MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Topic Summary

In the Movers and Shakers project, children will learn five statements from Dawson's model that will help them identify people who are historically significant and use the words: year, decade and century to describe dates and times. They will study the life and impact of a significant person in the locality and of 10 significant individuals from around the world. They will complete in-depth studies of significant explorers like Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong, and significant activists like Emmeline Pankhurst and Rosa Parks and think carefully about the impact of their actions. Children will also carry out an independent study of a significant person from the past and learn about people who are significant today. They will also learn how significant people are commemorated and design a memorial for a person they have studied.

Reading and Writing

Throughout the topic we will be looking at different texts to focus on in our reading and writing journeys. Here's a look at some of these texts...

Within our English lessons we will be looking at 'The way back home,' 'Rosa Parks' and 'Malala's Magic Pencil.' These will help us work through the composition side of Year 2. The children will be working towards writing different writing outcomes which will help apply skills learnt. These outcomes are..

* Biographies

* Newspaper Reports

* Persuasive posters 

* Speeches 

Our Guided Reading journey will focus on texts that coincide with our topic. These texts will help us to work through the word-reading and comprehension side of the Year 2 curriculum by focussing on predicting, inference and decoding along with other key skills.

Maths

In Year 2 we begin our Maths journey by looking at ‘Number and Place Value.’  During this topic the children will aim to read, write and recognise numbers up to 100 in both words and numerals. They will count in steps of twos, threes, fives and tens from any number, forwards and backwards. As well as this, children will demonstrate an understanding of place value supported through the use of resources and recognise the place value of each digit in a two digit number. 

As we move into the second half of the Autumn term, we will begin to look at ‘Addition and Subtraction'. The children will be using concrete, pictorial and abstract representations to understand the concept of addition and subtraction. There will be a strong focus on recalling number bonds, addition and subtraction facts to 20 and using the inverse to check calculations.  

Foundation Subjects

As well as the core subject areas, we will also be focusing on key foundation subjects. These foundation subjects provide further breadth into topics surrounding history, geography, science, art etc. The focus will be on the skills which link to our topic. 

History

Movers and Shakers is a history based topic. This means there are very strong cross-curricular links throughout all learning journeys that teaches children about historically significant people who have had a major impact on the world. They will learn to use timelines, stories and historical sources to find out about the people featured and use historical models to explore their significance.

Geography

Throughout our geography topic, children will develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places. They will name, locate and explain the significance of a place. As well as this, children will explore the importance of a significant place.

Science

Our Science journey focuses on human survival and the impact exercise and nutrition has on our bodies. We will also take part in some cool investigations linked to this topic.

Art

Art will consist of a project called 'Mix it.' This project teaches children about basic colour theory by studying the colour wheel and colour mixing. It includes an exploration of primary and secondary colours and how artists use colour in their artwork.

Design and Technology

Design and technology will consist of children learning about remarkable recipes and cooking. 

Computing

Children will focus on 'Purple Mash' where they will learn about online safety.

PSHE

Children will look at the theme of relationships this term. This will cover the following aspects: families and friendships, safe relationships and respecting ourselves and others. 

Religious Education

Across the two halves of the Autumn term, the children will look at two different themes and concepts for their RE learning journey. During the first half of the term the children will be focusing on the concept of Special in the theme of Special People. 

Throughout the second half term the children will be able to explore the concept of Creation in the context of the Creation around the World.

Physical Education

Children will learn a range of skills to help with their balance and co ordination. 

How can you help at home...

There's lots of ways that you can help your child at home. One of them is by reading with them as much as possible. This will encourage your child to apply their phonics and develop their understanding of the text. You can use the online BUGCLUB tool to help encourage your child to read at home! Alongside this, what would be most helpful is to ensure that your child reads their book and brings it back to school weekly. They will bring home a reading log, please sign and comment where appropriate. This enables us to monitor their progress. Reading at home regularly will help enhance children’s reading skills which will also  impact their writing.  

Homework will be given out every Friday and asked to be returned on a Tuesday.  It will be linked to what your child has been learning about in school that week. Discussing your child's homework with them is a great way to help with consolidating and checking their understanding. Please ensure that your child completes this consistently and sign to say that you've seen it 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask! I'll always try my best to keep you updated through Marv Me and through regular contact day to day.

 Thank you for your support and engagement. It is HUGELY appreciated