt the 5 seas and located them on a globe and in an atlas.
This week we also had a special assembly for World Science Day, we did a little experiment in the hall, it was lots of fun. We also looked at Rememberance Day and why we hold a special minute silence to remember the soldiers who fought for us in the war. We enjoyed creating our own pictures using a range of art materials.
What a fabulous first week back, well done Year 2. Have a lovely weekend!
WB 16.10.23
In English this week we finished off our work on The Great Fire of London by writing our own diary as an eye witness to the fire. We used our knowledge from History to embed our learning further and add detail to our diaries
In Maths we have been looking at multiplication and linking it to repeated addition. We have been making groups of 2, 5 and 10 and using our times table knowledge to help us to find the total.
In Science we investigated the different properties of materials and which ones we were able to manipulate to squash, pull, stretch and bend. We recorded our results in a table and then discussed if we were surprised by any of our findings.
In RE, we finished off our topic of Christianity by reflecting on what we can do to look after our world and dreaming about our hopes for the future.
In Music, we have been looking at textures and creating our own graphic cards. We used lines and dots to represent the long and short sounds. We looked at the different ways the instruments were played, some used a bow and some used fingers to pluck.
Another fabulous week Year 2, well done!
WB 9.10.23
This week we finished off our Art topic by linking with our History topic to design and create our own clay house tiles based on the houses from the Great fire of London era. We used the slip and score technique to raise pieces and different objects to create patterns and textures. The children were so proud of their finished products!
In History we have been writing our own diary entry as an eye witness to the Great Fire of London just like Samuel Pepys. We used our senses to describe what we could see, hear and smell. It also linked to our new English Topic based on the Great fire of London from the viewpoint of a rat at the time. Lots of cross curricular learning!
in English we have enjoyed using drama to immerse ourselves into the lives of the people in London. We acted out different scenarios and then used question and exclamation sentences to describe thoughts and feelings.
In Maths we have been subtracting two digit numbers with renaming. We used a range of different methods including base ten, number lines and column method.
We have also been really engaged with our TT Rockstars challenge this week against our peers. It has really given us a boost to keep practicing at home to gain points to help our team win!
As part of highlighting the importance of wellbeing on mental health awareness day, we took part in “Belly breathing” and Kids Yoga to help our minds and bodies relax. As always, we also enjoyed reading for pleasure in our book corner too with a range of books across different topics.
Another fabulous week Year 2, well done!
WB 2.10.23
This week we finished off our work on ‘The Bog Baby’ by writing and publishing our own version called ‘The Snow Baby’. The children used some fantastic similes and their imagination to bring their character to life.
In Science, we have been discussing which materials would be the most suitable for the roof of a house. We had to investigate a range of materials to find if they were strong and waterproof. We then concluded which one was the most suitable and why.
In Art, we have designed our own house based on the houses around the time of the Great Fire of London. We looked at different textures and how we can recreate the different shapes and prints.
In Music, we have been looking at different myths and legends and how we can create a rhythm to retell parts of the story using body percussion.
As part of the Black History theme this year, we have been researching Heather Small and learning about her music and charity work to understand why she is a significant lady in our world.
In RE, we had a visit from James at St Marks church to talk to us about why Christians believe it is important to look after the world.
Another fantastic week Year 2, Well done!
WB 25.9.23
This week we have started to plan and write our own narrative “The snow baby” using the Bog Baby as reference. We used similes to describe the snowy forest and acted out how the Bog Baby might move before using verbs and adverbs to describe.
In Maths, we have started to add together two digit numbers with renaming. We have been practicing with number lines, base ten and tens frames to find the easiest practical method before challenging ourselves to try the column method.
In History, we have been looking at different sources of evidence to work out how we know about the fire and their reliability. We then played an interactive game in which we had to use our knowledge to navigate through the fire by answering questions about he event.
This week we also continued to practice our slip and score technique by creating a clay tile based on the artist Rachel Whiteread. Next week we are going to link our clay work to our knowledge of the Great fire of London in history.
Another fabulous week Year 2, well done!
WB 18.9.23
This week we retold the story of the Bog Baby using time adverbials, conjunctions and emotions. The children sequence the story before retelling it in their own words. Miss Dove was really impressed with the improvement in our handwriting already!
In Maths, we have been looking at addition. We have been using our number bonds knowledge to help us solve other problems for example - if 6+2 = 8 then we can work out 60+20. The children loved challenging themselves to find out what else they could find out!
In Art, we continued our clay work by making pinch pots. We then used the slip and score technique to attach our decorations to the outside, we were very happy with our end products and couldn't wait to take them home to show our grown ups!
In PE, we were practicing our ball skills and ways to travel with the ball using our feet. We worked together as a team and showed great sportsmanship by cheering each other on!
In History we have been history detectives looking at clues to find out information about the great fire of London. We looked at photographs, maps and diary entries to generate questions and ideas about how, why and when the fire started. We then looked at the events and placed them in order to create a time line of when the great fire of London started and what happened in between until it was put out.
Another fabulous week! Well done Year 2!
WB 11.9.23
Wow what a fantastic first week back the children have had! We have had huge smiles and a positive attitude to learning all around which has shown in the production of their work!
In English, we found a strange bog in our classroom. We think it might have been a bog baby linked to the text by Jeanne Willis. We listened to a description and had a go at drawing it which really tested our listening skills before designing our own bog baby and using adjectives to describe them to our friends. We then wrote instructions to explain how to look after a bog baby.
In Maths we have been looking at place value and partitioning numbers into tens and ones and comparing numbers using the <> symbols.
In Science we have started our topic on materials. We looked around the environment for different materials and put them into groups. Next week we will be looking at the properties and why they are suitable for certain objects.
In Art, we are using clay. This week we manipulated the clay using our hands, made marks with different tools and got used to the general texture and feel. It was lots of fun and we are so excited to continue this topic!
In History, we started our Great Fire of London topic. The children are already very interested in this subject after completing a project over summer. We looked at what London was like in 1666 and what it is like today. This helped us to see what is still similar and what has changed over time.
The children have had a great first week back and have settled in really well to Year 2!
Have a lovely weekend :)
Key Dates
