Ruby Class

Welcome to Ruby Class!

I am Mrs Foster and I will be your child's Year 2 teacher.

It has been a lovely start to our new half term this week.  There has been a couple of changes to our PE days.  PE is now on a Monday and children will need to have their school PE kits in school on this day. On Fridays, the children are going swimming - they are very excited.

We started our new topic of Fictional Worlds and Fantasy stories this week and the children are enjoying both of out books.  We are reading Eric by Shaun Tan and The Dragon Machine by Helen Ward.  All of the children have written great letters of advice to our main character in The Dragon Machine to tell him what he needs to do to look after the dragons.

In maths, we have finished out addition and subtraction unit.  The children have been very resilient learning to cross the tens boundary and I am really proud of what they have achieved. Please remember that they can access Numbots at home to help build their number fluency.

We have started lots of new topics this week. In science, we are learning about plants and the children had lots of fun acting out the stages of the plant lifecycle.  This term, we are learning about castles in history and we had a great lesson finding out about William the Conqueror and The Battle of Hastings.  Please ask them about it and I am sure they could tell you some of what they learned.  For art this term, we have a focus of textiles and the children really enjoyed finding investigating paper weaving on Eednesday.

Friday 22nd March 

The children have worked really hard this week and I am so proud what they have done with their assessments.  There has still been time for the children to have lots of fun.

This week in English, we have be reading the poem The Owl and the Pussy-cat by Edward Lear.  The children have been able to join in reciting parts of the poem and they have used it to write letters as one of the characters. They really enjoyed today's lesson where there wore masks to be either the Owl of the Pussy-cat and used a microphone to interview each other about their adventure.

This week in maths, we have moved on adding 2-digit numbers.  The children have been doing lots of practical maths using the tens and ones to develop the addition strategies that they will need later in the unit.  Mrs Woodhall has set everyone a Numbots challenge to use the game for 15 minutes each week. If children can do this, there maybe certificates coming their way.  All of the children have their login details (which is the same for Times Table Rockstars) in the front of their spelling books if they would like to take part.

Here is the link:    https://play.numbots.com/#/account/school-login/16579 

This term in PE, the children have been going on an adventure to help them to develop their balancing, moving and co-ordination. We started by reading Freddie and the Pirates and the children have spent the last few weeks walking the plank (to escape the sharks) and using the stepping stones to cross the river (to escape the crocodiles). They have had great fun.

In science, the children have continued to learn about forces and we spent Monday testing lots of materials using magnets to find out if they were magnetic or non-magnetic. We have continued our learning about Kenya and the children are doing a great job telling me what they know about Kenya. Please ask them some facts at home. Last week, we were finding out about the animals of this country and today we were investigating the different types of landscapes.

In RE, we have been exploring the Christian story of Easter and the events of Holy Week. This week, the children were exploring the idea of salvation and how Christians believe Jesus died to save everyone from sin.  The children were amazing in our lesson this week and thought about what a Christian might consider being a sin and they feel about what Jesus did for them.

Friday 15th March

Over the last couple of weeks, we have celebrated World Book Day, welcomed visitors from China into our class and said goodbye to Mr Riley.  While this has all be happening the children have continued to learn and be the best that they can be.

In English, we have been using the poem If All The World Were ... by Joseph Coelho and this week all of the children have used their learning to write amazing memory poems.  They have carefully thought about objects that have special memories and how these can make us feel in happy.  In maths, we have completed our division unit and moved onto shape.  The children have shown they have a super understanding of 2D and 3D shapes and they have become confident using lots of shape vocabulary such as polygon, sides, vertices, edges and faces.

The children have been learning about Kenya for your geography topic. they have been exploring the climate, finding out about the landscape and learning about the animals of this country.  In science, the children have been investigating forces and they had lots of fun exploring magnets. For British Science Week, the children were researching animals which became extinct over time and they made some amazing posters about the animals they had found.

Friday 1st March

We have had lots of fun in Ruby class this, from tasting fruits and vegetables to making cars.

In science, we have began our new topic which is all about forces and magnets.  The children have been learning about pushes and pulls and the objects which need these forces to move.  The children explored our school on Monday looking for places where they use the push and full force.  In DT, the children have been thinking about what makes a healthy snack. They had lots of fun trying some different fruits, vegetables and a fruit smoothie.  They have designed their own healthy snack and I know they are looking forward to making them next week.

We have continued learning about division in maths this week.  The children have been learning to use division vocabulary such as dividend, divisor and quotient. They have also been learning how they can use their multiplication knowledge to skip count and find the answer in division questions.  Today, the children have been learning about how Nissan make cars. Then they worked in teams to build a car before taking it to the hall to race!

Friday 16th February

In English this week, we have continued to read The Minpins by Roald Dahl and we are all enjoying the story.  Using the story, the children have been learning to include suffixes and apostrophes into their sentences. We ended the week with the children writing a short report on the Minpins and using the vocabulary work we have done this week to help them describe.  Our reading has been based on A Book of Bears and we have learnt so many facts about the different species of bears.  The children have been learning how to make inferences about a text and find evidence to support their answer.

In maths, we have continued to practice the 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Please encourage the children to practice at home. We have also moved onto division as our topic. This is new learning for the children and they have made a great start to learning what division means and how they can use their times tables to help them.

We completed our history topic about Neil Armstrong and Christopher Columbus this week.  The children have been able to use everything they have learned about these famous explorers and decide who was the most significant.  This week has been all about finishing our 3D sculptures.  The children have used clay to make a model digeridoo then they used a variety of tools to create a pattern based on what they have learned about aboriginal art.  The children then chose some aboriginal inspired colours to paint their sculptures.  I am sure they enjoyed sharing them with you when they brought them home yesterday.

Friday 9th February

This week, we have been reading The Minpins by Roald Dahl and the children are really enjoying the story.  They have been thinking about the main character Little Billy and how he would be feeling at different parts of the story.  The children have created great descriptions to describe how Little Billy feels and thinking carefully about their word choices.  In reading, we are now reading A Book of Bears by Katie Viggers and we are all enjoying learning about the different species of bears and their habitats.

In maths, we have been focusing on doubling and halving.  The children have been using their knowledge of the 2 times tables to help them double and half two-digit numbers.  We have also been thinking about different ways that we can partition numbers using tens frames, bar models and part-part-whole diagrams.

In art, the children had lots of fun practicing their designs, based on aboriginal art, for their digeridoos.  They have carefully thought about the patters, shapes and colours that they would need to use.  I know they are looking forward to making their final art pieces in clay next week and I am looking forward to the results.

In history the children were learning about the the achievements of Neil Armstrong and Christopher Columbus and they worked together in pairs to discuss which achievement they thought was the most significant and why. 

In science, we continued our learning about everyday materials.  This week, we discovered that some materials needed to be heated so that they can be changed.  The children enjoyed making chocolate rice krispie cakes but they loved eating them more. There was chocolate everywhere!

This week, we have also thought about being safe on the internet.  The children thought about different situations when they are online and how it could make them feel. They created jigsaw pieces to give advice to others about how to be safe and kind online.  

On Friday, everyone was thinking have Children's Mental Health and it was lovely to see the children coming to school dressed in clothes that make them who they are.  The children have really thought about how everyone has a voice and it is important that everyone can share it. 

Friday 2nd February

This week in maths, we have continued with our multiplication topic.  The children have been solving lots of times tables in real life contexts. We have now moved onto learning that doubling is what happens when we multiply numbers by 2.  The children have shown that can even double two-digit numbers by using their tens and ones knowledge.

In English, the children have written some interesting reports all about bears.  They have been able to use subheadings for each of their sections and they are more confident using conjunctions to extend their sentences.  This week, we have started our new book The Minpins by Roald Dahl.  Today they have had lots of fun creating monsters for the Forest of Sin. I am looking forward to their descriptions of these monsters next week.

In history, we have moved on from learning about Neil Armstrong and we have started to learn about Christopher Columbus.  This week, we have learned about his life and why he was a significant explorer.  The children created timelines and factfiles about why we remember him. In PE, the children have moved onto developing their ball skills.  Yesterday, they were developing their speed and control when moving a ball around their body.

Friday 26th February

In English this week, the children have written some amazing stories about a scary creature hiding in the house.  I have really enjoyed reading about spiders, clowns, wolves and snakes!  Then we have moved on to thinking about what we already know about bears and sorting facts from fiction.  The children found lots of facts and we are going to use them to write information reports all about bears.

In maths, we have continued with our multiplication topic.  the children are experts at counting in 2s, 5s and 10s.  They are becoming more confident at using the facts to find the products to multiplication expressions. This week, lots of our work have been around context problems where the children have needed to find the maths in the problem so they can find the answer.

The children loved our science lesson on Wednesday.  We used Now Press Play to visit a recycling centre so that we could find out about different types of materials. Then the witch came, stole Scruffy the dog and turned him into plastic.  The children went on an adventure to change objects into the suitable material and rescue Scruffy. 

In history, we have started to learn about Neil Armstrong.  We have created a timeline of his life then on Friday we began to learn all about the moon landing.  We even watched a video of Neil walking on the moon.  

In PE, we continued developing our gymnastic skills.  This week we had to practice our different balances and shapes on the small and big equipment.  We learned about the tuck, pike and straddle.

In computing, we continued our coding learning, This week we had to help the magician make the rabbit disappear and reappear using timers.  The children can access purple mash at home and have a go at jumping monkeys program which I have set as a 2Do.

Friday 19th January

This week, we have finally met the scary bear under the stairs and it turn out to be a pile of clothes! The children have really enjoyed The Bear under the Stairs by Helen Cooper.  They have written fantastic letters back to William to give him advice about the bear and today they have started to write their own version of the story.

In maths, we have continued our multiplication topic and we have been working on the 2 times table and the 10 times table.  The children have learned all about factors and products and how the factors can be swapped around.  Please encourage the children to learn their times table facts.

In science, the children have been learning about the properties of materials and why they are suitable for different jobs.  The children had lots of fun making boats out of wood and paper. They then tested their boats to see which material was the best choice.

In art, the children have been learning about aboriginal art signs, symbols and patterns.  They have done a great job creating their own designs for a digeridoo they will make later in the term.  If you have any cardboard tubes at home, please could the children bring them into school so that they can practice their designs.

The children had lots of fun in PE yesterday where they were practicing their different balances but this time they were using apparatus to make the balances ever trickier.  We also continued our coding lessons and the children enjoyed turning a frog into a prince when he collided with a princess.

Friday 12th January

Welcome to our new term everyone.  It has been lovely to see everyone after the holidays.

Please have a look at our termly overview so that you can see what we will be learning over the next 6 weeks.

Our PE days have changed.  We do PE on a Tuesday and Thursday and children must bring their PE kits onto school on these days.  Please can you include a pair of dark leggings or jogging bottoms as the children will go home on both days in their PE kits.

This week, we have started our new English unit based on the book The Bear Under the Stairs by Helen Cooper.  This sneaky bear has been leaving lots of things around our class week for us to investigate but we haven't been able to see him yet.  The children have written some fantastic letters this week using statements and questions.

In maths, we have started a new topic around multiplication.  This is new learning for the children with concepts and vocabulary that they haven't seen before and they have made a fantastic start.  To support the children's learning, please encourage them to practice counting in 2s, 10s and 5s when you can.  

We have started a new gymnastics unit for PE and the children showed lots of resilience when trying their point and patch balances on Thursday.  The children had lots of fun learning how to code and add 'when clicked' events into a computer program to make the planes move - especially when they could make them collide.

Please remember to encourage the children to read a little every day and to bring their blue bags and red folders to school every day.  Also, it would be great to see the children using Numbots once a week at home to help develop their number fluency skills.

Friday 15th December

Thank you to everyone who made it to our Christmas crafts on Wednesday.  The children had a great time making all things Christmas.

In English, the children have been learning about how water travels around the earth so that everyone can reuse it.  The children have used what they have learned to write an excellent information text all about the water cycle.  They have all tried to use a range of conjunctions to add more detail to their sentences and they have done a fantastic job.  In maths, we have continued with addition and subtraction but this week it has all been about adding and subtracting multiples of ten.  The children are becoming more confident drawing representations of the numbers they are using to help them with their calculating.

In RE, we have continued to think about why Christmas is important to Christians and this week the children have been discussing what Christians are thankful for Jesus and Christmas.  The children also finished their advent wreaths which they will be bringing home next week.  On Thursday, the children met Mr Reilly who will be working in our class and teaching the children during the spring term.  Also on Thursday, the children used boxes, wheels and axles to make their conservation vehicles.  The vehicles looked amazing and the children really enjoyed decorating their vehicles to show where the scientists would be using them to help look after the animals in their habitats.  To end our geography topic this term, the children explored important landmarks on our school site and then they worked in groups to create maps of our school for new visitors.

Friday 8th December

The children loved Christmas Jumper Day yesterday.  They had lots of fun taking part in the Santa Dash and really enjoyed their Christmas lunch.  Of course, on Tuesday the children loved their visit to Silksworth Ski Slope to go snowtubing and to meet Santa.

This week, we have moved onto new stories in reading and English.  In reading, the children are enjoying learning about animals which became extinct in the past.  They have been using their retrieval skills ro find facts and using these to compare animals such as cows and the Stellar's sea cow.  Our new book in English is called We Are Water Protectors and we have been learning all about the importance of protecting our water.  The children have created a river to show why water is important to us and they have written some lovely poems to describe the sounds of the waterways near us.

In maths, the children have continued with addition and subtraction.  We have been learning to partition our numbers to help us subtract and add which has been tricky.  I'm so proud of the resilience the children have shown because they have kept going until they got it. We have now moved onto adding and subtracting ten from two-digit numbers and the children are developing their problem solving skills to solve problems in different contexts.

Last week, Shaun, from IM Church, came to talk to the children about why advent is important to Christians.  We found out about the advent wreath and what churches do to prepare for Christmas.  The children really impressed him with their knowledge of the Christmas story.  To follow this, the children have made a Christmas wreath and it will be coming home soon.

The children have designed their conservation vehicles this week so that they can go out into the world to protect animals and their habitats. They are really looking forward to make their vehicles next week.

If you have any cereal boxes at home, please could the children bring them into school as we will be making our vehicles.

The children have really enjoyed our computing lessons over the last 2 weeks.  They have had lots of fun learning how to compose digit music on the ipads.  They are really developing the skills needed to create a piece of music which represents different feelings.  I have included a QR code in the slide show below if you would like to hear some of the children's compositions.

Friday 24th November

This week, we have finished reading There's a Rang-tan in my Bedroom.  We have all really enjoyed this story and it has taught us lots about the conservation of the rainforests.  The children have created some lovely posters in our last reading session to show what they have learned.  We have started a new book called Lost Species by Jess French and I am sure the children will enjoy finding out about extinct animals. The children have been writing their own stories based on The Journey Home this week and I have loved reading them.  They have all thought carefully about the adjectives they use to describe to add detail to their sentences.

In maths, we have continued to practice counting forwards and backwards to 100 in 1s and 10s.  They children have been learning how to use the number facts they know, such as making ten, to add and subtract a single-digit number to and from a two-digit number.  This week we have been crossing ten with our addition and subtraction and the children have shown great resilience and kept going with using what they know to help them.  This term, we are also focusing on number fluency so please encourage the children to use numbots at home to help them with this.

Our science this term is all about electricity. The children have really enjoyed learning about electric circuits over our last couple of lessons.  We have used role play (and tennis balls) to find out how electricity moves around a circuit and the children really enjoyed using the real components make simple circuits this week. Over the last couple of weeks in RE, we have been focusing on the Christmas story and why the birth of Jesus is important to Christians.

Thank you for sending Lego into school last week. The children really enjoyed using it to explore how to form wheels and axles to make vehicles.  This week, the children used what they have learned to design a conservation vehicle so that they can go into an endangered animals habitat to help them.

Friday 10th November

The children have had a great start to this half term.  In English, our theme is Creation and Conservation and the children are really enjoying both of the books that we have been reading.  In our reading sessions, we have been reading There's a Rang-tan in my Bedroom. It is a lovely book all about the destruction of the orangutan's habitat and the children have been developing their inference skills linked to the character's feelings.  They have been learning how to help explain their answers using evidence from the text. In our English lessons, the children found mysterious footprints around school and they have created posters to try and find the mystery animal. It turned out to be a dodo.  They children are learning about some animals are endangered and they have created fact files about some extinct animals.

In maths, we have continued working on addition and subtraction fluency for numbers upto 20.  We have really focused on being able to find the difference when the information is presented in problems, pictograms and barcharts. This week, we have started a new focus which will be addition and subtraction to and from two-digit numbers.  The children are enjoying using the maths equipment to help they explain their understanding.

We started our new geography topic today which is all about our local area.  We have started by learning about the 7 continents and the children have really enjoyed singing along to the continents song ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6DSMZ8b3LE ). This week, we have zoomed into the UK and we have been learning about the countries and the capitals.  Our DT this term is all about wheels and axles and the children enjoyed exploring different toy vehicles to see how they work. They are looking forward to making their own vehicles next week using Lego.

Friday 13th October

In English, this week we have continued to learn about wolves.  The children have written some fantastic character descriptions of the Big Bad Wolf and I have been really impressed with the vocabulary they have been using in their descriptions. We have all found out so much about wolves - please ask them and i am sure they will enjoy sharing some of the things they have discovered.

In maths, we have been adding 3 numbers and using our pairs to 5 and to help us.  We have also been practicing counting to 100, and in 2s, 5s and 10s. 

This week, the children have been finding out about why we have Black History Month.  We have been finding out about the stand that Rosa Parks took about where people could sit on a bus.  We are learning a poem called Rosa Takes a Ride so that we can share it in assembly next week. In history, we have continued to learn about the Great Fire of Gateshead and Newcastle and this week we were focusing on how the fire spread so quickly.  We had a great computing lesson yesterday and the children have created some fantastic paintings using repeating patterns.

Friday 6th October

This week in English, we have started a new book called Wolves by Emily Gravett.  The children have been learning about the differences between fact and fiction.  The children were set a challenge by one of the Little Pigs to find books about wolves in the school library.  We are going to use the information we have found out write an information leaflet for the Little Pig. In reading, we have started to read Cinderella: An art deco fairy tale.  The children have been using pictures in the story and the actions of the characters to make inferences about the characters.

This week the children have been partitioning two-digit numbers into tens and ones and using these facts to find the missing numbers in equations.  I have been really impressed with their knowledge of two-digit numbers and how they have used this to solve problems.  We have started a new unit which is calculating numbers to 20.  The children had lots of fun this morning adding 2 addends using tens frames, part-whole models and writing the matching equations.

In Re, the children have been learning about Muslim's having 99 names for Allah and how nicknames can tell people about what is special about us.  In history, we have moved on from the Great Fire of London and started to learn about the great Fire of Gateshead.  Please ask the children about it as I'm sure they would love to tell you about.  The children have been exploring how we can stay healthy through diet and exercise in science and the benefits that this can have for us.  Finally, in art, the children have created some amazing artwork based on the artist Kandinsky's style.  I'll make sure I add some photos of their artwork next week.

Welcome to our weekly update.  The children looked great today all dressed in green.  I will add some photos next week so that you can see.

In English this week, the children have written a sequel story for Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  I have really enjoyed reading their stories of what happened when Goldilocks and Baby Bear met when they were older. This week, we have finished reading The Spider and The Fly and the children have been discussing the message in the story. I have put the link below if you would like to watch a video of the book that we have read. 

The Spider and The Fly

The children have continued to learn about the number 20-99 this week.  They are fantastic at counting to 100 and they have used this knowledge to help them add missing numbers to number lines.  The children have also been comparing two-digit numbers and using concrete resources to make the numbers to help them. We ended the week by looking at partitioning the two-digit numbers into tens and ones.

We have continued our learning about The Great Fire of London this week.  The children were historians on Thursday and they used sources such as newspaper reports and Samuel Pepys diary to find out why they fire spread so quickly. On Tuesday, the children enjoyed the PE session with Lauren, French with Madam Armes and music with Laura.  They really enjoyed playing the glockenspiels. 

This week, I have given all of the children a copy of the Numbots logins so that they can access this website at home to support their number fluency.

Numbots Website

Friday 22nd September

In English this week, we have been been reading a book called Me and You by Anthony Browne.  This is a different version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  We have used this story to compare how there can be different versions of the same story.  Today we have been thinking about what would happen if Goldilocks and Baby Bear met when they were older so that we can plan a sequel story for our writing next week.

In maths, it has all been about multiples of ten.  We have practiced counting forwards and backwards in ten and finding ten more and ten less than a number. To help us be more efficient with our counting, we have practiced grouping large groups of objects into groups of ten and seeing how many extra ones that we had.  We used this to start our learning about writing 2-digit numbers.

We continued learning about mixing colours in art this week. We investigated what happens when we add white, black and grey to a base colour so that we could make tints, shades and tones.  During PE, we are learning learning green challenges so we are learning to sidestep and pivots, skip with high knees and hopscotch forwards and backwards.  The children are really showing their resilience as some of the skills are tricky but they keep trying.

In history this week, we have continued learning about The Great Fire of London.  Today, we have spent time learning about what life was like in 1666 and comparing it to life in the present.  We ended the week with Now Press Play.  We went on an adventure to another planet to learn about what humans need to survive.

Next week is Meet the Teacher and I am looking forward to inviting you into our class at 3:20pm to talk about our day and routines.

Friday is 'Green Day'.  The children can come dressed in green on the day and there will be treats available for the children to buy at playtime.  We will be having a coffee mornings at 9am and 2:30pm.  it would be great to see you there!

Friday 15th September

Welcome to our first update of the year.  The children have made a great start to Year 2 and they are settling well into our new routine.  It has been lovely getting to know the children over the last week.

In English, our topic is called A Twist in the Tale and we are focusing on fairy tales and traditional tales in our reading and writing.  This week we have been reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the children have created fantastic wanted posters to find out where naughty Goldilocks is.  For our reading, we have started the poem The Spider and the Fly and the children enjoyed finding out facts about spiders and flies before we started reading.  

This term in maths, we will be focusing on numbers to 100 and this week we have been counting in multiples of 10.  The children had lots of fun yesterday using ten sticks to measure things in the classroom.  It would be great if you could encourage the children to practice counting to 100 over this term so that they become really familiar with the numbers.

We will be focusing on history this term and we will be learning about The Great Fire of London.  The children really enjoyed using Now Press Play last week to be transported back in time to 1666 to learn about what had happened.  In art the children are learning about mixing their own colours including tints and tones and they are using what they have learned to create artwork on Purple Mash - this week they were creating impressionist paintings!  The children are really enjoying PE, especially our warm up where they get to play Rock, Paper, Scissors.  

Reminders:

Please can the children have their PE kits in school on a Tuesday and Thursday.  Please can it be a school PE kit of black or blue shorts and a white or blue t-shirt.

Please can the children read every night at home to develop their fluency.  All of the children have reading record and it would be great if you could use it to let me know how the children are reading at home.

I have added some pictures below so that you can see some of the things the children have participated in over the last week.