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Willow Class

Willow Class Information

Term 2: 

I hope you all have an enjoyable half term break. We have a very exciting term planned with lots of great learning and the Nativity to practice.

English: 

After half term, children will be introduced to a fast-paced text called 'Naughty Bus' by Jan Oke with lively illustrations and a playful approach to font design. The text has links to toys, transport, the history of toys (which will link well with our history topic!) and provides opportunities for discussions around behavioural expectations. Children will sequence the key events and retell the story orally, through pictures and through writing. Children will then go on to plan their own versions of Naughty Bus, using the local environment to inspire ideas for this before creating a story map and writing their stories. At the end of the sequence, there is an opportunity for children to share their stories aloud with an audience.

Grouped reading:

We will continue with our group reading sessions. These have allowed children to build up their reading fluency accurately and effectively. Children will continue to be split into different groups so their reading targets can be met. We have chosen certain sounds from the 'sounds-write' scheme which children need to practice more consistently to plug any gaps they may have. There will still be three groups of six in the class. The children will focus on a different skill every day. They will be exposed to one piece of text three times. The first time reading the text, the children will decode the words as they read. The second time we will focus on prosody (expression when reading) and the final time will have a focus on applying both skills and reading the text fluently. Children have opportunities to work with each other and the teacher/teaching assistant.

Phonics:

Children in Year 2 have continued with daily phonics sessions which helps to support their reading, writing and spellings.

Maths:

The focus at the start of term 2 will continue to be addition and subtraction before moving onto shape. 

We will look at subtracting over a ten, adding and taking away tens, adding and subtracting two 2 digit numbers (within ten and over tens). Our shape unit will look at 2D shapes, 3D shapes, lines of symmetry, faces, vertices and edges. All Maths lessons include objects and resources to help children to understand the concepts by bringing them to life.

History:

Key question: What was my grandparents' and great grandparents' childhood like?

Children will learn:

  • how the telephone changed people’s lives and know how they changed over time
  • how televisions changed people’s lives and know how they changed over time 
  • how to recognise artefacts used in the home during Victorian times
  • how we have adapted the way we use outside space over time
  • about the impact that technology has had on our home life 

Science:

Key question: How do the seasons change?

Children will:

  • Know about the changes in the seasons.
  • Name the seasons and know about the type of weather in each season.
  • Take observations over time: Observe changes in temperature throughout the seasons, observe rainfall throughout the seasons
  • Pattern seeking: Length of daylight throughout the year, leaf colour and fall and different stages

PE:

Mrs Hobbs on a Thursday afternoon (ball skills), Miss Dyer on a Tuesday afternoon (fitness).

Ball skills: Children should be starting to catch with two hands, dribble a ball with their hands and feet, understand simple tactics, roll and throw with some accuracy towards a target, say when someone was successful, track a ball that is coming towards them and work co-operatively with a partner.

Fitness: Children should be able to recognise changes in their body when they exercise, share their ideas with other people in our class, talk about what exercise does to the body, recognise how exercise makes them feel, try their best in the challenges that are set and understand why it is important to warm up.

Class expectations:

Please ensure your child:

  • Brings their reading book into school everyday
  • Reads at least 3 times a week with a signature in reading records
  • Has their PE kit in school every day
  • Wears the correct uniform

Term 1:

English:

Willow class have read the book 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers. Children entered the classroom to find a penguin with a sign hanging around his neck saying ‘I am lost’ - this was the hook to the book; they then had to generate questions to ask the penguin, which sparked their imaginations. Children then wrote their own ‘found’ tags for other animals, re-told the 'Lost and Found' story in their own words and wrote a sequence of instructions using diagrams and words indicating chronological order. To finish, children wrote their own version of a ‘lost and found’ narrative.

We have also read the book 'Toys in Space' by Mini Grey which exposed children to the fantasy genre and has allowed lots of fun creativity in their writing. The sequence of learning began by children discovering a box of lost toys which has mysteriously landed in the classroom. Children hypothesised about where the toys could have come from and how they could help find their owners. This wonderful book contains varied story-telling devices and children have enjoyed exploring the ‘story-within-a-story’ as WonderDoll takes us on a journey to space to meet the Hoctopize. Children have been given a variety of meaningful writing opportunities throughout the series of lessons, including giving advice to the Hoctopize who has lost their favourite toy.

Grouped reading:

Our group reading sessions have allowed children to build up their reading fluency accurately and effectively. We have achieved this by splitting the children into different groups so their reading targets can be met. We have chosen certain sounds from the 'sounds-write' scheme which children need to practice more. There are three groups of six in the class. The children will focus on a different skill every day. They will be exposed to one piece of text three times. The first time reading the text, the children will decode the words as they read. The second time we will focus on prosody (expression when reading) and the final time will have a focus on applying both skills and reading the text fluently. Children have opportunities to work with each other and the teacher/teaching assistant. 

Phonics:

Children in Year 2 have continued with daily phonics sessions which helps to support their reading, writing and spellings. 

Maths:

The focus of term 1 has been Place Value. Children have really been focusing on understanding tens and ones and how they impact how big or small a number is. We use base 10, dienes and other objects to support our understanding of place value in lessons.  Children can recall their numbers to 20, count objects to 100 in 10s, partition numbers to 100 (into tens and ones), use number lines to 100, order and compare objects and numbers, count in 2s,3s,  5s and 10s. Place Value underpins everything in Maths; so, it is crucial that all children understand this foundation before moving onto our next topic: addition and subtraction. We are now moving onto addition and subtraction with a particular focus on ensuring children understand their number bonds and how this works with all numbers to 100.

We have started looking at 'addition and subtraction' with a particular focus on our number bonds to 10 and seeing how this links to all adding and subtracting over tens numbers (eg/ the number fact 10 - 7 = 3 will help us with 40 - 7 =33). This will be continued after half term. Children are encouraged to use tens frames, base 10 and number lines to support their learning.

Geography:

Our key question this term was: What do I know about the UK and where I live?

Chidren have been taught to:

  • Show and know where England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are on a map of the UK.
  • Know N, E, S and W on a compass.
  • Know the seas that surround the UK.
  • Know the name of their nearest town or city.
  • Be able to locate their nearest town or city on a map of the United Kingdom.

Science:

Our key question this term was: What are the seen body parts and what are the five senses?

Children are able to: 

  • Know the names of some of the named body parts on a human
  • Name and identify the different senses; through field walks and activities which focus on one at a time

Art: 

Our focus has been on drawing skills this term. Particularly focusing on lines and shapes. Children are able to identify different names of lines and have had a go at drawing their own Mr.Men inspired characters and created work similar to the style of Piet Modrian. We also had a go at creating our work on iPads using the paint app.

PE: Striking and fielding games

PE this term has been shared between Miss Dyer (Tuesday afternoon) and Mrs Hobbs (Thursday afternoon).

Striking and fielding games are games where there are two teams, one, the batting team, try to score points and the other, the fielding team, try to stop the batting team from scoring. Examples of striking and fielding games include cricket and rounders. Children have been able to develop their underarm throw, overarm throw, catching, tracking, bowling and batting skills.