Year 2 Curriculum Guide
2024-25
LEARNING IN YEAR 2
PRIMARY YEARS PROGRAMME
Throughout the year, students will be guided through six Units of Inquiry of global significance, providing opportunities to broaden their learning by developing their conceptual understandings, strengthening their knowledge and skills across, between and beyond subject areas.
The following six Units of Inquiry will be explored throughout the year. Each unit is developed around a concept, a Central Idea and Lines of Inquiry.
Who We Are: Choices 選擇
An inquiry into:
- Myself: My health and wellbeing
- Interactions: My relationships with others and my sense of belonging
- Growth: The impact on my learning and development
Unit timing: all year
Where We Are in Place and Time: Communities 社區
An inquiry into:
- Roles and responsibilities within a community (case study - Hong Lok Yuen/school) 社區內的角色和責任 (個案研究 - 康樂園/學校)
- Different communities we belong to 我們屬於不同的社區
- How people take action in the community 人們如何在社區中採取行動
Unit timing: Term One
How We Organise Ourselves: Adaptation 適應
An inquiry into:
- Where we live (case study - Hong Kong) 我們住在哪裡(案例研究 - 香港)
- Physical geography around the world 世界各地的自然地理
- The ways in which humans adapt to their geography 人類適應地理環境的方式
Unit timing: Term One
How We Express Ourselves: Communication 溝通
An inquiry into:
- Different forms of visual and performing arts 不同形式的視覺和表演藝術
- Why people communicate their ideas 為什麼人們交流他們的想法
- Individual perspectives of art 關於藝術的個人觀點
Unit timing: Term Two
Sharing the Planet: Choices
Unit timing: Terms Two and Three
How the World Works: Forces 力
An inquiry into:
- Case study - gravity or magnetism 案例研究 - 重力或磁力
- The connection between force and motion 力與運動的關係
- How we can investigate forces 我們如何探究力
Unit timing: Term Three
LANGUAGE
The development of language is fundamental to all areas of our learning programs. Language helps us communicate our thinking and understanding.
Language is socially constructed - it is dependent on social interactions and relationships. It permeates all subject areas. As such, we view all of our teachers and assistants to be language teachers.
English is our main language of instruction, with Chinese (Mandarin) taught as an additional language.
English
In Year 2, we continue with our phonics and camera words program, providing the students with the essential building blocks for reading and writing. Our reading program focuses on developing decoding strategies, fluency and comprehension. These are developed through a mixture of guiding reading, shared reading, read aloud and independent reading sessions. Readers will be sent home on a regular basis so students can practice taught skills after school.
Students will explore a range of text types: to entertain, to inform and to persuade. Specific writing skills will be developed around how to entertain a reader through recounts, stories and poems.
Chinese
Chinese Foundation focuses on speaking, listening and social Chinese. Students read texts and environmental print and learn to write the most commonly occurring characters.
Chinese Language focuses on Chinese speaking, listening and the reading of longer texts. Students write their own longer pieces of writing.
MATHEMATICS
Mathematics is a global language of concepts and symbols through which we make sense of the world around us.
Mathematics is taught through three main stages:
- Constructing meaning and ideas about a mathematical concept through interactions with objects, discussions, experimentation and play;
- Transferring these ideas and understandings into symbols;
- Applying these ideas and understanding in real-life and hands-on problem solving activities.
Mathematics is taught through the strands of number, data, shape and space, measure and problem solving.
In Year 2, students will explore numbers up to 1000. They will learn addition facts to 100 and subtraction facts to 20. They will learn different addition strategies such as skip counting, doubling and counting on. They will explore the concept of multiplication through arrays and division through grouping. They also learn to recognise and represent halves, quarters, eighths and thirds.
Students will explore the concept of space by applying directional vocabulary and manipulating shapes and objects by sliding and flipping. They will measure and compare length, area, volume, mass and capacity using informal units. They will describe a range of 2D shapes and 3D objects. They will tell time to the quarter hour, name and order months and use calendars.
OUTDOOR LEARNING
In Year 2, students will explore a range of land-based and freshwater environments, including local habitats. They will learn how to identify a range of native mammals. Students will also create and maintain a garden of edible plants.
PE and WELLBEING
Our PE program in Year 2 focuses on developing a range of fundamental movement skills. This is mainly done through our Perceptual Motor Program.
Wellbeing is another central pillar of our school. Throughout our wellbeing program, our students explore relationships, identity and aspects of health (physical, social, emotional and spiritual). Our wellbeing program also teaches our students about child protection, anti-bullying and mindfulness strategies.
In Year 2, students will learn about character strengths. They will learn about their physical development and will learn strategies to use when they feel unsafe, uncomfortable or need help. Students will learn the importance of nutrition, hydration and physical activity, as well as, mindfulness practices.
THE ARTS
In Music, Year 2 students will use different forms of singing and percussion instruments to explore beat, rhythm and tone. They will explore formal notation and time signatures.
In Visual Art, Year 2 students will explore a range techniques which can be used for compositional effect. They will be provided opportunities to recognise different forms of art styles from various cultures. They will continue to develop their ability to draw different shapes and lines.
In Drama, Year 2 students will continue to explore how to use voice, expression, movement & space to communicate ideas and stories to an audience.
In Dance, Year 2 students will explore how to use space, time, dynamics and relationships to create dance sequences.
SCIENCE and SOCIAL STUDIES
In Year 2, students will explore the concept of gravity and investigate the nature of forces. Students will also explore Hong Kong and the world through using maps and globes. They will inquire into how communities work, including the rights and responsibilities of community members.
TECHNOLOGY
In Year 2, students will use simple coding to program a device, experiment with digital cameras to take images and use images, sounds and text to create a digital story. Students will also explore opportunities around the school for designing solutions.
Year Two Learning Outcomes:
English:
Speaking and Listening:
- Listen attentively for short periods of time.
- Follow two-step instructions.
- Communicate effectively with classmates and teachers.
- Ask questions when needed.
Reading:
- Decode texts with a teacher at a PM level 15 or higher.
- Answer oral comprehension questions relating to the text.
- Use knowledge of phonemes and camera words (words that are not easily decoded) from the “Advanced Code” of the Get Reading Right program.
- Listen to stories daily.
- Begin to select books to read independently.
Writing:
- Write stories that have a beginning, middle, and end, with an understanding that stories contain a complication or a problem.
- Write simple information texts, such as recounts or lists of facts.
- Write letters of an appropriate and consistent size.
- Use knowledge of phonemes and camera words to spell.
- Extend sentences using connecting words such as ‘and’, ‘so’ and ‘because.’
- Produce writing that can be understood although there may be spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors.
Maths:
Number Fluency:
- Recognise, compare and order most numbers up to 1000.
- Count on and back from a given number up to 3 digits.
- Skip count in multiples of 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10.)
- Start to develop mental and written strategies for calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and equals signs.
- Recognise, find and write fractions where the numerator (top number) is 1, with a focus on halves, quarters and eighths.
- Create simple representations of data, including tally charts.
Shape, Space and Measure:
- Begin to use properties of shapes (such as line symmetry) to sort, describe and name 2D and 3D shapes.
- Measure and compare length, mass and capacity.
- Describe position and direction in a practical context.
Problem Solving:
- Use problem-solving skills, such as working systematically, visualising and trial and improvement, when solving simple problems relating to real-life situations.
Subject Guidance Nursery to Year 6
To see the Subject Guidance for all subjects from Nursery to Year 6 please click on this link
ICHK Kindergarten and Primary
Email: info@ichkhly.edu.hk
Website: www.ichkhly.edu.hk
Location: 3 Hong Lok Yuen 20th Street, Hong Lok Yuen, Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3955 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ICHK.ICHKHongLokYuen/
A dynamic IB World School in the beautiful New Territories of Hong Kong.