Personal and Social Learning
In Respectful Relationships, the Grade 2 students learnt strategies for working out who goes first in a game and discussed negative emotions they may feel when they lose or are excluded from a game. We also discussed strategies and personal strengths that can be used to help cope with these emotions. In Cyber Safety, we spoke about what an upstander is and how you can be one online and offline. Examples of this are spread kindness, be helpful, tell a trusted adult, take a screenshot, click the report button in a game or app and include others in games or chats.
This term the Grade Two inquiry topic has been ‘Places and Spaces’. We have enjoyed going on our community walk earlier in the term as well as constructing and presenting our own precinct with a partner. These included entertainment, shopping, food, transport, housing and parks precincts. The Grade 2s had a ball at Sports Day last Friday. They participated in 10 different stations including muay thai, dance, basketball, yoga, cricket and football. Over the weekend, quite a few of our grade 2s made it into their basketball grand final. This is a massive achievement and we are all proud of the efforts they put in. Pasha’s team won their grand final and Charlotte, Savannah, Amelia, Ruby, Sofia, Evelyn and Dilara’s team were runners up.
In Grade Two, we have been learning about water safety and how to be responsible with our belongings during the swimming program. Students have discussed how to move safety around the pool and actively listen to their swimming instructor whilst practising swimming skills e.g. kicking, going under the water, floating etc. Students have found the water calming and it was a nice environment change.
To celebrate Book Week, the Grade Twos engaged in a range of activities inspired by the shortlisted books When You’re a Boy, Concrete Garden and Every Night at Midnight. We created similes about personality traits, did some imaginative writing, wrote a Cinquain poem and made book reviews. The students had a blast dressing up as our favourite book characters and celebrating with the school community.
In Grade 2 we have been learning about multiplication through making arrays and learning how to label these. We
have been moving away from counting by 1s to using our knowledge of doubles and near doubles to help us find
the product of a multiplication equation.
As part of our Personal and Social lessons, the Grade Two students have been learning different calming techniques
such as Lazy 8 Breathing that can be used to help relax our bodies and minds when we are in the Yellow or Red Zone.
They have also had the opportunity to explore different sensory learning tools that can assist with self-regulation.
During this exploration we discussed whether the tool helped them calm down, become more alert or if it had no
effect. We also played different games in groups where the focus was on fair play and why it is important to play
fairly/by the rules. Additionally, we learnt about the effects of too much screentime and made posters to make
others aware.
Grade 2 - This fortnight in writing, we have been focusing on creating texts in response to a prompt. We read the story ‘If I Were Prime Minister’ and students responded to the text by planning, drafting and publishing their own writing pieces on what they would do if they were Prime Minister. We have also been focusing on adjectives and how we can incorporate them into descriptive writing pieces. We created a word splash of adjectives that could be used to describe a picture and then formed descriptive sentences to match.
This term the Grade 2 inquiry topic is ‘Tiptoe Through this World’ which is all about the importance of sustainability. We have spoken about the 3R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle and have sorted rubbish into the appropriate bins. The Grade 2s have made predictions on how long rubbish takes to decompose and buried rubbish in the school grounds to see if our predictions are correct once we dig them back up. We have also conducted an experiment to see under which conditions pumpkin will decompose the quickest. We have discussed ways we can leave a light environmental footprint in this world and created posters and songs to match. Some of the examples included using natural light rather than turning the light on, turning taps off and putting our rubbish in the correct bin. The Grade 2 students are excited about their upcoming excursion to Edendale Farm where they will learn more about sustainability.
In Grade Two we have been learning about addition through number stories and learning different and more efficient ways to solve problems. This includes counting on, doubling, near doubles, partitioning and the make to 10 strategy. We have explored a range of different materials that can be used to assist in solving problems and have had an emphasis on sharing our mathematical knowledge with our peers. We have also been learning about chance. The Grade 2s loved using a spinner to predict, gather data and discuss the probability of what their spinner would land on. We used the words ‘likely’, ‘unlikely’, ‘certain’ and ‘impossible’.
In Grade Two we learned about the history of ANZAC Day through our mentor text ‘Anzac Biscuits’. We spoke about the significance of Anzac Biscuits and how they were baked to send to loved ones in the war. Students also had the opportunity to help bake some ANZAC Biscuits and take one home to try. We incorporated these learning experiences into reading and writing and built on our prior knowledge of ANZAC Day.
Numeracy
In Grade 2, we have been deepening our understanding of place value by creating 2 digit numbers using concrete materials, then comparing and sequencing these numbers on number lines. We have also been exploring length, using informal units of measurement, such as paddle pop sticks, unifix cubes and matchsticks to measure and compare different objects around the classroom. We have discussed the importance of using a unit that is the same size when measuring, and ensured we did not leave gaps or overlap, for accuracy.
Inquiry Learning: Celebrating Differences
In Grade 2, we have been learning about ‘Celebrating Differences’. We have discussed why celebrating differences is important and what the word ‘multicultural’ means. Students have expressed why living in a multicultural world is good and have developed an appreciation of it. Additionally, students have shared their origins and culture, and we have displayed this on our Grade 2 multicultural map (see below). This week we have learnt about the country Italy where students enjoyed playing the traditional Italian game Bocce. Students also had the opportunity to discuss and draw a picture of a dish from their culture.
Zones of Regulation
In 2A we have been revising the Zones of Regulation, strategies to manage our emotions and feelings and how a persons’ body language demonstrates what emotions they may be feeling. We have created a display together and have a check in station where each student is able to move their photo to show what zone they are in. Additionally, we have spoken about ‘Emotions Potions’ sentence starter; these sentences can help other people to understand how we are feeling.
In 2B we discussed our Zones of Regulation. Students participated in a game of emotions statues to revise and identify different feelings. We also discussed different scenarios and the zones that those scenarios would put us in.
In 2C we have been revising our Zones of Regulation. We discussed what emotions fit into each zone, how we can recognise what someone is feeling through their facial expressions and body language. We then created our class posters and check in chart, so students are able to move their photo to identify which zone they are in throughout the day. We have also been revising our School Wide Positive Behaviour matrix and created displays of what our expectations would look like indoors and outside. As part of our whole school wellbeing, 2C have also been participating in a dance workshop called STOMP once a week. The students are really enjoying learning lots of different dance moves and showing off their skills.
Routines for Sucess
In Grade 2, we have set up our Routines for Success for the different curriculum areas, including Reading, Writing
and Maths. We have learnt lots about our classmates and have made some new connections through talking about
our holidays, getting to know you games, letter writing and all about me activities. We have spoken about, taken
photos of and labelled what independent reading looks like, as well as the spots that we can independently read in.
We have spoken about having a growth mindset and a can-do attitude. Students made their own bookmark they
will use throughout the year, with personal qualities using the letters of their name.
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