English  

Welcome to the creative world of writing where everyone's an author. Year 2 went back in time to learn about narrative writing to create their own books. We hit the ground running looking into what needs to be included in a narrative. Year 2 have been using their inquiry skills and creative process to develop a narrative using character settings and focusing on problems they may face such as person or thing vs object or nature. Then when the juices started to flow for the students' narrative we began looking into how we can draft, edit and publish our own  books. To help with the writing process year two had a visit from Author Harry Laing, who was getting students to create their own story idea about “my strange pet”. Harry gave an outstanding performance when reciting his poems from his book RapperBee. Year 2 look forward to showing you their published books at our Learning Journey next week.  

Reading 

We have been visiting the library regularly and borrowing both fiction and non-fiction books. During our Reader's Workshop, we dedicate over 20 minutes each day to reading, which has really improved our reading stamina. We are practising new strategies to improve  our reading skills and working hard to meet our personal reading goals. Our teachers provide us with ongoing feedback, helping us recognise our strengths and areas to improve as we become better readers.

Spelling

In spelling we have continued to learn new phonemes. This term we have been learning the difference between long and short vowel patterns. This includes being able to hear the difference between those sounds made by vowel combinations such as ‘ai’ in rain and the short a sound made by the letter in ‘cat’. We have been using a range of tools such as blending boards and el-konin boxes to segment and blend the sounds in words. Students have enjoyed using Decodable Readers Australia to read stories featuring the focus sounds of the week. 

Maths

In Mathematics this term our students have been taking their first steps into multiplication and division. They have explored a variety of strategies to assist them in calculations, such as equal groupings and arrays. They have worked with manipulatives to see the calculations in action.

Strand 

In our Mathematics Strand unit this term, students have explored the collection, representation and interpretation of data. They have created questions and gathered data before displaying it using a range of graph types.

Students have begun to explore and understand fractions. They have been working with manipulatives to create halves, quarters and eighths of different collections of objects.

HASS

In our History and Geography unit,  we have been exploring local significant sites in Canberra. This includes popular landmarks such as Parliament House, the Arboretum and Lake Burley Griffin. We have also explored the significance of sites such as Black Mountain and Namadgi National Park for Ngunnawal people. We have started making our dioramas of these significant places including demonstrating how they have changed over time. 

Digital Technology

Welcome to the digital age. In Digital technology we have explored how computers work looking into what software and hardware is. Then we moved onto  learning how to research information online. Students have explored Kiddle, a kid friendly website to research information. Then students have learned how to insert an image to a google doc. After learning about using a chromebook we are now learning how to operate and control a Bee Bot. Students have been learning how to get the bots to do a sequence of motions. Using the Bee Bots is going to help develop students' understanding of  their controls before they become engines for our design and technology day where the kids will be creating a cart for a BeeBot to pull a wagon. 

Author Visit

During week 6 we had a fantastic opportunity to meet  Author  Harry Laing. Harry is an energetic and engaging comic performer with a love of language. He kept us  spellbound with his poems, (interactive) chants and the magical creatures from his book covers. We also had an opportunity to write our own poem!