Year 2 Curriculum Forecast

April 2012 – ‘Dens & Dandelions’

Dear Parent/Carer,

Here is our academic forecast for terms 5 and 6.

Literacy - Speaking and listening will be taught and encouraged through all subjects, including whole class Show and Tell sessions on a Wednesday. Please try to bring in something achieved, made, or discovered. Drama will continue to be used to explore our literacy topics, providing children with the opportunity to use role-play and hot-seating.

The children will learn to write for a range of purposes and audiences throughout the term. We have recently begun ‘Silly Stuff’, our poetry unit for this term. The children will consider a range of poetry such as tongue twisters, riddles, and nonsense rhyme. In fiction we will be studying Roald Dahl’s The Magic Finger, concentrating on story structure, emotions of characters, dialogue, and the use of connectives. In non-fiction we will be composing explanations about shark teeth.

We will continue to follow the Big Write programme developed by Ros Wilson. As you may be aware, the aim of the initiative is to improve standards in writing through interactive games and activities followed up by weekly writing sessions. In preparation for our Friday writing sessions there will be a short talk homework set on Wednesdays. Please spare 5-10 minutes of quality time (no other distractions; turn the television off!) to talk with your child about their ideas for writing and begin to shape a story structure with them. The opportunity to talk and plan ideas at home is an essential part of developing writing skills. In a change to previous terms, can I request that no notes are brought in to school for Big Write sessions on Fridays.

Year 2 are expected to read at home during the week, as part of their homework. Please make time for this; it helps your child in every area of the curriculum, not just literacy. In class we try read 1:1 with every child at least once a week. Furthermore, children have the opportunity to read independently on a daily basis from our class selection of reading materials. Year 2 can visit the library on a Tuesday lunch time.

A spelling test is included as part of the end of year Literacy assessment. In order to practice for this, spellings will be set, along with other homework, on a Friday. Children will be quizzed on their spellings the following Wednesday, so please help them to learn their set of words in time.

Numeracy - Maths is taught through differentiated group work, where a range of tasks are provided to consolidate learning. Our study is split into five blocks, which will enable us to visit a single topic over the duration of two/three weeks within each term, to then later be revisited throughout the year in more depth and detail. Our study this term will include:

  • Partitioning numbers into hundreds, tens, and units
  • Rounding to the nearest ten and hundred
  • Finding the difference between two numbers by counting on
  • Classifying and describe common 2D and 3D shapes
  • Recognising halves and quarters of shapes and numbers of objects
  • Pairs of multiples of numbers that total one hundred, and ten
  • Estimating capacity and reading a capacity scale
  • Organising and interpreting information in a table
  • Adding a 1-digit number to a 2-digit number
  • Adding two 2-digit numbers
  • Subtracting a 2-digit number from another
  • Using units of time; hours, minutes, seconds
  • Reading the time to the quarter hour on analogue and digital clocks
  • Understanding multiplication as repeated addition, and division as its inverse
  • Recognising 2-digit multiples of 2, 5, and 10
  • Doubling multiples of 5, halving multiples of 10; adding using near doubles
  • Recognising the relationship between halves and quarters

You can help your child to reinforce the learning which takes place at school by practicing using money, telling the time, and performing simple mental calculations (e.g. quick recall of number bonds to 10, subtraction facts for numbers totalling up to 20). Where possible, make the learning as visual as possible, using groups of objects to give meaning to numbers and operations.

Topic (Dens & Dandelions) and Design and Technology – We begin by identifying the features of homes today, using the locality of Marston for research. After that, we will look at the characteristics of homes through the ages, comparing and contrasting our findings. Children will learn how homes have changed over time, and will also have the opportunity to construct dens and model homes.

Science – Our topics this term are ‘plants’ and ‘variation and classification’. Children will have the opportunity to grow their own pea plants and observe their progress. We will use our plants to develop understanding of the parts of a plant, the life cycle of a plant, and what conditions plants need to germinate and grow.

In ‘variation and classification’ we begin by discussing the similarities and differences between plants and animals. We will investigate plants and animals in the local environment, and the children will learn that living things can be grouped by the way they look. We will consider that different habitats support different living things, and that we should seek to protect these areas.

Art – The children will learn to use a variety of materials, including reclaimed, to create collages linked to our other areas of study, and as individual pieces of art. We will continue to practice our making skills, and find out more about the materials we use and their properties.

P.E. – This area of the curriculum provides an opportunity to enhance social and teamwork skills and increase confidence. The children will have P.E. twice a week, on a Monday and Wednesday morning. We will be outdoors at every opportunity, developing skills related to cricket and athletics. As the weather becomes warmer please ensure that your child always has a water bottle, hat, and sun cream in school, along with their P.E. kit.

P.S.H.E. – This is very important in developing and supporting social skills and intrinsic problem solving. Our themes this term will be ‘Relationships’ and ‘Changes’. We will continue to use circle time and drama activities to explore feelings and emotions, with an emphasis on promoting self-awareness and positive solutions.

Music - Our whole school singing assembly will take place on a Tuesday morning. In addition, our class music lessons assist in developing the children’s listening, aural, and memory skills through the use of singing and percussion instruments. This term the children will be exploring different instrument sounds and the ability of music to create images in the mind.

I.C.T. – The children have two I.C.T. slots per week, on a Monday and Thursday. We will use the computers for a variety of cross-curricular purposes, including creating short films, PowerPoint presentations, posters, and graphs. The children will also use RM Maths, Number Shark, and Word Shark, to expand their numeracy and literacy knowledge and develop their problem solving skills.

Religious Education - The children will learn about different beliefs, faiths, and religious festivals. They will have the opportunity to discuss what it means to be religious, and consider the beliefs, faiths, and values which are important to them.

Italian – The children will continue to learn Italian with a specialist Italian teacher and native speaker. They will learn how to introduce themselves, count numbers up to twenty, say and recognise days and months, and talk about their favourite things.

If you have any questions, concerns, or you would like to visit our classroom or volunteer to help, please do come and see me at the end of the day to let me know. Thank you for your continued support.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Habbershaw