Year 2 Blog
Spring 1
The topic for this half term has been Africa. The children learnt where Africa is and specifically where Kenya is. They then spent time learning about the town of Kitui, Kenya, comparing it to Guiseley by looking in an atlas to to see geographical features then using Google maps street view roads, shops and schools. They then wrote down the similarities and differences that they could see.
The children have been building Ferris wheels in D.T. lessons. At the start of the topic, the children began by considering the materials, shape, construction and mechanisms of their wheel. Then they labelled their designs and began to build a stable structure with a rotating wheel. Next, they will test and adapt their designs as necessary.
In Maths, the children had fun learning about multiplication, looking at equal and unequal groups to then moving on to division where they shared quantities into equal groups using counters at first.
Autumn 2
The children have had a brilliant half-term, which of course included our wonderful Top of the Pops Christmas Special performance. We know that the families who managed to get tickets really enjoyed singing, signing and speaking and were treated to a festive bonanza of classic pop songs.
During science, the children have been furthering their knowledge of materials, including investigating which materials can change shape and exploring the school grounds to conduct a material hunt!
In maths, they have worked really hard to master the skill of adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers and then moving on to the topic of money. They really enjoyed using 'real' coins to buy items in the class shop that was set up in the classroom.
Leading up to Christmas, the children studied the character of The Grinch from the story 'How The Grinch stole Christmas' written by Dr. Seuss. They then wrote some fantastic descriptions of The Grinch, focusing on using adjectives to describe his appearance and his personality.
Autumn 1
Wow! What a busy start to life in Year 2!.
In maths this half term, the children used base ten and Numicon to support our learning of place value and also began to add and subtract multiples of ten.
As part of our topic learning about significant individuals, they learnt that Christopher Columbus brought back many 'new' foods to Europe from his travels to the Americas. In DT, they practised chopping and cutting skills to make a fresh vegetable stew, similar to the type of food eaten on the Santa Maria (before it tragically sank!). The children used a claw grip and a bridge grip to safely cut potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips.
We also learned about the life of the intrepid explorer Amy Johnson, who was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Linked to this, the children enjoyed writing about the Australian outback; describing what they might see, hear, smell and touch in imaginative detail.
In addition, the children made models of a vehicle that an explorer might use using recycled materials.
Finally, in Art week, the children were inspired to paint a landscape piece after studying the work of the local artist Jo Dexter. They mixed their own colours and investigated various brush strokes before painting the famous Cow and Calf rocks in Ilkley.
To view previous year's information and pictures, please click here.