Dear Year 2,

I hope you have had a lovely week of home learning and managed to try out some of the tasks posted so far! Please find below some suggested home learning activities that are linked to our Year Two topics. Please complete your learning packs first and then enjoy anything you like the look of from the list below:

Literacy

• Continue to write your daily diaries – remember that this could become part of history one day! Remember to use your very best cursive script, a range of sentences types and the correct punctuation. This week see if you can challenge yourselves a little further by adding in a range of conjunctions and expanded noun phrases. This will make your writing even better! Try reading it back to an audience practicing your expression and fluency when you do this. 
• Remember to have a look on Twinkl. This is a fantastic resource to use and has lots of free downloadable and printable sheets. It covers everything from reading comprehensions to spelling activities. Just type the following link into your search engine https://www.twinkl.co.uk.
• Why not this week try reading some poems? Try learning it by heart and perform it showing an understanding through intonation, tone and volume so that the meaning is clear to an audience. After this try writing your own poems and performing these to an audience. You could make some puppets to accompany your performances or maybe add in your own actions.
• Why not write a letter? You could write a letter to your families talking about the things you have been doing at home. Try adding in some questions!
• Try writing a non-chronological report. You could write about the continents you have been exploring. This is a great way to practise writing creatively.
• Why not try writing a brochure? Pick your favourite continent and try to persuade others to visit by adding in some persuasive phrases! You could even include some pictures or photographs of your chosen country to bring your writing to life!
• Please continue to read as many books as you can. Try reading a range of non-fiction and fiction texts. Remember to question the children whilst reading these books to check their understanding. 
• Write a book review based on the stories and books you are reading. 

Maths 

• Continue to practise your number facts and multiplication tables every day. You can practise these on the game hit the button. Each day record your score and see if you can beat this. Just type in the following link:  https://www.topmarks.co.uk
• Try out Carol Vordeman’s Maths Factor. It’s free to access and see how many of the challenges you can try https://www.themathsfactor.com
• Remember to keep practising telling the time- o’clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past. Once you have mastered this remember to move on to telling the time to every five minutes.
• White Rose Maths have free worksheets and this is the scheme we follow at school. Our current topic is Fractions. Try finding fractions of numbers, shapes and objects. We are focusing on halves, quarters and thirds. Try using practical objects to do this first and then move on to pictorial methods. 
• Try challenging children by giving them some simple word problems to solve. This is a great way to challenge the children further. Twinkl have some excellent word problems for the children to solve. 
• Try carrying out ‘number of the day.’ Give children a chosen number and see what facts they can come up with for this number. 

RE

• As it is Holy Week, read and enjoy the stories of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Role-play the events and consider their significance. Why not try writing a recount for each of these events and try some hot seating activities. 
• Why not watch and reflect on the Stations of the cross – https://www.youtube.com
• Why not take part in a Lent liturgy with your family?
• Maundy Thursday – You could role-play the story of the Last Supper. Then choose a disciple and write a diary entry considering their thoughts and feelings.
• Also, at the Last Supper, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as a demonstration of how he served others and to model what Christian service would look like. Why not wash the feet of one of your family? 
• Good  Friday – Have a short period of meditation at 3pm to reflect on Jesus’ death. Why not write a prayer of thanks to Jesus? Add this to your very own prayer tree.
• Easter Sunday – celebrate the Good News of the Risen Christ in any way you want. Don’t forget to create your Easter Card. Remember to link it to scripture. 

Parents – Father Jim is also streaming mass on facebook. If you do have an account, add ‘James Clarke’ on facebook. You can then can celebrate Easter Sunday mass as a family from home.

• Why not take some time to reflect on your Lenten journey so far and write a short explanation as to how you have stuck to your Lenten promises made at the start of Lent? 

Science 

• Our science topic is animals and their habitats – list as many animals that you can think of that live in our school forest. Why not try creating some life cycles for these animals? 
• Try looking at different food chains. Try drawing these out and explaining these to an adult using scientific vocabulary. 
• Choose an animal that would live in one of the following environments: a pond, a rainforest, a desert or the ocean.
• Research animals and their habitats. 
• Consider the following: how long they live, what they eat, special features that are related to their survival in their environment. 

PE

• 9.00am every morning, live on you tube, the Body Coach Joe Wicks is carrying out his PE lessons live across the nation. This is such a great way to start your day!
• Why not finish your day with a yoga session from go noodle? This is a free resources and is great for relaxation after a busy day of learning!

Geography

• Continue to carry out independent research of the 7 continents. Why not pick a country in each continent to research further and add this to your fact file. Remember to include facts on population, currency, famous landmarks, food facts, etc. 
• Keep looking at world maps and reminding yourself where each of the continents are. See if the children can find the following countries on the map: England, France, China and Australia. 
• Compare and contrast two different countries. Discuss the similarities and differences together. 

History : Great Fire of London

• Try adding more questions to your home-made quizzes How much of our key learning can you remember?
• Write a diary entry from the perspective of Samuel Pepys.  How would he have felt during this time? Remember some of the key facts which we have learnt about this significant person!

 

Art and Design/DT

• Try decorating your own Easter egg and hide these around your home creating your own treasure hunt. You could even practise those writing skills further by writing some clues. 
• Design, create and evaluate your very own Easter Garden. Remember to label your designs and write a short explanation of why you have chosen your features. 
• Why not design your own rainbow and hang these in your windows? 
• Create an Easter card using any resources you have. 

Music 

• Whatever your chosen instrument is, continue to practise regularly. 
• If you do not play an instrument, listen to a range of music, both live and recorded, and enjoy and appreciate it. 
• Try practising some Easter hymns and perform these to an audience. 

 

Spanish 

• Try learning some simple Spanish phrases.
• Colours. 
• Food items.
• Try counting to 20.

Computing 

• Continue to practise using scratch –https://scratch.mit.edu/
• Type up your diaries, non-chronological reports and stories so that you can keep practising your keyboard skills.
• Research any of the above areas in more detail.

 

PSHE

• At this time of uncertainty we need to remain as positive as we can and boost each other’s self-esteem. It’s a great time to get talking about how you can help boost a child’s self-esteem. Here’s some advice on things you can say and small changes you can make as a family to help your child feel more confident and self-assured as they develop at different ages. Here is some advice and tips from Parent Zone and Healthy School’s below to talk through with your children:  

Get your child to look at their strengths and interests 

At this young age, your child is unlikely to understand what is meant by the term self-esteem or have any experience of using social media just yet.

Now is a good time to ask them what things make them feel good about themselves, like what they enjoy doing in their spare time and the things they think they’re good at. Make it a family challenge where each person has to come up with three things they like about themselves and three things they enjoy doing – moving the focus away from appearances and towards achievements. 

At this age, your child may start to be influenced by their friends’ interests – music, sports, clothes – and anything that may be trending. Ask them what they think makes them different from their friends. Make it clear that it’s a good thing to pursue their own interests and hobbies even if they’re not the same as their friends’. 

Reassure your child that they don’t need to worry about what other people think — if an activity makes them feel good about themselves, that’s all that matters.

I hope you enjoy all of the activities above – have lots of fun completing them. We look forward to seeing you all soon and miss you all lots. 

Mrs Collins