Year 2 - Gobblefunk and Maths Raps

They say that “time flies when you’re having fun,” and that has certainly been the case in Year 2. We are into our third week of Year 2 already and it has whizzed by. Watching the children come into school each morning with smiles on their faces has been uplifting; all of the teachers feel very proud of how the new Year 2 classes have settled into their routines and have risen to meet new expectations.

Roald Dahl has been at the forefront of everyone’s minds over the past few weeks. Our Topic this term is all about Great Missenden and in English we have been reading the story of Billy and the Minpins. We found out some fascinating facts about Roald Dahl. Can you guess which bone he kept on his writing desk? The Year 2 children will be able to tell you! Roald Dahl also inspired us to have a go at using Gobblefunk language. We mixed up different animals to create imaginary creatures, like a meerpaca (a cross between a meerkat and an alpaca) and a pyraffe (a cross between a python and a giraffe), and then the children created their own Gobblefunk words. Each word was given a definition and had to be used in a sentence. We heard some really splendiferous ideas!

In Billy and the Minpins, Billy chooses not to listen to his mother’s advice and walks into the forest. Year 2 were inspired by this and imagined walking into a forest themselves. The setting descriptions they created were creative and filled with beautiful imagery, using their five senses to help. Jemimah wrote: “I could see drifting green leaves falling slowly to the ground.” Tom described: “I could see mythical creatures eating rotting flesh.”

Maths lessons, too, have been filled with excitement. Counting in steps of 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s has been a focus over the past few days and the children have been so delighted to share their knowledge of skip counting and apply it to solving some really challenging problems. When learning to count in 3s, Year 2 loved learning a rap and, as a result, are now experts in their 3 times tables! We finished off our unit on place value with a problem solving lesson where the children had the chance to show off how brilliantly they have mastered number and place value.

“How do you keep safe online?” has been the question on everyone’s lips in our Computing lessons so far this term. We have been learning about e-safety by exploring the world of Jessie and Friends. So far, Year 2 has discovered that they should talk to a trusted adult if they ever feel uncomfortable or unsafe when online and that they should only share pictures with permission. The children are using their growing knowledge to create a book all about e-safety using the Book Creator app. We have been wowed by their prowess when it comes to typing and editing text!

It has been a fantastic first few weeks of Year 2. The children should be proud of all that they have already achieved.