Welcome to Year 2 - Elm class
 

Class Teachers: Mrs Harris & Mrs Dunn

Learning Support Assistant: Miss Hodgson

Contact email: elm@connectedlearningmat.co.uk

Elm class is made up of enthusiastic, creative and curious year 2 children.  In class, we respect each other and are proud of everyone's achievements. We never give up and value a growth mindset (I don't know how to do this 'yet'!).  We work together to create a warm and welcome atmosphere, where every class member feels valued, safe and listened to.  The year 2 teaching team are passionate about reading and can't wait to share many wonderful stories and poems.  We are also very creative and have lots of inspiring activities planned.  This is going to be a marvellous year!

Elm Class are amazing writers!  Well done for all your hard work.

Things to remember

SPRING Term 2021

English 

Reading/Phonics/Spellings:

In English, the children will continue to work on the phonics they have learned in Year 1. They will aim to read common words by sight (particularly Common Exemption words), whilst still sounding out unfamiliar words as well as writing written answers to comprehension questions. They will learn further spelling patterns and rules, and begin to apply those in their writing. During guided reading we follow 'Reading Vipers'.  Each week we will have a viper focus which their reading tasks will be based on.  

Writing:

Children will learn to write for a range of purposes including stories, poetry and real events. Grammar becomes even more important in Year 2.  At Cherry tree we follow the 'Talk for Writing' approach for teaching writing.  This has three phases: imitation, innovation and invention.  During the first term Elm class will base their writing on 'Traction Man'.  We will focus on character descriptions and information texts.

Maths

We will be teaching math though 'Power Maths'.  Power Maths is a UK curriculum mastery programme designed to spark curiosity and excitement and nurture confidence in maths.  The focus this term will be learning to multiply and divide.  We will look at making equal groups; adding equal groups; multiplication sentences; using arrays and 2s, 5s and 10 times-tables.

Connected Curriculum

In our Connected Curriculum, we make links between the subjects, where possible.  History, Art and D & T are the main subjects for this term.  Our connected curriculum follows three stages:  Stage 1, Teacher directed.  Stage 2, Teacher led and Stage 3, Pupil led.   Watch this space for our 'hook' into this area of the curriculum!

History curriculum map. This shows the objectives that the children will learn over the term. Please scroll to the bottom of the screen for a copy of our curriculum map including homework. 

This term it is linked to our history theme of the past and toys. Children are expected to complete 2 pieces and hand them in to their teacher each half term. 

Homework: please see the curriculum map attached at the bottom of the screen. 

Phonics

Please click on the hyperlinks to view videos of 'Song of Sounds'

Stage 1 song

Stage 2 explained and song.

Stage 3 song. 

How can I help my child in year 2?

Talking, listening and reading:

Continue to hear them read daily, practise counting in different ways (2s, 5s and 10s), help them with homework, talk to them about their day and encourage them to read by visiting the local library, bookshops or using eBooks online. 

As reading comprehension is so important, checking your child’s understanding of the book they are reading is an excellent way to support them. Asking questions such as: ‘What might happen next? Why do you think the character is behaving this way? What sort of atmosphere is being created?’ will help them to engage with their reading on a deeper level.  

You can also do this when you are reading to them, which is still so important at this age. Children learn a lot from the way we read aloud and we can encourage them to see how the author’s use of punctuation changes the way we read their work. Think about pointing out statements, commands, questions or exclamations when reading with your child. You might want to use a range of voices to show how types of sentences and punctuation can be read in different ways.

Accelerated Reader

The programme is designed to work out a reading level (or STAR reading level) for students at the start (by means of a STAR test, completed in English lessons). Students then read books within this level – all books in the library that are registered with AR have a coloured star label on the spine to help them recognise books within their ‘zone’. Students take a quiz on the website after reading each book to assess how well they understood it. Their STAR level is tested every term to see how they have progressed.

https://ukhosted64.renlearn.co.uk/2237421/default.aspx

Real-life maths:

Any opportunity to use maths in a real-life context is really useful. For example, ask them to help you pay for goods or calculate change when shopping. This will help to develop their reasoning and problem solving skills. Learning to tell the time, using an analogue clock (not digital), to the nearest 15 minutes, is another great way to support your child’s learning at home; this also links neatly to their counting in 5s in the 5 times-table.

Times table rockstars:

It is really important for the children to know their times tables.  Here at Cherry Tree Academy we have found a fun way to learn our times table. Times Table Rockstars! Children can have their own rockstar name, they can listen to rock music as they learn their tables, even play tournaments! All the children have been given usernames and passwords- if you are unsure please ask the class teacher. Click the link below to start rocking out!!

https://ttrockstars.com/login

Numbots:

NumBots is an online game and playing little and often will significantly improve your child’s recall and understanding of number bonds and addition and subtraction facts. These are critical foundations in maths so we are excited by the impact NumBots will have.

https://play.numbots.com/#/account/school-login/19867

Make sure they are in on time every day and that their attendance is high.

Remote learning

At Cherry Tree Academy, we aim to provide learning opportunities for all of our children to ensure that the need to learn remotely does not disadvantage our pupils.  If for any reason you find your child in isolation, please find the documents attached below.  This work would be a starting point until further information is sent out.