Welcome to the Grade 2 2022 Blog. It is here that you will find out what we have been up to in the busy world of the Grade 2 Neighbourhood.

We have kicked off the year with a buzz in the grade 2 neighbourhood. From exploring Treaty, to creating card games, to sharing our love of literature as well as collaborating and problem solving, we have really hit the ground running with 2022, the year for grade 2!

The school year has begun with the students exploring the amazing possibilities available in our learning space. We have begun our connection phase of our Inquiry, with our focus on Our World, particularly how our past has impacted on who we are today and what it means for our future.

Voice, Treaty, Truth…

‘It is important that we know the truth and tell the truth’ – Sienna 

We have used the book ‘Finding our Heart’ by Thomas Mayor to provoke the students’ curiosity and spark the conversation about our past, present and future as Australians. Discussions arose about  how we can make respectful choices as individuals that will have a positive impact on our land and each other. ‘Help us fix our land’, our land is our heart – Rhiannon. This led us to creating our own Treaty in the classroom that we have all agreed to that will help us to have a safe, kind, and respectful learning environment.

‘A treaty is an agreement and it’s a good thing. I learnt that it makes us all connected’ – Simane

The students then went on to use the digital resource ‘Deadly Questions’ to further explore the concept of Treaty and what this would mean for our First Nations people.  ‘Deadly means awesome, cool and good’ – Isla

The game to trump all…

‘I’m playing Top Trump, it’s kind of like Rumy, it means the rating on the cards need to be higher’ – Rohan

A highlight in the studio has been the students’ own recreation of the card game ‘Top Trumps’. ‘I have taught 1 person yesterday and 1 person today how to play’ – Sebastian

After learning the game themselves and teaching each other, the students have now applied their understanding to their own version. ‘I have a big card which will be my top trump card’ – Louis  For their own cards, the students are considering the traits of themselves or their favourite animals and using that knowledge to create profile cards to play with. 

‘I have rated my top animals for my cards’ – Leo C.

Loving Literacy brings us to a Book Club

‘A genre is a type of book, like comedy’ – Rohan

The grade twos are avid readers and have shown excitement to share their thoughts and ideas about books. To foster this love of literacy, we began  Literacy Circles this week, modelled on a reciprocal reading or book club, whereby students are given the time and opportunity to share a book, and reflect about the characters, story or ideas in the book. 

‘The most people like comedy and adventure books’ – Aslan

Mirroring our Cities

‘I’m making Sydney, the blue and the yellow are the beach, and the tower is a hotel’ – Frankie

After reading and discussing the book Mirror by Jeanie Baker, the students were inspired to replicate the cities of Melbourne and Marrakech in our construction space. ‘We read Mirror and now we have made a Melbourne and a Marrakesh’ – Aslan. They wanted  to show the similarities and differences between the two cities. This has provoked further thoughts and discussion about cities; how they were in the past and what they could look like in the future. 

I’m making an underground train station, it’s underground so that people can go there in an emergency – Jack

My Two Blankets

‘I would teach them to say hello and goodbye so they know what to say when they meet you’ – Zara

I would say to Cartwheel that I would teach you how to speak our language’ – Flynn

The students explored the concept of empathy whilst reading the book ‘My Two Blankets’ by Ireana Kobold. It provoked their thoughts and understandings of how they would welcome a new person into the neighbourhood and what gifts they would share with them to help them feel included. Many students were also able to share their experiences of going somewhere new and feeling scared and afraid in a new environment. 

‘I would take them to the park because the park is nice and it will make them feel happy’ – Sakura

Crossing the Bridge Riddle

‘PHPS needs to carry the lantern as they are the fastest’ – Eddie

As part of their problem solving exploration, the students were faced with the provocation challenge of getting particular people across a bridge in a certain time. To help them solve the problem, students used their problem solving skills in groups. Some groups acted out the scenario, some drew it and some used a mathematical sentence. Overall the students were able to show determination and collaboration to explore the problem even though  none of them were able to actually get the right answer.

‘Even if we move all the numbers around, we still get the same answer!’ – Henry TB