Friday 29th November

This week in maths, we have been continuing our learning about money. We started by comparing groups of coins. First we had to calculate the total, using the efficient strategies we had learnt, and then we compared the values using the <, = or > symbols. Here are some examples for you to try at home:

The next day we found the difference between two values. We practise a range of strategies including:

·         Counting on using head and fingers

·         Counting on using number line

·         Counting on using bead string

Each time we thought about what is the same and what is the different. We checked that we could either count on or backwards between the numbers as the difference is the same. We noticed that we could simplify out thinking by knowing that we can take away the part that is the same and we are left with the difference. Therefore, to find the difference between two values we can subtract the smaller value.

We used our learning about finding the difference the next day when we played shops! One child ‘bought’ an item and paid with coins. The other child worked out the change – the difference between the value of the item and the money tendered. Please practise playing shops at home with your child and encourage them to work out the change required. You could challenge them by adding several items to find the total, and then find the change required.

On Friday, we put all our learning about money to good use as we tackled 2-step written questions.  Here are some examples that you might like to try at home:

The children have asked if I can add a game to the blog that we have been playing at school. It is lots of fun and is a good way to practise using coins to make a given amount. The game is ‘Custom Car Garage’ on ICTgames.com. I hope you have fun and enjoy your designs!

Next week we will be starting our multiplication and division topic. We will be counting in 2s, 5s and 10s as previously, and we will start to count in 3s.

This week in English we have continued learning about explanation texts.

On Monday we read an explanation text about Liam the gardener and the jobs he does over the different seasons.
First we read the text as a class and then we had to write the two most important pieces of information that we learnt.
1. Liam was a gardener
2. He worked in a park because he loved being outdoors.

Next we found out about his jobs that he does over the year.
After that we worked in threes sorting out Liam’s jobs according to the season and weather.

We found out that his busiest time of year was the summer months when he had lots of jobs to do. Ask your child what Liam had to do in the summer and why?
Why did Liam have to sweep the leaves in Autumn?
When does Liam have to cut the grass in the park?

The next day we used a planning sheet to plan our own explanation text about Liam the gardener through the seasons. We co-constructed a toolkit to show the features to include.

On Thursday and Friday we wrote our own explanation texts about Liam the Gardener and the jobs he does in the park throughout the seasons.

In phonics we have been learning alternative spellings for the 'l' phone. Words we have read, sounded out and written in sentences include: 

le - nibble, tumble, grumble
el - towel, camel, travel
al - capital, hospital, animal
il - nostril, pencil, fossil

We have been practising our year two spellings in the mornings. Please continue to practise at home. 

In handwriting we have been learning the joined formation of y and j. Words we have written eye, jaw, yell and jay. 

In science this week we used our weather chart from home to interpret the data collected. The children looked at the information regarding particular days, made general statements about the week’s weather and gave reasons why it was eg the wettest day on Friday. They then wrote about their findings.

Thank you for helping your child make their rain gauge and weather vane so they could collect data about rainfall and wind direction.  Also for helping them find the temperature each day.  It was interesting how many different ways we can find out the temperature for each day.  They included using phones, ipads, watching the weather forecasts on TV and using an outdoor thermometer. 
We feel the children’s learning has been so cross curricular this term with all of your support.  Following instructions in English, to following instructions to make a weather station at home and using the weather symbols in science, geography and art.  

In geography this term, we have been learning about the weather in the UK and around the world. This week we have been learning about extreme weather in hot and cold countries. We have considered why some places are very hot or very cold, in relation to their position in the world. You could ask your children to find some hot and cold countries using a globe or atlas and ask them to explain why that country is hot or cold. If you have travelled to places with different climates to the UK, you may like to discuss with your children what you did there and what you needed to wear.

Friday 22nd November

Thank you for coming to the parent consultation meetings this week. We hope you found them informative and useful, and we hope you are proud of all progress your children are making.  This morning the children took part in a maths morning. They solved a number of puzzles and cracked codes in order to generate an 8 digit passcode which allowed them to ‘escape the forest’ (similar to ‘escape the room’ experiences). The children used addition and subtraction, pattern finding, routes and codes to solve problems. Each problem generated a single digit answer, which formed part of the passcode. The children worked in twos and had to use teamwork to ensure that they found all 8 digits in the passcode over the course of the morning. Here are some examples of the puzzles and us solving them. This afternoon we have enjoyed playing maths games, such as Make 10 and Lions and Tigers. We have also enjoyed making our own maths games and books. During the week, we have been learning to recognise, count and select money. We stated by selecting 4 coins finding the total. We used our previous learning to add efficiently. The next day we worked in pairs and selected an item to ‘buy’. We selected the correct value of coins and our partner checked we had used careful counting. We challenged ourselves to make the value using the fewest coins and some of us make the value in different ways. We recorded this learning the next day when we choose a value and drew a part, part, whole model to represent the coins we could use. Here are some money questions you could discuss at home:  Next week we will be comparing different amounts of money and finding the difference between them. We will use this learning to calculate giving change, from values up to £1. Please play with money with your children, helping them to add a selection of coins, make a given value and give change. This week in English we have been learning about explanation texts.  That is a text that explains how or why something happens.  On Monday we were given a selection of  explanation texts to look at and think about the features of such texts.  We then talked about what we had found and listed the features. After we read an explanation text as a class called ‘How does water change?’ We looked to see if the book had the same features we had talked about.  After that we were explanation texts detectives and using the sheet below we tried to find evidence of the features in the book we were given.    At the end of the lesson we talked about how some information can be presented as a flow diagram. On Tuesday as a class we used a PowerPoint all about evaporation.  We looked at some pictures and talked about what was happening. We then read a short explanation text  about evaporation and noticed some key words that were used to explain the process. We then tired to create our own flow diagrams to explain the process of evaporation.  We had three sentence starters we could use First….. Then…. After that…. We also thought about specific words we could use.  These included – wet, dry, sun and evaporate. On Wednesday we had a SpAG lesson.  We revisited our learning about the four types of sentences. Commands Exclamations Questions               Statements We had to match the sentences to the type of sentence.  After that we wrote our own examples if different sentences and then tried to change one type into another.  Eg I am going to the shop into When will you go to the shop? Try this activity at home. On Thursday we used our explanation texts from home with the detective sheet we had used on Monday to see if our texts had those features.  Over the weekend look at the explanation text your child brought into school and talk about the key features.

Phonics – we have been learning about  

·         the /f/ sound spelt ph eg phone, elephant, trophy, dolphin, phrase

·         the /w/ sound spelt wh at the beginning of words eg when, which, while, where, white, wheel

·         the /r/ sound spelt wr at the beginning of words eg write, written, wrote, wrong, wrap, wreck

·         the /n/ sound spelt kn at the beginning of words eg knock, know, knee, knight, kneel ,knee, knife
and (less often) gn at the beginning of words gnat, gnaw

Make your own sentences up with these words. 

We have been enjoying learning about algorithms and programming using Scratch and Turtle. You might like to help your child continue their learning at home. Here is a link to the website we have been using: 
https://scratch.mit.edu/

We have now given out the parts for the our Christmas play - Santa's On Strike. We have been practising the songs, starting to create the dances and have given out scripts, to  children with speaking parts. We will be giving out costume letters as soon as possible, hopefully this week. Please remember that children will perform in bare feet, and if you have any questions about their costume requirements please speak to us. 

We hope you have a good weekend!

The Year Two Team

(P.S. Sorry for the late publishing of the blog this week, the computers kept freezing on Friday evening!)

We hope you have a good weekend, 

Friday 15th November

This week in maths, we have been continuing our learning about addition and subtraction. We started by subtracting a 1-digit number from a 2-digit number. We used sticks and bricks to partition the first number into tens and ones. We then took the ones away and if we did not have enough one we ‘regrouped’, or ‘exchanged’ one ten for some ones. For example, 62 – 8 does not have enough ones. 62 can be regrouped as 5o (5 tens) and 12 ones. We can then subtract the 8 from the 12 ones, to leave 4 ones, and add to the 5 tens = 54. A picture will explain this more clearly!

We have also done 62 - 8 using a bead string, this time ‘thinking 10’. First we find 62 on the bead string. We know that 8 can be partitioned into 2 and 6. We can subtract the 2 from 62 to make 60, then we need to subtract the other 6. Knowing our number bonds means we know 60 – 6 = 54. We use this same method on a number line.

 

We then subtracted a 2-digit number from a 2-digit number. Again, we partitioned the number into tens and one and regrouped a ten if we needed more ones. We practised this using tens and ones, bead string and number lines. Here is an example using 73 - 46

Tens and ones:  73 = 6 tens and 13 ones. Subtract 6 ones from 13 = 7ones, then subtract the 4 tens from the 6 ten = 2 tens. We now have 2 tens and 7 ones = 27.

 

Bead String: Start on 73. We know 46 is 40 + 3 + 3. Take away 3, to reach the next multiple of 10 = 70, take away 40 = 30 (using our number facts), take away the other 3 = 27 (using number facts)

Number line: Start on 73, jump back 3, then 40, then 30.

Please practise subtracting 2-digit numbers from 2-digit numbers at home. You can see that we are using our number facts to be efficient mathematicians, so please practise those if your child is not secure with addition and subtraction facts in 20.

We have also been adding 3, 1-digit numbers. We rolled a dice and made 3 numbers. We then created a calculation using these numbers, putting them in the most efficient order to calculate the total. 

This week in English we have been continuing our learning about writing instructions. On Monday we followed a set of instructions to make our own Catherine wheel firework.  We had to read each instruction in the correct order to be successful. On Tuesday we used a planning sheet to plan our instructions.   We had to remember the features of instructions. ·        Title ·        Numbers each instruction ·        Start each command on a new line ·        Short, clear commands ·        Adverbs ·        Extended commands On Thursday we wrote our own instructions using our planning sheet and the toolkit above. We also had to remember to include the non-negotiables. On Friday we edited our work with our teachers and then had an instruction writing ChIL. Home learning This weekend please get your child to carefully follow the instructions to make a rain gauge and a weather vane so next week they can record the weather at home on the weather sheet ready to bring it into school for the science lesson in the week commencing 25th November. Next week in English we are learning about explanation texts.  This is a text that explain a process of how or why something happens.  If the children could bring an explanation text into school for next Thursday as they will be looking at the features of this text including headings, sub headings, diagrams and vocabulary specific to the subject. Phonics – we have been learning the j sound represented as ·        dge in fudge, bridge and badge ·        ge in rage, stage, challenge and village ·        g as in gem, magic and giant You may like to get your child to put some of these words into a sentence. Spellings – we have been practising One... Once... old, cold, gold, hold.   This week we didn’t have a handwriting lesson as the Year 5s came down to share their stories as a random act of kindness. In Geography we were learning about forecasting the weather.  We learnt about the different weather symbols and used our knowledge of places in the UK to present the weather forecast. Have a great weekend.  Year Two staff.