Friday 20th December
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This has been a jam-packed half-term with visits, Christmas performances and some exciting Design Technology projects but the children have all risen to the occasion and worked their socks off.
We celebrated the build up to Christmas in true 'Emmaville style' with a visit to Tyneside Cinema to see the animated of The Grinch- it was enjoyed by all. Then to bring the half-term to a close we finished with our Christmas Jumper Day and a very joyful Christmas party in our classroom. The children have all been showing off their dance moves and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon of party games and songs.
As their teacher, I am very proud of every single one of them and look forward to another busy but brilliant term.
Friday 13th December
Lights, Camel, Action!
Wow what an incredible performance Year 2 put on for their family and friends on Wednesday! All of the staff in Year 2 are immensely proud of them all for the fantastic performance they put on this week. Over the last few weeks, the children have worked tirelessly to memorise their lines at home, learn each of the songs and accompanying actions and have been practicing performing their roles with expression and such gusto! There wasn't a dry eye in the room and the children really did 'raise the roof' with their beautiful singing and Christmas joy. As Miss Armstrong would say, 'A jolly well don' to them all.
Friday 6th December
Design Technology- Making a Christmas themed Moving Vehicle
This children always enjoy their Design technology lessons and this half-term was no exception. Over the last few weeks, we have been learning about how vehicles move and what makes a good, stable vehicle. Last week, the children used their new knowledge to design their very own Christmas themed moving vehicles by drawing and labelling the key components including the axle, axle holder and wheels. On Friday, the children brought their designs to life using their creativity and design knowledge. They worked as a team to help each other to measure and fit the axles and wheels on their vehicles. We had great fun testing them out at the end of the day and at home time many cars could be seen racing across the yard, being shown off to family and friends.
Friday 29th November
Crawcrook Library Visit
As a school we are very lucky to have a local library just round the bend from our school grounds. For many years now, we have visited Kyle at the library on a termly basis and the children always enjoy it very much. It is wonderful to see that each time, more and more children are familiar with Crawcrook library as they visit with their family after school.
This time, we listened to the hilarious story of Simon Sock by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet, then worked with a partner to match up the odd socks around the room. It was clear to see the children had spotted books on their way round and they were eager to sit and enjoy a book of their choice with their peers.
We look forward to our next visit in the Spring term.
Friday 25th October
What a fantastic first half term we have had in Year 2! I am very proud of how all of the children have settled into their new routines and their enthusiasm for learning in all subjects. We have worked our socks off on Doodle tables to master our 1s and 10s this half term and will be learning our 2s before Christmas. To finish off a fantastic half term, the children took part in some auditions for the roles in our Christmas play. Keep your eyes peeled for which performance it will be this year- we are sure you'll be laughing in your seats and singing along with us!
Friday 18th October
In music, we have been composing pieces of music for our very own superheroes. Last week, we had such fun taking on the job as a 'conductor' within our group and using hand movements to signal the tempo of the music whether fast or slow. Inspired by the Batman theme tune, we used our knowledge of high and low pitch to create our very own superhero theme tune on the glockenspiels. At the end we performed our theme tunes to the class and we all received a round of applause from our peers. We can't wait to further our music knowledge and conduct further pieces in the year.
Friday 11th October
We are sure you've been hearing all about the devastating event of the sinking of The Titanic as the children in Wales have been engrossed in learning about this significant event. The children worked with a partner to recall the key events on a timeline through a speed draw challenge and they remembered even the finer details. This week in history we have been using photographs as a source of evidence. The children used their investigative skills to sort the photographs into the three classes that would have been found onboard the Titanic- first, second and third class. We were all great listeners as we worked in small groups giving our opinion on the statement 'I would rather have been in first-class onboard The Titanic'. The children surprised us with some of their justifications for their answers and some were even swayed by their peers when given multiple reasons as to why they would rather stay in second class.
Friday 4th October
The children in Wales class have blown me away with their use of scientific vocabulary. This half term we have been investigating different materials and using this knowledge to design a new suit for 'Traction Man'. We had great fun on a materials hunt around school identifying the different materials. We worked with our learning partners to discuss why some materials are used for items, and others are not. The children thought it was hilarious when I suggested we had windows made of bricks and wellies made of glass.
Friday 27th September
If you walked past Wales class this week you may have heard some loud noises coming from the classroom as the children have been investigating 'pitch' in their music lessons. We have started to create our very own superhero theme tune in groups thinking carefully about the names of our superheroes and how to create high and low pitches using the different instruments. We had great fun and enjoyed using our voices as an instrument too.
Friday 20th September
In PE this half-term we are developing our 'Team Building' skills and over the last few weeks have taken part in PE lessons focusing on developing some of the key skills needed to work as an effective team. One of our favourite games was when we were challenged to work as a team to do the 'Elephant Walk'. We had to successfully communicate with our team, use our resilience and coordinate our movements with our peers in order to be successful. This week we've been applying all these new teamwork skills to help our friends successful navigate across 'the sea from the desert islands' using just two hoops and excellent communication skills.
Friday 13th September
Take One Book-Pip and Egg
This year we have introduced a new approach to guided reading to develop our children's pleasure for reading and introduce them to a diverse range of authors whose books they may enjoy. In guided reading this week, we have absolutely loved exploring and sharing the book Pip and Egg by Alex Latimer and bestselling illustrator David Litchfield which is a story of friendship and the challenges friendships may face. The children have relished the opportunity to read aloud wit their peers and revisit the story themselves taking on the roles of the different characters and developing their expression.
At the end of the week, we reflected on the story and rewrote the blurb to tempt and encourage others to read it but without giving anyway too much. We can't wait to read some more of the books illustrated by David Litchfield including The Bear and the Piano and his newest book The Dinosaur Nextdoor.
Welcome to Wales Class!
Friday 6th September
What a brilliant first week the children of Wales class have had! I am very proud of how they have settled into Year 2 and they are beginning to get used to their new routines. It has been a great first week, hearing all about the exciting things they have been getting up to in the summer holidays and working together to complete some team challenges. We learnt all about our class name 'Wales' and have created some beautiful artwork which will be displayed in our classroom.
We look forward to welcoming you into the classroom at Meet the Teacher!
Miss Woolard and Mrs Wallace