Weekly update 23.02.09

Hi everyone!

Welcome to a new half term in school. We can't believe the year is now half over. Doesn't time fly?



Ash Wednesday
This week sees the start of Lent. We will be holding a short service in the hall to mark Ash Wednesday and the children will receive their ashes in the classrooms afterwards. Should you wish to receive ashes in school, please join us at 9am in the hall.
To read about the traditions and customs of Ash Wednesday, go to

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/easter/ashwednesday.htm


Of course this also means that we will be indulging in pancakes on Tuesday! Maybe the children could have a go at helping you make some on Tuesday evening and use their knowledge of how to write instructions to write the recipe down?

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/shrove.html has a great recipe on there for pancakes and also written instructions – how many of mine will stick to the pan I wonder?



Literacy

This week we are beginning a new topic based around Information Texts. The children always really enjoy this topic as they love collecting new facts and information.

We begin by recognising what is a question? The children will be posing questions based around work in other curriculum areas, and understand the structure and layout of an information text.

By the end of the week:

ALL children MUST be able to recognise the structure and layout of an information text.



MOST children SHOULD be able to pose sensible questions which can be answered using an information text.



SOME children COULD be able able to use contents, index and glossary pages with confidence.



http://www.kidsgowild.com/animalfacts

A great site for finding out information about a variety of animals.



http://www.mrmen.net/mr-men.php

This site brought back lots of happy memories of when I used to read these stories to my children. Aaaah!



http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/sentencebasics/whatisasentence/index.shtml

This site is useful for practising skills at sentence building and punctuation.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/lug.shtml

A good one for those of you who need a little support in putting in the capital letters.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/hms_game.shtml

And one for the full stops!



http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/magickey/adventures/dragon.shtml

A site to help you use question marks.



Numeracy

We begin this half term by investigating block graphs. The children should be able to use their knowledge of pictograms, to read and begin to make their own graphs. Although this is quite an easy concept to grasp, the vocabulary associated with it is quite complex. If the children understand the vocabulary, then the rest follows easily.

By the end of this wek:
ALL children MUST e able to read the time to the hour on an analogue clock and interpret information from a simple list, table, pictogram and block graph.

MOST children will be able to organize information in simple lists, tables, pictograms or block graphs.

SOME children COULD be able to sort and organise information in a pictogram.

http://www.amblesideprimary.com/ambleweb/mentalmaths/grapher.html
a great site for making your own bar chart http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/bargraphs/bargraphs.html i
deal for introducing block graphs. Click and drag each bug onto the correct place on the graph. http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/math/graph/
quite hard to follow, but if you scroll down, you will see a number of sheets that you can print off at home to complete.

We will also be reviewing time with the children and by the end of the week, they must all be able to tell the o’clock and half past times. There are many links to support the teaching of time at http://www.topicbox.org.uk/browse.php?subject=Maths&topic=Time but remember to keep referring to the time around the house...
· What time is it now?
· What time will it be in half an hour?
· What time will we get home from school?
· What time is bedtime?



Topic

We are beginning a new Science topic on Electricity.



The children will learn about how many appliances use electricity and that electricity is carried by wires and cables. They will find out where electricity comes from and some of the dangers associated with mains electricity.You could help at home, by talking about the difference between mains-powered appliances and battery-powered items, such as toys.



Why not have a go at these:
Find out which room in your house has the greatest number of mains-powered appliances?
Find out where electricity comes from?
Why do all the lights go off in the house when one bulb ‘pops’?
Design a poster warning children of the dangers of using water near electricity.



http://www.ictgames.com/electricity.html

Which objects use electricity?



http://www.jeron.je/anglia/learn/pri/science/elecsafe/index.htm

Looking at how to use electricity safely.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/electricity.shtml

Some good facts about electricity.



http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/using_electricity/eng/Introduction/default.htm

Electricity in the home.



http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/science/electricity_book1/index.htm

Discussing the components of an electrical circuit.

Well, I think that's it for this week.

The Year 2 team xxxxxxxxxx