Year 2 Curriculum outline Spring 2020
Year 2 Curriculum Outline Spring 2020 Paint me a Picture ~ 5 4 3 2 1
Humanities - Social Understanding As part of our ‘Paint me a Picture’ thematic learning, pupils will research and learn about different historical ages using the stimuli of artistic portraits through time. They will evaluate historical portraits and choose a time period that interests them. They will then have the opportunity, using iPads and books, to research their chosen period and develop a presentation about it in a format of their choice. During 5 4 3 2 1, pupils will learn about different space missions and develop their critical thinking skills by contemplating the relative merits of different historical sources. They will go on to evaluate how they learn about the past and, using Tim Peake as an example, spend time thinking about the reasons why mankind wants to investigate the moon and space. RS this term focuses on the Old Testament stories of Joseph and Moses. These stories enable the children to reflect on the important message in each story, that in turn informs their own perspectives on life. Key skills will include retelling and explaining these expressions of faith, and using key religious vocabulary with confidence. The pupils are encouraged throughout to respond with sensitivity and tolerance towards the experiences and feelings of others, including those with a faith.
Language and Communication The pupils will begin their English curriculum by looking at popular fiction stories, generating exciting vocabulary to describe characters and settings and using short film clips to write about their feelings and responses. An extract of Mr Majeika by Humphrey Carpenter will be used to support character descriptions. Linked to their ‘Paint me a Picture’ topic, the pupils will study Mr and Mrs Andrews by Thomas Gainsborough and use this to create some drama and write a descriptive piece. The pupils will also explore Jame Mayhew ‘Katie’ series, with a focus on ‘Katie and the Starry Night’ inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. The pupils will then continue their study of poetry, looking at patterns on a page. The pupils will look at a range of poems and explore their presentation skills while learning about calligrams - poems which have a visual image related to the words - before creating their own list poems and a calligram related to an animal of their choice. After half-term, Year 2 will be jetting off to mystery lands as part of their fantasy story topic. They will be writing stories containing fantastical characters and maybe some magic and will be reading a variety of stories to inspire them including ‘Leon and the Place Between’ by Graham Baker-Smith and ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne. They will finish their Spring term English curriculum with a non-fiction topic of non-chronological report writing. Using our ‘5 4 3 2 1’ theme, the pupils will be reporting from rocket launches and sporting events.
Pupils will continue to follow the Read, Write, Inc. ‘Spelling’ and ‘Phonics’ programmes, which are robust and fast-paced schemes to teach pupils to read and spell accurately through an understanding of phonics and spelling rules, underpinned by regular practice. Assessment PTE (Progress Test in English) In Modern Languages, pupils are beginning to be fascinated by the special letters in the Spanish and French alphabets and as we read stories linked into our thematic learning topics, time is also given to linking pronunciation with the written word. Listening and Speaking remain our focus in Modern Languages in Year 2, but in both Spanish and French the children will learn vocabulary to describe their families. They will develop their cultural knowledge as they learn to recognise and describe key landmarks in Europe. As spring approaches this will provide a focus for us to explore vocabulary, poetry and rhymes in French and Spanish such as Sur le Pont d’Avignon.
Mathematical Understanding During our first topic, multiplication and division, we will look at making equal groups by sharing and by grouping, dividing by 2, odd and even numbers, and dividing by 5 and 10. Next we will look at statistics: making tally charts, drawing and interpreting pictograms and block diagrams, before moving onto properties of shape which involves recognising, drawing and sorting 2D and 3D shapes, thinking about sides, vertices, faces, edges and lines of symmetry. Fractions comes next, involving making equal parts, recognising and finding halves, quarters and thirds and three quarters, look at unit and non-unit fractions, equivalence. Our final topic, measurement, includes measuring in centimetres and metres, comparing and ordering lengths and using four operations with lengths. Assessment PTM (Progress Test in Maths)
Physical Education and Well-being In PE this term the pupils will be taking part in fencing, swimming and gymnastics on rotation throughout the term alongside some Hockey. There will be no need for shin pads and gum shields in hockey lessons, as the focus will be on stick skills and developing a greater understanding of the game. Swimming will focus on developing confidence in the water, stroke technique and stamina. For their games session, they will be learning multi skills; these lessons will focus on balance, agility, coordination, dodging and some racket sports. After half term, pupils will then be introduced to small sided invasion games to help develop team building, scoring, attacking/defending and possession.
You can help by encouraging your child to stay active outside of school. Discuss the importance of a healthy and balanced diet and any involvement in sports clubs outside of school will not only benefit your child physically but mentally and socially too. In PSHEE this term, the children will consider their own culture and beliefs and those of others, whilst recognising different groups they belong to and the different backgrounds of people in their community. They will also think about ways they can look after the school environment, learn about finances and understand the role of charities. Forest School is a superb way for our pupils to learn holistically through play and exploring, following their own curiosity. Pupils learn to connect with their environment, manage risks and use their initiative to solve problems and cooperate with others whilst developing their resilience, creativity, confidence and independence skills. This term they will be learning about making art out of nature and frames using sticks and knotting skills. As the season changes the pupils will think about life cycles of frogs, birds and plants. The pupils will also look at nest building and then have an egg hunt.
Creative and Performing Arts In Plan Learn Do Review pupils have the opportunity to lead and direct their own learning. Over a four week cycle the pupils will Plan what they want to do which may be digitally via a video, or using pictures, words and labels. The pupils then spend a session to Learn something that will contribute to the successful Do session. Perhaps colour mixing, cutting cardboard, threading a needle, or finding out what a rocket really looks like. In the third week, it is Do day; on this day the pupils execute their Plan. You may be asked to bring in some specific resources to help on this day such as a cardboard box or some small cakes for decoration. Often the pupils link their project to the theme but it is up to them. Then it is the final session which is the pupils’ Review, this is where they reflect on how their project went, this may be a discussion, a video or a written statement. This helps inform the pupils next Do based on what they may want to learn next. In Create Design and Engineering, as part of Paint me a Picture topic, the pupils will develop their colour mixing and matching skills whilst creating their own portrait, working on making good skin tone colours and shading. They will have more opportunity to practise their artistic skills during 5 4 3 2 1 as they use coloured pencils and techniques such as stippling, hatching, scribbling and blending to draw space and planet pictures. An important part of their learning will be taking the opportunity to evaluate and review the work that they create. In M usic lessons will refine their performance techniques in drama and music to prepare for our performance of The Bee Musical. Children will work on vocal technique, diction and communication as well as expression and projection. After half term we will continue with our instrumental learning on the recorder and our music reading skills.
Scientific Understanding
As part of our Paint me a Picture topic, the pupils will be using their scientific skills, making predictions and recording observations as they create salt crystal pictures. They will undertake a chromatography experiment, using felt tip pens, which will enable them to evaluate an experiment and begin to use their scientific knowledge to explain what they found. During 5 4 3 2 1, pupils will further develop their prediction and experimental skills as they test how far different vehicles will travel. During this topic, the pupils will also work on their coding skills using a variety of apps to make their own code to direct a rocket around the Earth.
Digital
The Inner Wheel With the Google apps at the heart of digital curation our pupils use Google Classroom to complete work digitally and hand in work that is produced in a variety of ways. We have identified 7 main apps, our EverGreen apps, that help to showcase our pupils’ learning. An animation, movie or annotated piece of work provides richer feedback for the teacher and ultimately helps to make greater progress. Explain Everything www.explaineverything.com Green Screen www.doink.com Stop Motion www.cateater.com
Strip Design www.vividapps.com/Strip_Designer/ Notability www.gingerlabs.com Book Creator www.bookcreator.com Puppet Pals www.polishedplay.com
The Outer Wheel We have a number of apps that we use consistently throughout our curriculum that lend themselves to our creative approach. We avoid apps that are specific to a particular outcome, preferring content free apps that can help to enhance our pupils work and understanding. Some examples are: Minecraft, iMovie, KeyNote, Pages and Padlet.
Coding Another aspect of our digital curriculum is the coding/programming skills that are embedded in all subjects or taught discretely in Years 5 and 6. We have identified a progression of apps that help to develop our pupils ability to code. The apps provide variety and challenge and help to develop the computation skills that are crucial learning in our digital work. We combine the coding experiences with physical output. Using Spheros, BBC Micro:Bits and Ozobots provides visual outcomes that bring our code to life. As our pupils develop further they transition on to written code.
Thinking Toolkit Alongside and underpinning our curriculum we ensure that our pupils are developing as active learners and active thinkers. Throughout each subject area pupils are encouraged to use their range of thinking tools and reflect on when and how they are using them. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how their thinking tools underpin all aspects of their learning and not just in the more obvious ways. How are they creative in maths? How do they enquire in English? How are they critical in Music? How do they think computationally in PE?
Inclusion This curriculum map outlines the core curriculum for each year group each term but at the heart of our wheel is the individual learner. Each subject area has a progression of skills which enables staff to stretch or support individuals as and when they need a little help, a bit of a push or a just a different way in. Within our classrooms through planning, teacher knowledge and interactions work is differentiated to suit the needs of each individual.