Turrets, Towers and Tunnels

The children spent time last week taking part in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) investigations. They had to create a tower for Rapunzel using paper, and then discover how many cubes the tower could support before falling down.

The next project was to build a bridge out of 2 sheets of paper. The children looked at different designs and structures before deciding how they would work out the solution. The bridge had to support a toy car without collapsing in the middle. The additional challenge was to find out if they bridge could also support an increasing number of marbles, without them falling off! The children had lots of fun and there were a few marbles rolling onto the floor throughout.

Friday 18th September, 2020

It’s the end of the second week back and the children have been amazing! They are becoming used to the expectations of a Year 2 classroom and are already well established in the daily routines and lesson format. They have learnt some information about castles, studied the artists Paul Klee and James Paterson, and practised their understanding of place value in 2 and 3-digit numbers.

Here are some pictures of us doing art today. The children were inspired by examples of Paul Klee’s art to create their own images of castles using 2D shapes and bright oil pastels.

Thursday 7th May 2020

Good morning

A final reminder that there will be no learning activities posted on the class blog after today. Everything will now be available on Google Classroom, using your child’s login details.

If you have any difficulties accessing Google Classroom, please email the Office and we will endeavour to help.

Please watch the video to learn some facts about why we are celebrating VE Day.

Then have a look at the maths, we are learning about repeating patterns using position and direction.

Wednesday 7th May, 2020

Good morning

Only four pupils are still to transfer over to Google Classroom. I will give these families a phone call today, to ensure they are able to enrol. Please remember that tomorrow is the last day I will be putting work up on the blog.

I have attached the Hot chili challenges for the learning activities on here today.

We continue to look at noun phrases and descriptive writing in English and in Maths we are doing more work on Position and Direction.

Tuesday 4th May 2020

Good morning,

Most of the class have moved over to using Google classroom to access their learning. If you have not yet done this, please look at yesterday’s (3rd May) blog for instructions for how to do this. I think it was relatively easy to do and not many problems arose. I will continue to add the work on here until Thursday 8th. After that everything will be on Google classroom and the blog will revert to it’s original purpose.

Today, we are carrying on with studying stories by the author Anthony Browne. This time the story is called Gorilla. Please watch the Youtube video before attempting the chili challenges.

In addition, we have the second lesson in Position and Directions. This takes practice to be accurate and I highly recommend you work through the slides before doing the work.

Monday 4th May, 2020

Good morning everyone,

I hope you had a fun and relaxing weekend?

Today is the first day of Hedgehog class trying to use Google Classroom to access set learning activities. The intention is for everyone to have moved over to using it by the end of the week. With that in mind I will post work on both this blog and on Google classroom for this week but will discontinue using the blog for posting learning after Thursday 7th May, Friday 8th May being a bank holiday. The blog will revert to being used for short messages and photos etc, as it used to be.

I have added here a copy of the google classrooms guide which will help your parents log on. Click on the Google Classrooms Parent Guide below for the guide.

You have to create your own email in the format as set out in the guide (firstnamesurname). These have already been created by school but we are unable to add a list here for GDPR reasons. One or two of you have complicated surnames - if that is you, please contact me asap to ask for the email details that have been created by school for you.

The classroom can be found at: https://classroom.google.com/u/4/c/Nzg2MTU0ODQ0Nzha

Password to join is: nyxpdhf

P.S. Make sure you are logged out of all your google accounts.

I have added a screenshot of the front page of the classroom. This is from the ‘stream’ page. To access lessons, you need to click on ‘classwork’ (top, of screen, second from left).

If you have any difficulties logging on or accessing Google classrooms please email Paul Hannan on pkpsgooglesupport@plaistowandkirdford.org for support.

Once you have joined Google classroom, I will be able to assign work to your child. Occasionally it might be set for specific children where it may be more appropriate. For example if they are struggling with a certain concept.

Please note, most of the time I will not be providing individual feedback on the work. I will be providing the answers the next day in order for the children to self-mark their work. I am absolutely happy to answer queries or make suggestions if they are stuck on any concepts etc.

Today’s work is on this blog post as well as on Google Classroom.

Please get in touch if I can help you with the transition over. I will be sticking to normal working hours, 8.30 - 3.30, as I need to home educate my own son and plan your learning for the next day! However, I will do my best to respond the same day or the next.

Today we are looking at the story called What If? by Anthony Browne and working on identifying and using nouns and adjectives.

In Maths, we are starting new work on position and direction.

Both Maths and English have chili challenges, so make sure you choose the correct challenge for you.

Times Tables Rock Stars latest news

Hmmmm, some of you have not logged on to play since the 13th March. If this is you, I would really like you to give it a try this week. Practise is the key and without it you are going to struggle with your times tables and problems solving.

Well done to those of you have been logging in regularly and working hard to master the times tables I have set you. Congratulations Maisie W, you have made it onto the leaderboard and Arabella is now an unsigned act! There has been a lot of movement in who has the most coins, with Arabella remaining the richest but Ronan is chasing her hard. This is getting quite exciting!

Friday 1st May, 2020

Today is the first of May and I know that Eleanor is already counting down the days to her birthday!

I thought that we might learn some facts about May Day before finishing off with a times tables quiz. It is Friday after all and we like to have fun! I have also included some art and craft ideas if you feel like being creative today.

If you have signed up as a parent to Twinkl, you can find the interactive quiz here: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/go/resource/spot-the-incorrect-2-5-and-10-times-table-calculation-multiple-choice-quiz-tg-367. If you haven’t then I have uploaded the slides as screen shots, so the interactive part is not accessible but your child can still answer the questions.

Thursday 30th April, 2020

Good morning everyone,

It was really lovely to speak to some of you yesterday and share what we have been doing at home. Arabella, I will try and persuade Ed to have some cute photos taken, I promise!

I didn’t manage to speak to all of you as you may have been out, I tried 2 or 3 times. But hopefully (Hattie in particular) I will speak to you very soon.

Today we are finishing up our work on Anthony Browne stories and you get to listen to the last of the four chosen books.

In Maths, we are problem solving using our knowledge of number bonds, subtractions and multiplication.

Wednesday 28th April, 2020

Did you enjoy the rainy day yesterday? I really missed being able to get out in my garden or for a bike ride. Ed, my cat, didn’t go out at all. He slept on my son’s bed for the entire day, what a lazy cat!

More of the author study today and some further measuring challenges.

Tuesday 28th April, 2020

The weather forecast is for some rain today, so perhaps you will need to be creative in what you choose to do inside? I have included some science and the most recent results of the Times Table Rock Stars. There have been some changes in the ranking for who has the most money. Well done to Arabella, who has obviously been working hard, and to Olivia who has crept up the board! I have given some children additional challenges which include some other times tables. Good luck with those. The science can be done on any day, as there are some resources to gather together first.

EXTRA!

I have come across this link to an art webinar for children, which may be of interest to some of you? I have uploaded the details at the bottom of today’s work.

Monday 27th April, 2020

Happy Monday everybody!

I hope you have all managed to get out for a long walk over the weekend. I’ve been searching for newts and tadpoles with my son. We have tried in 3 different places and still not found them, but we are not going to give up! I have my fishing net and pond life book ready in my back pack.

Today, we are going to start an author study and do some maths problem solving using length and capacity. I have also included a new grid of non-screen time activities. I think I am going to try some of them with my son this week. He has been doing a lot of Minecraft!

Friday 24th April, 2020

Hooray it’s Friday!

I’m sure you have all been working hard on the tasks I have set this week. Well done and I’m proud of you.

Today we will finish our poetry writing, solve a maths investigation and there are two songs to sing along to at the end, just for fun!

How many of the non-screen tasks have you done this week? Are there any more that you could do today?

Thursday 23rd April, 2020

Good morning,

Today we are going to be doing some more work on poetry and birds.

Then we have a fun maths activity, followed by a story.

I hope you enjoy the activities.

Here is the story called Tadpole’s Promise, do you remember when Mr King read this in assembly? It has a surprise ending that might surprise your family!

Wednesday 22nd April, 2020

Today we are going to continue with the theme of birds and flying. Remember that list of powerful verbs that you wrote yesterday? Can you add any more today? To help you, try watching some of the video below. It is 9 minutes long, so watch as much as you want. Try to include verbs to describe the birds as they land as well.

Now it’s time for a maths investigation. It would be good to do this in a place where it doesn’t matter if you spill a little water on the floor!

Tuesday 21st April, 2020

Good morning everyone,

It looks like it is going to be another sunny day. Are you ready to do some learning time?

I have given you some English and some maths today. Remember to try your best and if you make mistakes, that is absolutely fine, as it is how we all learn!

Don’t forget to do a minimum of 10 minutes reading every day and if you find the maths too tricky or indeed easy, it may be worth looking at the Year group above or below’s blog to try their maths activities out instead.

Keep up with the Times Tables Rock Stars, I wonder if you can knock the current medal holders off their top spot?

Enjoy the sunshine and thank you soooo much for those who took part in the film Ridley’s mum made. I LOVED it!!!!! To see your faces and find out what you have been doing was fantastic. I miss you all too! x

Monday 20th April, 2020

Welcome to the summer term! I hope you all had a fun time over the Easter break and haven’t eaten too much chocolate? I think I might have eaten a little more than my share, oops!

Our new topic, Scented Gardens starts and we will be learning about plants and what they need to grow and survive. As part of our topic we will be looking at the work of the artist Georgia O’Keefe. I have included some information and some inspiration for art this week as I know that lots of you were keen to do more art when I spoke to you.

Please take a look at the leader board for Times Tables Rockstars. I wonder if everyone is doing it independently and without the help of older brothers and sisters perhaps? If you are doing it completely by yourself then well done! All your hard work will be making you a great mathematician! Lots of you have earned more coins and are well on the way to challenging the three children who are at the top of the leader board at the moment, well done!

Question time!

What had happened when Brian fed the biscuits to his dogs?

How quickly did they grow to this size do you think?

Did Brian give the biscuits to anything/anyone else?

Have the creatures stopped growing?

How will Brian keep them as pets?

What are the benefits/problems with having such enormous pets?

Is there a way for Brian to restore his animals to their original size?

Sick sentences!

These sentences are ‘sick’ and need your help to get better.

Can you help by adding in capital letters, conjunctions (and/or/but/because/that/if/so) and full stops.

*Could you use an exclamation mark anywhere?

the dogs ate the biscuits they started to grow really fast now they are big they need to eat a lot of food.

Perfect picture!

Imagine Brian gave the biscuits to a different animal. Can you draw what they would look like before and after?

Lastly, to make sure that you are not spending all of your time on the iPad/tablet/computer games or tv, I have included a fun choice board for non-screen time. Let me know how many you manage to do!

Friday 3rd April 2020

It’s Friday and nearly the Easter holidays!

See below for the winners of the Times Tables Rockstars this week. Take a look at who has the most coins. Does this match with who has won a medal for the fastest times?

Do you like this photograph of a mummy hedgehog and her babies? They are so little and a different colour. We need to look after hedgehogs as they are an endangered species in the U.K.

Here are some ways that you can help look after hedgehogs. If you have one in your garden, buy a feeding station or make one by putting a paving slab on top of some bricks and put out food. Dry, good quality cat biscuits are ideal as they don't freeze or go off but tinned cat or dog food is good if you put it down fresh each night. Dried mealworms are packed with protein and energy and hogs love them. Hedgehogs are lactose intolerant and must never be given cows' milk or milk products. It can cause severe digestive upset and kill them. If you want to give them a drink, make it water.

Thursday 2nd April 2020

Good morning everyone,

I really enjoyed talking to you on the telephone yesterday and hearing of some of the activities you have been doing. Bike rides, bouncing on the trampoline, baking cakes and of course some learning time too!

Sorry if I didn’t manage to talk to all of you, I think some people may have been out for a walk or in the garden when I called? I will try again next time.

I am discovering fun ideas for what to do at home all of the time. Have a look at this balloon tennis game. It looks great fun! My son and I will definitely be trying it out today. Also, look at this idea for creating a special reading space. I really hope some of you try it out. If you do, send in a photo please? I would love to see some of the unusual places you find to enjoy reading a book! Do you remember those dens you made in the classroom?

Last of all, here is a picture of my new cat Ed, who has decided that my son’s bed now belongs to him! He has settled in very nicely and as you can see he is very relaxed (and a little bit lazy but shhh, don’t tell him I said so).

Wednesday 1st April 2020

Good morning everyone!
Today I am going into school and I will be spending the morning trying to call each and every one of you, to see how you are and what you have been doing at home? It would be great to hear of your adventures and anything exciting or new you have to tell me!

What is great about being at home?

What is amazing about learning at home? Have you done anything unusual or different?

What has been fantastic about spending time with your family?

Science

If you haven’t already taken a look at the live cam at Chester zoo, please watch the video below. It’s a great way to find out more about animals and it feels like you are actually at the zoo, having a private tour!

There is also another challenge from the Soccerin School and Just Play Sports group. If you enjoyed the last one, this is a good activity for out in the garden.

Tuesday 31st March 2020

The sun is trying to peer through the clouds and I have my fingers crossed that it will be a bit warmer so we can all get out in the garden!

If you are interested in getting some more ideas for getting active outside why not have a look at these real life school sports coaches? I have been following them on Facebook and they seem to be putting up daily videos with challenges for you. I have uploaded an example for you to try.

Let’s try some Art today! Use your skills to create a family portrait that your mum will love to put up on the wall. Make sure to include everyone’s cheesiest grins.

For Maths, you get to choose which activity you’d like to try today. The videos are very helpful, (especially for your mum and dads)

Hope you have a fun time today!

P.S. Please try to email a photo of your family portraits to the office, I would love to see them. I’m missing you all. x