In English, the children enjoyed whole class guided reading sessions, with the help of the Usborne Beginners Rainforest book, and were able to navigate this beautiful non-fiction text proficiently. However, we were not so prepared for the proportion of nature / rainforest experts in the classroom! The teachers are definitely looking forward to learning from the budding David Attenborough style natural historians currently resident in Year 2!
The children have also enjoyed reading “The Great Kapok Tree” by Lynne Cherry, learning about the community of animals that live in one such tree in the rainforest, and how they endeavour to save it from destruction. They were able to sequence the story in their own words. They were also in awe of Lynne Cherry’s vivid coloured-pencil and watercolour illustrations, engaging their attention and senses throughout. We are pretty sure that her dramatic perspective inspired the Year 2 children when writing a description of a rainforest using their five senses. This was an unaided piece of writing, and what a wonderful group of writers we have in Year 2!
In mathematics, we have turned our attention to fractions. First, we reminded ourselves about parts and wholes from a variety of pictures and objects. We then moved onto exploring and identifying equal and unequal parts. The children found this relatively straightforward since they have already used many skills required for this step in the multiplication and division block when identifying equal and unequal groups. Next, the focus was on specific fractions, starting with a half (recognising half of a shape and of a quantity). After that, we turned our attention to recognising and finding a quarter and a third of a number. The children are also beginning to think about the similarities and differences between finding ½, 1/3 and ¼ of a number. It is now so clear why we need to know our multiplication facts, so do please keep on brushing up the 3- and 4 times tables! Children were also introduced to the terms “numerator” and “denominator” for the first time.
We kicked off our new science topic – “Living Things and their Habitat” by finding out what we know already and then by asking questions to develop our understanding. We spent some time defining and learning scientific vocabulary to support our learning (organism, habitat, consumer, producer, consumer, prey, predator, nutrition) and played fun games to consolidate their meaning.
We look forward to continuing all of the above topics next week. Have a super bank holiday weekend!
