Christmas Party and Christmas homework details

This week we have been very busy!

In Literacy we were looking at the Nativity story and its importance at Christmas. In Numeracy we were learning about doubling and halving numbers and word problems.

Today we had our Christmas party which we all really enjoyed. We had fun playing games, dancing and ofcourse eating our party food.

We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 4th January.

Mr. Merchant and Miss Porter

Please find details of the homework for over the holidays below:

Christmas Homework

To be handed in on Wednesday 5th January 2011 please.

Literacy (In Homework books please)

Please write a diary for a week of your Christmas holidays. You can write about all of the exciting things that you did during the week, who you saw, what you played with, how you were feeling etc. You can also include pictures and photographs if you would like to.

Please remember to include the following in your diary:

- The date at the top of each entry.
- Full stops, capital letters and finger spaces.
- Connecting words.
- Adjectives (describing words)
- Different sentence starters – See if you can start your sentence with a different word to 'I'
- Your neatest handwriting.

Numeracy

Please continue to learn your 2,5 and 10 times tables.

Once you know them really well try solving some word problems which you need to use your times tables for such as;

- There are 6 people in each group. How many people would there be in 2 groups? (6 x 2 = 12)

- There are 8 sweets in a packet. How many sweets are there in 2 packets?

- There are 5 marbles in each jar. How many marbles would there be in 5 jars?

- There are 10 people in each classroom. How many people would there be in 10 classrooms?

Maths Challenge Day 'X-Maths'

Year 2 had great fun on maths challenge day. This term it had a Christmas theme and was called X-Maths. Some of us thought that the X stood for times tables but some of us knew that it meant 'Xmas' which is short for Christmas.

First of all we had to make up some Christmas word problems with a partner and share them with the rest of the class to solve. We came up with some excellent problems. Then we went into the hall where there were some hidden Christmas puddings. On the back of each Christmas pudding was a question which we had to solve with our group. Then we did some number games using the parachute.

Back in class we made some 3D star models which were a little tricky but looked great once they were done. It was good practice for our cutting skills!

We have also been rehearsing for our play. I hope you like the picture of all of us in our costumes.

Have a good weekend,

Mr. Merchant and the Year 2 team

Let it snow!

This week, amongst lots of rehearsals for our Christmas play, looking at money in Numeracy and looking at Julia Donaldson books in Literacy we had fun playing in the snow!

Please bring in your child's costume for the Christmas production as soon as possible if you have not already done so.

Some photographs of us having fun in the snow will be up soon!

Have a good weekend.

Countdown to Christmas!

This week we have been busy rehearsing for our Christmas performance. We enjoyed performing one of our favourite songs from the play in Good works assembly on Friday. The performance is called 'Countdown to Christmas' and follows a family's run-up to Christmas. The performance will be on Wednesday 15th December with Nursery AM, RB, 1J and 2P performing in the morning and Nursery PM, RC, 1M, 2M performing in the afternoon.

Please bring in your child's costume as soon as possible if you have not already done so.

In Numeracy we have been looking at tally charts and bar charts and how they can help us to collect data and look at the information and what it tells us.

In Literacy we have been looking at books by the author Julia Donaldson.

Homework this week is to learn our times tables for a test next week.

Thank-you for your continued support,

Mr. Merchant and the Year 2 team

Science Museum Visit

This week we had fun at the Science museum. We enjoyed travelling up on the tube to the museum and then exploring patterns and symmetry in the Pattern Pod workshop. We also enjoyed exploring the museum especially the Energy, History of Medicine and Engines and Aircraft exhibitions. Take a look at the photos above to see the fun that we had! A big thank-you to the parents who came along to help make the trips a success.

Disability Week

This week was Disability week. We learnt that disability is no barrier to success. We learnt about different types of disability including Autism, Cerebal Palsy and visual impairment. We also met some people with different disabilities.

We had lots of questions to ask and were all very interested. We learnt about the work of a foot and mouth painter and had a go ourselves. We found it very difficult but had fun! It showed us how talented these people are.

We are all very excited about our trip to the Science museum next week.

Have a good weekend,

Mr. Merchant and the Year 2 team.

A busy first week back!

We had a busy first week back and are all getting back into the swing of things. We have been busy practising our Christmas play and are all doing a good job of learning our lines and the songs.

In Numeracy we have been learning how to use a numberline to add numbers together and learning how to solve word problems. In Literacy we have been looking at the book - The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson, about a snail who takes a trip around the world on the tail of a whale! We will be looking at lots of Julia Donaldson books this term so if you get a chance to read any at home, please do so.

Next week is Disability week so we are looking forward to learning about this important topic.

The following week, we have our school trip to the Science Museum. Please return your reply slip as soon as possible if you have not yet done so.

Thank-you,

Mr. Merchant

One World Week

This week we enjoyed learning about different cultures as it was One World Week. Year 2 were looking at the Continent of Asia. We learnt about the different countries in Asia and some information about them. We looked at a map of Asia and found out where the different countries were and what the Asian seas were called. We learnt about some of the important animals in Asia and made elephant masks. We were also fortunate enough to have Mia's mum come in to talk to us about her culture.

We especially enjoyed our carnival today.

Homework for half term is for children to learn their parts for the Christmas play and when they are coming on/off etc. They can also begin to learn the songs for our Christmas production which are on the Year 1 blog. More to be added soon!

Have a great half term break.

Mr. Merchant and the rest of the Year 2 team.

Maths Challenge Day

For Maths challenge day we were looking at Number.

We learnt and practised our number bonds to 10 and 20. We made 'Hearts in love' to help us remember our number bonds.

We also took part in a number bond obstacle course and used the parachute and some songs to help us.

In Science we have been learning about what a switch is and how they can help us. We made our own switches and then used them to turn on and off a lightbulb.

We have also started to practise the songs for our Christmas play.
We are looking forward to One world week next week when we will be looking at the continent of Asia.

Mr. Merchant

Electricity!

Year 2 had a great time this week exploring electricity! We learnt about the different electrical components; their names and what they are used for. Then we made our own circuits before testing some objects to see if they were conductors or insulators of electricity. We all worked well with our partners and remembered our electrical safety rules.

Measuring and Space!

We have had a busy week in Year 2!

In Numeracy, we carried on our work on measuring. We learnt about all the different measurements, their units and the equipment that you needed to measure with - Length and Width / Capacity / Mass and Time.

In Literacy we carried on our work on the book Beegu. We thought more about the characters and how they felt at different times in the book. After that, we started to create our very own space stories. In D+T last week we designed bread from salt dough and this week we made our designs. They all looked really good and it's a shame that we can't actually eat them!

We are looking forward to a visit from the Fire Brigade on Friday as well as our book character dressing up day. Myself and Miss Porter have our costumes ready!

Have a good weekend,

Mr. Merchant