Year 2 Update Week 20

Monday 11th February – School begins

Tuesday 12th February – Sports Day for Year 1& 2. Please sign the e-notice.

Reading AssessmentsWe are currently in the process of completing new reading assessments with thechildren. Each assessment takes some time to complete, thank you for yourunderstanding. Colours of reading books span many levels and so if your child doesnot move to a new colour, this does not indicate a lack of progress.

Book DriveBrody, Ryan and Muchan in Year 6 are organising a Book Drive to help spread ourlove of reading. The Sony Corporation will collect books to create mobile librariesin South Africa for schools that do not have enough books for children to read. Ifyou have books that are:

Please send them to school. There is a collection box in the school foyer. Anybooks you can donate will help spread the enjoyment of reading.

Action in the PYP at BHSIt has been great celebrating the talents and achievements of our students throughthe ’Student Achievement’ section in the newsletter. We would like to dosomething similar with Student Action. Action in the PYP is when students areinspired through their learning and their experiences to make a difference to theirlives or the community connected to real life issues and opportunities. We wouldlike to celebrate our students taking action outside of school.

Please could you email examples to kannis.tsui@bhs.edu.hk and they will beshared through our newsletter.

There are different types of Action. We would like to start with a focus onParticipation. See below for a definition and examples.

Type of Action Examples

ParticipationBeing actively involved in theirlearning and contributing as an

individual or a group

Getting involved with communityprojects

Making appropriate choices and takingresponsibility to help people

Taking on different roles e.g. being aleader, completing my chores, working in

a group, looking after my petTaking part in any decision making

processJoining a new club

School UniformThe weather is getting cooler but please ensure your child is wearing the correctuniform. Please, please ensure that your child has a school cap. Despite the coolerweather, the sun is still powerful. Skin damage from the sun at a young age canlead to problems later on in life, so help us keep your child safe by making surethey have a hat.Health awareness

As we enter flu season we ask that for the next few weeks you check your child’stemperature in the morning before they leave for school. The aim is to prevent thespread of illness and ensure that children are fit and ready to learn. A child with atemperature of 38 degrees or higher should not be coming to school. Wewould also suggest that if your child has had a temperature overnight it would notbe appropriate to send them to school. As always please talk to your child aboutthe importance of thorough hand washing.

Thank you to all the parents who have completed the form each day.

Emily Jeves Vice Principal Year 1 and 2

Timetable

PE Kit Library Bags

2D Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday

2FTuesday, Wednesday,

ThursdayThursday

2K Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Wednesday

Kung Hei Fat Choy! What a brilliant day we all had on Thursday having dimsum and visiting the flower market. Thank you to everyone who came along. The childrenalso had a wonderful day on Friday as they engaged in Chinese cultural activities beforewatching the performances from the older children in the school and a lion dance.

Sarah Brennan

The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to Sarah Brennan read and explain hernew story “The Tale of Ping Pong Pig’.

Fun Friends

In Fun Friends we are currently completing the sessions on F for feelings. Wementioned passwords for the children’s online activity books in the parentmeeting. We will put them in the new diaries the children will get after CNY.

Unit of Inquiry

This week the children completed a summative assessment on the celebrationsunit of inquiry. The children are looking forward to starting a new unit of inquiryafter the holidays.

Maths

In Maths, the children finished learning about fractions. They will start to inquireabout multiplication and division after the holidays.

English

This week, teachers received professional development from English language andliteracy specialist, Misty Adoniou. She visited BHS and reinforced the importance ofreading in order to develop creative writing skills. We will continue to read qualitytexts to the children.

Central idea: Scientists explore materials to discover how they can be used.

Lines of inquiry

The properties of materials (form)1.How scientists carry out investigations (function)2.How materials can change (change)3.

The children will be exploring different materials through hands on activities. Theywill be describing how different materials look and feel.

Central Idea:

The operations of multiplication and division are related to eachother and are used to process information to solve problems.

Lines of inquiry:

How we solve problems using multiplication anddivision

Mental and written strategies for multiplication anddivision

The language and symbols of multiplication and division

The children will start multiplication by exploring arrays. They will look at howgroups can be organised into columns and rows.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/maths/telling_the_time/play/popup.shtml

Stop the clock – game for ½ and 1 hour

https://www.mathplayground.com/number_bonds_10.html

https://www.mathplayground.com/number_bonds_20.html

Writing focus: Writing to entertain

The children will explore how different authors use language to create an effect.They will listen to stories, visualise them and then try to apply the languagefeatures to create their own phrases.

Well done to:2K – Sylas Ng

2D – Margaret Yeung

2F – Charlotte Yim

Tristen Tang (2K) for Mandarin

SLT Awards –

Jayden Wong (2K)

Lincoln Liu (2K)

Lulu Kam (2K)

Sylas Ng (2K)

SpellingNew spellings will be given out after Chinese New Year. Feel free to review theprevious spelling lists and give further practise as necessary. Home ReadingPlease read at home with your child each day and sign their Reading Journal.Please encourage your child to write the date and title in their Reading Journal,including for Big Universe.In Big Universe, select ‘Library’. On the right-hand side you will be able to selectthe ‘grade’ for your child. The appropriate grade selection is kindergarten, 1stgrade and 2nd grade. This covers the age group of our children at BHS.Mandarin – All children are encouraged to take a reading book home on the days when theyhave Mandarin lessons.

Games and Activities to Develop Vocabulary

We have noticed that many of our Year 2 children would benefit from developing abroader vocabulary. With this in mind, we would like to recommend some gamesyou can easily play at home, or on the move that will give your child the

opportunity to develop their awareness and language skills.

I Spy With My Little Eye

Benefits: vocabulary development, phonics and spelling awareness, observationskills and focus

Equipment: None

Number of players: Unlimited

Location: Anywhere!

Say, “I spy with my little eye something beginning with …” Start playing the gameusing objects in the room you can see. Begin with obvious items and over timemove to more discreet objects. You can vary the game by using the initial sounds(phonics), or letters (spelling) or even colours or numbers. You can increase thechallenge level by saying, “I spy with my little eye, something that ends in …”

Word Association Game

Benefits: vocabulary development, fluency, memory and recall

Equipment: None

Number of players: Pairs are good, but more players possible if everyone takesturns

Location: Anywhere!

The first player, chosen randomly, says one word out loud. The other player has toquickly say a word that has some connection with the previous word. Players lose if…

They take more than three seconds to make a connection.1.They repeat a word that has already been said in this game.2.They are challenged and loses the vote.3.

The last player standing is the winner.

For example, one sequences of words might be:

– Bus

– Stop

– Go

– Green

– Grass

– Garden

– Flower

Other well-known games we would recommendinclude, Pictionary, Charades