Grade 2

Grade 2 is an exciting year, as it is their final year in the junior school. As the year progresses, students’ social skills become more refined and they make significant progress in their educational work. Grade 2 is a year full of fun learning with students further developing more independence and organisational skills from the previous year in Grade 1. We aim to foster feelings of confidence and encourage students to challenge themselves and take risks with their learning.

Literacy
The Grade 2 Literacy Program covers Reading & Viewing, Writing, Speaking & Listening. Our planning is influenced by the Fountas and Pinnell Program, where we can set clear goals for all students to achieve. We read class novels to promote and engage the young readers in our classrooms. In Grade 2 we focus on students’ understanding of how similar texts share characteristics. We do this by identifying text structures and language features used to describe characters, settings and events. We implement the Jolly Phonics and Grammar Program to continue their learning from Grade 1, to consolidate and expand their knowledge of letter sounds and patterns. Students learn to read for meaning and self-correct using context and prior knowledge. Students are exposed to a wide range of text types through both reading and writing. Some of these include Narratives, Information Reports, Recounts and Expositions. In Writing we engage the students with fun interactive topics and experiences that they can write about firsthand.

Numeracy
We encourage and motivate our students in Grade 2 using a hands on and engaging approach. Throughout Semester 1there is a strong focus on recognising, modelling, representing and ordering numbers to 1000 or beyond. We teach at each students’ point of need in the areas of: place value, addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, counting and fractions. We also cover a range of measurement areas as well as the concepts of statistics. They perform simple addition and subtraction calculations, using a range of strategies. Such as number talks, peer learning and small targeted grouping. They find the total value of simple collections of Australian notes and coins. Students represent multiplication and division by grouping into sets and divide collections and shapes into halves, quarters and eighths. They recognise increasing and decreasing number sequences involving 2s, 3s, 5s and 10s and identify the missing element in a number sequence. We continuously foster student growth in Mathematics to ensure they are able to reach their full potential.

Inquiry
In Grade 2 students will investigate the following topics:

‘How do Forces and Motions make Different Objects Move?’
During this unit students participate in a range of activities to discover forces (what they are, how they work and how we use them).  Students learn that objects cannot move by themselves.  They must be pulled or pushed.  Students participate in a range of guided investigations involving pushing and pulling which include gravity, wind power and magnetism.

‘How do Oceans Support Life?
Students identify how the oceans support and impact our lives daily. They appreciate that all living things are intimately tied to this water and that Life on Earth would not be possible without the oceans. They begin to understand how it influences weather and climate, that its inhabitants produce much of the oxygen we breathe, that life found in the oceans feeds us and how its currents are used to connect humans around the Earth.

How are we connected to places?
Students will learn how people connect to places in different ways. They will learn about location and mapping of places. Students will explore the features of different places and how we use those places. They will understand that places have changed over time and that peoples connected to these places have evolved. Students will identify and recognise the connections that different people have to Country.

‘How do Living Things Change as they Grow?
During this unit students learn that Cyclic patterns occur in nature.  The most obvious of these are the life cycles of different animals and plants, but there are many other cycles eg. weather, climate, day & night, the water cycle and the passing of time; Months of year, weeks, days.  Students observe patterns of growth and change in living things.  The repetitive nature of life on earth is a concept that can be reinforced in many ways.  Students learn that science is about asking questions, making observations and describing changes.

Throughout the year, students participate in a range of incursions and excursions to further enhance and support their learning.

Homework
Within Grade 2 we develop their independence of weekly homework by reflecting their daily learning in the classroom. This consists of, elements of the Jolly Phonics Program (spelling of key sounds and tricky words), writing of an experience they have participated in and focusing on key areas of Mathematics. We expect Grade 2 students to read every day/night with an adult and record it in their reading log.