Our Learning in Spring 2

Spring Two in Year Two is a wondrous place to be!

As writers we are creating pieces based on the book Major Glad, Major Dizzy by Jan Oke. We will be writing a diary entry as our final piece including the conjunctions when and because and writing consistently in the correct tense. 

In Maths, we will conclude our learning about the properties of shape 2D and 3D, repeated shape patterns and how to draw shapes on dotted paper using a ruler. We are also moving on to a unit on Fractions. We will understand that a fraction is an equal part of a whole as well as recognising and finding halves, thirds and quarters.  

In Science we will be learning about materials and their properties. We will make links between the properties of materials and why a material has been chosen to make an object. We will use scientific knowledge, skills, understanding and vocabulary to provide arguments about the suitability of, for example, a car made of cake or a window made of chocolate. We will learn about what makes a fair and unfair test so that our results can be scientifically viable. We will be testing a range of materials, linking to the DT sailing boats, for transparency and rigidity.

As geographers, we revise the countries of the United Kingdom, the continents of the world and the oceans of the world. We will learn about the four compass directions. We will use maps to learn about where Somalia is on a map and learn about its physical and human geography. We will then compare and contrast Somalia to the UK. We will read ‘Fascinating Facts – Cities, Towns and Villages’ by Barbara Taylor to help us to understand the differences between village, towns and cities. We will also visit Southport to conduct some geography field work.

In Art, we will be learning about collage and using the artwork in Brown Bear, brown bear, what do you see’ by Eric Carle for inspiration. We will be learning the skills of cutting, tearing and collage. Lydia, our resident artist, will help children to create collages using different light and dark colours, layering different colours, scrunching, gluing and manipulating to create a different texture.

For our Design Technology project we will be building a boat. We will discuss how people travel across water and learn about Leif Eriksson who undertook an epic journey on a sailing boat. We will test which type of hull would stay afloat the longest, liking this to our materials and their properties unit in Science. We will enhance our team building skills as we skilfully test, design, build and evaluate our sail boats using a variety of materials.

Our Physical Education lessons will focus on table tennis. We will learn how to use forehand, backhand and how to serve. Eventually, we will use our skills together to put a rally together with an opponent.

In our Computing, lessons we will be learning to safely develop our research skills to learn about food chains using Kiddle and then label food chains using PowerPoint. We will be creating a painting containing forests, hills, valleys and a river. We will be create, save and change scenes using a new digital art program called ArtRage.  We will learn about the different functions of technology and peripherals.

As musicians,  we will sing a range of songs that help us to understand timbre, rhythm, pulse and pitch, including ‘Doggie, Doggie, where’s your bone’ and ‘As I was walking down the street’. We will listen and appraise Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’ that includes instruments such as the oboe, flute, bassoon and the clarinet.  We will use a range of instruments to demonstrate our understanding including the xylophone and know how to read crotchet and quaver musical notes.

In Religious Education lessons we will learn about Jewish people and their beliefs. We will understand about the idea of precious objects and the significance of Jewish people displaying a mezuzah outside their homes. We will learn about the meaning behind the Jewish Shabbat and about the Creation Story. Our children will also learn about the story of Chanukah and reflect upon how light is used by many religions and groups as a symbol of light and hope.

In our PSHE lessons our topic is Managing Feelings and we will learn about small and big feelings, both online and in everyday life. We will learn about the difference between joking, teasing and bullying to raise awareness of our actions and how they can affect others. We will also learn about generalisations, including gender stereotypes, and how they are unhelpful.

Here are some pictures of our learning in Spring 2