Category: Primary 2

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you enjoyed our Carol singing performances on Wednesday. We have had a very busy week in P2!

Important Information

We are sorry but due to technical issues we haven’t been able to send you the link with the Carol Singing. We will record it again and send it to you. Please, could all children please bring Christmas jumpers and Christmas headbands/ hats on Monday? Thank you.

Please send in a carrier bag on Thursday 21st December. We intend to send home all indoor shoes and spare clothes on that day. This should give you time over the holiday to check that items still fit. Some of the velcro on the gym shoes has lost its ‘stick’ and they are becoming unsafe, especially for PE. Please feel free to send in an existing pair of trainers from home which can be used for the classroom as well as indoor PE if it saves you buying a pair of new gym shoes.

We will not be sending reading books home this week. Please send in any books you may have at home to allow us to collate the sets in time for the new term in January.

Here is a summary of our learning:

Literacy

We wrote letters to the elves asking about their jobs.

In phonics our focus has been on the final consonant blends ng and nk. We have been finding this really tricky! Examples of words with these sounds are ring, king, tank, sink.

In spelling we have assessed all children on their spelling of tricky words.

Ideas for learning at home:

Here are two fun videos to watch to reinforce the ‘ng’ and ‘nk’ patterns.

Alphablocks – Volume 3 Episode 2 – Song (Digraph NG) (youtube.com)

Alphablocks Series 3 – Ink – YouTube

Here is an online game to play – pairs with ng and nk words.

-nk & -ng – Matching pairs (wordwall.net)

Please continue to practise reading and spelling the tricky words.  An idea is to play Kim’s Game. Write some of the words on separate pieces of paper. Ask your child to read the words. Turn the pieces of paper over and ask your child to remember what was written on each one.  Try it with different words.  

Here is the link to the website we use for handwriting. You can watch the animations at home and ask your child to practise the formation.

Continuous Cursive letter choice 3 beginners (teachhandwriting.co.uk)

Numeracy and Maths

We have been counting in 2s, 5s and 10s. Some of us have also been counting in 3s and 4s.

Here are some of the songs we have been using to memorise the number patterns. You may find it helpful to sing these at home.

Counting by 2s (youtube.com)

Counting by 3s (youtube.com)

Counting by 5s (youtube.com)

We have also been learning about symmetry. You may find this game useful to use at home.

Symmetry Sorting Game – Sort symmetrical and non-symmetrical images (topmarks.co.uk) 

You could also practise making symmetrical models with lego or other building bricks. Or even making symmetrical pictures of funny faces or patterns using small objects from around the house.

Other Curricular Areas

· We had lots of fun at the Christmas party on Monday.

· We enjoyed performing our Christmas carols.

· We have been busy making baubles.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a great week.

Important information:

• We hope you have received the lovely letter from your child inviting you to our Carol signing on Wednesday 13^th December at 9.00 and 2.30. We are looking forward to seeing you all. Please don’t worry if can’t make it as we have recorded our performance to P7 for you to enjoy. This will be sent via email.
• Please return as soon as possible all the reading books. We are missing a few books already.
• 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). Some children took them home after needing them in but haven’t returned them back to school. Please label all the items.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

This week we have learned the final blends: nt, ft, sp, lk.

This video is good for revision:

We have practiced our reading skills: prediction, inference, summarising, etc. This will be the last week that reading books will be sent home. We will be reading at school but not sending books home.

We have revised from block 4. It would be very helpful if your children practice reading and writing these words and previous blocks.

In writing we wrote a letter to invite you to our Carol singing. The children were very proud of their letters and worked hard on them as they knew they were for you.

At cursive handwriting. This week we have practice g and q. See the link below of the formation we are practicing at school.

Continuous Cursive letter choice 3 beginners (teachhandwriting.co.uk)

Ideas for learning at home

• Please ask your child to read the school reading book at home.
• Ask your child to write and read these words: loft, lift, soft, daft, raft, left, gift, sift, lent, hunt, mint, went, shunt, rent, bent, hint, dent, belt, milk, kilt, crisp, wasp, gasp, wisp, etc. You can write the words and ask your child to look for the final blends and circle them.  
• Please continue to read stories to your child at home.
• Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. It is important that children practice reading every day.

Maths 

We have done a final review about time. We have been learning about sharing equally, arrays (columns and rows).

Ideas for learning at home: 

Ask your child to explain to you:

• Please continue to talk about time. Ask what time it is and related to day-to-day events.
• Sharing equally:
• Playing games which include sharing out cards, items etc. Ask your child to share the cards/items equally between the number of players (can be 2 or more) and initially explain that ‘sharing equally’ means everyone will have the same amount/number of items at the end. Then when playing the same game again or a different one, ask your child how s/he will know the items have been shared equally.

Possible games: card games, Snap, Dominoes.

• Using everyday objects and sharing items between 2 or more people, e.g. sweets, biscuits, segments of an orange. Ask your child to share these items equally between the number of people who are going to have them, e.g. sharing 10 sweets between 2 people:

How many sweets do you have?

Can you share them equally between your sister and you? What does ‘share equally’ mean? How are you going to share them?

If your child does not know, then prompt by saying, “I wonder what will happen if you shared them out one at a time?”

Your child might have his/her own idea, so let them have a go (even if it is not right). If they share the items and they are not equal amounts, ask your child if s/he have shared the items equally. If your child says, “No,” then ask them why they are not shred equally and how s/he are going to solve the problem. Talking through a problem and coming to a solution is a great way to learn, so let your child make mistakes.

Your child might immediately say 5 and 5. Ask him/her how they know and s/he might say “5 and 5 altogether makes 10” or “Double 5 makes 10.”

Once the items have been shared equally, count/say how many items each person has or ask your child how s/he know the sweets have been shared equally. Promote the language, “We both have the same amount.”

Then use language, such as, “10 shared between 2 is 5, each person has 5.”

Share items up to 10 initially and then up to 20.

Share between more than 2 people, but make sure the amount can be shared equally between the number of people.

• Sharing board: place different numbers of items (up to 10/20) in the first box for the children to share equally between the 2 boxes below.

Items can be things found around the house, e.g. pasta shapes, buttons, raisins etc.

Encourage your child to use the appropriate language in their explanations.

• Videos about sharing equally:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0006xcw/numberblocks-series-4-the-lair-of-shares

Other areas

EXA

We have been practicing our Christmas Carols.

ART

We have created Christmas decorations.

FRENCH

We have learned to tell our age.

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you had a good week.

Important Information

Learning Stories have been sent home today. Please look through the evidence of your child’s learning this term (worksheets) and read the teacher comment sheet. There is space at the bottom of this page for you to write a short comment and sign to acknowledge that you have received this. Please return the Learning Stories with the report inside as soon as possible.

Next week P2 are organising a collection for the Edinburgh Foodbank. If you are able to, please send in a packet of instant noodles before Friday 8^th December.

We have loose parts on Friday 8^th December.  As the weather turns colder, please ensure that your child brings enough layers that day and wears suitable footwear.

Our P2 Carol Singing will take place on Wednesday 13^th December at 9.00am and 2.30pm. It would be great to see you there!

Here is a summary of our learning:

Literacy

We wrote letters to each year group asking them to donate a particular item for the foodbank collection.

In handwriting we have been learning to form a and d in cursive script.

In phonics our focus has been on final consonant blends: rk, nd, st, mp, lt, sk. Examples of words with these sounds are lark, hand, must, lamp, felt and mask.

In spelling we have been recapping the Block 4 words as a whole class. We then worked on the particular block we are focussing on (block 1, 2, 3 or 4).

We have introduced our ‘jotters of joy’, ask your child about them.

Ideas for learning at home:

Please continue to practise the spelling block your child is working on. Some of us did a ‘Scribble Spelling’ activity this week which we enjoyed. This photo explains how you could do it at home too.

Here is a link with the lists of tricky words.

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

To practise phonics it is a good idea to ask your child to read nonsense words containing the sounds covered so far. This means that they cannot guess the word, they must instead use their knowledge of letter sounds. Try to write down some nonsense words and hide them around the living room or lay them on the stairs. Can your child read them accurately using their decoding skills?

Examples of words to write:   gark, pand, fust, somp, lolt, nisk.

Please go over your child’s reading book with them at home. This will help to build their fluency. You could ask these questions to check for understanding.

• Can you retell the story in your own words?
• Could the story have a different ending? What could it be?
• What makes this story different to other books you have read?
• What kind of person do you think the main character is?

Here is the link to the website we use for handwriting. You can watch the animations at home and ask your child to practise the formation.

Continuous Cursive letter choice 3 beginners (teachhandwriting.co.uk)

Numeracy and Maths

We are continuing to work on reading both digital and analogue clocks focussing on o’clock and half past. Some of us are extending our learning to quarter to / past.

In our number work we have been working on counting in 2s and 5s.

Ideas for learning at home:

Reading clocks is proving challenging so please practise as much as possible at home. Here is a fun game you can try at home.

Telling the Time – Mathsframe

Other areas of the curriculum

We started to learn some of the Christmas carols for our performance on the 13^th December.

We have an advent calendar. Each day we will open a drawer and we will have an act of kindness to carry out.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents,

We hope you had a great 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). Some children took them home after needing them in but haven’t returned them back to school. Please label all the items.

This is a summary of our learning this week:

Literacy

This week we have learned the initial blends: br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, tr.

Look at this video (From minute 8.27)

We have practiced our reading skills: prediction, inference, summarising, etc.

We have introduced new tricky words from block 4 (last of block 4): house, also, friend. It would be very helpful if your children practice reading and writing these words and previous blocks.

In writing we wrote Jack and Jill story. We wrote what happened at the beginning of the story, at the middle and at the end.

At cursive handwriting. This week we have practice t, x, z and c. See the link below of the formation we are practicing at school.

Continuous Cursive letter choice 3 beginners (teachhandwriting.co.uk)

Ideas for learning at home

• Please ask your child to read the school reading book at home.
• Read, write and make the words: brick, brown, brain, broom, drain, dream, droop, dry, drew, craw, crown, cream, crowd, train, treat, try, tram, tree, free, fright, fry, green, grain, grow, grew, greet, pray, pram, pry, etc. You can write the words and ask your child to look for the initial blends and circle them.  
• You can play this free online game:

https://ictgames.com/phonicsPop/index.html

– Please continue to read stories to your child at home.

– Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. It is important that children practice reading every day.

Maths 

We have been learning about time. We have learned how to tell the o’clock, half past and quarter past in an analogue clocks.

At school the children have enjoyed playing this game:

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/116/telling-the-time

Ideas for learning at home: 

Ask your child to explain to you:

• What time is it using analogue and digital clocks.
• Talk to your child about when is time to go to bed, have tea, go to school, etc. This will help your child to have an understanding of time on their own lives.
• You will find other ideas in this website:

• Continue to practice counting forwards and backwards from and to different numbers (within 20, 30, 100)

Other areas

Art

We made a Christmas banner for the school hall.

PE

We have worked on pre- tennis skills.

RME

We are learning about Bible stories. This week we have learned about Noah’s ark. We made our own arks and test if they sink or float.

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs de Bonrostro

Dear Parents/Carers,

We hope that you have had a good week. Here is a summary of our learning.

Literacy

In phonics we have been learning to recognise and spell words with the au and aw sound. For example, Paul, haul, saw, draw. Here is a fun video to watch at home related to this week’s learning.

Long Vowel Sounds – AU & AW | Phonics For Kids – Learn To Read | Alphablocks – YouTube

In spelling we were introduced to 3 new words from Block 4: little, most and old. We then worked on the particular block we are focussing on (block 1, 2, 3 or 4). We enjoyed a rainbow writing activity to reinforce the words we are finding particularly difficult to spell.

We have been learning what nouns are as part of Grammar. We are learning that nouns are naming words. For example, nouns can name a person, animal or thing.

Our writing was an imaginative piece of writing based on an animation called ‘The girl with the yellow bag’.

Ideas for learning at home:

Please continue to practise the spelling block your child is working on. Here is an idea for an activity you could try. If you have lego or other building blocks at home you could ask your child to build their spelling words. For example, see the picture below.

Here is a link with the lists of tricky words.

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

Please go over your child’s reading book with them at home. This will help to build their fluency.

Here is an online game to revise phonics. Please select au and aw to practise this week’s focus but also two other sounds which we have covered already.

Spooky Sounds (ictgames.com)

Numeracy and Maths

We have been learning to read o’clock and half past on digital and analogue clocks.

We have continued to work on place value. Most of us are working on tens and ones but some of us are working on hundreds, tens and ones.

We are developing our understanding of the digits in a number, their position and value.

Ideas for learning at home:

Time

Please use every opportunity to look at analogue and digital clocks.

Here is a teaching clock which you can use.

Teaching Clock (topmarks.co.uk)

Here is a fun online game to play at home.

Telling the Time – Mathsframe

Place Value

Ask your child to investigate how many numbers between 0 and 100 have the digit 3. Once they have created their list, ask them to say whether the 3 is a tens digit or a ones digit (include the number 33 which has both).

Other

As part of Scottish Book Week we enjoyed a visit from Morag Hood. She told us about her job as an author and illustrator. Then she read us two of her books and did a ‘draw along’ session with us.

In PE we continued to work on dribbling with basketballs as well as team work skills.

In Health and Wellbeing we continue to work on the ‘Keep Connected’ unit of work. We are learning about the importance of having caring relationships. We have been thinking about the special people in our lives. These people are our ‘Back Up Team’. Please see the home learning sheet which is coming home today related to this.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs de Bonrostro