Our Spring 1 Journey

Our big question is 'I wonder where Leaf came from?' and our learning will have a Geography and Science focus. It will be amazing to learn how a fictional text can cover real-life issues like climate change and we have so many exciting activities planned.

Our key text is Leaf by Sandra Dieckmann.

View our curriculum web:

spring 1 half termly curriculum web.pdf

View our homework web:

spring 1 homework.pdf

English

In English, children have immersed themselves in the text and we started off with a 'Let's Say we're in the Arctic' hook imagining what it would be like if the ground was to turn into pools and rivers. We explored what it might be like for the animals that live there and we signposted our classroom with the names of different animals. We then imagined what it might be like for the animals and what would happen if the sea levels rose. How would these animals survive? How might they adapt? This recapped our previous learning in Science , Living Things and Their Habitats. We also linked our RSE learning to Leaf and thought about how Leaf was feeling when he ended up in the woods, away from his family. We drew comparisons to our own lives and thoughts about the feelings and actions of the other animals. We discussed how they were ignoring him because they were afraid.

We have written some amazing diary entries in the role of Leaf and learnt about the key features of a letter. In addition to this, we have been focusing on Bridge to Spelling in Phonics and revisited spelling rules.

Maths

Maths has been great fun and we recapped learning on Place Value. We also covered Fractions and Capacity and Volume. We really enjoy working in groups to solve problems together. You may find the following links are useful :

https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/28217/calculation-games-students-aged-5-7

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zjxhfg8

https://nrich.maths.org/

Revise your number bonds, times-tables, doubles and halves:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

Addition and subtraction number fact families (0-100)

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/number-facts/number-fact-families

Pick a skill you want to go practise: https://uk.ixl.com/math/year-2
Short videos and activity sheets based on the Year 2 curriculum*:https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-2/

Science

This half term we started with a blubber experiment to find out why polar bears don't freeze in the Arctic. We then moved on to learning about Living Things and Their Habitats. Our focus has been on plants and we investigated what happens to plants if we treat them differently. We completed comparative tests and have even planted garlic indoor and outdoors to see if this affects the growth. We have identified seeds, sorted them by appearance, shape and size. We researched using secondary sources to learn about plants that grow from bulbs and even dissected a seed. A huge shoutout to Joel who has been incredibly inspiring and is our very own 'Alan Titchmarsh.' We're looking forward to Joel working with us again in Spring 2 so we can revisit learning and see what we can remember . It will be great to check on our runner beans and garlic!

Y2 Spring 1 science

R.E

In RE we have enjoyed exploring our big question, 'I wonder what is the 'good news' Christians believe Jesus brings?'. We have been applying what we know is good news and thought about the message of love, forgiveness and peace. Jesus taught people to love everyone. This learning reminded us of The Good Samaritan and how Christians like to follow this example. We then explored artwork by Hannah Dunnet and had a go ourselves. We also learnt about the parable of the ten lepers and how they were cured by Jesus. Only one leper, a Samaritan, returns to thank Jesus.

Geography

This half term, we have been exploring our big question, 'I wonder where Leaf came from?' We learnt about the Arctic circle, the names of continents and oceans and about living things in the arctic region. We explored how animals are suited to their habitats and thought about the effects of climate change. We learnt about what we could do to help and decided we wanted to adopt a polar bear. We raised money by completing Readathons and our cuddly toy was delivered on the last day of term - making the whole unit on Leaf really special. A huge thank you from all of us!

Do check out our photos of the polar bears we made from clay.