It’s been a fun week of getting to know each other and learning the routines in Grade 2. All of Grade 2 have been working together to develop our Essential Agreements for our shared areas and how we can work or play together. We’ve been impressed by the thinking and participation of each student throughout the week.
In maths this week we have been exploring mental maths in which we review the names of numbers, equating those to amounts and also practising skip counting by 2s and 5s. We have begun work on growing patterns, an essential component of maths understanding.
In literacy, we have had some reading time where students have been reading individually or with a partner. We’ve listened to both fiction and non-fiction books and discussed the differences between the two. We’ve used our understanding and knowledge of English, including spelling, handwriting and reading to complete activities in class or within Grade 2 groups.
We have begun building our classroom community and identifying the culture we want to create and develop as we move through the Grade 2 academic year. Some ideas which have been shared by the students are:
- be kind to each
- smile and greet each other
- use a friendly voice
- help each other
- share resources
- tidy up our learning or play spaces
- participate in learning
Next week, we will be continuing to build our classroom community and to step into our Unit of Inquiry: Who we are. We’ll be sharing our unit flyer with you soon so you have a better understanding of the concepts and skills we will inquire into during this unit. We will be discussing and sharing our ideas about the Learner Profile attributes and the Approaches to Learning.
In maths next week, we will be holding our Benchmark assessment on numeracy which gives us an idea of how well each student understand previously taught concepts. There is no need to study for this assessment as it is a formative assessment which informs our planning. We will also continue to review place value and begin working on data handling.
For literacy next week, we will listen to and read some fables which will be the foundation of some writing activities. Handwriting will be practised and we’ll begin our phonics programme to continue building our use of the English language. Of course, reading will happen in a variety of ways, such as reading-to-self, read to a partner or read in a group.
To further inquire into our Unit of Inquiry: Who we are, we have asked the students to create a Shoebox Autobiography. We have discussed this in class and will look at one in class. Please see the information your child has brought home to explain this home learning activity. I have attached the learning activity below in case the hard copy doesn’t make it home.
Please see photos of our week here.