Author: Mrs Freeman

Our current topic, ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ is primarily driven by design and technology. This is our main focus but we also incorporate many other subject areas into our learning.

The age related expectations for Year 2 children is to be able to:

Skills

• generate, develop and communicate ideas in different ways (eg by talking, drawing)
• design purposeful, functional, appealing products based on given design criteria
• select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks [eg cutting, shaping, joining and finishing]
•  select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials and textiles
• explore and evaluate a range of existing products
• evaluate my ideas and products against given design criteria.
  Knowledge
• know that products are designed
• know, through exploration, how products can be made stronger, stiffer or more stable

In the story, Max sails away in a boat to where the wild things are. The image below has inspired us to make our own boats.

We have looked at existing boats, made shapes for the bottom and sides using playdough, completed some observational drawing and created Lego boats.

Today, the children thought about different joining, fixing and attaching methods. After experimenting with joining techniques, Year 2 were asked to note down the strongest and weakest ways of joining materials.

I thought the blu tack was the weakest because the materials didn’t stick together. It was too soft.

I’m going to use the tacks for my boat. They held the materials together and were solid.

The pins would help my boat to be stable.

Cello tape might go soggy when it gets wet. My boat wouldn’t float.

Having explored all of the above, Year 2 are now ready to design and construct their own boats.

Finally, the children decided a design criteria for their own models.

• The boat can float.
• The boat has a triangular sail.
• The boat is sturdy and stable.
• The boat can hold one Lego person.

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday, Year 2  brought their class novel ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ to life with a drama session led by Sam from Leeds Playhouse. The children took part in lots of fun games and loved becoming some of the characters from the story. Each child got to act out being a ‘Wild Thing’ just like Max in the story. All the children were extremely imaginative in their acting skills and we plan to use this creativity to inspire our writing.

 

Following a very busy morning packed with learning, Year 2 settled down to enjoy some mindfulness.

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is simply… noticing what is happening right now.

Mindfulness is taking notice of how your body feels and what your mind is doing. When we notice what is happening around us, it can help us to calm down when feeling sad, angry or frustrated. Mindfulness helps us deal with tough emotions and can make us happy and feel good.

Today, the children focused on their breathing and what happens to our bodies when we ex and inhale. Following this exercise, the class were calm and focused all afternoon.

 

It was great to see so many smiling faces today when the children returned to school following the summer break. The class quickly settled into Year 2 and followed all their new routines. All the adults were impressed by the ‘readiness to learn attitudes’ on display.

This afternoon, we thought about our upcoming new topic learning. Using some clues, the children were asked to predict what our new topic may be. Through some drama, the class observed all the clues and shared their ideas.

Below are some of the clues.

I wonder if there is some water?

I think that there are untamed animals.

The vines could be a forest.

The BFG has huge feet.

I think there are monsters.

The lesson was great fun and full of great predicting and interpreting skills.

Our new topic is based around…

There’s so much more in this book than just the reading. It’s a simple story with a few characters and a whole lot of imagination. It’s an amazing story to read out loud.

Where the Wild Things Are is a well known, classic children’s book. It works because of its simplicity, and its underlying charm, as well as the originality of its illustrations.

Our topic will be driven by design and technology culminating in the making of a sailboat. Also, there will be links to reading, writing and maths within our lessons. Vocabulary, linked to DT and the text, will become more familiar to the children as we move through our topic sessions.

Mr Owen, Mrs Pearson and I would just like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the children for a great year. We have really enjoyed teaching each and every one of them. Many thanks also for all the end of term gifts. We never expect presents but are very grateful for your generosity.  Before we sign off for the summer, we would like to share our ‘Plastic Free Under the Sea‘ display with you. The artwork was added to over several weeks and we are sure you will agree, the end result is eye-catching!

We hope you all enjoy the summer holidays!

Yesterday morning, the children made their own pitta bread pizzas and fruit salads for a picnic in the park.

Following a reminder of the safety rules when cooking, the class got to work on their own recipes. It was great to see both ‘the bridge and the claw‘ methods being used correctly.

The afternoon was spent playing games and enjoying the picnic in the local park.

 

Scratch is a block-based visual coding program.  Users of the site can create online projects using a block-like script.

Over the year, the children have done a fair bit of off line computing. Today, Year 4 were online and  have been learning mathematical and computational skills that are built into the Scratch program.. The children were able to gain an understanding of important mathematical concepts such as coordinates, variables, and random numbers.

The class were asked to describe how they might use variables within their program. Then, after creating a background, the children were faced with the challenge of adding movement.

Having created algorithms before, the children were familiar with the term ‘debugging.‘

“Debugging is when you find an issue in the program that you have written and repair it,” stated Musa.  A few children found errors in their scripts and were able to spot and correct them confidently.Whenever we are using a form of technology in class, we always remind ourselves about the importance of staying safe whilst online.