27 June 2022
In this week’s maths lessons we will finish our unit of work looking at mass, then move on to learning about capacity and volume. The beginning of this new unit will focus on revising concepts previously covered in year 1, such as comparing volume in a container by describing whether it is full, nearly full, empty or nearly empty.
English
This week in English we will be putting the finishing touches to our own versions of ‘The Magic Paintbrush’ story. The children spent last week putting together some AMAZING plans, and we are really looking forward to reading the finished stories together.
Phonics
This week we will be look at the /o/ sound spelled ‘a’ after w and qu.
The spelling words for this week are what, wand, wander, want, was, watch, quantity and squash.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
20 June 2022
Maths
This week in maths, we will revise previous learning on weight and mass, then move on to compare and measure mass in grams and kilograms. This will be a good opportunity for children to revise place value up to and beyond 100, as many measurements are counted in larger numbers.
English
In this week’s English lessons the children will be writing their own versions of our class story ‘The Magic Paintbrush.’
We will pay particular attention to the story’s setting, using what we have learned about the seven continents to choose an appropriate location for the action!
Phonics
This week we will be look at the /n/ sound spelled ‘kn’ and, less often, ‘gn’ at the beginning of words.
The spelling words for this week are knee, knew, knight, knock, know, gnat, gnaw and gnome.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
13 June 2022
In this week’s maths lessons we will use what we have learned about measuring in metres and centimetres to solve problems with length and height.
These problems will cover the four operations – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division – so this is a good opportunity for children to revise previous work in these areas.
English
This week in English we will begin innovating the story of ‘The Magic Paintbrush’.
We will make changes to the text we have been reading to write our own story of a magical object, the kind hero who uses it and the villain who wants too much for himself!
Phonics
In phonics we will be learning more about homophones, focusing on homophones containing the /eer/ sound. This week’s spelling words are the sets of homophones listed below.
dear – deer
peer – pier
tear – tier
here – hear
sheer – shear
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
06 June 2022
Maths
This week in maths we will be measuring and comparing length and height, using centimetres (cm) and metres (m). Should you wish to support your child in their learning at home, you may wish to look at the White Rose parent booklet found here
Questions 1 – 5 reflect this week’s class work.
In this week’s English lessons we will be learning a new story called ‘The Magic Paintbrush’. Our grammar focus will be adverbs ending –ly, and how these are used to describe and specify.
Phonics
This week we will be learning all about homophones. These are words that sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings, for example flower as in a plant, and flour for making cakes. We will be focusing particularly on homophones containing the /air/ sound. This week’s spelling words are sets of homophones and are listed below.
pear – pair
stair – stare
hair – hare
bare – bear
fair – fare
wear – where
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
23 May 2022
This week we will begin our Platinum Jubilee celebrations, enjoying various jubilee-themed activities including a dance workshop! We will also be learning about the decade we will be representing during our whole school celebrations on Monday 6th June – the 1950s!
Maths
In this week’s maths lessons we be consolidating our work on time, securing times to five minute intervals.
Last week we visited countries in Europe, Asia and Australia on our round-the-world trip, and the children wrote some fabulous postcards to describe what they had learned about each new destination. This week we will continue our journey across the continents, visiting countries in North and South America and Africa.
Phonics
In phonics we will be revising the sounds that we have covered so far this term.
Please note, there are no spellings to learn this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
16 May 2022
In this week’s maths lessons we will be learning how to tell the time to quarter past and quarter to the hour, as well as telling the time to five minute intervals (five past, ten past, twenty to etc.) Children are taught to tell the time on a clock face with an hour hand and a minute hand, (not a mobile phone or digital display!) and they are also expected to draw the hands on a clock face to show these times.
English
This week we will combine our English lessons with our topic work on holidays. Just like Sunny the meerkat, we will be writing postcards from different destinations we learn about various countries across the seven continents.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will focus on plurals and the following rules for plural nouns:
- For most words ‘s’ is added to the end to indicate more than one e.g. cats, dogs.
- If a word ends in sh, ch, ss, s, x or z, ‘es’ is added e.g. churches, foxes.
- If a word ends in y, the y is changed to an i before ‘es’ is added e.g. baby becomes babies.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising different ways of spelling the /yoo/ sound: ‘u’, ‘ue’, ‘ew’ and ‘u-e’ (split digraph.) This week’s spelling words are united, human, value, argue, knew, nephew, amused and attitude.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
03 May 2022
Maths
This week in maths we will learn to recognise a third of a shape, and find a third of a quantity.
Should you wish to support your child in consolidating their learning at home, the White Rose parent workbook for Fractions can be found here
y2-hl-spring-block-4-fractions-2020
In this week’s English lessons we will continue our work around Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett.
We will focus on the main character, Sunny, and what we can learn about his character and feelings from the text. We will then work on a character description, using adjectives and adverbs to describe Sunny’s appearance and personality.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be looking at suffixes beginning with a consonant. We will also be learning the rule for adding these suffixes to words of more than one syllable that end with a ‘y’. In these words, the ‘y’ is changed to an ‘i’ before the suffix is added. For this week’s spelling challenge, children will be asked to add the suffix –ment, -ness, -ful, -less or -ly to one of the following words: care, play, hope, bad, enjoy, happy, merry and plenty.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising five different ways of spelling the /igh/ sound: ‘igh’, ‘-y’, ‘i’, ‘ie’ and ‘i-e’ (split digraph.) This week’s spelling words are slightly, shy, magnify, remind, tied, cries, outside and stripes.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
25 April 2022
In this week’s maths lessons we will begin a new unit of work on fractions. We will begin by securing children’s knowledge of fractions as equal parts of a whole, then move on to recognising and finding halves and quarters.
English
This week in English our focus will be on reading, as we explore the book Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett.
To complement this term’s whole-school topic on ‘Holidays’, we will follow Sunny’s journey around Africa as he reports back to the meerkat family through a series of postcards!
If you’d like to listen to the story at home, have a peek at this video from Northumberland Zoo – complete with meerkats! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiOmbegGz_A
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be learning another rule for adding suffixes to root words ending with consonant then ‘e’ (e.g. hope.)
In these cases, the ‘e’ at the end of the word is dropped before adding the suffix, for example: hope + suffix -ed becomes hoped and hope + suffix –ing becomes hoping.
For this week’s spelling challenge, children will be asked to add the suffix –ing, -ed, -er, -est or –y to one of the following words: have, hike, love, make, nice, scare, shine and use.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising five different ways of spelling the /ee/ sound: ‘ee’, ‘-y’, ‘e’, ‘-ey’, ‘ie’, ‘ea’, and ‘e-e’ (split digraph.) This week’s spelling words are steep, lucky, sequins, monkey, shield, reach and extremely.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
04 April 2022
Year 2 at the zoo!
On Monday we will be heading to Marwell Zoo, to round off this term’s ‘Amazing Animals’ topic! Please ensure that children arrive in school no later than 8:45am so that they have time to register and use the toilet before we leave at 9 o’clock. Children should bring a packed lunch in a rucksack that they can carry themselves, as we will not be leaving any belongings on the coach once we arrive at the zoo. Lunches should not contain glass packaging or fizzy drinks and please, no nut products. Children may wear trainers with their school uniform, however please encourage them to practise tying their own laces beforehand to avoid any slips and trips!
Maths
In this week’s maths lessons we will be exploring the properties of 3-D shapes, counting faces, vertices and edges.
English
This week we will use our English lessons to write a recount of our trip to the zoo!
Phonics
In phonics we will be revising the sounds that we have covered so far this term.
Please note, there are no spellings to learn this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
28 March 2022
Maths
In this week’s maths lessons we will continue our unit of work on properties of shape. We will be drawing 2-D shapes and investigating lines of symmetry.
Should you wish to support your child at home, the White Rose parent workbook for this unit that can be found here https://assets.whiterosemaths.com/fixed/wrm/2020/07/Y2-HL-Spring-Block-3-Properties-of-shape-2020.pdf Questions 1 – 4 will consolidate the work done in class.
English
This week in English we will be writing up our own versions of ‘The Tiger Child’ story. For this piece of writing we will be encouraging children to include many of the features and techniques they have learned so far in Year 2, including four different sentence types (statement, question, exclamation and command), adjectives for description and contractions.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be learning one of the rules for adding suffixes to words of one syllable, where the root word ends with a single consonant followed by a single vowel (e.g. pat.) In these cases, the last letter of the word is doubled before adding the suffix, for example: pat + suffix -ed becomes patted and pat + suffix –ing becomes patting. For this week’s spelling challenge, children will be asked to add the suffix –ing, -ed, -er, -est or –y to one of the following words: big, fat, hot, put, run, stop, swim and thin.
For more information on suffixes, you may wish to have a look at the following BBC Bitesize video: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z8mxrwx/articles/zwgbcwx
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising three more different ways of spelling the /ai/ sound: ‘a-e’ (split digraph), ‘a’, and ‘ea’. This week’s spelling words are escape, grapes, sunbathe, label, lady, break and greatest, .
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
21 March 2022
This week in maths we will move on to a new unit of work all about properties of shape. Initially, we will be identifying and naming 2-D shapes and then discussing their properties, specifically the number of sides and vertices (a posh word for corners!)
In this week’s English lessons we will use a five-part story structure to plan individual versions of ‘The Tiger Child’. We will look carefully at the opening of our story, before moving on to plan the build-up, problem, resolution, and finishing off with a well-thought-out ending.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be looking at the /or/ sound spelled ‘al’ in some words. This week’s spelling words are all, ball, call, walk, talk, always, also, smallest, tallest and called.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising four different ways of spelling the /ai/ sound: ‘ai’, ‘ay’, ‘eigh’ and ‘-ey’. This week’s spelling words are wait, rainbow, away, layers, eight, weight, they and prey.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
14 March 2022
This week in maths we will practise dividing by 2, 5 and 10, and begin to look at the relationship between division and multiplication. Questions 1 – 7 in the White Rose parent workbook will support the work done in class. https://assets.whiterosemaths.com/fixed/wrm/2020/07/Y2-HL-Spring-Block-1-Division-2020.pdf
Last week, we set the children a challenge – to learn their 2, 5 and 10 times table by the end of the school year! Children will receive a certificate and sticker for each multiplication table that they learn, in the format “0 x 2 = 0; 1 x 2 = 2; 2 x 2 = 4” etc.
Should you wish to support your child in learning their times tables at home, the Topmarks ‘Hit the Button’ game is free to play online. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
English
In this week’s English lessons we will work together to change aspects of our story ‘The Tiger Child’ and create a new animal story. We will spend some more time looking at contractions and look for opportunities to use them in our writing.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the /r/ sound spelled ‘wr’. This week’s spelling words are write, wrote, written, writing, wrap, wrestle, wriggle, wrinkle, wrist and wrong.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /u/ sound, which in some words can be spelled with the letter ‘o’, and also looking at words that end with the siffix ‘-ed’. This week’s spelling words are front, Monday, other, won, played, rained, jumped and stamped.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
07 March 2022
Maths
In our maths lessons this week we will continue to practise the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, as well as looking at grouping and sharing as an introduction to division. The difference between these two concepts can be confusing, so you may wish to have a quick look at the following videos before working on any sharing and grouping activities with your child at home.
Division by sharing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBa0wftKUJg
Division by grouping https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=linbjLi2K5s
Please note, at this stage children will not be asked to note down ‘remainders’ and will simply be asked to say that there are objects remaining or ‘left over.’
This week in English we will begin a new unit of work, returning to storytelling using a narrative style. In keeping with this term’s topic ‘Amazing Animals’ we will be reading another animal story – this time a traditional tale from India called ‘The Tiger Child.’
Our grammar focus in this week’s lessons will be contractions – looking at how apostrophes are used to shorten words (or a group of words), omitting certain letters or sounds. For example do not becomes don’t, and you are becomes you’re.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be revising two more of the alternative spellings for the /l/ sound: ‘il’ and ‘al’, as used at the end of a word. This week’s spelling words are evil, fossil, nostril, pencil, pupil, animal, capital, hospital, metal and pedal.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /s/ sound spelled ‘s’ and ‘ce’, and the /e/ sound spelled ‘e’ and ‘ea’. This week’s spelling words are palace, pence, sprint, swim, desk, melt, bread and ready.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
28 February 2022
This week in maths we will be introducing children to the 2, 5 and 10 times tables.
By the end of Year 2 children are expected to know these tables well, so practising them at home will give your child a head start! BBC Super Movers has some fun videos to support your children in their practice. They can be found in the KS1 Maths Collection here https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/supermovers/ks1-maths-collection/z6v4scw
English
To finish off our work on non-chronological reports, in this week’s English lessons we will be planning and writing individual information texts about animals. We will also be learning about using apostrophes for possession, for example, “the pen that belongs to Sam” is Sam’s pen.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be revising two of the alternative spellings for the /l/ sound: ‘le’ and ‘el’, as used at the end of a word. This week’s spelling words are apple, bottle, little, middle, table, parcel, squirrel, towel, travel and tunnel.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /eer/ sound spelled ‘ear’ and ‘eer’, and the /air/ sound spelled ‘air’ and ‘are’.
This week’s spelling words are appear, dear, cheer, chair, hair, square and stare.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
14 February 2022
Maths
This week in maths we will be writing multiplication sentences from pictures and from arrays. The following BBC Bitesize video shows how arrays can be used to solve multiplication problems https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/maths-ks1–ks2-how-to-use-arrays-to-multiply/zrks382
while this BBC Bitesize lesson has some examples of arrays and the related number sentences, as well as some challenges to try for yourselves! https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zrf8jhv
To support the work done in class, you may also wish to look at questions 6 & 8 in the White Rose multiplication booklet found here
In this week’s English lessons we will use what we have learned about information texts (non-chronological reports) to compose our own piece of writing about a fictional animal. We will also be learning about using apostrophes for contraction, for example using did + not to make didn’t. You can find more information on contractions, plus a list of common contracted words here https://www.theschoolrun.com/what-are-contracted-words-or-contractions
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the different alternative spellings for the /er/ sound, including ‘er’, ‘ir’, ‘ur’, ‘ear’, and learning about the /er/ sound spelled ‘or’ after the letter w. This week’s spelling words are emergency, person, first, thirsty, hurt, nurse, earth, heard, word and working.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /ur/ sound spelled ‘ur’ and ‘ir’, and the /or/ sound spelled ‘or’ and ‘aw’. This week’s spelling words are curl, turn, thirteen, twirl, short, torch, claw and squawk.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
07 February 2022
In maths we will build on last week’s work on equal groups and arrays, introducing the multiplication symbol as a way of representing grouping in written calculations. To support the work done in class, you may wish to look at questions 1 – 5 in the White Rose multiplication booklet found here
Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-4-Multiplication-2020
In this week’s English lessons we will be starting a new unit of work on information texts, also known as ‘non-chronological reports.’ We will compare the different features of fiction and non-fiction texts, and decide what sort of information it might be useful to include in a piece of information writing about animals.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the /ee/ sound spelled ‘-ey’ at the end of a word. This week’s spelling words are abbey, chimney, journey, key, money, monkey, parsley and valley.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /oo/ sound spelled ‘oo’ and ‘ew’, and the /ou/ sound spelled ‘ow’ and ‘ou’. This week’s spelling words are hoop, mood, drew, grew, how, shower, about and sound.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
31 January 2022
Maths
This week in maths we will be starting a new unit on multiplication and division. We will begin with a recap on principles learned in year 1, including making equal groups, adding equal groups, and making arrays.
For more information on arrays and their relation to adding equal groups, have a look at this information from the BBC Bitesize website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwv39j6/articles/z6yd96f
English
In English we will be learning about non-chronological reports, or information texts.
This term’s topic work on “Amazing Animals” has already provided us with plenty of choice for things to write about!
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be looking at the letter ‘y’ and the different sounds that it can represent. This week’s spelling words are yellow, yesterday, dry, fly, why, any, rainy, windy.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /oa/ sound spelled ‘oa’ and ‘ow’, and the /yoo/ sound spelled ‘ue’ and ‘ew’. This week’s spelling words are coat, road, slow, snowing, news, chew, statue and Tuesday.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
24 January 2022
This week we will be finishing off our unit on money, with further work on two-step problems, such as calculating a total when ‘shopping’, then working out the correct amount of change from a given amount of money.
English
In English we will be writing a descriptive opening for an animal story, thinking carefully about our use of adjectives and expanded noun phrases to describe the setting.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be looking at the /j/ sound spelled ‘ge’, ‘gi’ and ‘gy’. This week’s spelling words are gem, gentle, giant, giraffe, magic, gym, apology and energy.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /ee/ sound spelled ‘ee’ and ‘ea’, and the /igh/ sound spelled ‘igh’ and ‘ie’. This week’s spelling words are feet, tree, eat, sea, light, night, lie and pie.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
17 January 2022
Maths
In our maths lessons this week we will be looking at one- and two-step problems, using coins and notes to calculate a total amount, find the difference between amounts and find change from a given amount.
If you wish to support your child in their learning at home, you might like to look at the White Rose parent workbook for Money which can be found here
https://assets.whiterosemaths.com/fixed/wrm/2020/07/Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-3-Money-2020.pdf
Questions 1 – 3 recap last week’s learning and questions 4 – 6 are related to this week’s problem solving.
In English we will use the story of how the tortoise got his shell as inspiration for some descriptive writing. Through our use of adjectives we will also look at using the suffixes –er and –est for comparison, for example small, smaller and smallest.
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be looking at the /j/ sound spelled ‘ge’ and ‘dge’. This week’s spelling words are age, page, large, damage, badge, fridge, edge and judge.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the /ai/ sound spelled ‘ai’ and ‘ay’. This week’s spelling words are snail, wait, away, play and crayon.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
10 January 2022
In maths this week, we will begin our lessons on money by identifying the different denominations of coins and notes. We will then move on to counting money in pounds and pence, as well as choosing different combinations of coins or notes to make the same amount.
English
In English we will be reading the story of how the tortoise got his shell.
Through this story we will investigate use of the past tense and how to use the ‘-ed’ suffix with regular verbs, for example “I brush my teeth” becomes “I brushed my teeth.”
Phonics
This week Miss Harwood’s group will be looking at the /s/ sound spelled with a ‘c’ before e, i and y. This week’s spelling words are centre, cycle, circle, city, fancy, icy, ice, December.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the digraph ‘ue’ as /yoo/ and /oo/ and the spelling ‘ure’ or ‘ture’. This week’s spelling words are statue, value, blue, true and mixture.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling pattern at home. Just a reminder that all phonics sheets will be completed in class – they are sent home for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
05 January 2022
Maths
In our maths lessons this week we will briefly revise last term’s work on place value and addition and subtraction ready to begin looking at money next week. In this upcoming unit children will apply what they have learned in recognising tens and ones, as well as adding and subtracting two digit numbers to solve problems involving different amounts of coins and notes.
English
Our English lessons this week will reflect our new topic ‘Amazing Animals’, as children will be given the opportunity to write a short ‘fact file’ and a story about a chosen animal.
Phonics
Please note, there are no spellings to learn this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
06 December 2021
Maths
In maths this week, we will be finishing off our unit of work on addition and subtraction. If you and your child have not yet accessed the White Rose parent workbook for addition and subtraction it may be useful to use these questions for revision and consolidation.
The BBC Bitesize game “Karate Cats” is another fun game to play to practise number bonds and addition/subtraction calculations at home. It has bronze, silver and gold levels that increase in difficulty as you progress through the game.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjkphbk/articles/zf4sscw
After the Christmas break, our next unit of work will be on money.
If you wish to support your child at home, it would be really beneficial to secure coin recognition from 1p up to £2. As we find ourselves in an increasingly cashless society, this Topmarks sorting game might be a good place to start if you are short of coins at home!
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/coins-game
English
In English we will be editing the instruction writing that we have completed, focusing on spelling and punctuation. Once this is completed, we will spend some time practising reading comprehension activities, writing down answers to questions about what we have read. Information on how you can support reading comprehension when reading with your child at home can be found here.
https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-age-6-7-year-2/
Phonics
In phonics we will be revising the sounds that we have covered so far this term.
Please note, there are no spellings to learn this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
29 November 2021
Maths
This week in maths we will spend some more time adding and subtracting 2 two-digit numbers to support children’s fluency. Please see last week’s learning preview for ways to support your child at home.
In English we will consolidate last week’s learning as we write up our own sets of instructions.
Phonics
Miss Carmichael’s group will be re-looking at the digraphs ‘ow’, ‘oi’ and the trigraph ‘ear’. Children should practise the spelling words are crown, down, coins, toilet, clear and hear.
Please note, there are no spellings to learn for Miss Harwood’s group this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
22 November 2021
This week in maths we will be adding and subtracting 2 two-digit numbers. We will begin with calculations that do not cross the tens barrier, then move on to calculations that bridge ten with an exchange of tens and ones. In doing so we will touch on the more formal ‘column method’ of recording calculations for the first time.
The idea of “exchanging” tens and ones is key in subtraction of a two-digit number from another two-digit number, and White Rose “Maths with Michael” video on subtraction models the methods and the language used in helping children to understand the concept.
https://whiterosemaths.com/for-parents/maths-with-michael/
[Please note that the example in the video is shown with three-digit numbers, however in Year 2 we will be looking at two-digit numbers only.]
To support the work done in class, you may wish to look at questions 4 – 8 in the White Rose addition and subtraction booklet found here https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-2-Addition-and-subtraction-2020.pdf
English
In English we will continue our work on instruction writing, extending a simple set of instructions with an introduction and a “final note” at the end. We will also be learning how to write an equipment list for our instructions, separating items with a comma.
This BBC video demonstrates some important features of instruction writing, as well as a nice Rice Krispie cake recipe! https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/english-ks1-ks2-how-to-write-instructions/zrvtscw
Phonics
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the digraphs ‘ow’, ‘oi’ and the trigraph ‘ear’. This week’s spelling words are crown, down, coins, toilet, clear and hear.
Please note, there are no spellings to learn for Miss Harwood’s group this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
15 November 2021
This week in maths we will practise an important strategy for mental arithmetic – adding by making ten. This strategy strengthens children’s abilities to add two numbers which bridge through a multiple of ten which becomes more and more useful when adding together 2-digit numbers.
In the example shown, to solve the calculation 6 + 8 the eight has been partitioned into two fours. One of these fours can be added to the original six to make ten, then the second four added to ten to make the final total – 14.
English
In English we will be starting a new unit of work based on writing instructions. We will concentrate on using imperative (bossy) verbs to give commands, and will be playing lots of games of ‘Simon Says’ to practise!
Phonics
See the attached letter for information on the upcoming phonics screening check.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the digraphs ‘ar’, ‘or’ and ‘ur’. This week’s spelling words are far, park, morning, sport, hurt and turn.
Please note, there are no spellings to learn for Miss Harwood’s group this week.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
08 November 2021
Maths
This week in maths we will practise adding and subtracting ones and then multiples of ten from a two-digit number. To support learning at home you might like to have a look at question 3 in the White Rose addition and subtraction booklet found here https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-2-Addition-and-subtraction-2020.pdf
Perhaps you could make up some similar examples of your own, showing ten more and ten less than a two-digit number of your choosing.
English
In English we will be experimenting with more poetry, this time writing about magical landscapes! Our focus will on be expanded noun phrases, where adjectives are used to describe and specify. This short BBC Bitesize video explains how expanded noun phrases work to give more information, adding interest or detail to a sentence https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn/articles/z3nfw6f
Phonics
Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the different ways of spelling the /igh/ and /oa/ sounds.
This week’s spelling words are flight, why, minus, cried, twice and blow, piano, toe, home, though.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the ‘oa’ digraph, plus the short ‘oo’ sound (as in ‘book’) and the long ‘oo’ sound (as in ‘moon.’) This week’s spelling words are road, float, look, good, roof and spoon.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
01 November 2021
Maths
This week in maths we will be learning about the different strategies we can use to check addition and subtraction calculations, including using diagrams, tens frames and number lines. We will also be using what we already know about fact families to check our answers using related calculations.
In our English lessons we will be writing descriptive colour poems using our knowledge of nouns and adjectives.
Phonics
Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the different ways of spelling the /ai/ and /ee/ sounds. This week’s spelling words are
- eight
- they
- escape
- baby
- great
- windy
- money
- shield
- leaf
- complete
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the digraphs ‘ai’, ‘ee’ and ‘igh’. This week’s spelling words are
- snail
- paint
- street
- teeth
- night
- light
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
11 October 2021
Maths
This week in maths we will be moving on to a new unit of work focusing on addition and subtraction. We will start by revising number bonds up to 20, then looking at the related subtraction facts. For example:
6 + 4 = 10 10 – 4 = 6
To support learning at home you might like to have a go at questions 1 and 2 in the White Rose addition and subtraction booklet found here https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-2-Addition-and-subtraction-2020.pdf
English
In our English lessons this week we will be learning all about nouns, adjectives and verbs. There is a short video introducing each of these word classes on the BBC Bitesize website https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zrqqtfr.
Phonics
Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the sounds /s/ spelled ‘s’ and ‘ce’; /e/ spelled ‘e’ and ‘ea’, and /u/ spelled ‘u’ and ‘o’. This week’s spelling words are skip, pence, desk, ready, won and other.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the sounds /cks/, /tch/ and /nk/. This week’s spelling words are socks, bricks, catch, fetch, think and drink.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
04 October 2021
Maths
This week in maths, we will consolidate our work on place value, using what we have learned to try some reasoning and problem-solving challenges.
English
In English lessons we will focus on editing our work, looking back at some of the writing we have done so far this term in order to make corrections and improvements. We will also continue to explore the use of compound sentences, using the conjunctions and, or, so and but to link clauses.
Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the sounds /ur/ spelled ‘ur’ and ‘ir’; /or/ spelled ‘or’ and ‘aw’; /eer/ spelled ‘ear’ and ‘eer’ and /air/ spelled ‘air’ and ‘are’. This week’s spelling words are church, birthday, sport, draw, hear, cheer, fair and square.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the sounds /dge/, /ve/ and /wh/. This week’s spelling words are badge, fridge, have, love, when and whale.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
27 September 2021
Maths
In this week’s maths lessons Year 2 will be using the ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal to’ signs to compare numbers up to 100.
We will also be learning how to use a place value chart with Dienes (Base 10) and other manipulatives.
To reinforce the work done in class, you may wish to look at questions 5, 6 and 8 of the White Rose Place Value booklet found here https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-1-Place-value-2020.pdf
English
This week in English we will be learning how to add more detail to our writing with compound sentences, using the conjunctions and, or, so and but to link clauses.
More information on compound sentences can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z39tqfr/articles/zrk28hv
and for a little practice at home you could try activity 1 on this page https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z4m8r2p
Phonics
Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the sounds /oa/ spelled ‘oa’ and ‘ow’; /yoo/ spelled ‘ue’ and ‘ew’; /oo/ spelled ‘oo’ and ‘ew’ and /ou/ spelled ‘ow’ and ‘ou’.
This week’s spelling words are road, glow, rescue, new, mood, flew, how and shout.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the sounds /sh/, /th/ and /ng/. This week’s spelling words are fish, shop, then, with, thing and song.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference and revision only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
20 September 2021
Maths
This week in maths, we will continue our work on place value up to 100. We will be looking particularly at ‘partitioning’ – splitting two-digit numbers into tens and ones, and the ways this can be represented through using both part-whole models and addition.
This article discusses the use of part-whole models to partition numbers, and may be of use if you wish to learn more about the way this is taught in school. https://thirdspacelearning.com/blog/what-is-part-whole-model/
English
In English we will continue learning about the different sentences types, focusing on questions and exclamation sentences.
Information on writing questions can be found here https://www.theschoolrun.com/what-is-a-question and there is a short video introducing exclamation marks here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zrqqtfr/articles/zqbjy4j.
There is also some helpful information on how children are expected to use exclamation sentences in Year 2 here https://www.theschoolrun.com/what-is-an-exclamation-sentence
This week, we will also begin inventing a class story based on The Emperor’s New Clothes.
Phonics
Miss Harwood’s group will be revising the sounds /ai/ spelled ‘ai and ‘ay’; /oi/ spelled ‘oi’ and ‘oy’; /ee/ spelled ‘ee’ and ‘ea’ and /igh/ spelled ‘igh’ and ‘ie’. This week’s spelling words are pain, today, coins, annoy, teeth, please, night and untie.
Miss Carmichael’s group will be revising the sounds /zz/, /qu/ and /ch/. This week’s spelling words are buzz, puzzle, queen, quack, chin and lunch.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael
13 September 2021
Maths
In next week’s maths lessons Year 2 will be learning about number and place value up to 100. To reinforce the work done in class, you may wish to look at questions 1 – 4 of the White Rose Place Value booklet found here https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Y2-HL-Autumn-Block-1-Place-value-2020.pdf
You may also find the following guide helpful in understanding some of the representations used when talking about place value https://wrm-13b48.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/A-guide-to-place-value.pdf
In English we will be looking closely at fairy tales and thinking about the structure of these traditional stories. We will begin learning about different sentences types, starting with statements. The children will practise writing their own statements inspired by fairy tales, making sure to begin with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
Phonics
Next week in our phonics lessons we will be revising some of the important sounds first covered in Year 1. At the end of the week, the children will complete a spelling exercise focusing on the following words:
Miss Harwood’s group – float, lightning, painting, arm, purple, sister, storm, beard, brown and hair.
Miss Carmichael’s group – six, text, yap, yell, zebra and zip.
Please support your child by helping them to learn this week’s spelling words. All phonics work will be completed in class, so there is no need to complete the phonics sheets at home – these are for reference only.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Miss Harwood & Miss Carmichael