Bones, More Bones and Tennis!

Y2 have continued the science feel from last week and have been looking at the human skeleton and how it moves. Monday afternoon was spent drawing life sized skeletons of children in the class. The children worked well in their teams and all of them helped out with the drawing.

Wednesday morning was Y2 tennis. This week the children concentrated on movement and ball control. They practiced side stepping and moving forward and backward. They even got to have a small rally with each other at the end of the lesson. The weather was lovely and sunny and the children enjoyed a great morning of tennis.

In ICT the children looked at human skeletons as well as those of other animals. Some children even looked at dinosaurs to investigate any similarities between them and human bones. The children learnt lots of interesting facts and so did I.

In maths this week the children used the knowledge they had learnt in science to measure each others bones. This included the head, spine, legs and arms. We also looked at patterns in bone size and answered the question ‘is the length of the forearm of a person equal to the length of their foot.’ You will have to get that tape measure out to find out!

Darwin, Millipedes and Anyone For Tennis?

Welcome back to the start of the summer term.

Y2 had a packed three days in school this week. The children have been learning about evolution and how animals adapt to their habitat. They also had time to imagine how they would look as cavemen! Tuesday was Darwin Day and the school celebrated Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. In the afternoon the entire school had a ‘mix up’ and children from different classes worked together in small groups. The children explored the school grounds to investigate the different plants and mini beasts we have. It was a lovely sunny afternoon and everyone had a great time.

At the end of Tuesday afternoon Y2 had a visit from ‘Harry the millipede.’ The children enjoyed watching Harry move and some were even brave enough to give him a gentle stroke. Apparently, it is possible to calculate how many legs he has by counting each of his body segments, multiplying this number by four and subtracting ten from the total. Parents, your homework has been set!

Wednesday morning was celebration assembly for Y2. The children showed the school the work they had done on timelines. Several children described events that had happened in the world or in their families during 2001 to 2009. It was good fun and we had some interesting stories.

Wednesday morning was also the beginning of Y2 tennis. The children used the outside courts and began learning some simple racket techniques and movement skills. Once again, the weather was great and the children enjoyed themselves.

So be prepared Murray, Federer and Sharapova, Luckwell are coming!

Painting, Weeding, Toys and Goodbyes.

.Y2 had a busy end to the term. On Monday afternoon Y2 completed their work on Matisse’s ‘The Snail.’ The children painted their own interpretations of the painting from the drawings they had done last week. We had some lovely, colourful and imaginative work.

The theme in numeracy this week was estimating and measuring the size and weight of different objects. The children had fun doing this and some children even worked in the playground. We had some great estimates that were very close to the actually measurements.

On Wednesday afternoon Y2 continued ‘Citizenship’ and helped weed the playgrounds. The children really worked hard and enjoyed being outside on a beautiful, sunny afternoon.

On Thursday the school said “goodbye” to our French assistant, Amandine. During assembly, Amandine read a story to the school in French and Y2 helped by acting out the animals she was describing. The children really got in to their performance and we had some brilliant representations of eagles, elephants and crocodiles. The stars of Coronation Street better watch out!

On Thursday afternoon Y2 celebrated their hard work and good behaviour with ‘Toy Day.’ Lots of games were played and the children enjoyed a large feast. Y2 would like to give a big thank you to the parents who supplied all the ‘goodies!’

All that is left to write is have a happy holiday and we will see you all next term.

Drawing, Databases and Timelines

Hello, I am Mr Ellershaw the nearly qualified student teacher in Y2. Whilst on my final teaching practice I will be writing the Y2 blog.
We have had another busy week in Y2. We had a very cultured Monday afternoon with the children drawing their own interpretations of ‘The Snail’ by Henri Matisse. We had some fantastic drawings and we will continue this theme next week when we paint them on to larger paper.
On Wednesday the class began to create a database. The database will record teeth loss amongst the class and will be updated weekly. The children were very excited at the topic and really got their teeth into the project– no pun intended!
On Thursday the class dramatised a French story with Amandine, our French assistant. Whilst Amandine read a story, Y2 acted out the animals she was describing. Some children helped the class by holding up pictures of the animals.
As you probably have seen in the classroom we are looking at the timeline between 2001 and 2009. Many of the children have brought in photos of themselves or their family taken during these years. Last week the children were asked to choose one year and write about something special that happened in it. We had lots of interesting stories from world news events to weddings and births and even broken bones! As you can see from the photograph we had lots of fun making our time line.

Weeding, Painting and P.E.

No blog last week as Mrs Shore forgot to take the camera home – so here’s two weeks’ worth! We have had lots of exciting things happen. First of all our nearly qualified student teacher – Mr Ellershaw – started his block teaching practice this week. He will be doing lots of things in the classroom and the first thing is that from next week he will be taking over our blog! Parents – do pop in and say hello.
As you can see from the photographs we have had some fun activities over the last fortnight. This term is Y2’s turn to do ‘Citizenship’. Over the last two Wednesday s we have been busy weeding the playgrounds under the guidance of Heather, our caretaker.
Last Friday an art teacher came in to work with the children on painting numbers up to ten in Chinese they had lots of fun and showed tremendous talent. Don’t forget by the way that it’s the Southville Arts’ trail this weekend and some of Y2’s work will be shown –Mrs Christmas has sent letters to the relevant children.
Continuing our international theme in Y2 the children did some P.E. alongside Amandine, our French assistant, who called out words in French for them to respond to – take a look at the pictures!

Pirates and Saving the Planet!

Y2 started the week looking at Wellington and Antoine's holiday diaries - some of the children had written diaries too so Mrs Roberts is going to have a lot of reading to do this week!
On Tuesday we had a visit from Eco expert Helen Peake who rather amusingly calls herself the 'Rubbish Teacher'. After doing a whole school assembly Helen spent an hour with Y2. These pictures show our drama about the journey a metal can goes on from the moment it is used to when it is recycled into a new can.
Our other photo shows the Y2 pirates. We dressed as pirates because the kitchen were having a pirate themed dinner. Lots of Y2 had a dinner - including me - and very tasty it was too!

Happy Easter

Apologies for lack of a blog last week - so here's two weeks' worth!

Over the last fortnight the children have been as busy as ever. Before she flew out (with Wellington and Antoine to work in a French school for a fortnight Ms Gower was so pleased with Y2's French that she came looking for me so I could come and watch for a while. With Amandine the children made and read'human sentences'. They even mixed up the words andthen put them in the right order - bravo! The pictures show some children saying (and showing pictures about) 'J'aime le chat orange, je n'aime pas le crocodile blanc' - get the children to tell you what that means mums and dads!

We have also been busy making our Spring display for the main hall. Here are some children working on and showing their spring flower pictures - we were so pleased with how eye-catching the green and yellow pastel looks on the black background. On Thursday we had a choosing P.E. session as it was the last of the term. Look at Halley who proved herself to be Y2's Hula Hoop Queen!

On Friday we were very amazed to come back from play and find bits of the Easter Bunny's fluffy tail around the classroom! The children had already made boxes and nests full of natural things in the playground - this picture shows the children making the nests in the playground.

Have a lovely Easter everybody and we will see you all on Monday April 20th.