Year 2 CT

Aar me hearties! Ere’s some stuff us scurvy sea dogs in year 2 ‘ave been up to this last term…

We’ve learnt pirate dances and sang shanties. We have written a pirate code, a pirate adventure story and wanted posters. Our pirate day was a lot of fun with treasure hunts and dress up and role play. I think some of the reception children were a little scared of our shipmates!

We looked at the life cycle of a chick and it was wonderful to see our own incubated eggs hatch into tiny chicks.

Fast forward a hundred years and we have thrown ourselves into the Crimean War. Poor Florence Nightingale has had rather a lot on her plate, unlike the wounded soldiers who only have brown water and stale bread! We have been rather bossy nurses writing instructions on how to make hospitals better and wounded soldiers on the brink of death writing letters home.  The children have really engaged with stepping into the shoes of others to develop viewpoint in their writing.

Click on the picture of Florence for a great fact-site and interactive quiz...

As you are aware, our topic last term was Jurassic Giants and would you believe that on the first day back we discovered the fossils of a dinosaur?! We believe these could be the bones of the Bridgetownosaurus! The children were very busy investigating and researching information about dinosaurs.  We have written descriptions about fossils and landscapes, riddles, recounts, posters and we are working towards writing a non-chronological report. As a school we are trying out a new approach to writing called Talk4Writing. The children have enjoyed using maps, pictures and actions to orally rehearse dinosaur facts.  To see the results, ask your child to narrate their story map: ‘Long Long ago, dinosaurs…..'

In Science we were looking at materials and their properties and were excited to announce that we hadbooked our school trip to the informative and hands-on Thinktank Science Museum. Find out more by visiting their website: http://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank

We have been challenging the children to use a variety of strategies when adding and subtracting, including partitioning, kangaroo jumps and bridging ten.  We will also revisit and extend our multiplication and division facts. End of Year 2  expectation is for children to know the 3,4 and 6 as well as 2,5 and 10 times tables.  There are many songs and free games to download to help your child at home.  Why not try out this website for starters...

The children have been very busy this term. On our Lego day we built models using gears to add moving and rotating parts.

Our trip to the Think Tank was thoroughly enjoyable. We handled fossils, explored the human body, recycled materials and looked at vehicles from the past. It was a very interactive hands on experience. We thought you might enjoy looking at some of the photos...