Prep | Year 2 News
Unit Of Inquiry
Transdisciplinary Theme: Who We Are
Central Idea: Individuals and communities grow by appreciating rights and responsibilities
Concepts: Responsibility, Perspective and Causation
As part of our unit of inquiry into Who We Are, the boys have been exploring how their actions, feelings and thoughts impact upon growth, and their different responsibilities in different relationships. The boys have begun the year by co-constructing their class Essential Agreements. By having ownership over the way their classroom will be run, our boys are able to feel empowered within their learning community.
The boys have engaged in a number of learning experiences to build their wellbeing and resilience in Year 2. The Zones of Regulation has been an effective resource for supporting self-regulation, as students begin to identify emotions and situations that may put them in different zones and have designed strategies that can help them return to the ‘Green Zone’.
The boys have developed Learner Profile Goals and have been reflective in providing evidence of how they have met their goal. Goal setting and reflection will remain a focus for the year.
English
The boys have demonstrated their spelling and reading skills by engaging in Initialit sessions with their teacher. Initialit sessions have been an opportunity for the boys to work independently to build on their current Literacy skills.
The Year Two boys have begun their year of writing by using various grammatical sentence structures to describe themselves and others. A sound knowledge of different sentence types and structures will strengthen the boy’s independent writing throughout the year. In our upcoming unit: How We Organise Ourselves, our learners will be analysing non-fiction texts and identifying their features. They will consider how the features of non-fiction texts can be used to find facts. In our next Unit of Inquiry, the boys will be planning and writing informative texts, focusing on information reports.
Mathematics
Since the beginning of term, Year 2 has been exploring the concept of Whole Number. Throughout the unit, the boys have developed their understanding of place value and comparing and ordering numbers. These foundational understandings of mathematics will give our learners a strong basis on which to build their mathematical knowledge and processes throughout the year.
Our boys used their Learner Profile attribute as Inquirers to consider how many different ways they could make the number 8. We had many different solutions: 5+3; 1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1; 12 – 4; 8 ones. Can you add to our list?
In Year 2, the boys engage in problem-based maths learning. Learning begins with a problem to be solved, and the problem is posed in such a way that students need to gain new knowledge before they can solve the problem. You can help support your boys in their maths learning through engaging in Mathletics tasks that are set each week to consolidate current understandings
Home Learning
We acknowledge the beliefs, expectations and experience of parents are a powerful determinant in a student’s achievement. The Year 2 teachers are eager to work in partnership with families to boost the boys’ understanding and skills across all key learning areas. Home readers are sent home each week to maximise opportunities for the boys to practise reading strategies that are being taught in class. Boys are to record their reading in their record books as evidence of their home learning. By setting aside time to read with your boy, you are showing him that you value him as a reader. Home readers are designed to be pitched at a level where your son can read them independently. They are designed to foster a love of reading and to practise fluency, phrasing and comprehension skills. More difficult texts are covered in class during Literacy Groups, where the boys have the opportunity to practise taught reading strategies with their teacher in their reading circles.
Mathletics tasks are set each week to consolidate learning that is occurring in the classroom.
Mathletics helps the boys develop their number sense and the ability to develop flexible problem-solving skills. Home learning tasks seek to connect learning at school with student’s home life to engage everyone in the holistic education of the child.
Music
The students have returned with renewed enthusiasm for their Music lessons and have settled well back into the routine of bringing their stringed instruments for their group/ensemble lessons on a Wednesday. They have also identified a learning Goal for music that will drive their GROWTH throughout the year. During the Classroom Music lesson through the Stand-Alone Unit of Inquiry of Music and Stories students are inquiring into the Concepts of Form, Perspective and Connection.
Mandarin
“Xin Nian Kuai Le!”, the boys have started the year off by inquiring into “Who We Are” as effective learners in the Mandarin classroom. They established meaningful connections with Chinese cultures through School Lion Dance Performance and the 2022 China Winter Olympics. The students adopt PYP learner profiles to be communicators in Mandarin with open-mindedness through a series of ice-breaker communicative games. It is amazing to see how they value choices and make informed actions to achieve personal growth. In partnership, we continue to establish our Essential Agreements and form respectful and collaborative relationships in the classroom.
