This term in year 2 we have been working very hard and learning about lots of new and exciting topics. Here are some examples of what we have been learning about.
This term we have been learning all about St Lucia. We used our previous learning of where the UK is on a map and then found St Lucia. It is a very long way away, and you have to travel across a big ocean to get there. We learnt that this was called the Atlantic Ocean. We thought about different ways we could travel there:
“You couldn’t drive there or get a bus because there is an ocean in the way.” Oliver
“You could get a boat there because that helps us travel across the ocean.” Dalton
“You could travel on an aeroplane because that goes in the sky, over the top of the oceans.” Siana
We then had a virtual school trip that took us all the way to St Lucia to see what it was like. Whilst visiting, we have been learning a lot about the climate, the physical geography and what the culture is like.
“It is very hot in St Lucia because it is near the equator.” Violet
“It is a tropical climate in St Lucia. This means it is very hot but also very wet.” Coralie
“There is a big volcano in St Lucia, Southampton doesn’t have any volcanoes.” Leo
“St Lucia is an island and has lots of beautiful beaches. This is similar to Southampton because we have beaches here too.” Isla
In Science, we have been learning all about materials. We started our learning journey with thinking about the properties of lots of different materials. We went on a material hunt in our playground to see if we could find materials that had different properties.
“The bin is plastic and it is very hard.” Harry
“The gravel on the playground feels bumpy.” Jack
“The leaves on the trees can be moved so they are flexible.” Keadyn
We have then been carrying out experiments to find out a little bit more about the properties of certain materials. We knew from our previous topic in science that every scientific investigation should start with a question so we asked the question ‘how do we keep dry?’ We thought about what property a material would need to be in order to keep us dry. We then tested different materials and recorded in a table whether or not they were waterproof. We then drew some conclusions based on what we found.
“You should not use paper to keep you dry because it let the water through” Jessica
“Cling film was the most waterproof because there was not water underneath it.” Lily-Rose
“Baking paper was a little bit waterproof but it did let some water through so would not be suitable.” Tehillah
This term we have been learning about different winding mechanisms. Each lesson we have been learning how to make a new winding mechanism. We really enjoy using our growth mindsets to help us be successful. We always remind each other that even if it is hard, we should keep on trying and we will eventually be able to do it.
“The simple winding mechanism makes a character move up and down.” Matthew
“A mouth winding mechanism makes something open and close.” Tyree
“You could use a simple winding mechanism for a crane.” Kayden-Lee
This term we have been writing a narrative all about a scary monster. We have been using suspense and tension to make our reader want to read more. We came up with a toolkit of ideas for how to make our writing really interesting.
Here are some questions that we asked the reader:
“Was this all in his imagination?” Oliver
“Can you imagine having a monster best friend?” Charlie
Here are some short sentences we used to make the reader suspicious about what was going to happen next:
“He stopped. He stared.” Mia
“He looked. He listened.” Millie
Here is some ideas of show me don’t tell me that we used to show what the character was feeling:
“He quivered like a leaf under the blanket.” Chloe
“She hugged her knees in tight to her chest.” Braden
In maths this term, we have been learning about multiplication and division. We have learnt lots of different strategies to help us solve some number sentences. Once we learnt all of the different strategies, we started to choose the ones that would be best for the different problems.
“If it was 8X10, we would count in our 10s 8 times. We wouldn’t draw hoops and dots because this would take us a long time. Using our mental strategies would be the most efficient.” Arnon
“Multiplication and division are best friends because they are the opposite of each other. We call this the inverse.” Paige
We have been learning that you can do division by sharing or grouping.
There are 20 eggs. The farmer puts them into boxes of 5. How many boxes would you need?
“I know we are grouping because we are putting them into groups of 5 and trying to solve how many groups we would need.” Zosia
There were 20 cookies that needed to be shared between 5 friends. How many would the get each?
“I know this is sharing because I already know how many groups and I am solving how many are in each group.” Logan