Prep | Year 2 News

Unit of Inquiry | Who We Are

Central Idea: Individuals and communities grow by appreciating rights and responsibilities

Last week, we dipped back into our year-long inquiry into Who We Are. The Year 2 boys learned about safe and unsafe behaviours and different types of relationships. They used their skills as communicators to identify the elements of safe relationships and asked questions for strategies to use when they are feeling unsafe.

The boys also developed their skills in resilience through class discussions and group inquiry tasks. They learned how to reframe a problem and develop a positive self-image in order to bounce back when faced with adversity. The boys even compared themselves to different animals and analysed their own strengths and weaknesses, and why different strengths would be useful in different situations. Ask your son to share which animal he most identified with and why.

The boys are excited to be beginning their final Unit of Inquiry; How We Express Ourselves this week!

Maths

Our most recent unit of mathematics has had the boys exploring the world of measurement again. Earlier in the year, the boys inquired into length, area, volume and capacity and time. The last few weeks the boys have been learning about measuring mass. They have learned the key vocabulary measure, mass, heavier, lighter, about the same as, pan balance, (level) balance, measure, estimate. They have estimated, compared, ordered and measured the mass of a variety of classroom items and built their skills in exploring a range of problems relating to mass, such as:

• If I broke my tower into single pieces, does its mass change?
• Would I need more feathers or more pencils in my pan balance to balance a glue stick? Why?
• How are time, length, area and volume and capacity related to mass?
• These are some of the questions that your son has explored in our unit on mass.
• Ask your son – do you have the same mass everywhere you go?
• How is mass different to weight?
• Is there anywhere your weight would change?

You may be surprised by how knowledgeable he has become! Keep a lookout on Seesaw next week for your son’s rubric, which his teacher will use to mark his most recent maths assessment.

English

Throughout the year, our boys have developed their ability to proofread and edit their own work according to success criteria, as set by their teachers. This week, the teachers decided that the Year 2 boys had come so far this year that they could take over and write their own success criteria for what a quality piece of writing should include at the end of Year 2. The boys engaged in a whole class discussion to decide on the non-negotiables for quality writing. This is student voice, agency and action for learning shining through! This week, the boys will create their own piece of writing and edit it according to their class designed success criteria. Keep an eye out on Seesaw in the coming weeks of evidence of their thinking, editing and growth as writers.

In the last few weeks, the boys have transitioned from borrowing home readers each week to borrowing all their chosen books from the Library. The boys have made such amazing progress in their reading throughout the year that they are ready for more challenging library books in preparation for Year 3. In Year 3, the boys will borrow all the books they are interested in from the Library each week. Reading more challenging books together as a family is another great way to model fluency, phrasing, reading with expression and inferring with your son. Please celebrate your son’s growth as a reader in Year 2. The teachers are all very impressed by how much the boys have grown in their reading throughout the year.

We were so lucky to have the talented illustrator Ronojoy Ghosh visit us in Week 1. As well as finding out how he comes up ideas for his books such as, ‘I’m Australian Too’ or ‘Bin Chicken’, Ronojoy gave all the boys a chance to co-create a narrative from scratch. Everyone had fun being creative risk-takers together.

Music

In Music the students are inquiring into the Stand Alone Unit of Inquiry Music of Other Cultures with the Key Concepts of Connection, Perspective, Responsibility. As the students learn the Christmas Repertoire in readiness for the Preparatory School Christmas Service, they will also learn Christmas songs from around the world. Throughout the unit they will continue to develop their vocal and aural skills. Small ensemble skills will also evolve as they conclude the compulsory strings program.

Christian Studies

Celebrations like Christmas are a wonderful time of the year. Every family has different stories to share that bring back amazing memories. This term, the boys are exploring Christmas traditions and how different cultures around the world celebrate. The boys will be creating a poster reflecting their own family Christmas celebrations or another cultural celebration. They will bring these into school and share with their peers about their own celebration. The boys will be learning some Christmas songs that they will be sharing at the Christmas family carols night in week 8. In Chapel, we will be investigating how we celebrate Christmas – do we have the story correct and what place do food, feasting and fellowship have? How can all these wonderful aspects enhance our experience of Christmas without taking away from the central message of Jesus’ birth.

STEAM

In addition to Unit of Inquiry time in class exploring signs and symbols through the transdisciplinary theme of ‘How We Express Ourselves’ boys will be working on their drama skills in STEAM. We have begun the unit exploring how our faces can tell a story and reveal our emotions. Last week the boys worked in pairs to compare different expressions using mirrors. Year 2 were surprised how much concentration it took to hold a position and experienced aching facial muscles as they realised drama needed focus and timing.

Mandarin

Year 2 boys have been working on their comprehension skills by designing a mind map to express their understanding and establish the relationship between the country and nationality vocabulary in Chinese. Along the process, the students discover related concepts and learn to organise their knowledge and findings systematically.

We will be exploring the features of non-verbal expressions and cultural symbols to purposefully illustrate our personal heritage linking with our current Unit of Inquiry “How We Express Ourselves”. The boys learn to convey the key points of information from a range of Chinese texts by designing a symbolic flow-chart with logical sequence. This will help to strengthen their recognition of the similarities and differences in the communication across cultures.