Year 2 2022 - 2023

Spring term

Dragons 

The main focus for the term will be Literacy, Maths and Science.

In literacy, we will start by developing vocabulary using the poem ~ What makes a dragon?

We will then retell the story of The Dragon Machine by Helen Ward.

The story can be seen on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uoRp4FPOu4

We then will be applying the writing skills of various ways to start sentences, including expanded noun phrases, conjunctions, similies and new vocabulary to writing our own dragon stories after a visit from a real dragon! 

In spelling we will be looking at the rules regarding adding the suffixes, ful, ment, ly, less and ness. Also we will start to learn about homophones and apostrophes for possession.

In maths, we will consolidate our methods for addition and subtraction and applying these methods to real life money situations. 

We will introduce the relationship between multiplication and division, as well as the maths topic of fractions. We will further develop our understanding and knowledge of 2d and 3d shape and create pictograms and bar charts related to our topic of dragons.

We follow the White Rose maths scheme as our core maths work.  Parent information can be found at https://whiterosemaths.com/advice-and-guidance

In science, we will investigate materials, to answer the question ~ What is the best material to make a dragon machine from?

The materials we will study include; wood, plastic, metal, glass, fabric and rock. We will identify the properties of each material, consider the suitability of the material for specific uses and consider how materials can change. 

Scientific questions will be posed using the excellent Explore website.  https://explorify.uk/en/activities

PE

The children currently have 1 PE lesson per week - every Tuesday. 

This will be led by the P.E. experts from KIXX.

On PE days, children should come to school in:

>trainers/ pumps

>black or blue shorts/ leggings/ jogging pants (plain with no logos or pictures)

>a white tshirt

>a sweatshirt/ hoodie ( plain -no pictures)

Long hair should be tied back and earrings should be removed. If this is not possible earings should be covered with a plaster. 

The complete curriculum map for the autumn topic of Dragons, is attached at the bottom of the page.

A basic outline of the school day is also attached below. 

Homework

At Chester Blue Coat we expect every child will do their best and work incredibly hard at school throughout the day, so therefore we keep homework expectations to a minimum. 

However in year 2, we expect children to complete regular reading and maths tasks at home, which are explained below. 

Reading homework

The expectations in year 2 is that each child should read at home at least four times a week. 

Please make a comment or just sign your child's reading record to show that your child has read.

Children also benefit greatly from listening to adults and older children read stories to them, so snuggle up and enjoy books together. Being read to, develop's children's understanding of story structure as well as vocabulary.

These videos from the Open University give top tips on how to share books with your child:

Reading Tips #1

Reading Tips #2

Maths

Please help your child to learn basic number facts, such as number bonds to 10, 20 or even 100.  

Also now begin to use the Times Tables Rockstars app to develop your child's recall of multiplication tables.

The children are expected to instantly recall the two amounts which equal 10, and recognise the inverse operation of the amount remaining when a number is subtracted from 10. The quick speed of recall is ver important. A great game which we use in school is Hit the Button.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Alternatively, dominio type games or matching cards can be made and played to increase the speed recall of basic number facts. There are some resources attached.

Spelling and Phonics

An explanation of the terminology used in school and the phonic knowledge your child is expected to have is attached below. 

Also, a list of 'common exception' words for Years 1 and 2 is attached too.  These are words that the children may not be able to use their phonic knowledge to spell.  They are words that tend to crop up regularly when they are writing and so it is helpful if the children learn how to spell them.  We have attached below some ideas for practising spellings with your child.  

If you need any help printing out resources, please speak to a member of the Y2 team.

If we feel that your child would benefit from some additional practice in reading, writing, phonics, maths or any subject, then we will approach you and ask for your help to complete work at home. 

If you feel your child would benefit from some additional work, please let us know and we will organise work pertinent to your child's needs.