Welcome to Dragon Class
Our Team
Miss Spearman and Mrs Martin are our Class Teachers, alongside Mrs Riley and Mrs Fowler, our Teaching Assistants.
English
In English we will use pirate storybooks as the stimulus for our writing. After half term, our writing will be based around mini-beasts to tie in with our Science topic of 'Living Things and Exploring Habitats'.
Reading
Now is the time in year 2 where we shift our focus to ensure we are developing the children’s comprehension and wider understanding as well as decoding skills. We will have two whole class guided reading lessons each week where we will explore the story of Flat Stanley. In these lessons, the children will have the opportunity to discuss the plot, setting and characters as well as explore new vocabulary and the effectiveness of grammar and punctuation in narrative writing. This is a great opportunity for all children to deepen their understanding of a text.
Group guided reading sessions will still take place in rotation. Individual reading also takes place with adults in school and the children are given the opportunity to choose their own books from the library or class reading corner to read independently for short periods.
Please can we ask that all children still bring a book bag into school each day (even if they have a backpack) with their reading books and reading record. These are to be placed in the appropriate boxes in the classroom depending on whether their reading books need changing or not.
Reading at Home
We believe one of the best ways to support your child at home is to read with them on a daily basis. Research continues to show that learning to read is directly linked to children’s success at school and beyond. Experts in child literacy believe that the key to learning to read, and loving it, is borne through the positive effect of the power of the parent-child bond. This means the reading you do at home with your children has a huge impact on their attitude to reading.
We know that it takes time to read with your child and it can be difficult to know what questions to ask. To help with this, here are a few questions you might want to ask. These questions are designed to help your children reflect on what they have read and deepen their understanding. Please do not think that you have to ask every question every time you read, some questions are more relevant to the particular text you are reading:
Some children are reluctant readers and it can be a challenge to encourage them to pick up a book, so please try alternative texts to engage your child. Any reading they do at home can be recorded in their reading log – not just the books provided by school. Think what appeals to them: maybe comics, joke books, funny poetry, graphic novels, non-fiction which will appeal to their passion like craft making, cooking, scooter tricks, football skills etc. Books do not have to be read cover to cover, any reading is good, so help them choose a book or comic they are interested in to develop their love of reading.
Phonics
Phonics is taught every day to all the children. Where necessary, extra phonics lessons are provided.
Maths
In Maths the children will cover: multiplication, division, 3D shapes, length, height, statistics and fractions.
Times Tables
All the children are making great progress in their times table knowledge and are enjoying the weekly challenge in class where they can measure their own progress. Please continue to support your children’s learning by regularly asking questions or allowing them to play TT Rockstars to improve their instant recall of the multiplication and division facts of the 2, 5, and 10 times tables.
Science
In science, the children will be exploring 'Living Things and Exploring Habitats'.
History
This term we are using our Pirates topic to look at the world and develop map reading skills in Geography, research famous ships in computing and designing and creating their own deserted island.
R.E.
RE will focus on religious celebrations across faiths and why they are important to people.
P.E.
Badminton, attack and defence games and balls skills will be taught during PE with the class teacher and Sports4All PE specialists. We will continue to have their PE sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays but their full PE kit should be in school every day in case of extra lessons. We will also be having some PE lessons outside, so please ensure your child has tracksuit bottoms and trainers in their PE kit bag.
Homework
Learning logs and spelling books will continue to be sent home on a Friday and are due in the following Wednesday. The spelling test will continue to take place on Wednesdays and on Tuesdays they have a Times Table Challenge where they compete against themselves to improve their score from the previous week. TT Rockstars is a great tool to help the children learn their timetables so please encourage them to play on this regularly throughout the week.
Parent Partnership
We strongly believe in working closely with parents to ensure all children have a positive and successful experience in their education. We welcome any information you can share about your child and their individual learning experiences outside of school. This can be easily shared through the Class Dojo communication tool. To keep you informed on specific activities in the school, your teacher will also use the Class Dojo to share news and photos of school events. In the Dragon class, we welcome children into a stimulating, fun and creative classroom atmosphere. Our aim is for all children to be engaged, happy and enjoy their learning, allowing them to make progress and reach their potential.If you are interested in supporting the class, either regularly or adhoc, with your time for reading or a particular skill you have please contact the class teacher to see when would be a suitable time for you to visit the class. We are very grateful for any assistance.
Supporting Your Child at Home
Our experience has shown us that the support children get from home has a positive impact on their learning. Here are some websites which parents and carers may find useful:
www.phonicsplay.co.uk
www.letters-and-sounds.com
www.topmarks.co.uk
www.maths-games.org/times-tables-games.html
www.timestables.co.uk
Miss Spearman and Mrs Martin are our Class Teachers, alongside Mrs Riley and Mrs Fowler, our Teaching Assistants.
English
In English we will use pirate storybooks as the stimulus for our writing. After half term, our writing will be based around mini-beasts to tie in with our Science topic of 'Living Things and Exploring Habitats'.
Reading
Now is the time in year 2 where we shift our focus to ensure we are developing the children’s comprehension and wider understanding as well as decoding skills. We will have two whole class guided reading lessons each week where we will explore the story of Flat Stanley. In these lessons, the children will have the opportunity to discuss the plot, setting and characters as well as explore new vocabulary and the effectiveness of grammar and punctuation in narrative writing. This is a great opportunity for all children to deepen their understanding of a text.
Group guided reading sessions will still take place in rotation. Individual reading also takes place with adults in school and the children are given the opportunity to choose their own books from the library or class reading corner to read independently for short periods.
Please can we ask that all children still bring a book bag into school each day (even if they have a backpack) with their reading books and reading record. These are to be placed in the appropriate boxes in the classroom depending on whether their reading books need changing or not.
Reading at Home
We believe one of the best ways to support your child at home is to read with them on a daily basis. Research continues to show that learning to read is directly linked to children’s success at school and beyond. Experts in child literacy believe that the key to learning to read, and loving it, is borne through the positive effect of the power of the parent-child bond. This means the reading you do at home with your children has a huge impact on their attitude to reading.
We know that it takes time to read with your child and it can be difficult to know what questions to ask. To help with this, here are a few questions you might want to ask. These questions are designed to help your children reflect on what they have read and deepen their understanding. Please do not think that you have to ask every question every time you read, some questions are more relevant to the particular text you are reading:
- What is this character feeling at this point? How do you know?
- Can this word/phrase have more than one meaning?
- Which word told you that?
- Where else in the story did that happen?
- Find some words or phrases that tell you about the setting.
- Can you find a word which shows she is upset/naughty/being kind?
- What does this word mean? (use the context to help find the meaning of unfamiliar words)
- What other synonyms do we know for that word? Which is best for this sentence?
Some children are reluctant readers and it can be a challenge to encourage them to pick up a book, so please try alternative texts to engage your child. Any reading they do at home can be recorded in their reading log – not just the books provided by school. Think what appeals to them: maybe comics, joke books, funny poetry, graphic novels, non-fiction which will appeal to their passion like craft making, cooking, scooter tricks, football skills etc. Books do not have to be read cover to cover, any reading is good, so help them choose a book or comic they are interested in to develop their love of reading.
Phonics
Phonics is taught every day to all the children. Where necessary, extra phonics lessons are provided.
Maths
In Maths the children will cover: multiplication, division, 3D shapes, length, height, statistics and fractions.
Times Tables
All the children are making great progress in their times table knowledge and are enjoying the weekly challenge in class where they can measure their own progress. Please continue to support your children’s learning by regularly asking questions or allowing them to play TT Rockstars to improve their instant recall of the multiplication and division facts of the 2, 5, and 10 times tables.
Science
In science, the children will be exploring 'Living Things and Exploring Habitats'.
History
This term we are using our Pirates topic to look at the world and develop map reading skills in Geography, research famous ships in computing and designing and creating their own deserted island.
R.E.
RE will focus on religious celebrations across faiths and why they are important to people.
P.E.
Badminton, attack and defence games and balls skills will be taught during PE with the class teacher and Sports4All PE specialists. We will continue to have their PE sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays but their full PE kit should be in school every day in case of extra lessons. We will also be having some PE lessons outside, so please ensure your child has tracksuit bottoms and trainers in their PE kit bag.
Homework
Learning logs and spelling books will continue to be sent home on a Friday and are due in the following Wednesday. The spelling test will continue to take place on Wednesdays and on Tuesdays they have a Times Table Challenge where they compete against themselves to improve their score from the previous week. TT Rockstars is a great tool to help the children learn their timetables so please encourage them to play on this regularly throughout the week.
Parent Partnership
We strongly believe in working closely with parents to ensure all children have a positive and successful experience in their education. We welcome any information you can share about your child and their individual learning experiences outside of school. This can be easily shared through the Class Dojo communication tool. To keep you informed on specific activities in the school, your teacher will also use the Class Dojo to share news and photos of school events. In the Dragon class, we welcome children into a stimulating, fun and creative classroom atmosphere. Our aim is for all children to be engaged, happy and enjoy their learning, allowing them to make progress and reach their potential.If you are interested in supporting the class, either regularly or adhoc, with your time for reading or a particular skill you have please contact the class teacher to see when would be a suitable time for you to visit the class. We are very grateful for any assistance.
Supporting Your Child at Home
Our experience has shown us that the support children get from home has a positive impact on their learning. Here are some websites which parents and carers may find useful:
www.phonicsplay.co.uk
www.letters-and-sounds.com
www.topmarks.co.uk
www.maths-games.org/times-tables-games.html
www.timestables.co.uk
