09 May 2014
This week marks the start of our final big topic of Year 2 – ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside’.
I can show what happens at the seaside.
This is creative homework so think about what different things you cold do to show all of the different things that happen at the seaside.
You could…
- Make a brochure
- Create a slideshow
- Draw a map of a seaside
- Write a story
- Interview different people you might meet there
02 May 2014
This week’s homework is practice makes perfect.
For the last couple of days, we’ve been learning about weight and units of measurement. For homework, I would like the children to look around the kitchen cupboards to see the variety of different weights recorded on the packets. If they want to do a bit more, then they could weigh the packets to make sure the recorded weight is correct. They know that 1000 grams is the same as 1 kilogram so it would be useful to refer to this in your discussion when they are doing their homework.
Homework is due in on Wednesday 07 May.
02 May 2014
This week’s homework is practice makes perfect and is due in on Wednesday 07 May.
I can answer questions about a text.
I’d like the children to carefully read the text they have been given and answer the questions – this will test their comprehension skills as well as reading. This is a great way to ensure your child is understanding what they’re reading whilst building on skills we’ve learnt throughout the year so far.
25 April 2014
This week’s homework is creative and is due in on Wednesday 30 April.
What do you know about plants?
The current mini topic is all about plants – there has already been lots of soil and seeds in the Year 1 classroom and it was up to each child how they planted their seed. This will lead on to them realising the perfect conditions for growth. We would like to know what they know about plants – this can be presented in any way that you want. Remember to be as creative as you can.
25 April 2014
The homework this week is creative and is due in on Wednesday 30 April.
I can show what I have learnt about permeable and impermeable materials.
Permeable materials allow gases or liquids through them and impermeable materials do not.
We’ve been learning about rocks and fossils in our topic lessons this week. Yesterday, we classified rocks according to different criteria and one of the tests we did was whether the rocks were permeable or impermeable to water.
The children are tasked with finding some materials around the home which are permeable or impermeable to water (or gas) and should be able to say why it is necessary that those materials are either permeable or impermeable. For example, a permeable cup wouldn’t be very useful as it would let all the liquid through it.
25 April 2014
As well as the usual homework and spellings. This term, Year 2 will start times tables tests in preparation for Year 3. We have stuck the 2 times table into our red learning lists books for us to practise and there will be a test on Friday 02 May.
For an extra challenge, make sure you know all of the division facts that go with each calculation.
- 4 x 2 = 8
- 2 x 4 = 8
- 8 ÷ 2 = 4
- 8 ÷ 4 = 2
25 April 2014
This week the homework is creative.
I can find out about nocturnal animals.
Year 2’s new mini topic is all about nocturnal animals. We will be looking at bats, badgers, owls, hedgehogs and foxes. For homework, I would like the children to find out all they can and present it creatively.
- Information leaflet
- Poster
- Video
- PowerPoint slide show
- A quiz
It’s the Easter holidays…
…so we have no set homework or spellings, in line with our Homework Policy.
That doesn’t mean we expect your child not to be developing their skills in reading, writing and maths!
Your child should be reading daily – this could be fiction, factual books, a comic or newspaper, and could include being read to at bedtime, too.
It would be good to practise basic skills in writing by writing a letter or email to a relative, perhaps recounting a day-trip or reviewing a film your child watched.
We’re finding quite a few children are ‘squashing their sentences’ such as I went to Leeds City Museum it was really interesting which is wrong. It would be much better with punctuation to separate or a word to join:
- I went to Leeds City Museum. It was really interesting. (A comma isn’t strong enough to separate two sentences.)
- I went to Leeds City Museum – it was really interesting.
- I went to Leeds City Museum; it was really interesting.
- I went to Leeds City Museum and it was really interesting.
- I went to Leeds City Museum which was really interesting.
Finally, to improve calculation skills, please keep practising mental number facts which your child must know:
- number bonds (two numbers which add up to 10, 20 and 100 eg 3+7, 13+7, 30+70) – these facts should be known by children in Y1 – Y2
- times tables (up to 12×12) and the division facts with your child – children in Y2 should have rapid recall of x2, x 5 and x 10 at least
We know we mention these ‘basics’ a lot, but that’s because they involve practice, practice and more practice – we practise a lot at school, but your child will need to practise at home, too, if they are to truly succeed.
Learn more about current expectations for reading, writing and maths. However, do be aware that a new National Curriculum comes into effect from September, meaning these expectations have been raised and so many aspects of learning now feature in younger age groups.
28 March 2014
This week’s homework is creative.
I can show that I am working towards my maths target.
All of the children have written their new maths target in their homework book this week. In as creative a way as they can think of, they need to show that they have started to work towards that target in this week’s homework. We discussed this together and lots of brilliant ideas were suggested for a range of targets:
- Making a shop at home to become more confident with money.
- Designing a picture with lines of given lengths to practise using a ruler accurately.
- Gathering data and creating a graph.
- Doing some baking to practise using scales.
These were just some of the ideas – I wonder what else the children will come up with…
Looking forward to seeing what you do, especially after the high quality of homework last week.
28 March 2014
This week’s homework is talk time and is due in on Wednesday 02 April 2014.
I can recognise my own talents.
The SEAL theme at the moment is “Good To Be Me”. We all have different talents and it is important that we recognise this. Talk to your child about things you are good at and ask them to think about their own talents. Do you have the same talents or are they different?