Home Learning Autumn Term

These are the home learning activities for the Autumn Term.
 
Home Learning Information
 
Reading
Each week, children will be loaned a book from our reading scheme. Please send a book bag with them each day to carry these to and from school.
We would be grateful if you could:
  • Encourage your child to read these books with you at home;
  • Make a comment or sign your child's reading record to let us know that they have read and how they managed;
  • Send their reading books and reading records with them to school each day in a book bag.
As well as a reading scheme book, your child will have free choice of a book from the school library each week. 
 
Spellings
Spellings will be set and tested each Friday. Please encourage your child to practise these regularly – little and often is usually the most effective method for long-term learning.
 
Due to the way we teach reading, sometimes different children may have different spellings at different times! Your child should know which spelling group they are in. If they aren't sure, drop me a message and I'll let you know.
 
Homework
Each Friday, your child will usually be given a short home learning task to be completed before the following Friday.
 
As well as this, please practise times tables and number facts regularly with your child at home. By the end of year two, children are expected to know the number facts for the 2, 5 and 10 times tables.
 
Online Resources
As part of our blended learning approach (face-to-face and online), we often use these online resources:
If you need or have forgotten your password for any of these, please let me know!
 
Many thanks,
 
Mr J
 

23rd December 2022 - 13th January 2023
 
Mr Johnson's Christmas Holiday Homework (A.K.A. THE BEST HOMEWORK EVER)
 
Your homework is simply to...HAVE FUN!
If you find you're stuck for something to do, here's a list of ideas to help you. Take your pick! How many can you do? Remember, you don't have to do these things or hand anything in - they're just ideas in case you need them. The only bit of the homework you have to do is to have fun!
  1. Make a list of things you really want to learn or achieve next year.
  2. Draw a picture of Santa or Rudolph and hang it on your fridge.
  3. Tell some jokes to your family.
  4. Give someone a present.
  5. Play a board game.
  6. Have a dance party in the living room to your favourite songs.
  7. Can you make a snowman out of something different? Maybe lego or plasticine – the choice is yours!
  8. Can you write your own song or rap, and perform it to your family?
  9. Have a meal with your family and talk about your favourite memories of this year and the best things that happened to you.
  10. Write a letter to a friend or family member and pop it in the post!
  11. Birds can get very hungry at this time of year. Can you make a bird feeder out of a milk carton, box or bottle and hang it outside?
  12. Can you make a snow globe out of an empty container? What will you put inside?
  13. Have a family film night.
  14. Can you help to bake some biscuits or a cake?
  15. HAVE FUN!
Have a lovely Christmas everyone and I'll see you in the New Year!
 
Mr J

16th December - 22nd December
 
Spellings
More red (tricky) words this week, with a couple of related green words thrown in too!
 
child
children
parents
mother
father
people
every
everybody
everyone
Christmas
 
Homework
This week, I would you to practise your times tables using Times Table Rockstars. When you log in, choose Single Player and the Garage game (the other games will be locked). Over the week, I'd like you to see if you can complete 10 Garage games (that's 10 minutes in total). There will be a little circle next to the game button to help you keep track of how many games you have played. Anyone who completes all 10 games will earn five School 360 points!
 
If you can't remember your password, don't panic - just ask your grown up to drop me a message and I'll send it over.
 
Thanks!
Mr J
 

9th December - 16th December
 
Spellings
Red words this week. Remember, red words are tricky words where letters don't always make the sound we expect them too. With these words, the letter 'o' makes an /oa/ or an /oo/ sound.
 
old
cold
gold
hold
told
most
only
both
move
prove
 
Homework
I've added a task in our online classroom for you. It includes a quiz on the seven continents. It also includes the Continents Song, so you can sing it to your grown ups! Sorry, grown ups! 
 
Thanks!
Mr J

2nd December - 9th December
 
Spellings
Adding -ies to nouns and verbs ending in -y.
(The word in brackets is the root word)
 
(cry) -> cries
(fly) -> flies
(dry) -> dries
(try) -> tries
(reply) -> replies
(copy) -> copies
(baby) -> babies
(carry) -> carries
(marry) -> marries
(family) -> families
 
Homework
Please continue to practise your lines and the songs from our production, in particular Sing a Lullaby. Remember, all of the songs and lyrics can be found on our online classroom (I've just added the Christmas Star song, too) or there's a playlist here (make sure you check with a grown-up that you're allowed to go onto YouTube before clicking on it):
 
Thanks!
Mr J

25th November - 2nd December
 
Spellings
The sound /igh/ spelt with -y at the end of words.
cry
fly
dry
try
reply
sly
shy
terrify
sky
multiply
 
Homework
It's just over two weeks until our Christmas performances! For your homework this week (and next), I would like you to practise/learn your spoken lines and the songs.
I have added all of the songs and the lyrics to our online Classroom, and you should already have a printed copy of your lines (if you wanted a speaking part, that is). If you'd find it easier, there's a link to a YouTube playlist of all of the songs here and a downloadable copy of the lyrics below:
Please make sure you practise all of the songs, not just your favourites, so that the whole performance is amazing!
 
Note for grown ups: The children were all asked if they wanted a speaking part in the production. Some children decided they didn't want one, so they will either have a non-speaking role or be part of our own little music ensemble! As this is the first Christmas production that they have been involved with during their time at Swansfield Park, any Year 2 child who asked for a speaking part has got one.
 
Thanks!
Mr J

17th November - 25th November 2022
 
Spellings
Two more ways of spelling the sound /l/ at the end of words: '-il' and '-al'.
 
pencil
fossil
nostril
pupil
 
metal
pedal
capital
hospital
animal
oval
 
Homework
This week, we were lucky enough to have a visit from a children's author called Kristina Stephenson. She asked some of you who you thought the best author in the world was and that got me thinking about authors I like. For your homework this week, I'd like you to tell me about your favourite author. Here are some questions to think about:
Who is you favourite author?
Why are they your favourite author?
What books have they written?
Which of their books is your favourite and why?
It's your choice how you tell me about your favourite author. You could write about them, create a poster about them or even record a video of you talking about them! Try to give as much information as you can.
You can bring your work into school, send it digitally using our online classroom or ask your grown up to send it via e-mail - whatever is easiest.
 
Thanks!
Mr J
 

11th November - 18th November
 
Spellings
The sound /l/ spelt with '-el' at the end of words.
camel
tunnel
squirrel
travel
towel
tinsel
bagel
hazel
vowel
jewel
 
Homework
We've been learning that addition and subtraction are opposites. This means that when we know one fact, we also know three more without having to do any calculating. For example, if we know 16 + 3 = 19 we also know 3 + 16 = 19, 19 - 16 = 3 and 19 - 3 = 16. This is called a fact family.
I'd like you to think of an addition/subtraction fact family. Now see if you can make a house for your fact family to live in. You could make a gingerbread house, a lift-the-flap house, a haunted house or even a 3D house. You can make as many as you like! Here are some ideas for you:

4th November - 11th November
 
Spellings
The sound /l/ spelt with '-le' at the end of words.
table
apple
bottle
little
middle
able
wobble
multiple
dazzle
riddle
 
Homework
This week, I'd like you to practise your two times table. I'd like you to practise saying the whole number sentence, rather than just counting in twos.
1 x 2 = 2
2 x 2 = 4
3 x 2 = 6
4 x 2 = 8
5 x 2 = 10
6 x 2 = 12
7 x 2 = 14
8 x 2 = 16
9 x 2 = 18
10 x 2 = 20
11 x 2 = 22
12 x 2 = 24
You can practise in any way that works for you.
  • You could chant them (one times two is two, two times two is four...).
  • You could sing them (Numberblocks Two Times Table Song).
  • You could write them out.
  • You could play games to practise them, such as Times Table Rockstars (same password as Numbots - it should be set to just 2x for this week) or J2Blast (School 360 > Resources > J2E > J2Blast; you will need to choose Level 1 to get 2x questions).
You don't need to hand anything in, but I will be looking closely to see if you manage to improve your score during TTRockstars next Friday.
 
Thanks!
Mr J
 

21st October - 4th November
The spellings and homework aren't due until the Friday of the first week back, so you've got plenty of time even if you're busy having fun over half term (which I hope you will be)!
 
Spellings
The sound /j/ spelt with '-dge' and '-ge' at the end of words.
badge
edge
bridge
dodge
fudge
age
huge
change
charge
village
 
Homework
Remember, remember the 5th of November...
For your homework, I would like you to find out about a famous person from history called Guy Fawkes and make a poster to share what you have found out. We'll be sharing your findings on Friday 4th November.
You could make your poster using paper/card or you could make a digital one. You can bring your poster into school or, if you'd prefer, send a photograph or copy of your work to andrew.johnson@school360.co.uk.
 
Thanks!
Mr J

14th October - 21st October
 
Spellings
The /j/ sound:
often spelt with 'g' before ei and y
always spelt with 'j' before ao and u
 
gem
giant
magic
giraffe
energy
 
jacket
jar
jog
join
adjust
 
Homework
This week's homework is a short written homework. In class, we've been learning about superheroes (such as Spider Man and Wonder Woman), real-life hero helpers (such as nurses and firefighters) and a real-life hero from history (Grace Darling). I would like you to think of three people who you admire (they can be real or fictional, but at least one has to be real) and give a reason why.

For example:
I admire my Mam for always giving excellent advice.
I admire my Dad for being a D.I.Y. master - he can make or fix almost anything!
I admire Han Solo for being rebellious but making the right choices in the end.

Please send me your choices using the homework form in our online classroom (School 360 > Classroom > Classwork > Who is your hero?).
If you are having difficulty accessing School 360, you can write them down and bring them in instead.
We'll be sharing your choices with the class on Friday 21st October.
 
Thanks!
Mr J
 

7th October - 14th October
 
Spellings
The sound /s/ spelt ‘c’ before ei and y (soft c).
race
face
ice
cell
city
space
spicy
fancy
circle
bicycle
 
Homework
For your homework this week, I'd like you all to log onto our new online classroom:
  • Go to School 360 and login (you should all have your details - don't panic if you can't find them, just send me an e-mail or ask me at school).
  • Click on Classroom.
  • If it's the first time you've used it, you'll have to click I'm a student.
  • Where it says Beech Class 2022-2023 click Join.
  • You're now a member of our online classroom!
When you're there, please see if you can reply to a post by answering the Would You Rather? question, then see if you can complete the Place Value Quiz:
  • Click on Classwork.
  • Click on the Place Value Quiz in Homework.
  • You have to click Submit when you get to the end of the quiz so that it sends your answers to me.
I ask random questions in the Online Classroom from time to time - bonus School 360 points for anyone who replies with an answer!
 
Please let me know if you have any problems accessing the Online Classroom - it's a tool we use throughout school, so if we can learn to use it now then it's a great help. However, don't worry if it doesn't work or you're having difficulty - we will be practising again on Monday!
 
Thanks!
 
Mr J

30th September - 7th October
 
A huge thank you for the homework completed and sent in last week. We're going to be using the children's fantastic creations to make Villain Top Trumps and they will also be featuring in their writing.
 
Secondly, the end of the day was a bit hectic so unfortunately we forgot to hand out the children's new reading book - we'll give these out on Monday. Apologies!
 
Spellings
This week, we're practising the /r/ sound spelt 'wr' at the beginning of words.
 
write
written
wrote
wrong
wrap
wrist
wreck
wrestle
wriggle
wren
 
Homework
We've been learning how to represent numbers using tens and ones. Look at the representations on the sheet that has been sent home and see if you can work out what numbers are shown. You can add some examples of your own on the back of the sheet, if you'd like to.
There's also a copy of the sheet below if you've lost it!
 
Thanks,
Mr J
 

23rd September - 30th September 2022
 
Spellings
 
This week, we are practising the sound /n/ spelt 'kn' and (less often) 'gn' at the beginning of words.
 
knock
know
knee
knit
knife
knight
 
gnat
gnaw
gnome
gnarled
 
Note for parents: The sheet that I send home with the spellings on is to help the children practise at home - they don't need to bring it back into school.
 
Homework
In the Traction Man stories that we've been reading, Traction Man's enemies are everyday household objects. Here are some of them - Wicked Professor Spade, The Poisonous Dishcloth and The Broom:
For your homework this week, I’d like you to create your own villain using an everyday household object. You can use anything you like (a vacuum cleaner, a sock, a scooter, a pan…) but check with your grown up first! Add whatever you need to them (drawings, buttons, feathers, googly eyes…) to turn them into a character. You’ll need to think of an awesome name and also write a short description. I chose some scissors and used paper and some Blu-Tack to turn them into The Evil Scissor Shark! Here’s my description: The Evil Scissor Shark likes to prowl the blue carpet looking for paper to snip into tiny pieces. Watch out, he’s got a sharp bite!
Here's the example we made in class together - The Sinister Spoon!
If you're still stuck for ideas, here are some examples that children have made in previous years!
Please ask your grown-up to help you take a picture of your villain and send it to andrew.johnson@school360.co.uk by Friday 30th September. You can either add your writing to your photo or type it into the e-mail. We’ll be using our villains as inspiration for some of our writing in class! 
 
Note for parents: I've also sent a paper copy of the homework home this week until we get into the routine!
 
Have fun!
 
Mr J
 

16th September - 23rd September 2022
 
Spellings
We're going to build up slowly and just start with spellings (no homework) this week until we get into the routine! The spellings to learn are the days of the week. Don't worry if your child finds them tricky at first, just encourage them to have a go by using the method LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE, CHECK. Practising little and often is best and we'll also be learning them in school.
 
day
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
week
fortnight
 
Thanks!

Mr J