18 Feb 2019

Year 2 Update Week 22

Thursday 7th March – World Maths Day…..watch this space to see what exciting activities we’ll be up to!

Tuesday 26th February – YEAR 2 BAKE SALE! Please drop your bakes in a labelled container at the PTA office before school. Remember to bring a container to put any purchases in.

Friday 8th March – Student-Led Conferences : these will be held in sessions throughout the day and the children will only come to school with you at your chosen time…..please book your preferred time on the Gateway which will be open soon.  Please refer to the information in this week’s newsletter.

Friday 29th March – PTA International Food Fair

Thursday 4th April – ESF Choral Concert

Friday 5th April – Ching Ming Festival.….no school

Wednesday 10th April – Easter Concert

Friday 12 April – last day of school before Easter holidays, 12 pm finish

Reading Assessments
We are currently in the process of completing new reading assessments with the children. Each assessment takes some time to complete, thank you for your understanding. Colours of reading books span many levels and so if your child does not move to a new colour, this does not indicate a lack of progress.
Book Drive

Brody, Ryan and Muchan in Year 6 are organising a Book Drive to help spread our love of reading.  The Sony Corporation will collect books to create mobile libraries in South Africa for schools that do not have enough books for children to read.  If you have books that are:

Please send them to school.  There is a collection box in the school foyer. Any books you can donate will help spread the enjoyment of reading.

Action in the PYP at BHS

It has been great celebrating the talents and achievements of our students through the ’Student Achievement’ section in the newsletter.  We would like to do something similar with Student Action. Action in the PYP is when students are inspired through their learning and their experiences to make a difference to their lives or the community connected to real life issues and opportunities.  We would like to celebrate our students taking action outside of school.

Please could you email examples to kannis.tsui@bhs.edu.hk and they will be shared through our newsletter.  

There are different types of Action.  We would like to start with a focus on Participation.  See below for a definition and examples.

Type of Action Examples
Participation

Being actively involved in their learning and contributing as an individual or a group

Getting involved with community projects

Making appropriate choices and taking responsibility to help people

Taking on different roles e.g. being a leader, completing my chores, working in a group, looking after my pet

Taking part in any decision making process

Joining a new club

School Uniform
Please ensure your child has a hat every day. As with Sports Day, the day can start out cloudy, but then brighten up and the children can get catch the sun easily.
Timetable
PE Kit Library Bags
2D Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday
2F Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Thursday
2K Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Wednesday

Well done to 2D for the most wonderful assembly this morning about feelings, friendships and being ourselves. The children sang, danced and spoke incredibly well.

Sports Day

The children had a wonderful sports day last week. All the children ran so well in the races. Well done to the winners of the races.

House Days

Last Friday was Inclusivity House Day. The children enjoyed a lunch time disco to celebrate their house day.

This week, the students had a visit from Ahmed Khan from Action Sports Foundation who came to talk to the children about what will happen to the  donations from Happiness House Day.

Author visit

The children enjoyed listening to Gail Clarke read her book ‘The Chameleon Who Couldn’t Change Colour’. 

Unit of Inquiry

This week the children have enjoyed exploring,  thinking about and describing different materials. They have been engaged in Scientific Investigations and learning about the process of such experiments.

Maths

In Maths, the children have been using Numicon to help them understand  multiplication and repeated addition.

English

This week, the children explored how different authors use language to create an effect. They have been visualising while listening to stories which has helped them understand the importance of word choice. 

Fun Friends 

Passwords are now in the children’s Home School Diaries. Please log on to the Fun Friends website at home to see how to support them through this programme. For your information, we are currently completing the sessions on F for feelings.

Central idea: Scientists explore materials to discover how they can be used.

Lines of inquiry

    1. The properties of materials (form)
    2. How scientists carry out investigations (function)
    3. How materials can change  (change)

The children will continue to be scientists next week! They will use the scientific process (ask, test, hypothesise, observe, record and reflect) to explore the properties of different materials. 

Central Idea:

The operations of multiplication and division are related to each other and are used to process information to solve problems.

Lines of inquiry:

        • How we solve problems using multiplication and division
        • Mental and written strategies for multiplication and division
      • The language and symbols of multiplication and division

The children will continue inquiring into multiplication and division by using a variety of manipulatives. They will be looking at how multiplication can be represented as repeated addition. The children will also solve multiplication word problems which will involve them thinking through what the expectations of the problem. They will be encouraged to persevere and find as many solutions as possible.  

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths/telling_the_time/play/popup.shtml

Stop the clock – game for ½ and 1 hour

https://www.mathplayground.com/number_bonds_10.html

https://www.mathplayground.com/number_bonds_20.html

Writing focus: Writing to entertain

The children will continue to think about how authors choose words carefully to appeal to the reader. They will attempt to apply this awareness to their own narrative writing. The children will start to write their own stories.

When reading the children will be visualising what they read by creating pictures in their head and making connections between the text and their background knowledge. This will help them to understand how visualising and making connections helps to deepen our understanding of a text.

Well done to:
2K – Lulu Kam

2D – Summer Wong

2F – We were reading with Gail Clarke during Golden Book Assembly so no one received a certificate this week

 

homelearning
 
Spelling
Please learn the third list of spellings. Thank you for continuing to practise writing the words in sentences. In our class handwriting lessons, we have begun to introduce the children to cursive handwriting. Correct letter formation is very important. Please encourage this at home. 
Home Reading
Please read at home with your child each day and sign their Reading Journal. Please encourage your child to write the date and title in their Reading Journal, including for Big Universe.
In Big Universe, select ‘Library’. On the right-hand side you will be able to select the ‘grade’ for your child. The appropriate grade selection is kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade. This covers the age group of our children at BHS.
Mandarin – All children are encouraged to take a reading book home on the days when they have Mandarin lessons.

Games and Activities to Develop Vocabulary

We have noticed that many of our Year 2 children would benefit from developing a broader vocabulary. With this in mind, we would like to recommend some games you can easily play at home, or on the move that will give your child the opportunity to develop their awareness and language skills.

  • I Spy With My Little Eye

Benefits: vocabulary development, phonics and spelling awareness, observation skills and focus

Equipment: None

Number of players: Unlimited

Location: Anywhere!

Say, “I spy with my little eye something beginning with …” Start playing the game using objects in the room you can see. Begin with obvious items and over time move to more discreet objects. You can vary the game by using the initial sounds (phonics), or letters (spelling) or even colours or numbers. You can increase the challenge level by saying, “I spy with my little eye, something that ends in …” 

  • Word Association Game

Benefits: vocabulary development, fluency, memory and recall

Equipment: None

Number of players: Pairs are good, but more players possible if everyone takes turns

Location: Anywhere!

The first player, chosen randomly, says one word out loud. The other player has to quickly say a word that has some connection with the previous word. Players lose if …

  1. They take more than three seconds to make a connection.
  2. They repeat a word that has already been said in this game.
  3. They are challenged and loses the vote.

The last player standing is the winner.

For example, one sequence of words might be:

– Bus

– Stop

– Go

– Green

– Grass

– Garden

– Flower

Other well-known games we would recommend include, Pictionary, Charades