Year 2

In year 2, we love to read!

In class, we take part in 4 read lessons per week in which the children develop their prediction, retrieval, inference and vocabulary skills. Our Big Read books are: The Owl who is a Toby and the Great Fire of London, Amazing Grace, Puffin Book of Fantastic First Poems, The Day the Crayons Quit and Bangladesh. All of these books have cross curricular links to other topics of learning in Year 2. On the fifth Day, Year 2 complete a reading wise session in which they improve their reading fluency.

Each day, the children read their books independently for ten minutes. This is called solo read. The children enjoy reading their books quietly. At the end of the day, Miss O’Neill reads a story and the class listen and enjoy. We will read a range of books over the year.

Year 2 are expected to read at home at least 3 times each week. It is so important that we are reading to increase our reading speed, confidence and fluency. When children finish their book, they complete a retrieval quiz on our school chrome books. On Friday’s, we celebrate our children who are reading at home with prizes and treats!

In Year 2, children are expected to complete independent learning tasks at home to consolidate their prior learning. Children should be reading their books at home and completing retrieval quizzes each week. There will be weekly homework set each week on seesaw for the children to complete. This homework will focus on a different subject weekly. Finally, there are a number of websites that the children should be accessing at home to support their literacy and maths. These include, reading wise and Timetables Rockstars/ Numbots. These websites are a fun and engaging way for the children to develop their skills.

Year 2 take part in a 20 minute ‘Ready Steady Spell’ session every day in which they learn a range of spelling strategies needed for accurate recall. Within these sessions, the children learn to use a range of different strategies to spell new words.

Spelling assessments will take place every half-term in which the children will be tested on the words and spelling rules that have been practised.

Year 2 will take part in PE on Tuesday’s. At Moss Valley we expect full PE kits to be worn every session.

This includes:

· A white top

· Black shorts / plain black joggers/ leggings (for colder weather)

· Black pumps or trainers

· The PE kits can be left in school and taken home every half-term to be washed

Children are able to bring a healthy snack each day in which they can eat at break time. These snacks should be left inside their school bag or packed lunch or put inside our class snack box. Additionally, fruit is provided for children at break times.

Children should bring a water bottle in school that can be filled up throughout the school day at the class sink. These water bottles can stay in school and should be taken home at least every half-term to be washed.

In English, throughout the year we will write a range of fiction and non-fiction pieces following the school’s writing scheme ‘Ready Steady Write’. Our writing will be based on a different book each half term and these books will have cross curricular links to our Geography, Science and History topics. Each unit of work will follow the same structure. Firstly, the children are immersed into the text, then they will analyse the features of the writing style, this leads to them planning their own piece of writing and eventually writing it.

Over the year, these are the books and writing styles that we will cover:

· A River by Marc Martin (Circular Narrative and Letter)

· The Night Gardener by The Fan Brothers (Setting Narrative and Diary)

· The Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis (Finding Narrative and Instructions)

· Grandad’s Island by Benji Davies (Return Narrative and Information Text)

· The King Who Banned The Dark by Emily Haworth Booth (Persuasive Letter and Banning Narrative)

· Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty (Invention Narrative and Explanation Text)

Year 2 will take part in the Read Write Inc (RWI) phonics programme daily which will help the children learn to read fluently and at speed so they can focus on developing their skills in comprehension, vocabulary and spelling. We will be recapping the set 2 sounds and learning the set 3 sounds.

In Maths, this is how our weekly sessions are set out:

Monday- Arithmetic and Reasoning Practise

Tuesday- Number Unit (Power Maths)

Wednesday- Number Unit (Power Maths)

Thursday- Number Unit (Power Maths)

Friday- Non- Number Unit (Power Maths)

In Year 2, we will be looking at these areas in Maths:

Autumn Term – Numbers to 100, Addition and Subtraction and Properties of Shapes.

Spring Term – Money, Multiplication and Division, Statistics, Length and Height, and Mass, Capacity and Temperature.

Summer Term – Fractions, Time, Problem Solving and efficient methods, Position and Direction and Statistics

In Year 2, we will be completing these topics in Science:

Animals including Humans: Within this unit, the children will compare the different animal groups and find similarities and differences between them. They will find out about both animal and human life cycles and what they need to survive. The children will test the effects of exercise on the body and explore the importance of healthy eating and hygiene.

Living things in their habitats: For this topic, the children will identify items that are living, dead or have never been alive. In order to do this, they will need to have a clear understanding of the characteristics of a living thing. They will explore habitats across the world and research how animals have adapted to survive in their habitat. Children will understand how animals depend on each other for food. They will create food chains for a range of habitats.

Plants: Children will observe how a plant grows from a seed to a plant. They will gain an understanding of what plants need to survive and compare the growth of different size seeds. In this unit, the children will identify a range of plants that we can eat.

Everyday Materials: In this topic, the children will explore a range of everyday materials and their uses. They will be able to describe their properties and compare the different materials. We will look into how plastic is made and research the famous scientist, Charles Macintosh who is famous for inventing waterproof clothes. Children will use their knowledge of materials to design a box to make an egg safe