Category: P2MD Mrs McFarlane and Miss Davidson

Dear Parents,

We cannot believe this is the last blog of the year. It has been a pleasure to see your children grow in confidence and knowledge.  

On Tuesday the children were delighted to meet their new teacher (Miss McGhee) and spend some time in their new classroom.

Important information:

• Walk to the Wall Garden on Wednesday 26^th June. Morning only.  Please bring a substantial snack.
• Please bring a carrier bag on Wednesday 26^th June as the children will take home all their personal items.
• Loose Parts on Friday 28^th June.
• No reading books are being sent home. Please return any books that you might have at home.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

Our Phonics focus has been revising adding -ed to verbs. This is a summary of what we learned:

This week we have revised the tricky words learned so far, we haven’t introduced new words. Please continue to practice your spelling words at home during the holidays. All children are aware in which block they are working on.

We have continued to read in our reading groups this week although we won’t be sending books home.

We wrote a letter to our new teacher to let her know a little bit about ourselves and what are we looking forward to in P3.

Ideas for learning at home

• Practice with these verbs how to change them to past tense (adding -ed) using the rules above: bake, hope, whine, wrap, beg, step, hurry, worry, stay, prefer, admit, regret.
• Please continue to read stories to your child every day at home.  
• Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. It is important that children practise reading during the holidays.
• Revise tricky words. Ask your child to write 2 sentences a day with two of their tricky words.

Maths 

We have started to learn about Chance and Uncertainty. We have talked about what chance is and discussed the vocabulary; likely, unlikely, certain, uncertain, impossible, probable, etc. We are using this vocabulary to discuss the Euros. Great discussion! (Fingers crossed for Scotland!)

Ideas for learning at home: 

As the Euros progress you can discuss if it is likely, unlikely, impossible that a team will win the tournament.

Be mindful of using these words for the children when making predictions and ask them why, e.g. It is likely/unlikely to rain, how do we know? etc.

A bit more about probability:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zx9k7ty/articles/zqpxmnb#zt6v9ty

Continue to use your Sumdog account.

Other areas

PE

We loved our dance session with Simon Says and we did a dance battle with P2D! We enjoyed some competitive games in PE.

IDL

We have continued to learn about recycling.

Have a lovely weekend and a wonderful holiday when the end of term comes.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a good week.

Important information:

• If you have not returned your child’s learning story and the report comments, please do this as soon as possible. Please keep the report at home.
• Loose Parts on Thursday 20^th June.
• Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Please label all the items.

Here is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

Our Phonics focus has been adding -ed to verbs. This is a summary of what we have learned:

We enjoyed watching a short clip titled ‘Whistleless’ about a little bird who is unable to whistle. It provoked great discussions and was a super inspiration for our writing this week.

Our tricky words this week are: enough, almost and mountain. Please continue to practice your spelling words at home. All children are aware of which block they are working on.

The pupils have been listening very attentively to each other delivering their talks. Well done everyone!

Ideas for learning at home

• Reading books were sent home today. Please listen to your child reading their book and discuss what is happening in the text.
• Practise changing these verbs to past tense (adding -ed) using the rules above: bake, hope, whine, wrap, beg, step, hurry, worry, stay, prefer, admit, regret.
• Continue to practise spelling of tricky words. If the weather is nice over the weekend, ask your child to use chalk on the ground to revise their spelling.

Maths 

We have continued to learn about measurement. This week we have been learning about volume and capacity.  

We have continued to work on core numeracy skills.

Ideas for learning at home: 

Measurement

• Look for containers whose contents are measured in millilitres. Record the container and the amount. Once you have a few, put them in order and discuss.
• Choose 3 containers at home. Estimate how much each holds when full. Check your estimates with a measuring jug.
• Here are a couple of online activities which will reinforce our learning in school.

What is capacity? – BBC Bitesize

Measuring in litres – Maths – Learning with BBC Bitesize – BBC Bitesize

Numeracy

Ask your child to draw three snakes, split into many sections, and to write a sequence of numbers in each snake, e.g. by counting on or back in 5s or 2s. For more of a challenge you could state that the fifth number in each sequence must be a particular number, e.g. 27 or 54, and say that at least one sequence must be counting back.

Here is an online game called Daily 10. You can select a core number skill for your child to work on. The site will generate 10 questions then provide the answers.

Daily 10 – Mental Maths Challenge – Topmarks

Other areas

PE

We are continuing to work on athletics.

IDL/Outdoor Learning

We watched a clip about different recycling machines then worked in small groups to create our own using the Loose Parts resources. It was so interesting to listen to the creative ideas from the pupils.

We also really enjoyed watching the P7 rehearsal for their show.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a good week.

Important information:

• On Wednesday you received your child’s end of the year report and the learning story. Please, if you haven’t returned your child’s learning story and the report comments do it as soon as possible. Please keep the report at home.
• Loose Parts on Tuesday 11^th June.
• As explained on our blog on Friday 3^rd May, this month the children will be doing a small presentation to their peers. This is part of the Literacy Curriculum (Listening and talking). We would be grateful if all children have their presentations ready next week as we are making good progress through these. Each day I am randomly selecting a few names from our class set of lollipop sticks and it is their turn to deliver their presentation.
• Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Please label all the items.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

Our Phonics focus has been adding ing to words ending with an e.

We have been writing about our real and imaginary pets.

Our tricky words this week are: important, body and music. Please continue to practice your spelling words at home. All children are aware in which block they are working on.

Ideas for learning at home

• Read the reading book at home.
• Practice adding -ing to these words: hope, care, blame, bake, make.
• Please continue to read stories to your child every day at home.  
• Practice your tricky words. Ask your child to write 2 sentences a day with two of their tricky words.

Maths 

We have started to learn about measurement. We have been measuring weight: we have used nonstandard units, we are learning to use a scale and check standard units such as grams and kilograms.  We have learned the difference between a real measurement and an estimate.

We have continued to work on numeracy skills such as subtraction.

Ideas for learning at home: 

• Could you cook together? Ask your child to read the scales and measure the correct amount.
• Make predictions about how many grams different items might weight: an egg. An apple, an orange, a slice of bread, etc.
• More information about measuring weight in here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zndy6g8#z2s8mbk

• For subtraction:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/mental-maths-train

Continue to use your Sumdog account.

Other areas

PE

We are working on athletics skills and games.

IDL

We have started to learn about recycling.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents,

We hope that you have had a good week.

Important information:

• P2 have Loose Parts on Friday 7^th June. Please come dressed for the weather.
• P2 talks will begin next week. We will try to spread them out over the next few weeks but please do send in any visual aids (photos/posters etc) and we can keep them safe until it is your child’s turn.
• Please could you send in any (washed) milk bottle tops from home. Our next mini topic is on recycling and we were hoping to re use old milk bottle tops. Thank you!
• Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Please label all the items.

Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy

Spelling

The class were introduced to the words:

• paper
• these
• together

We then worked on our individual blocks.

Phonics

This unit of Literacy Rich introduces the spelling rules required for adding the suffix ing to a root word.  

This week we have introduced the doubling rule. Sometimes, when we add -ing, we must double the last letter before adding the ending. For example dig + g + ing.

Here is an explanation.

In this way hop becomes hopping. Similarly, swim becomes swimming.

When there are two vowels, we explained that these are a King and a Queen. They protect each other and therefore do not need two guards. See example below.

Writing

In writing we wrote about an underwater kingdom.

Ideas for learning at home

• Please continue to support your child to revise the spelling block that they are working on. They will know which block they are on. Here is a link to the list.

Block 1 – 8 Tricky Words single sheet (southmorningsideprimary.com)

• If your child is not ready to present their talk, please help them to prepare. Information on this is at the very bottom of this blog post as a reminder.
• Here is a fun video about the doubling rule for adding -ing.

Double the Last Consonant Spelling Rule Song (youtube.com)

After watching it, can your child add -ing to these root words?

• sit
• run
• swim
• bat

Can they explain the doubling rule to you?

Maths and Numeracy

Measurement

• We have been learning to use rulers to measure in centimetres.

Numeracy

We have been consolidating a range of numeracy skills, for example

• Number recognition
• Missing number sums (addition and subtraction)
• Tackling word problems

Ideas for learning at home

Numeracy

Remember you can log in to your SumDog account to practise key numeracy skills.

Ask your child to talk to you about the strategies they use for solving missing number sums with subtraction. For example 42 – ? = 38.  We would encourage the pupils to hold the big number in their head then count backwards keeping track of the number of jumps.  Pose similar questions which involve crossing decades ensuring that the number of jumps is no more than 5 or 6.

Measurement

If you have a measuring tape or ruler in the house try to measure small objects. It is useful to encourage your child to estimate first then to check.

Other Areas of the Curriculum:

PE

We continued our focus on athletics.

RSHP

We have been learning about how to care for pets.

Have a great weekend,
Mrs McFarlane

P2 Listening and Talking Term 3  

In June, the pupils in P2 will be asked to give a short talk on a subject of their choice. We are making you aware of this now so that you can support your child over the next few weeks to prepare for this.  

Pupils can choose to talk about a hobby/interest, how they look after their pet, a favourite wild animal, favourite film etc.  

The focus is on selecting ideas and relevant information, organising these into a logical sequence and using words which will interest the audience. 

Please see guidance below on how best to prepare for this. 

1. Choose a topic. 
2. Think about the ‘W’ questions: Who (who is this about?) What (What do they do?) Why (Why is it interesting?) Where? When? 
3. You may wish to make cards for each heading with a picture and/or key words. Don’t write whole sentences to read out loud. 
4. Once the information is organised, practise delivering the talk to family at home. 

Thank you in advance for your support with this. 

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a good week.

Important information:

• Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Please label all the items.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

Our Phonics focus has been ing with vowel diagraphs: fainting, cheering, shouting, soaking, etc

We have been writing our reflection from P2 and our expectations for P3.

Our tricky words this week are: country, young and example.

Ideas for learning at home

• Read the reading book at home.
• Please continue to read stories to your child every day at home.  
• Please continue to encourage your child to read at home.
• Start preparing your short talk (please refer to the information on last week’s blog).
• Practice your tricky words. Ask your child to write 2 sentences a day with two of their tricky words.

Maths 

We have started to learn about measurement. We have been measuring length: we have used nonstandard units, and we are learning to use a ruler.  We have learned the difference between a real measurement and an estimate.

We have continued to work on numeracy skills such as subtraction.

Ideas for learning at home: 

• Ask your child to use their feet and their hands to measure a room in the house, an item and a member of the family.
• More information about measurement in here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z2c9q6f/articles/zrrvqp3

• For subtraction:

https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math/subtraction/fruit-splat-game/

Other areas

PE

We are working on athletics.

IDL

We have continued to work on life cycles. We have carefully observed our caterpillars grow. We now have chrysalis! Exciting!

Here are a selection of photos from the last few weeks in class.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents,

We have had a fantastic health week in P2! It was great to see so many of you on Wednesday.

Important Information

We have a session of Loose Parts on Tuesday 21st May so please come dressed for the weather.

Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy

Phonics

This unit of Literacy Rich introduces the spelling rules required for adding the suffix ing to a root word. For example sing – singing, help – helping. This week we have introduced this at a simple level. For words containing a short vowel sound followed by more than one consonant, just add ing. For example park becomes parking, turn becomes turning.  

Writing

In writing we wrote an informative piece about the life cycle of the butterfly.

Reading

This is the final week of reading non-fiction books. We have been learning to use the contents page, index and glossary.

Ideas for learning at home

• Please continue to support your child to revise the spelling block that they are working on. They will know which block they are on. Here is a link to the list.

Block 1 – 8 Tricky Words single sheet (southmorningsideprimary.com)

• Please help your child to prepare for their upcoming talk. Information on this is at the very bottom of this blog post as a reminder.
• You could revise ‘ing’ words by doing a mini dictation at home. Read one of the sentences below, repeat it then ask your child to write it out.

I want to go camping in the hills but my mother won’t let me.

The cards were blocking the road but we could still get past.

The queen took a glance in her looking glass but could not see her face.

Maths and Numeracy

Fractions

• We have been finding a quarter of a number. We have been learning to half then half again. For example, to find a quarter of 8, we first half it to get 4, then half 4 to get 2.

Numeracy

We have been consolidating a range of numeracy skills, for example

• Number recognition
• Equal groups
• Counting in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s.

Ideas for learning at home

Numeracy

Remember you can log in to your SumDog account to practise key numeracy skills.

Roll a dice twice / three times to generate 2 digit / 3 digit numbers. Can your child write the digits down and name the number? Do this 5 times and ask your child to put the numbers in order from smallest to largest. Discuss the value of each digit.  

Fractions

If your child is finding it hard to quarter a given number, practical activities will help to reinforce this concept. You can do lots of practical activities at home such as halving a group of toys or objects, then halving again.

Health Week

We have participated in:

• Multisports taster session
• Baking
• Learning about the journey our food makes
• Judo taster session
• Handwashing lessons which involved hands on experiments!
• Basketball taster session

Outdoor Learning

We had a fantastic session of Loose Parts play in the playground on Monday.

Have a great weekend,

Mrs McFarlane

P2 Listening and Talking Term 3  

In June, the pupils in P2 will be asked to give a short talk on a subject of their choice. We are making you aware of this now so that you can support your child over the next few weeks to prepare for this.  

Pupils can choose to talk about a hobby/interest, how they look after their pet, a favourite wild animal, favourite film etc.  

The focus is on selecting ideas and relevant information, organising these into a logical sequence and using words which will interest the audience. 

Please see guidance below on how best to prepare for this. 

1. Choose a topic. 
2. Think about the ‘W’ questions: Who (who is this about?) What (What do they do?) Why (Why is it interesting?) Where? When? 
3. You may wish to make cards for each heading with a picture and/or key words. Don’t write whole sentences to read out loud. 
4. Once the information is organised, practise delivering the talk to family at home. 

Thank you in advance for your support with this. 

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a great week. This has been a short but a busy week for us.

Important information:

• Reading books: as this was a short week are not sending reading books home.
• Sports Day: As planned and shared earlier in the year, Sports Day for all pupils will take place on Wednesday 15th May 2024. If the weather is wet or poor, then a text will be sent out to cancel the event. Unfortunately, as there is no alternative date in the event of a cancellation, Sports Day will be cancelled for this year.   

10.45am – 12 noon at the Waterboard Field. Parents are asked to stand around the edge of the field as all activities will take place in the middle of the field moving out. Children will move around activities with their class teacher.

  

• Next week is Health Week: pupils are invited to wear their PE kit all week. We have lots of great activities planned.
• Loose Parts on Monday 13th May.
• Change of clothes: Please ensure that your child has a spare change of clothes at school (including pants and socks); these don’t have to be school uniform. It is really helpful for them all to have them (especially when they get wet). Please label all the items.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

Our focus on Literacy has been poetry. We have been listening to different poems and looking for patterns in the words. We have also been using our senses to describe things to help us to create our poems.

Our tricky words this week are: always, earth and through. We have also worked on the word have.

Ideas for learning at home

• Please continue to read stories to your child every day at home.  
• Please continue to encourage your child to read at home.
• Start preparing your short talk (please refer to the information on last week’s blog).
• Practice your tricky words.

Maths 

We have continued to learn about fractions. This week our focus has been on quarter of a shape.

We have continued to work on numeracy skills such as addition and counting forwards an backwards in 1s, 2s, etc.

Ideas for learning at home: 

• Ask your child to cut or divide an item into halves and into quarters (ensure that they are equal parts)

• Cut photos of a magazine in half and in quarters.
• More information about quarters in here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zh9hxbk

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

Use the halves area to revise half of a number.

Other areas

PE

We are working on athletics.

IDL

We have continued to work on life cycles. We have carefully observed our caterpillars and our beans grow.

RME

We have been learning about Sikhism.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents,

We hope that you had a great week. It has been another busy one in P2!

Important Information

Learning Stories have been sent home today. They contain the termly overview and your child’s targets for term 3. Please return them on Wednesday.

P2 Listening and Talking Term 3  

In June, the pupils in P2 will be asked to give a short talk on a subject of their choice. We are making you aware of this now so that you can support your child over the next few weeks to prepare for this.  

Pupils can choose to talk about a hobby/interest, how they look after their pet, a favourite wild animal, favourite film etc.  

The focus is on selecting ideas and relevant information, organising these into a logical sequence and using words which will interest the audience. 

Please see guidance below on how best to prepare for this. 

1. Choose a topic. 
2. Think about the ‘W’ questions: Who (who is this about?) What (What do they do?) Why (Why is it interesting?) Where? When? 
3. You may wish to make cards for each heading with a picture and/or key words. Don’t write whole sentences to read out loud. 
4. Once the information is organised, practise delivering the talk to family at home. 

Thank you in advance for your support with this. 

Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy

Phonics

This has been the final week of our focus on compound words. We have spent lots of time working on syllables which is a key element of this unit of work. This time has also provided opportunity for consolidation of the vowel digraphs. For example, when spelling rainbow, the pupils are not only learning that this is a compound word but they need to remember the ai and ow digraphs. 

Writing

In writing the focus was on creating a good setting. Our descriptions are getting better and better!

Reading

We have continued with the focus on non-fiction books. We have been learning about the special features of these texts, for example the contents page and the glossary.

Spelling

The whole class were introduced to the words picture, better and letter. Then we split into groups to work on the particular block we are focussing on.

Ideas for learning at home

Please continue to support your child to revise the spelling block that they are working on. They will know which block they are on. Here is a link to the list.

Block 1 – 8 Tricky Words single sheet (southmorningsideprimary.com)

Here is a link to a BBC bitesize page with a video clip, activities and a quiz which will reinforce our work on compound words.

What are compound words? – BBC Bitesize

Maths and Numeracy

Fractions

• We have been finding half of a number.

Numeracy

We have been consolidating a range of numeracy skills, for example

• Number patterns
• Equal groups
• Ordering numbers

Ideas for learning at home

Hit the button is a game we use on the interactive whiteboard in class. Choose ‘Halves’ option then the level most appropriate for your child.

Hit the Button – Quick fire maths practise for 6-11 year olds (topmarks.co.uk)

If your child is finding it hard to half a given number, practical activities will help to reinforce this concept. You can do lots of practical activities at home such as halving a group of toys or objects. For example children could use small food items such as raisins on a plate or you could use lego blocks.

It is also helpful to continue to practise counting in different steps. For example, counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Once your child is confident in this try counting in 3s or 4s.

Other Curricular Areas

RSHP: Looking after plants and animals

• We have been learning about all the things we need to do to look after plants and pets.
• We are learning about how every living thing needs to be cared for and nurtured so that they grow and flourish.
• We planted broad beans and will watch for signs of them growing.
• We are looking after some caterpillars and will watch as they grow and develop over the coming weeks.
• We also tasted a range of fruit.
• You can be part of this learning by encouraging children to notice all the things you do at home or in the garden to look after plants or animals.

Outdoor Learning

We had a fantastic session of Loose Parts play in the playground on Thursday afternoon.

Sustainability

We have been learning more about Sustainability during assembly.

Have a great weekend,
Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents

We hope you are well.

We had a great week at school. We have enjoyed performing our assembly and the good weather!

Important information

• Loose parts on Thursday 2^nd May. Please come dressed for the weather.
• Class photos will be taken again on Tuesday 30th April. See information on the homelink.

Literacy

This week our focus was on reading non-fiction/fact books. When reading a non-fiction book children should be able to understand the information read and make connections with their previous knowledge about the given topic.

We have continued to work on compound words.

Our tricky words for this week are: follow, different and small (Block 7). We have been working on reading and writing different blocks. Please continue to work on these at home.

In writing we have written a story based on a short clip that we watched.

Ideas to do at home:

Please practice your tricky words (reading and spelling).

Ask your child to read the book that we have read in school this week. Ask your child questions about the book.

Compound words hunt: Do a hunt around the house or/and outdoors and create a list with them. You can use two colours to point out which to words make the compound words. Count the syllables. The children loved this video:

Maths

We have continued to work on our number skills counting forwards and backwards, number before and number after a given number, counting in 2s and 5s (3s and 4s for some).

We have started to work on fractions: understanding what a whole and a part means. We have learned what a half is: we have used shapes and halved them. We know that ½ means a half (the number at the top means that I have one part and the bottom part means that the whole has been split in two parts)

Ideas to do at home.

Ask your child to give half of items ( and write ½ or /and a half):

• Use Lego or Duplo and your child will need to find two pieces that make one.

• Half a slice of bread, fruit or other food.

Other areas

PE focus on athletics: javelin throw and races.

We practiced our First Level assembly, we finished the posters and decided what we knew about our given topic. We performed for P3 and P4 children.

Here are some photos from this week.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mrs McFarlane

Dear Parents,

We hope that you had a great holiday. It has been lovely welcoming back the pupils this week. Everyone seems recharged and ready for the busy term ahead! Here is a summary of our learning this week.

Literacy

Phonics

We have introduced the pupils to words of two syllables in the form of compound words (for example starfish, cupcake, railway). We are teaching them to blend syllables together to read longer words.

Spelling

The whole class was introduced to the common words your, called and sentence. We then moved into our groups to work on our individual spelling blocks.

Reading

Books will be sent home this week. We have been focusing on decoding unfamiliar words as well as reinforcing the work we have been doing on syllables. Please read this book at home over the weekend and send it back to school on Monday.

Ideas for home:

Write some simple sentences and ask your child if they can identify the compound word within it. For example:

• I like my bedroom.
• I want a skateboard.

Ask your child to count the number of syllables in familiar words. Can they work out how many syllables are in the name of each family member? What about their favourite foods? You can clap or alternatively, hold your hand under your chin to count the number of syllables if finding it tricky.

Please also remember to revise the common words block that your child is working on.

Numeracy

We have been revising key concepts from SEAL numeracy:

• Counting forwards and backwards, stopping and starting at different numbers
• Counting in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s
• Giving examples of the number before / after
• Numeral recognition
• Starting at one number and counting the number of ‘jumps’ to another (forwards and backwards)
• Number patterns

Ideas for home:

Play a game of true/false. Write down 10 sums. Some of them should be correct and some incorrect. Can your child use their addition and subtraction skills to work out which ones are which? The pupils love spotting when the teacher makes a mistake on the board so this can be a fun game to play at home!

If you have chalk at home, you could write a 2/3 digit number on the path (depending on the level your child is working at). Can your child write the number before and the number after? You can make it more tricky by crossing a decade. For example with 80 in the middle, can they write the number before?

Other Areas

We have been reflecting on our learning from last term. We have been working in groups between both P2 classes to produce posters which will share our learning at our upcoming assembly.

In PE we have started a unit of work on athletics. This week we have been learning to use the javelins and also to do the long jump.

We also had a fantastic session of loose parts outside in the sunshine and enjoyed a music session from a Youth Music Initiative visiting teacher.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs McFarlane