Year 2 Closure Resources
During the time that the school is closed we will be using this page to offer ideas for home learning and other ways of keeping in touch with school staff.
Activities
English:
Listen to your child read as often as possible.
We have been looking at the book Titchy Witch and the Stray Dragon. The author is Rose Impey and she has written a series of these books. Your child could write a story to match one of her other story titles such as Titchy Witch and the Frog Fiasco or Titchy Witch and the Magic Party.
Things we would encourage you to practice are:
- ensuring your child is writing in correctly punctuated sentences
- use a variety of connectives (i.e. or, and, but, when, if, that etc.)
- letters are correctly sized in relation to one another
We also go over spellings 4 x a week. The Year 2 spellings children are expected to know are: https://themumeducates.com/year-2-common-exception-words-free-worksheets/
Maths:
Things we would encourage you to practice:
- adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers
- number bonds to and within 10 and 20
- division and multiplications facts for 2, 5 and 10
We were about to start to learn how to read the time on a clock to the nearest 15 minutes and reading scales in divisions of ones, twos, fives and tens. We would encourage you to practice this.
Top Marks is a really useful website, full of great games. Here are some useful websites too:
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/place-value-basketball
https://www.starfall.com/h/addsub/candy-machine/?sn=math1--math0
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/learning-to-count/chopper-squad
http://www.learnyourtables.co.uk/en/index2.htm
White Rose have added a home learning page which is worth a look too.
https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/
Science:
Over the next few weeks we were going to explore everyday materials and plants. Some questions and things to discuss:
Choose a material and discuss what would happen if it were missing from your home. For example, what if there were no glass? How would your home be different? Which materials are your rubbish made out of? Which of these can be recycled and which can’t?
What if there were no plants? Which things in your home would be missing if there were no plants? Don’t forget to check the fridge! Whereabouts in your home would be a good place for a plant to grow? Why? Where would be a bad place for a plant to grow? If you have any left-over carrot tops or apple pips, you could try growing them in different places and find out!
Ideas:
- Find a place in the world that you are interested in and research about it.
- Exercise regularly and try and beat your own personal score.
- Create a comic book.
- Research about plants and grow some (if you can).
Keep Fit!
With less opportunities to play outside it's important that we keep fit by exercising at home. Here are some good short exercise videos to help break up your day. You may recognise some from school.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8haFw_YlA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoYxG0avSfY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ9q4U2P3ig&t=55s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imhi98dHa5w
Good Websites
Phonics Play, Phonics Bloom, Teach Your Monster to Read --- Phonics Activities
ICTgames, MathsZone --- Interactive maths games
Pobble365 KS1, LiteracyShed --- Mini stories and story starters
Twinkl --- Resources and activities for all areas of Y2 curriculum
GoNoodle, Cosmic Yoga --- Movement breaks
Additionally there are some lovely KS1 projects here: https://www.robinhoodmat.co.uk/learning-projects/
Weekly Updates
Monday 13th July 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hello Year 2 Families,
It was lovely to see to so many of you on Thursday and having a quick catch up. We couldn’t believe how much some of the children had grown since we last saw them! We would like to thank you all for the support you have shown us in Year 2. It has meant a lot.
See below for the overview of the Bitesize lessons. The reading lesson is yet to be confirmed but the other English lessons are useful. The Math's learning concentrates on time.
And so we find ourselves in the last week of the Summer Term. This is usually when we are remembering the good times we have shared and look forward to the next school year. Why don’t you chat with your loved ones about your time in Year 2? What was your favourite memory and what are you looking forward to in Year 3?
Thanks again. We hope that you all have a very happy summer.
Nic and Jack
Maths
This week is our last week and it's all about telling the time, something we'd love you to continue working on over the summer. You can the videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 12 (w/c 13th July). You can find this weeks worksheets below. Have fun!:
Big Maths challenge! Your final Big Maths challenge for the year, hope you enjoy and we look forward to seeing you all soon!
Word of the Week
This week's word of the week is grateful. it is an adjective and sums up how we feel at the minute. We would like to share just a few things that we are grateful for - that you and your families are well; that we had the pleasure of teaching you for some of the year and that we work in such a wonderful school with such thoughtful staff. As the holiday begins can you think of anything that you are grateful for?
Monday 6th July 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hi Everyone,
We hope that you are all well. The overview of the Bitesize lessons this week is rather vague with a few English lessons waiting to be confirmed. From this limited information there are a few fun videos about action words (verbs) and tenses that your child should enjoy. We're thinking especially of “The Grasshopper Song!” The Maths learning is a mix of fractions, time and temperature.
The foundation learning is completely arts based which should interest lots of our children! Hopefully there is something there for everyone.
It’s hard to believe that it is the penultimate week of the Summer Term. The Summer Term is always special and this year we would have been working on the whole school Ouseburn project. Despite it not being the ending we hoped for at least we have the chance to see some of you on Thursday to hand out the reports. If you can make it, it will be lovely to see you and your child.
Best wishes,
Nic and Jack
Word of the Week
This noun means an unpleasant smell! Synonyms for miasma include stench, reek and stink. It is a useful word to create a negative piece of writing! Here's my sentence -
A miasma of defeat hung over her shoulders.
What can you come up with?
Terrifying Typewriter!
Imagine the typewriter click clacking away...by itself! What message would it give? Would it be a warning? How would it look? Have a go at writing your own terrifying typewriter message.
Wake up Word Work!
Which adjectives below match the description of the orangutan?
fluffy, cuddly. scaly, soft, green, cold, furry and patterned
Can you pick a toy of your own and write a mix of adjectives? Some should match with your toy and some shouldn't. Test someone in your house.
Maths
This week we are looking at a variety of things: litres, temperature and time. You can the videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 11 (w/c 6th July). You can find this weeks worksheets below. Have fun!:
Monday 29th June 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hi Everyone,
As we move into July we are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Thursday 9th July. It’s been too long!
We also want to say thank you for sending some wonderful photographs. They are lovely to receive via email. It’s good to see what your children have been up to. Keep them coming!
Below is the overview of Bitesize lessons for this week.
All lessons for English and Maths would be worthwhile, except the Curly caterpillar letter lesson on handwriting as it teaches writing in a different way.
As with last week there is lots of choice for the other lessons. What is your child interested in?
There is also a new Talk for Writing booklet out. We hope that your children enjoyed the Superhero one. This one is called The Mangle Quangles’s Hat. It grabbed our attention! What on earth is a Quangle Mangle? Well, if you read the booklet then you will find out more! If your child carries out the creative task of making a hat then please send us the photographs.
So far the Talk for Writing home school booklets have raised over an amazing £25,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital and the NSPCC. We will be donating again. Please click the link below to access it –
https://www.talk4writing.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Y2-Quangle-F.pdf
Take care. Thank You,
Nic and Jack
Photographs of Home Learning
We have been sent some lovely photographs of Idris and Ruben working at home.
Idris has been looking at nature. I love his exploration of flowers and his drawing. The last photograph is of his insect sweets. All made by Idris himself. They certainly look interesting! This website https://ed.ted.com/earth-school has lots of interesting ideas to explore.
Ruben has been very busy setting up experiments. He told me that not all were successful but that will be exactly what a scientist experiences!
We loved seeing these photographs. Thank you!
Talk for Writing Challenge
Can you decipher the Talk for Writing symbols above? Remember that we use the open book symbol for a story opening. Who is the main character in this story? Look carefully to see where they live. What did they decide to do one day? Have a go at writing this story opening and if you are feeling really confident why not write the whole story? Enjoy!
Guess the Continent
Copyright - <a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-vector/isolated">Isolated Vectors by Vecteezy</a>
Look at the continent above. Can you name it? Use https://www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/continent-facts.html#:~:text=Our%20Continent%20Facts%20for%20Kids,in%20size%20and%20population%20numbers. if you need help.
How many countries make up this continent? Which is the largest? Can you find out any more interesting facts? Present your ideas in a way decide you like.
Word of the Week
This is a lovely word. It means to have a firm hold of something or someone. I've picked out 5 synonyms for tenacious. Can you rank them from strongest to weakest? There is no right or wrong. it' s up to you!
stubborn, strong - willed, steadfast, resolute, persistent
Wake up Word Work!
Can you add any more rhyming words to the ones above? I've given you 5 to begin with. Can you then make up your own string of rhyming words? Take care with those that have the same sound but a different spelling!
Maths
This week we are looking at mass. You can the videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 10 (w/c 29th June). You can find this weeks worksheets below. I hope you're all well!:
Monday 22nd June 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hi Everyone,
Mr Gardner is having a few internet problems so he would like you to know that the Maths work will be put up as soon as possible. He hasn’t forgotten! We know how many of you love Maths.
Below is the overview of Bitesize lessons for this week.
All lessons for English and Maths would be worthwhile, except the Thursday lesson on handwriting as it teaches writing in a different way.
There is lots of choice for the other lessons. It may be worth asking your child if there is anything that interests them this week.
We hope that you are all well. As rules have changed perhaps some of you have managed to see loved ones, even if from a distance. We hope this has helped after such a long period of separation.
Yours,
Nic and Jack
Maths
Apologies for the delay in getting this weeks Maths up. I (Mr Gardner) have had internet problems which are all fixed now!
Anyway, this week we are looking at length. You can the videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 9 (w/c 22nd June). You can find this weeks worksheets below. I hope you're all well!:
Big Maths challenge!
Word of the Week
Have you heard of this word of the week? It's a beautiful word that means something is light, airy or delicate.
His beauty was ethereal.
Her ethereal dress shimmered in the light.
Try to use this word this week!
Wake Up Word Work
Look closely at the cvc (consonant, vowel, consonant) words above. How have I changed them each time? Each time I have changed 1 letter to make a new word. Doing this I manged all the words above. Can you pick a cvc word to start and see how long your list is?
Monday 15th June 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hi Everyone,
At this time of year teachers are busy writing reports and the great thing about this is that you remember so many funny/happy moments. We have discovered that looking back can be extremely uplifting.
Below is the overview of Bitesize lessons for this week.
All lessons for English and Maths would be worthwhile except the long ladders handwriting as the children are taught in a slightly different way. The last time we looked at shape wasn’t long before lock down so that brings back memories.
It may be interesting to look at the Antarctica lesson. I wonder how much your children can remember from our project back in the Autumn term?
It is nearly the end of the Quest. If you’ve joined in, hasn’t it been fun? I wonder what final message we will take from it.,,
Thank you. Look after yourselves.
Nic and Jack
Congratulations to Lily who this week started to ride her bike without stabilisers. What a brilliant example of having a growth mindset, well done Lily! Here is a short video of her achievements:
Art Inspiration
This made me smile. Elizabeth has made a model of me (Mrs Sheader) to help her do her school work. Thanks for sending Elizabeth. I love it!
Wake Up Word Work
The vowel monster has eaten all the vowels from the note below. Can you help figure out what it says? Remember the vowels are a,e,i,o and u. Good luck!
Sh_pp_ng L_st
_ggs
c_m_c
l_tt_c_
c_rd
t_nt
b_g
Can you make up your own missing vowel word or sentence?
Mysterious Key
Look at the key above. Can you think of answers to these questions? What does it unlock? Who does it belong to? If it was a magic key where would you like it to take you?
Maths
This week we are looking at the properties of 2D and 3D shapes. You can the videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 8 (w/c 15th June). You can find this weeks worksheets below:
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. There's a couple of trickier questions this week, best of luck!
Monday 8th June 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hello to you all,
We hope that you are doing well. Below is the timetable for BBC Bitesize this week.
All the English lessons this week are useful. If you need to prioritise time then word endings (suffixes) are definitely worth looking at and contractions in writing (I am = I’m) are also essential in year 2. The math's section concentrates on fractions. These activities build up over the week so are best looked at in sequence.
There is also a new Talk for Writing booklet out. We hope that your children enjoyed the Rainbow one. This one is all about superheroes and we think the children will love it. Please click the link below to access it –we have donated to the NSPCC.
https://mailchi.mp/talk4writing/batch4
Please keep in touch. Let us know how things are going at home.
Nic and Jack
Maths
This week we are looking at unit fractions, non-unit fractions, finding a half and a quarter. You can the videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 7 (w/c 8th June). You will have noticed the worksheets are no longer on the White Rose website, you can find them below:
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. Best of luck!
Quick Write
Look at the images below. One of the characters is a dinosaur the other is Puss in Boots. Look at the setting around them. There is a speech bubble form each of them. What might they be saying?
Word of the Week
Can you read the word below? Can you remember how we pronounce the digraph "ph?" What does the "y" often sound like at the end of a word? This word describes a meaningless mixture of sounds.
Here is an example of a sentence using the word -
The cacophony of screams and shouts hit her ears as she entered the huge hall.
Monday 1st June 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hi Everyone,
We know that holidays at the moment are looking very different from usual but we hope that you and your families managed to enjoy it nevertheless.
Below is the overview of Bitesize lessons for this week.
Recapping the different types of sentences will be useful. There are some fun videos for the children to watch. Later on in the week the suffix lessons will be worth looking at. These will support your child’s spelling. The Maths begins with Webster the Spider singing the 10 X table. It’s fun! There are lots of opportunities linked to this times table to deepen understanding.
The foundation lessons cover a variety of topics. There is a French lesson but we don’t teach any French in Year 2. The science lesson links to habitats and would be good revision for previous learning.
Hopefully this information isn’t too overwhelming coming after a holiday. Ease into it and remember that any reading or child initiated learning is just as valuable.We will continue adding activities throughout the week (below this letter).
Thank you.
Nic and Jack
Maths
This week we are looking at the 10 times table, sharing, grouping and odd and even numbers. You can find activities and accompanying videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 6 (w/c 1st June). You will have noticed the worksheets are no longer on the White Rose website, you can find them below:
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. Best of luck! (You may have noticed a mistake on the previous version, well spotted if you did!)
Word of the Week
This word is a synonym for blue. This blue would be bright rather than dull. Azure makes me think of sparkling seas and sunshine glinting. I could use it in a sentence like this -
The sun shone in a cloudless azure sky.
Challenge yourself to try to use this word today!
Ruby Red
Look at the beautiful jewel below. Isn't it a gorgeous red? We could add an adjective to describe the red- ruby red - or we could decide to use a synonym for red. I picked out these - crimson, cerise and carmine. Which do you think sounds the best?
Why not look around your home to find an object in your favourite colour? Can you collect some synonyms to describe the colour in a different way?
Wake up Word Work!
A compound word is made up of 2 or more words. For example sand + castle = sandcastle. Can you use my picture clues below to fill in the crossword? Could you collect some of your own compound words?
Monday 18th May 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hi everyone,
We thought the weekly plan of Bitesize lessons would be useful to share to give an overview.
We thought that it would be useful for children to look at the phonics section (this looks at homophones); to have a go at using conjunctions to form sentences; to use verbs to write a diary and to have a go at the reading lesson. Maths is really useful too. The children have looked at repeated addition and multiplication so it’ll be a useful recap. The children also need to learn their 2, 5 and 10 times tables off by heart so any work around these is valuable.
The foundation lessons cover a variety of topics so you could ask your child to pick 2 that they are interested in.
This week the new Talk for Writing home-school resource is now available. It’s all about Rainbows – a great symbol of hope in these uncertain times.
https://www.talk4writing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Y2-Rainbows.pdf
We have donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital for this fantastic resource.
Finally it’s been so lovely reading emails and hearing what your children are up to. Beneath are some examples that the rest of Year 2 can see. Enjoy!
There is some very exciting news about Benjamin. He is officially a world record breaker, joining in with scouts all over the world to camp for 30 nights!
We are very proud of him! Benjamin is a wonderful artist and is following a show on You Tube called Harptoons (all about drawing) .After sending in his own work he had a response from the artist all the way from America!
Jonah wanted to share what he has been up to. it looks like fun!
It seems that his family has a new family member! Jonah is obviously using his book to learn all about penguins!
Jonah has also enjoyed other reading material during this time. As we all know The Beano is a classic.
There has been some sowing of seeds (Benjamin has also been planting).
We hope that they are growing well, Jonah.
Sam has produced his own PowerPoint on someone who has changed the world - Bill Gates. He discovered lots of information. Good work.
If you are missing McDonald's then Elizabeth knows how you are feeling. She has made a video dealing with this. Watch it on the link below -
Amadeus has also been busy! He loves learning factual stuff. Here he is measuring the length of a dinosaur!
His limerick also made us laugh. Impressively, he wrote it all by himself.
Rufus accepted and excelled at the Wake up Word Challenge from last week. He challenged his family members to solve it. Well done!
We hope that you have a lovely week. Please share any of your learning with us.
Nic and Jack
Maths
This week we are looking at multiplication, using arrays and exploring the 2 and 5 times table. You can find activities and accompanying videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 5 (w/c 18th May). You will have noticed the worksheets are no longer on the White Rose website, you can find them below:
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. Best of luck!
Wake Up Word Work
This morning's challenge is to use the letters above to spell as many words as possible. You can only use each letter once. Good luck!
Word of the Week
I love this word! Shambolic means that something is messy, chaotic or disorganised. Read my sentence -
She looked around the shambolic room and sighed.
How could you use this word this week? Challenge yourself to use it when talking to your family.
Designing a Poster
A little someone in our household lost his special toy rat (who knew that could happen when in lock-down?!). He designed a poster to help find Whiskers.
It's so lovely but what parts are missing? What other information do we need to add to make sure that we are reunited with Whiskers? Any advice would be gratefully received.
If you have a special teddy or toy could you design a missing poster for them? Hopefully you will never need to use it! What would it look like? How would you make sure that it stood out? We would love to see any examples!
Wonderful World
Maps are great! This jigsaw puzzle is a map of the world. Notice the continents and the oceans we have looked at in class. Can you answer the questions below?
If you could visit any continent where would you go and why?
What would you pack for your stay?
Look at the animals in the puzzle. Why not pick one and become a researcher? What can you find out about your chosen animal? Think about how you could present your information; perhaps in a report, a poster, a video or a fact file. The choice is yours!
Monday 11th May 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack
Hello All,
We want you to know that talking to many of you last week really gave us a lift. It was so great checking in and finding out how things are going at home. Thanks for sharing and please don’t worry if your child sometimes finds concentrating on school work tricky. Following their interests is just as valuable and will bring its own learning. Also if you continue any type of reading during this time it will support your children so much.
Our school looks great with the luggage labels displayed on the gates. Look out for some more quest challenges coming up this week. Have fun with them whatever they are!
Some people said that they are finding BBC Bitesize useful -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/z7s22sg/year-2-and-p3-lessons/1
Parts that we feel will be enjoyable and also consolidate previous learning are the Small Town Superheroes (located within phonics). These were mentioned last week and if your child used them then they should be confident in working fairly independently and adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers and tens.
The History lesson is about Dr. Martin Luther King. There is a lovely animation to watch and a Horrible History Song to listen to before some activities to check understanding. Remember your child could also make a poster or fact file of what they have learnt.
Lastly, 2 parents have given us some links to share –
http://mixlr.com/star-shadow-radio/showreel/rola-cola-radiola-2/
The link above is to Rola Cola Radio and has one of our Year 2 children (Idris) sharing facts about a special sea creature (we don’t want to give any spoilers!). Fact 3 was a surprise!
https://www.wwt.org.uk/discover-wetlands/home-learning-and-family-fun
This has some lovely ideas. We especially liked create a fantasy duck, what’s outside your window and the bug hunt.
Don’t be a stranger. Please email. We love to hear from you. We miss you.
Nic and Jack
Maths
This week we are looking at addition and subtraction with 2-digit numbers and tens. You can find activities and accompanying videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 4 (w/c 11th May):
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. Best of luck!
Maths challenge: Have ago at the adding investigation below. You can draw your blocks or if you have any at home you could use them. Have fun investigating:
Word of the Week
This week's word of the week seems old fashioned as it’s a word that isn't heard often. It is used to describe a close friend.
Hanifah is my crony.
Have a go at using this word. Do you like using it? It felt strange when I tried this week. I wonder why? Check out https://www.dictionary.com/ to find out more about crony and to look at their Word of the Day.
Quick Write
I bought and framed this quote for my little boy's room as I love it (despite the lack of punctuation!). Looking at it this week I thought about how it could be innovated for some quick write sentences. These could be positive or negative.
This is my positive example -
You are made of sunshine kisses.
This is my negative example -
You are made of swirling, black thoughts.
Could you innovate the quote to write 5 positive and 5 negative statements?
Wake Up Word Work
This week why not create your own crossword (see above)? I cut up rectangular pieces of paper to organise my answers and make a large crossword. I wrote a clue for 1 across before moving to 1 down and continued to link up the crossword using letters from my answers.
Here are my clues -
ACROSS
- What 4 letter verb is the past tense of swim?
- Year 2 are the best __________ ever! (noun, begins with c, 5 letters)
- A core value of Hotspur and something we love to be! (adjective, 8 letters)
DOWN
1. When you look at this you may see clouds, stars, the sun or the moon (noun, 3 letter)
2. This word is the opposite of no.
Your clues can be about anything! Have a go!
Monday 4th May 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack (activities will be added below)
Hello to you all,
Are you keeping well? Are your children managing to cope with this this change in situation? We hope so.
It was lovely last week to receive emails letting us know what some of the children in our class have been up to. We loved reading the brilliant story below, linked to the Talk for writing unit. Please send any photographs of work our way! It makes our day.
We hope that BBC Bitesize is of some use. Today there is a fun lesson on developing vocabulary through phonics. We're sure the children will love the Small Town Superheroes game. They can choose to focus on prefixes/suffixes, punctuation or sentences. Begin with the easy level and then move to the harder level. At the bottom of the phonics page there is a task linked to spelling the 4 countries of the U.K. correctly. This would be a useful recap.
For Maths learning look at the Fact Families section. This helps the children see links in their number learning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/z7s22sg/year-2-and-p3-lessons/1
Throughout the week we will post activities and ideas below.
Take care,
Nic and Jack
Wake Up Word Search
A new wake up word challenge. Look carefully at the grid above. You are looking for a word that is a synonym of scary. The word may be written horizontally, vertically or diagonally! It has 5 letters and 4 sounds (phonemes). Check out https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/synonym to help. Good luck!
Maths
This week we are recapping addition and subtraction and comparing two different amounts. You can find activities and accompanying videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 3 (w/c 4th May):
https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. Best of luck!
Monday 27th April 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack (see below for activities for this week)
Hello All,
It seems like such a long time ago that we were teaching your lovely children that we couldn’t quite believe it when we counted out that it has been 16 days out of the usual teaching routine. It has felt like a lot longer. Missing being in the classroom has really intensified how lucky we feel to work in such an amazing school with such interesting children.
If you enjoyed using the BBC resources last week then please check out BBC Bitesize again –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/z7s22sg/year-2-lessons/1
Currently, it is only showing lessons for today (27th April) but I’m sure this will be added to before tomorrow. We have covered money and coins in class and some of the children found this tricky so that would be a useful recap. In English it would be worth concentrating on the alliteration lessons. The way BBC Bitesize teach handwriting is different from our approach so skip this part.
For the history lesson there is lots about Neil Armstrong. If your children is interested in this that’s great. If not you could research a famous scientist, singer, author, illustrator etc. of your child’s choice. They could write and illustrate a fact file about them.
If your child enjoyed Pandora’s Box there is a new Talk for Writing home-school resource available. This is based on the story of The Elves and the Shoemaker. We are donating to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity in thanks for this resource.
https://www.talk4writing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Y2-Emma-Elves.pdf
There is a fun science investigation included in the pack that links nicely to work on materials.
Look after yourselves. Please tell your children we are asking after them and we miss their amazing smiles.
Nic and Jack
Wake Up Word Search
A new Wake Up Word Search. Look carefully at the grid above. If you find a grapheme (letter) that is repeated cross it out! What graphemes are you left with? Can you arrange the letters to find the mystery word? It has 6 letters and 5 phonemes (sounds) in it.
Once you have discovered the mystery word could you use it in a sentence? Is the mystery word an adjective, noun, verb or an adverb?
Maths
This week we are comparing and ordering different lengths. You can find activities and accompanying videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 2 (w/c 27th April).
You may wish to look back and recap over Week 1 Lesson 3 and 4 - measuring length first:
Big Maths challenge! Here's a set of questions to help us practice our arithmetic skills. Best of luck!
Maths challenge:
Money recap. Can you have a go at finding two different ways to make each amount using the coins provided? Circle or tick the coins.
If you have any coins at home you might want to practice using them by making your own toy shop!
Exploring Materials
Play the Junk Jumble Recycle game. Can you recycle the rubbish in the correct bin?
https://www.twinkl.co.uk/go/resource/tg-ga-59-twinkl-green-week-junk-jumble-recycling-game
For this week's investigation you need to collect some solid items from around your home. These are the items I collected -
You are going to investigate whether these items can change shape. Can you squash,bend,twist or stretch your objects? Before you start make your prediction then test it out! Only 3 of my solid objects changed shape. Can you guess which ones?
Were you right? Which solid items from your investigation changed shape? Now for the trickiest part. Why do some solid items need to change shape and some don't? Materials have to be suited to a task. Imagine a house made of marshmallows! Pencils made from leaves! Why did some of your objects need to change shape? How does this help them do their job?
Word of the Week
I love the sound of this week's word, which is as good a reason as any other to include it!
Last night I ate a sublime meal.
In this case I am using the word sublime as an adjective. it describes my meal. Sublime is a positive adjective it means that something is outstanding or supreme. I could describe Year 2 as a sublime class! What could you describe as sublime?
Monday 20th April 2020
Letter from Nic and Jack (see below for activities for this week)
Dear All,
We hope that you are well. It feels like so long ago that we last saw everyone. We want you to know that we think of you often.
As this time of staying in continues we have some ideas that you may wish to use to support learning at home.
BBC Bitesize has some interesting home-learning lessons. The link below will take you to the home page where you can click on Year 2 to access the units.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/dailylessons
The English and Maths are worth looking at. This week the Maths lessons cover finding 1 more and 1 less, counting in steps, addition, representing numbers in different ways and a challenge for Friday.
For English there are ideas about using a book title/cover to predict the content, looking at different sentence types, using imperative (bossy) verbs and a reading lesson.
The Geography lesson recaps the 4 countries of the U.K. We learnt his back at the beginning of the year (which we look back on fondly) when the big bad wolf lead us on a merry dance trying to capture him! Your children might enjoy looking back at this information.
There is also a well-being lesson that, in these strange times, may be useful to share with your child. This week it is about managing anger and includes a warm up linked to believing in yourself. All very pertinent right now!
Lastly, in school we teach using a Talk for Writing approach. Handily, there have been some Home-school resources designed. You can check out the Year 2 work on Pandora’s Box by clicking the link below
https://www.talk4writing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Y2-Unit.pdf
There is also a link provided within the resource so that children can listen to the story being read aloud. They may even wish to draw symbols to represent it!
Please don’t feel overwhelmed. These ideas are suggestions only. We totally agree with what Miles said. Children being interested in anything is good. Follow those interests without worrying about whether you are following the curriculum. Don’t feel guilty about what’s not happening and celebrate what you are doing! Have some fun!
Take care,
Nic and Jack.
Enter text...
Maths
This week we are counting fractions and measuring lengths. You can find activities and accompanying videos for that on the White Rose site under Week 2 (w/c 20th April):
https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/
Sink or Float?
Why not sing along to this materials science song together to get started?
http://www.viewpure.com/xOKr462HLc0?ref=search
This is a fun experiment to try out at home. It involves predicting whether items you have collected will float or sink before testing them to check your predictions.
First of all collect a selection of different items from around your home.
The items above were made of a range of materials.
After you have your collection make your prediction for each item.
You could use a tick and a cross or show your prediction in a different way. We know Year 2 are good at this!
Next fill a bucket, bowl or sink with water. Test if the item sinks or floats.
As you test each item think about your predictions. Were they correct or incorrect? Show the results of your investigation.
Finally think about why some items floated and some didn't. A key word to understanding this is density!
Check out https://www.coolkidfacts.com/sink-and-float-facts-for-kids/ to find out more.
Happy investigating and if you want to why not investigate other properties of materials? You could predict and test whether an item is magnetic, transparent, floats, or can be squashed or stretched.
Word of the Week
Verdant is a lovely word that crossed my mind when having a walk down to Jesmond Dene.
It is derived from the Old French word for green, vert, which in turn is from Latin virēre, meaning "to be green." We use it to describe a place covered with healthy green plants or grass.
Disclaimer - No flour was wasted to show this word. It was found at the back of a cupboard and 5 years out of date! I did try it to make biscuits but they were horrible!
Sharing your wonderful work
If you have created a piece of art work that you 're proud of or made something that you'd like to share then do send it to us at: admin@hotspur.newcastle.sch.uk. We would love to see your fantastic creations and share them on our Year 2 page.
Maths Challenges:
Wake Up Word Search!
Why not try this word challenge? Look carefully at the grid above. If you find a grapheme (letter) that is repeated cross it out! What graphemes are you left with? Can you arrange the letters to find the mystery word?
Once you have discovered the mystery word could you use https://www.thesaurus.com/ to discover some interesting synonyms for it? Which is your favourite? Make an effort to use it when in conversation this week.
Happy Easter!
Have you ever wondered how to make your own Easter Bunny?
You will need:
- toilet roll tube
- card (old cereal box)
- scissors
- glue
- pen
- coloured paper or paint or coloured pens
First, get a cardboard tube and cut out two holes near the bottom for your fingers.
Next cut two bunny ears out of the card and glue them onto the inside of your toilet rolls at the top.
After that decorate your tube, I used torn up tissue paper but you could colour it however you like.
Finally, draw on the nose and eyes. I added a pompom for a nose but you could whatever you like (a button, cotton wool, cardboard).
Have fun!
Polly Parrot Picks a Pirate
We hope you enjoy this week's story video in which Cap'n Gardner reads a story and shows you how to make a treasure map. Whilst Long John Johnson interrupts with his pesky parrot and sea shanties!
Word of the Week:
We have chosen the word above. What do you think it means? When a word is put into a sentence (or in context) this can help us understand its meaning.
The class looked bewildered by the story they heard.
He raised his bewildered eyes to the sky.
We recently spent time in class looking at adjectives, nouns, adverbs and verbs. Can you use this learning to classify the word?
If you are feeling extra confident you could also find some synonyms for bewildered.
Remember words are fun! Whenever you read take time to collect some interesting/unusual words. We can share them when we get back to school.
Hi Everyone,
We both hope that you, your children and loved ones are safe and happy. It is so strange not seeing our classes and we miss those everyday interactions that make our job so special and enjoyable.
We thought we would add in some science ideas that you may wish to try this week.
We were going to be exploring Everyday Materials. Why don’t you go for a material hunt around your home? How many different kinds of materials can you discover? Can you use some adjectives to describe these materials?
We found Whiskers the rat!
Whiskers is made from fabric. When we held Whiskers we used these adjectives to describe the feel of the material - soft, squishy, lightweight and slightly fuzzy.
How many adjectives can you come up with for your material? We would love you to share your learning with us. Please send to admin@hotspur.newcastle.sch.uk
Challenge -
How did I sort the materials above? Look closely...
Could you sort the materials you find?
Maths Update
White Rose website follows the National Curriculum for Maths and is a brilliant resource. To help parents and carers they have made their resources free for children to complete at home. Prior breaking up from school we were looking at fractions, this link continues the learning we were doing in class: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/
Also, if you would like to keep refreshing your addition and subtraction skills you could have a go at the Big Maths sheets below:
Oh No George!
Mr Gardner reads from one of his favourite books and shows you how to make your own Oh No George! puppet. Send pictures of your puppets to: admin@hotspur.newcastle.sch.uk. Thanks to Mr Johnston for making the music.
The Time We Spring Cleaned The World by Louise Gribbons
Mr Gardner reads a poem with music from Mr Johnston.
Why don't you write your own poem about something that's important to you? Send it to admin@hotspur.newcastle.sch.uk and we could read it out in another video!
David Walliams is releasing a daily audio book. Click on link for more details -