Learning  »  Class Pages  »  Year 2

Welcome to Year 2. On this page you will find curriculum newsletters (one per half term), useful documents about supporting learning at home as well and pictures and videos sharing our learning with you. If you have any worries or questions, please email me on: crowtherh@primroselane.leeds.sch.uk 
Our Classroom

We went on a class scavenger hunt this morning to get to know our room better. Children had to find some really random items such as: a frog (he's called Uncle Fredaricko), a plant pot, a whiteboard pen, a tray, a huge book about jets and a gluestick!

Reading for Pleasure

We enjoyed exploring the books in our Reading Area. Sharing a book with a friend is great fun!

Singing about The Great Fire of London

We are learning a song about the Great Fire of London. While Mrs Crowther plays the ukulele, we are going to try to sing as well as sign. If you want to practise at home, here are the lyrics...


Click here to sing along to the video. It's a really catchy tune. I hope you like it!
 
1666

We just started to learn this song and some members of the class wanted to share it with you! Some verses are a bit tricky but listen carefully and you'll hear some lovely two-pert singing towards the end - so impressive! We will post another video when we are more confident with the words. Enjoy!

Year 2 Common Exception Words
We looked at our spelling display and realised that some of us could real a lot of the words already and some could spell and sound out the words. Because it was such a beautiful day, we decided to go outside to see if we could spell the words...with our bodies! As well as super spelling, there was some incredible communication and teamwork!

We are sharing what we know about the Great Fire of London and performing the song, September 1666. We have been practising and the signing and singing is coming along beautifully! These are the slides we are using:
Celebration Assembly

Year 2 wowed everyone in celebration assembly today. Our speakers communicated the information clearly and confidently and the singing, well, it was out of this world! So many members of staff fed back how moved and impressed they were by our song. To learn a two-part song and BSL signs in such a short space of time is incredible; these children are seriously talented! Here is the video of our final rehearsal; the improvement since the last video is plain to see...

Autumn Walk

As part of our science learning throughout the year, we are going to keep track of the changing seasons. We went to look for some early signs of Autumn. Despite the warm weather, when we searched, there were lots of autumn treasures to be found...

PE lessons are always fun! We have been learning some new warm up challenges and games as well as working on our hand-eye co-ordination by throwing and catching.
We have been getting up and about in maths lessons! In this game, we had to get in order at the front. There is only one rule, no one is allowed to tall (you can gesture and point etc but no talking). We got in order forwards, backwards, even numbers forwards, odd numbers etc. We worked together as a team and beat the times every time!
History Freeze Frames

We have been reading and learning from our wonderful selection of non-fiction books all about The Great Fire of London (we even used our mini magnifying glasses to help us to concentrate!). We created freeze frames of something we read about. For example, you may see a picture of someone firing a water squirt next to someone holding a leather bucket. Have a look at our pictures and see if you can work out what we are showing...

Art - Printing

Over the half term, we are learning about printing (leading up to our tile screen printing). We started by printing with things we had around the classroom - anything from numicon to carrots! Some children were naturals at creating patterns and mixing colours and shape - others simply had fun learning how colour is transferred as we print.

Conker Numberlines!

We were a bit naughty in Year 2 today - we wrote on the tables! We drew number lines from 0-10, then 0-20 and finally 0-100! Together, we placed conkers where we estimated certain numbers would go. Children challenged each other and worked so well in pairs and tables. Co operation, teamwork and, most importantly, great progress and great fun!

(Don't worry, Mr Simpson, we wiped it all off after the lesson!)



Holly from Alfresco Learning led a really interesting workshop where we learned all about how the fire spread so easily. By building a wall using the wattle and daub technique, we could see how Tudor houses were extremely flammable. We had fun on the field working together and learning from each other. Time flew and we are so grateful to Holly for bringing our topic to life in such a fun way!
Great Fire of London Workshop

Show time in Year 2!
We are learning about writing letter by reading a fabulous book called Molly McDrew and the Great Fire of London. Molly can time travel (with her cat, Morris). and goes back to 1666 to find out more about the Great Fire of London.  To remember the sequence of events, we acted out the book in groups. Later, we will plan and write a letter from Molly to her best friend telling them all about her 1666 adventure. 
Molly and the Great Fire of London - Show time!
Prickly Hay | Nativity Play | Out of the Ark Music
Prickly Hay - KS1 Nativity!

On December 15th (8 weeks away!) we are putting on a Christmas Nativity called Prickly Hay. This year's nativity has a Hoe Down theme (think cowboy hats, checked shirts and line dancing). We can't wait to get started next week. Here are the lyrics in case you want to practise at home.

Here is the video with the dance routine for Cotton Eyed Joe.


This video explains what Conscience Alley is really well. The children understood conscience as a little angel and a little devil (from cartoons thay have seen) telling you to do something. We had three characters to walk down the alley: Molly McDrew, Thomas Farriner and Boxton (a rat from one of our books!). After hearing all the opinions, our characters told us what they had decided. Everyone contributed so well! We'll definitely play this game again.
Conscience Alley Drama Workshop

To learn how to see both sides of an argument, and to explore people's feelings linked to the Great Fire of London, we played Conscience Alley.


Roller Printing
In Year 2, we worked really hard on creating 6 beautiful flame designs. After self evaluating, we chose our favourite flame design to turn into a two-colour tile print. We learned how to score the polystyrene tile carefully and rolled on our first colour, yellow. When it was dry, we went back to the tile to add further indents and re printed in our second colour, red. We needed to print over the top of the yellow print extremely accurately to create the desired effect. Printing using this method was really fun and we are delighted with the results!
A letter to Year 2 from Naomi Joslyn!

We read a great book by Naomi Joslyn called Molly McDrew and the Great Fire of London last half term. As we closed the half term learning about writing letters, we decided to write to her. This morning, the first day back, we were delighted to receive this lovely email which answered all our questions. How exciting to hear from her! Here is the letter.

Skipping Festival

This afternoon, we enjoyed a skipping festival session with Katie. Despite some children feeling really nervous, it was wonderful! We had some magical moments of progress as well as a chance to see some of our more confident skippers. I was so proud of our super listening and respectful behaviour. (Excuse the blurry photos -taking photos of skipping is really hard!)



Today we are wearing odd socks to help us to think about Anti Bullying Week. Our aim is to be kind and to be good friends to one another. To find out more, click here.
The Dice Game

We played a dice game to find out more about David Hockney! Ask you children how to play - it's was so much fun!




Dance Workshop

Lorna, a professional dancer, came to teach us different ways of moving to music in the hall. It was hard not to sing along to her cool music as we moved! It gave us a taste of different ways to stretch, move and use our imaginations!

Reading Session with Families

Thank you so very much to all the families who could make the Reading Session this afternoon; I really hope you had fun and got small taste of life in Year 2! Active learning and making reading and comprehension activities enjoyable are really important.  It was so much fun having you with us and the children coped so well with such a full classroom. Here are the slides I talked around if anyone would like to see them:


Lindsey came to read us a story yesterday, Tom Pervical's Perfectly Norman, it was great! Through this story and through hearing Lindsey's story, we learned a LOT about diversity and being proud of our differences. Year 2 children listened so carefully and behaved beautifully - she was really impressed with them and their questions, too. 
Diversity Celebration
Maths - Using Equipment

In maths lessons, Year 2 children are great at getting any equipment or resources they need. Today was a good example of that. Children in Year 2 are really co operative. Our Study Buddies are so helpful and really good at explaining things.

Artist Workshop

Philip McHugh - who just happens to be Hugo's daddy - is an extremely talented artist who specialises in creating art on glass. We took a look at several of his pieces and talked about what we could see. Listening to Philip talk about how he creates these pieces was really fascinating. The theme of the afternoon was COLLABORATION. Children worked together to create a collage and we all worked together to create these two portraits on perspex. It was a wonderful afternoon and we are so very grateful for Philip for coming to talk to us.


Dress Rehearsal of PRICKLY HAY!

A big thank you to Mrs Orme for taking these lovely photographs from our dress rehearsal this afternoon. The wonderful set, decorated by Rosie's daddy Richard Hirst, sparkled in the stage lights and set the scene beautifully - THANK YOU! The children were really nervous performing in front of an audience but they really shone! It was a great dress rehearsal - we're ready to perform for our families now on Thursday and Friday!


Cloud Hunt!

Today we thought about weather forecasts, designed our own symbols to represent the weather and talked about seasonal changes.
In small groups, Miss Simpson led the children in a cloud hunt. They learned names for different types of clouds - luckily, there were lots to be seen!

Celebration Assembly - Year 2

It was our turn to share our learning in Celebration Assembly today. Here is are the slides we shared.


 

Tuesday 16th January 2024 YEAR 2 CHURCH VISIT

We went to learn more about prayer with Rev Trish and Rev Nick at St Mary’s Church. In the three sessions we used candles and artwork to inspire prayer; we used Lego in water to focus our thinking about what to say thank you, sorry or please and finally, we learned what The Lord’s Prayer means and thought about why it is so special to Christians. It was a great way to finish our topic about How and Why People Pray.

Abby—When I put my  Lego in the water, I  thought about something I was sorry for.

Charlie—It was good being in church and the seats were comfortable!

Mollie—We lit a candle and said a prayer for peace.

St Mary's Church - How and Why Do People Pray?


We watched this video to help us to remember the difference between WEATHER and CLIMATE.
Recorder Lessons

Our recorder lessons got off to a wonderful start today as we learned to play the notes B and A. Here are some videos of our first performances. We are still learning how to hold the recorder properly with two hands. What a talented class!

Amazing Animals!

Wow! What a start to the week! Micheala from a company called Lion Learners came to introduce us to some of her friends! Take a look...


We are learning the 2x and 5x tables. These raps might help if you want to practise at home...
The Continents

We'd love you to listen to us singing a song that's really helpful in remembering the seven continents.

Joe Joe

This week's piece is called Joe, Joe and we're playing B, A and G!

Forest School with Amanda

We had so much fun in Forest School. We played Hide and Seek, had a story and and snack, and ended by making incredible bird feeders. Year 2 listened carefully and had a really good time. We can't wait for next Tuesday's session!

Gypsy Dance performed by Alfie the Brave
Forest School - Week 2

On Wednesday afternoons, we start by going to our wonderful school library. Many of us return books and others just browse and read a book or share a book with a friend. Non ficton, ficton - we love a real variety in Year 2! We know our way around the library and can even follow the numbers (Dewey Decimal System) for non-fiction books and the alphabet for fiction; we always leave the library nice and tidy - just as we found it. We are you reading this week?
MATHS INFORMATION SESSION

These videos will help you to see how we work different types of calculation out in maths. A huge well done and thank you to Dax, Sadie. Alfie, Hannah, Thea and Abby for explaining your thinking so clearly for us all.

Abby
Alfie
Dax
Hannah
Sadie
Thea
We are using this great book to research facts about the 5 oceans and ocean life. We are making leaflets to share our information .Here is Mrs Crowther's WAGOLL (what a good one looks like) that we will look at before we design out own. It gives us an idea of what we're aiming for. We came up with the features of a leaflet this morning:
Leaflet WAGOLL
Forest School Week 3
Forest School Hammock!
Gypsy Dance
We love World Book Day!

What better day to enjoy a good book!

 
We had such a giggle listening to Michael Rosen (one io Mrs Crowther's favourite authors) reading Chocolate Cake and Strict. Enjoy!

We are so excited to welcome Joshy's mum and Jackson's mum to Year 2 this week to learn more about science and do try some investigations for ourselves!

This afternoon Joshy's mum, Sarah. came to help us find out more about DNA! We extracted (precipitated) the DNA from a strawberry. What a treat to hear from a real scientist. Thank you to Sarah (and her helper, Joshy), we LOVED your science experiement! If you want to try it at home, here are the slides below:
DNA
Forest School Den Building and a Bear Hunt...

We enjoyed another (VERY MUDDY) Forest School session this morning. We made dens for the bears we found on our bear hunt!

Recorder Lessons

As we approach the Spring Concert, our recorder lessons are going so well. Incredible progress, Year 2!


Superb Science and Excellent Experiments!

A huge thank you to Rachel, Jackson's mum for coming to talk to us about her love of science. We learned about acids and alkalines through mixing solutions. The purple cabbage water was our indicator and they turned different colours!


Microhabitats

In science this afternoon, we were learning about microhabitats. A micro-habitat is a very small habitat which supports the survival of tiny animals or plants. For instance, a rockpool or a rotting log. A large habitat contains many different microhabitats. A microhabitat can be as small as a fallen branch or the space under a stone. Armed with pooters, dishes and magnifying glasses we set out to explore the microhabitats in our school grounds and found so many minibeasts! Take a look...

The Great Wave off Kanagawa
This dramatic picture is the inspiration for our creative writing sessions this week. To find out more about it, click here.



 
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa

Watch as the drama unfurls - the Great Wave is just about to crash into the three Japanese longboats. You're in for a bumpy ride!


This half term RE is our driver and this is our topic question.


Click here to here our song about the UK. Can you remember the signs, too?
Fractions

We split shapes into equal parts out in the playground. We made halves, quarters, thirds and even showed that two quarters is the same as a half. Super listening and lots of fun!

Primrose the School Hamster

We are learning about the difference between male and female animals. We know that female mammals can feed their young with their milk. Primrose is a female hamster. She loved her visit to Year 2!

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