Mrs. Hamilton’s
Class Newsletter (P2)
January 2017
Social Studies
Throughout term 2 we will be learning all
about Scottish Castles. As part of this topic
we will locate some famous castles on a
map of Scotland before exploring the
features of a castle and castle defences. We
will also look at how castles changed
through the ages. This will also provide a
context for us to learn about the life of
Mary Queen of Scots.
Science
Our science focus this term will be Water
and its Properties. We will learn about the
importance of water, the different states in
which water can be present and the water
cycle. We will also explore floating and
sinking and what makes an object
waterproof. We will have the opportunity
to conduct a range of investigations and
experiments.
Literacy
Our literacy programme continues to focus on Reading, Writing, Listening &Talking
and Phonics & Spelling.
This term our Reading sessions will focus on improving fluency and expression
whilst demonstrating an understanding of texts through a variety of activities such
as ‘find it, prove it, talk about it’, true and false statements, comprehension
questions and cloze procedure passages. We will also continue to use our reading
strategies such as predicting, summarising and identifying the main ideas to
further develop our understanding of texts.
In Writing, we will focus on instruction writing, narrative writing and report writing
allowing us to develop an awareness of the features of these genres.
Our Phonics and Spelling sessions are very active and involve lots of collaborative
multisensory spelling such as using magnetic letters to say, make/break, blend,
read and write our words. However, we have also introduced some new activities
such as creating a word search using phoneme words and playing a ‘Roll and Read’
board game, giving us further opportunities to read and write phoneme words and
common words.
We will develop our Listening and Talking skills by researching and presenting
findings about a Scottish castle later in the term. We will have the opportunity to
demonstrate our good listening skills when others present their research.
French
Numeracy & Mathematics
This term we will have the opportunity to
develop the vocabulary learned in Primary
1. We will begin to extend this vocabulary
to include language associated with the
weather, parts of the body, classroom
instructions and classroom objects using a
range of songs, games and activities.
In term 2 we will be developing our knowledge of subtraction by learning a range
of strategies to subtract within 20. We will have the opportunity to apply these
strategies in a range of different contexts and situations.
We will also focus on money where we will gain experience in adding up the value
of coin collections and selecting the appropriate coins to pay for items costing up
to 99p.
We will be introducing the concept of multiplication and division and making the
link between the two. We will develop an awareness of the fact that
multiplication is repeated addition, whilst division is the sharing or
grouping of items. As part of our focus on multiplication we will also
be learning the 2 times table.
Finally, we will be focusing on fractions and will begin to develop our
understanding of halves and quarters. We will have the
opportunity to find halves or quarters of a shape and will use our
knowledge of the 2 times table and division to find half of a number.
RME
Our focus this term will be ‘Life in Jesus’
Time’ and Easter. We will compare Jesus’
life growing up then to our lives now and
consider how things have changed. We will
also learn all about the Easter story;
considering how it can be both a sad and
happy celebration.
Health & Wellbeing Our PE days are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. For your child’s safety and comfort, please ensure that they
bring appropriate PE kit on these days. Please also remember that all jewellery must be removed and there is no safe place to leave it within the
class. Earrings must be removed; if this is not possible, please provide your child with plasters to cover them. In PE this term we will be developing
our gymnastics skills including jumping, rolling and balancing and will be combining these skills to create routines and sequences independently
and as part of a group.
We will also start our RSHP programme which focuses on the qualities of a good friend and how a good friend should respond in different
situations. We will also discuss who the children can talk to if they are worried about something.