More Ernest Shackleton and a few other things.

 

Hello Class 2 parents!

Edited to add: the children have nearly filled their class marble jar. They have voted for their treat - they'd like to bring their teddies to school for a day. When they have filled their jar completely I will let you know the details!

And just like that, we are heading into the final week of the first half term. It's flying by! 

This week the main news is that the children have been exceptionally dedicated authors. Following several weeks of learning to write in the style of Oliver Jeffers' 'Lost and Found', the children have been writing their own versions. They are rightly very proud of their work. Next week we will be publishing the stories to create a class book. 

The children have also continued their work on Ernest Shackleton. They looked at photos of the expedition to see what we could learn from them, and then in pairs created a photo album with captions to remember the trip. They also watched a short clip from David Attenborough's Frozen Planet II to get an idea of what Antarctica is like - I'd recommend it if you haven't seen it!

In Maths we have wrapped up our unit on number and place value and have started a unit on addition and subtraction. 

Year 1 children have been focussing on the language of 'whole' and 'part' and understanding what these mean. For example, if I have 8 sweets, 8 is the whole number. I can give 5 to Mrs Neal (one part) and keep 3 for myself (the other part). They have looked at part whole models such as this one:

With Year 1 we start by using objects - for example getting 5 beanbags and two hoops, and finding all of the ways we can split 5 into two parts. Then the children learn to draw the objects and write numbers in the part whole model.

To practise this, your child will have a whole page in their home learning book to show me all the ways the can split 6 (the whole) into its parts. This includes numbers in different orders, eg 2/4 and 4/2. 

Note: even if your child can recite bonds to 6 by heart (which some children can), getting them to show their maths using objects and pictures ensures that they have mastered the concept and know what numbers and number bonds 'look' like beyond the abstract numbers. 

Year 2 children have started the unit of work by revisiting number bonds to 10 and then looking at fact families to 20. To practise this, they have this 'odd one out' sheet in their home learning books. The idea is that they understand what is behind the symbols and numbers of a fact family. As with Year 1, I would recommend having 20 objects to support your child or, if they are confident, to ask them to show you how they know using the objects - put them in role as the teacher! This will help them to articulate their answers and deepen their understanding of the concepts. 

The phonics group have been looking at 'air' and 'ear', two trigraphs which are often confused! Their spellings are here and will also be in their home learning books. 

The spellings group have been looking at when to use 'j' and 'g' for the 'j' sound. Their spellings are here and will also be in their home learning books. 


I think that's all for now. I have a growing collection of unnamed jumpers and cardigans (I think from across the school, not just our class!) which I will leave outside one dry afternoon after school for you to all peruse. 

I am looking forward to meeting with you all next week!

Mrs Simpson