Welcome to Otters' Class!
Class Teacher: Mrs Budniak
Teaching Assistants: Mrs Butler & Mrs Pope
Autumn Term 2 Topic: The Victorians
Get ready to explore the fascinating world of the Victorians! You can read about how we'll explore this topic and some questions we would like to find the answers to in our...
Speaking and Listening
During Term 2, weekly Speaking and Listening lessons will now be held on a Thursday afternoon. This is an opportunity for the children to bring in something to discuss and present to the class or tell the class about something important to them. Different children will have an opportunity each week and the schedule can be viewed below.
Term 2 Speaking & Listening Timetable
Our class reading book for this term is the Victorian classic, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', by Lewis Carroll.
Reading Books
Children in Otters are given the opportunity to change their reading books on the following days:
- Tuesday - Pine / Birch
- Thursday - Ash / Oak
Sharing (library) books will be changed on a Thursday and should be returned to school on that day.
In order to promote a love of reading and the culture of reading for pleasure, children in Otters will take home three reading books each week:
1. Two fully decodable books, matched to their current secure knowledge and understanding of grapheme-phoneme correspondences. Your child should be able to read these easily. These books should be read at least three times each in order for your child to improve their decoding, fluency, comprehension and prosody.
Please note - children who have moved beyond the colour-level books will be supported to choose this book themselves from the 'free-reading' section instead.
2. A 'sharing' book, chosen by your child. This book should be read, discussed and shared together so that you can explore a wide range of books and vocabulary with your child.
Children will be supported to write the title of their new book in their reading diary. They will move on to the next colour level of book when their secure knowledge and understanding of grapheme-phoneme correspondences matches the new level.
Please ensure your child's book bag comes to school every day. They are required to put it in the book bag box so that their books can be changed.
Parents are asked to write a comment and sign in their child's diary when they have read at home.
Reading points will be collected every Friday and children will earn certificates and rewards when they have read a certain number of times.
Homework
Spellings
Each week the children will be given 10 new spellings to practise at home. These will be related to their phonics learning for the week ahead and will include two or three new CEWs (common exception words).
These will be sent home with children on a Friday and tested on the following Thursday. Please ensure homework folders are brought in on that day.
You can also find spellings below. These will be updated each week. Spellings Homework
You may also find it helpful to access these resources at home together:
100 High Frequency Words Year 1 CEWs Year 2 CEWs
DoodleMaths
The children should continue to use DoodleMaths on a regular basis. Little and often (just ten minutes a day) is best! House points will be given to children every Friday who stay in the 'green zone' each week.
Other Homework
Otters class may also be set topic-related homework on occasion. This is intended to support their immersion and learning of topics as we move through the school year.
Multiplication Tables
Children in Year 2 are expected to learn 1x 2x 5x and 10x tables by heart. Children in Otters will already have learned to count in multiples of 1, 2, 5 and 10 and it is now time to apply this learning to recalling associated multiplication and division facts from memory.
The DoodleTables app can be downloaded and accessed using your child's DoodleMaths login. This Website also has a good range of games, activities and information.
PE & Forest School
PE - School uniform should be worn every day and PE kit left in school in a PE kit bag on your child’s coat peg. Children will then change in class for their PE lessons.
Please ensure that your child's kit contains weather-appropriate clothing as we are moving into colder months. Please also check that everything is clearly named.
Useful Websites
Joe Wicks 100 Recommended Reads Y2
Pobble 365 National Geographic Kids Authors Bitesize
Online Safety
Some useful websites with advice about staying safe whilst you work online:
Thinkuknow Net-Aware LGfL Parent Info
Contact
If you need to contact me about anything then you can email the class mailbox here.
This will be checked regularly but if your concern is urgent then please contact the school office. Alternatively, you can always speak to me in the playground at the end of the day.