Yr2 Curriculum Update – 29/11/19
Working together to achieve success for every child
Greetings! – It’s our 7th edition!
We write a regular newsletter keeping you up-to-date and informed about your child’s learning. This will provide you with a good understanding of happenings in Year 2 and how you can support these learning experiences.
Let’s Inquire – Where We Are in Place & Time/How We Organise Ourselves
Over the past few weeks, students finished inquiring into the central idea, ‘People design shared spaces and systems to strengthen communities.’
Transdisciplinary Learning – It’s all connected!
Our creative Year 2 designers have been hard at work exploring less developed areas of the school. Why? In order to engage in personal inquiry and consolidate their learning about designing shared spaces, students have been given the chance to choose and redesign an area of KJS. While some children have made plans for improving the second rooftop for the whole KJS community, others have chosen to focus on creating spaces, such as calm down areas and role play centers, within their own class communities.
Maths inquiries have continued to center around the question, “How does our number system work?” Through problem solving, games and role play, students have shown their understanding of numbers in different ways, for example, partitioning them into hundreds, tens and ones, telling the value of each digit (e.g. 356 is the same as 300+50+6) or explaining the importance of zero. To encourage a confident and positive approach to Maths learning, students continue to use and reflect on their mindset targets, such as being persistent with math challenges and learning from other people’s strategies.
During Literacy, students had plenty of time to work on their speaking, presenting, reading and writing skills as they prepared for their assembly performances. Some classes applied their learning about sentences to write short scripts that included exclamations, questions and statements. They worked together to create success criteria so they could successfully read, speak or sing aloud with volume, clarity and expression.
While reading, students have been encouraged to visualise–listen, think about the meaning and draw the picture the author’s words have created in their minds. These experiences also allow them to “read as writers” by asking themselves, “What did the author do to help me create a picture in my mind?” and, “How can I do that in my own writing?”
Suggestions for supporting learning at home
*Ask your children which calm down strategies work best for them. Work together to set up a calm down area or calm down toolbox for home.
*Play board games together. As you play, think about your choices related to fair play and sportsmanship, etc., and the resulting consequences.
*Share your connections as you read together (e.g. This reminds me of . . . )
Please remember if you have questions or concerns, contact your child’s teacher. We welcome feedback and look forward to working with you to achieve success for every child.
Kindest regards,
The Year 2 Team
