Apostrophes
For the past two weeks, Year 2 have been learning all about apostrophes and how to use them. We have been learning to make and write contractions (where we push two words together, lose a letter or two and replace with an apostrophe). We’ve also been learning to show possession using apostrophes.
See some of our fantastic work!
A visit to Scholes Library
On Tuesday, KS1 visited Scholes Library where Madeleine welcomed us with open arms. She talked about the library, how it works and how you can join. The children were given time to explore the library and to look for books to bring back to school to support our learning. Everyone had a lovely time and we’re looking forward to our next visit. Thank you to Madeleine and to all the volunteers who helped us on the day.
Help at home: Talk to your child about the library and let them show you where Scholes Library is. Perhaps you would even consider joining the library?
We Are Explorers!
Over the last two weeks in KS1, we have begun the journey on this half term’s topic ‘Explorers.’ We have learnt the names of the 7 continents and the names of the five oceans by using catchy songs to help us (links below.) We have located them on maps and globes and in atlases too.
We talked about how different countries can have very different temperatures and we thought about why this could be. The ‘Arctic/North Pole’ and ‘Antarctic/South Pole’ have very different temperatures to those countries that sit on the equator. We plotted them on a map and we noticed that the further away from the equator you go, the colder the temperature. We talked about this being because the Arctic and the Antarctic are further away from the Sun than the equator.
Help at home:
- Discuss different countries and their temperatures with your child. Perhaps you or someone you know have been on holiday to somewhere hotter than the UK. Why was that country hotter than England? Can you find different countries on a map (including Google maps)? Which country would be the colder one? Why?
- You could also sing the Seven Continents Geography Song and the Five Oceans Song with your child:
Living and learning – dental health
Our Living and Learning lessons have all been about dental health this week. We talked about why we need to brush our teeth, who can help us take care of our teeth and how we can take care of our teeth.
We used these pictures to talk about who and how we can take care of our teeth.
Help at home by making sure your child brushes their teeth regularly and properly.
Fractions
Year 2 are currently learning all about fractions. We have learnt about half, quarter and thirds.
Each lesson we begin by recapping what each fraction represents.
Half means 2 equal parts.
Quarter means 4 equal parts.
Third means 3 equal parts.
We know equal is a very important word when discussing fractions. (Equal means the same amount). A shape for example, can be divided into several parts, but the parts may not be equal. See an example below.
We know that one half equals the same as two quarters.
We don’t just divide shapes into equal parts though. This can also be done with even numbers.
Help at home: by finding objects around the house (such as fruit, sweets or toys) and encourage your child to divide them into groups of 2, 3 or 4 and discuss.
Scholes in Bloom flower bed competition winner
Larraine came in to our assembly in school on Monday this week. She announced the winner of the competition. It was chosen because of the eye-catching design featuring lovely bright coloured stripes and a love heart. The winning design will be made using flowers in the bed outside the school on Morwick Grove.
Well done to the runners up too.
Living and Learning – personal hygiene
This week, our whole-school Living and Learning statement is ‘I know the importance of personal hygiene, including handwashing.’
In KS1, we have been discussing lots of different ways that we can keep ourselves clean and healthy such as regularly having a shower or bath, cleaning our teeth using toothpaste and washing our hands.
In 2C, we conducted an experiment where we filled a bowl of water and sprinkled pepper on the surface. The surface of the water represented our hands and the pepper represented germs. We dipped one finger into the bowl each and saw that the pepper attached itself to our fingers when we did not have soap on them. We then dipped one finger into soap and then into the water and saw that the pepper moved away from our skin and onto the side of the bowl. This showed us just how powerful soap is and how important it is that we wash our hands regularly.
We identified lots of areas around school that are touched regularly by lots and lots of people. We know that these areas are ‘hotspots’ for germs, and if we touch them, it’s best to wash our hands afterwards.
This includes: doors, door handles, anything in the toilets and play equipment. It is important to wash our hands with soap so that we do not spread germs to others, or pick them up. Germs can be harmful and might make us poorly. We also identified places in the home that might be hotspots for germs, within the bathroom and kitchen.
Help at home: by identifying some ‘hotspots’ for germs within your home. Discuss the importance of handwashing and encourage children to follow the handwashing guide to ensure their hands are super clean!
How to wash your hands NHS song | NHS (youtube.com)
(Please note this is a YouTube video. Make sure you watch your child when using YouTube as adverts or unwanted videos may follow. Thank you.)
Class novel – The Worst Witch
We are using The Worst Witch, by Jull Murphy, as our class novel this half term. We will link reading and writing learning with it too, as well as enjoying immersing ourselves in the story. We already love Mildred and her cat!
Help at home by talking about what has happened so far or read along with us (but no spoilers!).
PE – Hulk Smash
All Year 1 and 2 classes are learning a new games this half term to improve our agility, balance and coordination. We started the game this week – bouncing balls, moving and bouncing and adding in actions to make is more difficult. You have to really ‘smash’ bounce the ball to have enough time to do a spin before catching it, for example.
Help at home by asking your child to explain how to play the game (and maybe even play a game together).
Here are some pictures from 1,2B’s lesson.
Happy Easter from 1A
Thankyou for allowing your child to participate in our egg rolling competition. We had lots of fun! Well done to our winners.
Our Easter disco class pics.
Have a wonderful holiday. Looking forward to all that lies ahead in the Summer term!