Year 2 News 2020-2021
Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers!
Following on from exploring artist Vincent Van Gogh, For Art, Year 2 observed his painting of ‘Sunflowers’. They first sketched their sunflowers using pencil then thought carefully about the colours used to paint their picture using watercolour paints. We certainly have lots of budding artists in the making in Year 2! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Lunch Alfresco!
What a treat to have our picnic lunch outside after our visit to the Enterprise Week Marketplace! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Year 2 Visited Avalon Marketplace
Year 2 thoroughly enjoyed visiting the Juniors Marketplace today for their Enterprise Week. It certainly had a buzzing market atmosphere with great selling techniques! Using their coin recognition, adding and subtracting skills, the children exchanged the coins needed to buy some handmade enterprise week products. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Busy Mrs Robin
The children have noticed a Robin being busy around the school grounds this week. On further, careful inspection, Mrs Roberts discovered a nest hiding in the grasses with fledglings in and around it. The children were thrilled with the discovery and with knowing how to care for nature and our environment through their PSHCEE work, they thought it would be a good idea to provide some food. Luckily the kitchen had some spare lunch – sausage and chips! The children will be watching from their class window to see if mummy robin will collect some for her babies. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Lost and Found
Year 2 had a suitcase full of clues delivered to their classroom this week. They have been exploring the clues further to predict their next text. They discovered that their new text is an adventure story called Lost and Found by Author Oliver Jeffers. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Science Fair - Year 2
Science Week - Comes to an end!
...And that’s it, our thoroughly enjoyable Science Week has come to an end. We ended our Science task by designing and painting our own Lab Coat. We then got to visit the Science fair where we were able to enjoy and explore what the rest of the year groups had been investigating, wow! Lots of super experiments have taken place!
Science Week - Does Sound Affect Taste?
Today we put it to the test! Does music really change our taste? First we tasted half a piece of chocolate while listening to soft musical notes, we then tasted the other half to short, sharp notes. We listened to the same pieces of music while tasting crisps. The experiment surely did show that the different musical notes altered the taste of the chocolate and the crisps. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Science Week - Taste Tasting!
Year 2 have been asked ‘Does sound affect taste?’ Before they carry out their Science investigation involving sound, today the children explored their own tongue to different tastes, they explored salt, chocolate, vinegar, soy sauce, lemon and lettuce. Some described the tastes as bitter, sweet or salty, some tastes they liked and some they didn’t! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Science Week - Mystery Box!
Today Year 2 discovered a mystery box inside their classroom. Some children had a feel inside and described what they were touching. Before revealing it, they had to guess what they thought the item might be! Once all items were revealed they predicted what they thought they might be investigating, they discovered it involves sound and taste, the children were then asked a question, ‘Does sound affect taste’? To find out the answer, this week, the children will be taking part in some experiments...we wonder what they will find out! good luck Year 2! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Sunflowers!
Year 2 were introduced to Artist Vincent Van Gogh and his love for painting sunflowers. The children also read a short story about ‘Billy’s Sunflower’ and completed a Comprehension Read and Respond task. Continuing with their Literacy work, the children wrote an instructional text on ‘How to plant a seed’, they were able to use these instructions to plant their own sunflowers. Following this activity, during art, the children enjoyed designing and painting their plant pot. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Boosting the Senses
Using all your senses can be a real boost to your Mental Health! With a focus on the importance of nature for ‘Mental Health Awareness week’, Year 2 took some quiet time outside of the classroom to explore their natural surroundings around school grounds. They were joined by Mrs Probert who talked about what was growing in the school garden, the children discovered Fennel, Chives, Nepeta, Pulmonaria and the growth of Welsh Poppies. Year 2 enjoyed exploring the different textures and smells of the herbs and flowers. Following their PE session, during their ‘cool down’ the children lay on the grass noticing the movements of the clouds, they listened to the birds singing and spotted bees and butterflies, very relaxing! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Developing Cricketing Skills
Year 2 had great fun this week in PE developing their cricket skills! They partnered up to take turns at bowling and batting. Hitting the ball proved to be a little challenging but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the activity! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Looking After the School Environment
Year 2 have been helping to look after the school environment! As part of the topic on the 'Environment,' Year 2 helped pick up the litter that had been 'left' in the school hall! The children were appalled to see the mess that had been 'left' and showed how responsible they were by helping to pick it up and put it in the bin. They also pointed out that a lot of the rubbish was 'recyclable' which also helps to protect the environment. Well done Year 2! I wonder who left all that rubbish there......
See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Titanic Art
It was lovely to welcome the Year 2 children who have been learning at home back to the classroom this week, it’s great to be all back together! What super creations Year 2 constructed and painted to represent the Titanic. Their finished designs look fabulous! They have thoroughly enjoyed this topic and will continue to explore it further over the next couple of weeks. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
World Book Day
Year 2 have been sharing the story ‘The Smeds and The Smoos’ by Julia Donaldson. For World Book Day, some came to school dressed as red for a Smed or blue for a Smoo, they all looked fantastic! In the afternoon, the children enjoyed creating their very own Smed or Smoo! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Measuring Weight
What a busy and fun filled week for year 2! In Maths, the children were introduced to mass and discovered how to measure and convert grams to kilograms, they enjoyed using a kitchen scale to learn how to observe the display screen and read the weight of different objects - they were particularly impressed that one full water bottle and made from metal weighed 640g! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Titanic Art
For their topic work, the children are finding out about the biggest and most luxurious passenger ship of its time, the Titanic! During Art, the children collected and ‘upcycled’ materials to create their own 3D models of the Titanic, here is a sneaky peek of their constructions so far... See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Traditional Tales
To begin their Traditional Tales topic, Year 2 started off with the story ‘The Three Little Pigs’ they were then introduced to different adaptations of the story, they enjoyed sharing ‘The Big Bad Pig and The Three Little Wolves’, also ‘The True Story of the Three Little Pigs’, a version retold by the Big Bad Wolf, what a treat the children had seeing Mrs Roberts dressed as the Wolf to read the story! To end the topic the children shared Jack and the Beanstalk and used their imagination to write alternative story endings.
For their Art sessions, the children have been completing a variety of Chinese New Year crafts - dragon masks, lanterns and red envelopes, the envelopes (red pockets) are a traditional gift given to children during this celebration. This year, Chinese New Year will begin on 12th February, it falls at this time because it marks the start of the lunar new year, which is when there is the start of a new moon.
The children, both in school and those currently at home have been working tremendously hard and it’s lovely to share the fabulous work that the super zoomers have produced during their home learning tasks, well done Year 2! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Predictions
Huge excitement in Year 2 this week! The children inspected clues which were presented on a table. they then used the clues to make a prediction about our next text. The predictions ranged from Mary and Joseph to The Nutcracker. Today they learned that our test is "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
BHT Elf Kick Yuletide Yoga
As part of our ‘Christmas Elf Kick’ in aid of The British Heart Foundation, Year 1 and 2 took part in a Yuletide Yoga session. They balanced, stretched and relaxed, and all with a Christmas theme.
Internet Legends
Year 2 have been learning some more about keeping themselves safe online this week. We shared a story about a boy who got a new tablet and promised his Mum that he would try to use it safely online. The children helped him out of some difficult situations and knew exactly what to do to stay safe online. Then we sang a song and made up some rules of our own to remind everyone how we can keep safe online. Finally we played a game of 'Online Safety Charades' where we had to describe the meaning of each of the vocabulary cards in just 30 seconds. Year 2 were Internet legends online!
Studying Superworm in Art and Literacy
Year 2 have combined Literacy with Art in studying Superworm by Julia Donaldson. We have looked at verb tenses and completed read and respond tasks to demonstrate their ability to retrieve information from a text and form full sentence answers. The children particularly enjoyed sessions finding rhyming words. We have also been thinking about ways to be helpful and given advice to the Wizard Lizard to change his bullying ways( linking to Anti-Bullying Week). In Art we have been developing our fine motor skills , cutting and folding to make our own Superworms , which now dangle, decorating a display board. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
How Clean are our Hands
This week Year 2 took part in an experiment to find out why soap works when we wash our hands. We sprinkled pepper on to the surface of a bowl of water to represent dirt and germs. Children took turns to place their finger in the centre of the bowl and observe what happened. Next, the children put hand soap on their finger before placing it into the peppered water and were delighted to observe the pepper being repelled from the finger. Our conclusion was that soap moves dirt and germs away and this is because it removes oils from the skin which would otherwise trap the dirt. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Visit to the West Kirby War Memorial
Another lovely outing for Year 2 this week, with impeccable behaviour as always! The children visited the War Memorial on Grange Hill. It was fantastic to see how enthused and interested the children were in the history of the monument, what the figures symbolised and why the Poppy wreaths were laid. The children were eager to find their family name engraved on the monument and one child even spotted her Grandfathers! With it being a lovely autumnal day, the children were able to observe and sketch the monument and wreaths. Although tired on their journey home, the children mustered up enough energy for some leaf kicking! Well done Year 2! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Remembrance Day
The children have been learning about why Remembrance Day is an important date in the calendar and the meaning of why we wear a poppy. They listened to a poem called ‘The Inquisitive mind of a child’... We couldn’t let lockdown spoil the fun of the children not sharing with you them reciting the poem! Well done Year 2 on repeating aloud the poem with clear, confident voices!
Sending a Message of Hope in Computing
Year 2 have been working hard on their Word Processing skills in computing this week. First we talked about the theme of ‘Hope’ and how it is really important for everyone to have positive hopes and dreams for the future. We then used our ideas to create our own special poems in full sentences. We practised our typing skills by making sure that our poems had capital letters, spaces between words and full stops too! We hope you like them!
Art in Caldy Woods
What a lovely Autumnal afternoon for Year 2 to visit Caldy Woods for their Art session. The children have been studying the designs of William Morris, a 19th century artist who was particularly inspired by nature to create his designs. During their walk, the children enjoyed observing and sketching different plants, trees and buildings. They discovered bracken, heather, birch trees and much, much more. Their adventure also included sitting to enjoy the spectacular views of the Dee Estuary. Mrs Roberts and Miss Bennett were very proud of their impeccable behaviour and their interests in their surroundings, a credit to Avalon school! See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Staying Active
This week Year 2 have been doing some cross curricular work linking PE activities with our PSHCEE topic on Mental Health and Well Being. The children thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine. We were learning how being physically active can enhance our moods . We now know that our brain releases chemicals to the body, when we are physically active and that these can make us feel happy. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
Role Playing a Breakfast Scene in English
In English this week, Year 2 were introduced to the story ‘Five Minutes Peace’ by Jill Murphy. They have been busy completing a variety of writing tasks, they sequenced the pictures and retold the story in their own words and labelled a breakfast tray. They also discussed how Mrs Large felt and wrote down their ideas advising the children on what they could have done differently. The children had lots of fun exploring a role play breakfast scene.
PSHCEE
This week during their PSHCEE lesson, Year 2 have been thinking about their well-being and have discussed both positive and negative feelings. They shared their ideas on how to care for themselves when things are not going as well as they had hoped. They have also been focusing on their INCAS assessments in Maths and English and have approached the tasks with an I can do attitude! Well done Year 2.
Returning to School!
Our Year 2 children have made a fantastic start returning to school. This week in English the children shared a story called 'Only one you' were they met a beautiful, colourful fish named Adri, who reminds each and everyone of us that "there is only one you in this great big world". During their art lesson, the children painted their own brightly colourful interpretations of Adri. See the Year 2 Gallery for more photos.
