Friday 28th February

This week in English we have been generating ideas, planning and writing our own stories for the Harpenden schools’ writing competition.  We could choose to write a story about anything we wanted to. On Monday we talked about the different story plots we could use ·         Overcoming a monster ·         Rags to riches ·         Journey and return We thought about who the main character would be , where the story would be set, what would happen, any setbacks the character would encounter and who would help them solve the problem.  Finally we talked about the ending and any learning that the story taught us. We recorded our ideas on big sheets of paper. On Tuesday we planned our own stories using the ideas we generated yesterday and recorded these on the plot matrix. On Thursday and Friday we wrote our stories editing our work as we went along. Home Learning Keep reading lots of stories so your child has ideas to magpie for their own stories. Please remember to keep a record of the stories you share over the next five weeks on the sheet shown below. Please could you send the sheet in every Wednesday over the next 5 weeks so we can collate the data to send off to the World Book Day website. We will then send it home on Wednesday afternoon. Spelling Keep practising the Year two common exception words as we will be doing some spelling assessments next week.  This week in maths, we have been learning about measuring length. First we practised ‘mathematical measuring’ in centimetres, using a ruler. We made a list of rules to remember when we are using a ruler. We drew some pictures and used rulers to measure to the nearest cm. The next day we thought about measuring longer or taller things, such as the playground and benches outside. We knew that using a ruler would be tricky, so we decided to use metre sticks. We checked that 1m is equal to 100cm, by using a ruler. We then went outside and used our mathematical measuring to measure, working with a partner to ensure we could move the metre stick, if the item as longer than one metre, and still measure accurately. We recorded the length or height using metres and centimetres, for example 2m 35cm. (In Year Two we learn to measure to the nearest cm, using metres and cm.) The next day we compared objects, using the words longer, longest, taller, tallest, short, shortest, wider and widest. Ask your child to use these words to compare the size of objects at home. We then answered some questions, based on comparing measurements. Here are some examples: On Friday, we used our learning about measuring to answer questions that including adding, subtraction, multiplying and dividing. Here are some examples: Please ask your child to teach you the rules for measuring with a ruler and ask them to demonstrate how it should be done!   Science – Healthy Living We began our science topic recapping on what humans need to survive (water, air/oxygen and food).  We discussed the fact that humans need to eat a wide range of food and we introduced the term ‘a balanced diet’. Thank you for completing the food journals over half term.  The children looked at their journals and colour coded the items: Green - foods to eat often (fruits and vegetables, starchy foods) Yellow - foods to eat sometimes (dairy food, meat, fish, beans, pulses and nuts) Red - foods to only eat occasionally (foods high in fat and sugar) The children then evaluated their diets and listed three good healthy eating habits and three ways their diet could be improved.  It would be great if you could talk to your child about the changes they would like to make.  Maybe they can join you on a trip food shopping.  Can they identify the red, yellow and green foods?  Can they remember what this colour coding means? Enjoy your weekend. The Year Two Team

Friday 14th February

This week in English we have continued to use the story On the Way Home.

On Monday and Tuesday we wrote our own On the Way Home using our plot matrixes.  To write an interesting story we had to remember to use:

·         the recurring language

Look at my bad knee.

How did you do it?

And that’s how I got my bad knee.

• Questions
• Exclamations
• Adjectives
• Verbs
• Joining words

On Wednesday in our SpAG lesson we continued our learning about question sentences.
We talked about these question words – Who  What  Where  When  Why
We wrote our own questions remembering to start with a question word and end with a ?

On Thursday we worked in pairs.  We read our partner story and then talked to them about what we liked and how they could improve their work.

On Friday we enjoyed an On the Way Home ChIL. During that time we each worked with the adults in class and made edits to our story to make them even better.

 Home learning

Over the half term holiday encourage your child to read as many stories as they can because after half term we will all be making up and writing our own story.  Think about the different settings stories can be set in, the different characters and the different plots that can occur. Use the plot matrix to talk about stories as you read them.

We know the more you read, the more ideas you can magpie for your own stories.

Spelling

This week in spelling on Monday we were learning about the digraph le.
We talked about the le at the end of the words
We noticed a pattern
Bottle, bubble, little, middle, wobble, settle, shuffle, apple, dazzle, grumble, table
Many of the words have double consonant.

On Tuesday we revisited our learning about the possessive apostrophe. We added a new rule. If the person’s name ends in a s look where the apostrophe goes.

James’ book.
Jess’ jumper.
Chris’ toy.
The children made up their own sentences.

On Wednesday the children learnt a selection of new homophones.

New, knew

Not, knot
They’re, there, their

On Thursday our dictations were
Sarah
It was not James’

Over half term look at your child’s spelling journal and revisit this half term’s learning.

Remember when spelling it is very important that they are accurate so please instil the importance.

This week in maths we have been learning about fractions. In year 2 we learn about ½, ¼, ¾ and 1/3 of shapes, quantities and numbers. We discussed how fractions are equal parts of the whole, and we know how many parts by reading the fraction like this:

We learnt that a half is one of 2 equal parts.

To find a quarter you can find half, and then half that half. Ask your child to explain!

We have also been finding a third. 

Here are some of the questions we have been trying this week.

Please try asking your child to find a half, quarter, three quarters or a third of objects, quantities or numbers during half term.

In Geography this half term we have been learning about the geographical features of different locations – cities, towns, villages or coastal.  This week we have enjoyed making our chosen location and including the relevant geographical features.

In Jigsaw this half term we have been thinking about our dreams and goals. This week we have worked collaboratively to make birds for our dreams and goals gardens.

Well, that is half of year two completed! The time is going so quickly! Thank you for coming to the 'book look' this week. The children were very proud to show off their work, especially their 'location' boxes and 'On The Way Home' stories. 

We hope that you all have a restful and enjoyable half term holiday, see you on Monday 24^th February.

Year Two Teachers