Blackbirds - Year 2

Term 1: Seven Wonders of the World

Welcome back! It’s so good to be back at school after what seems like a life-time away. It has been wonderful to meet all the children that make up the new Blackbirds Class, and of course, the parents too.

This term, our topic is all about landmarks, more specifically ‘The Seven Wonders of the World’. A truly interesting start to the beginning of our new year, and a topic that encompasses both history and geography, giving children an insight to the world beyond our (long shut) front doors.

See if you can name them all (before peeking at the list below)…

• The Taj Mahal (India)
• The Great Wall of China
• Machu Picchu (Peru)
• Chichen Itza (Mexico)
• Petra (Jordan)
• Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), and finally…
• The Colosseum (Italy)

Did you notice? The Great Pyramid of Giza is NOT on the list!

The Seven Wonders of the Modern World are a list of landmarks that have long been considered to be the most awe-inspiring structures in the world. Many, made hundreds (even thousands) of years ago, must have taken an unbelievable number of hours to build, not to mention the brainpower of some very clever individuals. Because of this, they each attract millions of tourists every year. The current list replaced the original list that consisted mostly of landmarks that no longer exist. (I have attached a Powerpoint if you are interested in finding out more).

Humanities:

We will be studying various aspects of geography, history, culture and civilisation, making comparisons to nowadays. Children will gain a sense of dates throughout history, geographical locations and an understanding how people lived in the past. They will learn why each of these landmarks qualify as ‘Wonders of the World’, are key landmarks and popular tourist attractions today. Hopefully, this will be an interesting topic for all.

Writing:

Each term, we aim to teach two writing genres. By this I mean, children will be working towards writing two different pieces of text. By the end of the year, they will have experienced writing for a variety of different purposes (including fiction and non-fiction). This term, we will be writing a narrative (or story/tale) to begin with, followed by a non-chronological report in the last three weeks. For more information about writing genres, please visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zd66fg8

Maths:

This term’s focus is place value (counting, ordering, comparing, hundreds/tens/ones, representing numbers using apparatus). Children need to have a solid understanding of ‘number’ before progressing onto other operations (+ - x and ÷). Next term, we will be starting addition and subtraction. You can help you children by visiting some useful websites (see below) and regular counting with them (ones, twos, fives, tens and forwards/backwards from any given number).

Topmarks: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/

BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zjxhfg8

White Rose: https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/

Please find attached: our weekly timetable, curriculum map for this term plus other useful information.

Best regards,

Mrs Durman and Mrs Jacobs – The Blackbirds Team