Year 2 Home Learning Statements

Reading

This term our reader’s workshop has two focuses:

• Decoding: the ability to read a word by using the phonemes (sounds) within the word.
• Comprehension: the ability to understand and make sense of the text.

A fluent reader has the ability to put both of these skills together at the same time.

Some of the decoding strategies include:

• Look at the pictures
• Stretch the word out
• Look for chunks
• Get your mouth ready to make the first sound
• Does it sound right?
• Does it look right?
• Does it make sense? Back up and re-read if it doesn’t make sense.
• Skip the word and read on, then come back to see what makes sense.

The comprehension strategies that we will be focusing on this term include:

• Questioning
• Predicting
• Making connections
• Visualising
• Summarising

Students will be supported to understand how the use of these strategies will help them to better comprehend what they are reading. At the beginning of the term we have been practising choosing ‘just right’ books using I-PICK.

Writing

This term we are focusing on writing Recounts and Poetry. We will develop the students’ understanding of these texts by exploring the language and structural features. Students will also practise forming lowercase and uppercase letters correctly using Victorian Modern Cursive Script.

Recount writing is the retelling of past events or experiences in sequential order. Recount writing consists of:

• Orientation (who? where? when?)
• Sequence of events (what? – first, then, next, after)
• Conclusion (personal comment)

Poetry follows specific patterns, rhythms, structures, and/or rhymes to express ideas and emotions. Students will be supported to explore and understand the importance of vocabulary and word choice to enhance the meaning of their poems.

To support this learning at home:

• Create a special ‘writing box’ to store your child’s pens and pencils to help them see writing as an important activity.
• Encourage your child to read their writing aloud.
• Proudly display your child’s work in a prominent position in your house. This will give them confidence, and demonstrates the importance of writing.
• Create an ‘ideas bag’ or ‘ideas folder’ to use as a writing prompt. To inspire writing ideas, collect objects such as photographs, pictures cut from magazines, brochures, movie tickets, or any other found item.
• Encourage your child to create a picture, drawing or collage that visually represents their ideas.
• Practise writing cards and letters to family and friends.
• Read poetry aloud with your child.
• Discuss any unfamiliar words that your child may encounter when reading poetry.

Mathematics

This term our focus in Number is counting and place value.

• Counting is an essential skill that underpins the understanding of number and algebra. Students should be able to count forwards and backwards by 1s as well as skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s from zero and non-zero starting points.
• Place value is the ability to know the value of each digit in a number; e.g. 24 is 2 tens and 4 ones. This is an essential skill that supports addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Students should be able to read, write, order and compare numbers up to 1,000, using concrete materials to support their understanding.

To support this learning at home:

Counting:

• Count by 1s, or skip count as you walk to school. For example, you may count by 1s to find out how many steps it takes you to walk to school or, you may count the letter box numbers to count by 2s (e.g. 242, 244, 246). Identify the odd and even mailboxes.
• Play board and card games such as ‘Snakes and Ladders’.
• Play a game such as ‘beat your score’. Students choose a counting pattern to count by. They count for 1 minute and record their counting. When the timer goes off, reset the timer and students count by the same counting pattern; trying to beat their previous score.
• Add the total number of cutlery items on the table.
• Practise counting when grocery shopping. For example, how many apples am I putting in the bag?
• Count the legs (table, chair, human, animal) in your house.
• Hunt for numbers around the house.

Place value:

• Use playing cards to make two, three or four digit numbers and ask your child to read the number and say the value of each digit. For example 27, 2 tens and 7 ones or 27 ones. You could extend this by asking them to find the number that would be 10 more/10 less.
• Play ‘guess my number’. Choose a secret number, and students have to guess the number using place value to describe the number. For example, “Is there a 2 in the hundreds place?”
• Make the largest/smallest number using dice. Students can roll 2, 3 or 4 dice to make 2 digit, 3 digit or 4 digit numbers. They should rearrange the digits to make the largest number possible and the smallest number possible. Ask your child what the value of each digit is. For example in 345, the 4 represents 4 tens.