Week 5: A fence and a problem

 Hello Class 2 Parents. 

This week has passed by exceptionally quickly but I will try to remember everything we have been getting up to in Class 2!

Our story. 
Having found the bog baby pond last week, the children wrote some recounts for Emma (our client) telling her about their discovery. They created a fence around the pond in order to keep people out. However, they encountered a problem... one bog baby found itself shut out of the pond when the fence was erected. The children discovered it, laying under some leaves, not looking very well. They were rightly very concerned and came up with lots of ideas for how to help. This will lead to some learning about what animals need to survive, what category of creature a bog baby might be (mammal/bird/fish/reptile/amphibian) and why it might need to get back to its habitat. 

We will keep you updated about how the bog baby gets on. 

Other learning this week has included some R.E. about special places - perhaps you could talk to your child/ren about places that are special to you and your family, and why. We spent some time in the peace garden discussing why it is special - though with the diggers at work close by, it was not especially peaceful! The children are also in the middle of an art project to create some art in the style of Gwen Millward, who authored and illustrated The Bog Baby. 

In Maths:

Year 1 children have continued their work on place value: building numbers to 20 (and sometimes beyond) and identifying '1 more' and '1' less.  

Year 2 children have also continued their work on place value: learning to use a place value chart, and comparing numbers to 100 using the symbols  < (less than) > (greater than) = (equal to).

Both year groups have been counting in twos/ reciting the two times table. 

Year 1 homework is to play 'whack-a-mole' counting in twos. The link is here - choose 'steps of 2'. It is probably worth counting in twos with your child a couple of times before playing the game. 

If your child finds this very challenging, practise counting in 1s instead using Whack-A-Mole. 

Year 2 homework is here and will be in their book bags. You'll need to make the spinner, but if you don't want to do this you can roll 1 or 2 dice instead. 

In Phonics:

Blue group has been continuing to revisit digraphs and read words with consonant blends in. Help your child to spot digraphs in their books as they read to you.  Here are all of the single letter sounds and digraphs they have learnt so far, for you to help them to spot in their books. 

Green group has been looking at 'oo' alternatives: ue, ew, u_e.   They are learning that when the 'oo' sounds like it is in the middle of a word, it usually needs u_e. When it's at the end, it could be ue or ew. Year 2 spellings are here and will be in their homework folders. 

Have a good weekend!

Mrs Simpson