The children in year 2 have been learning all about the UK through ICT this week. They have been programming the Blue-Bots to get to various parts of the UK. Working in partners, the children had to direct the Blue-Bot using the iPad app. If they went the wrong way then they had to rectify or debug the program until it was correct.
E-Safety
Year 2 have had a wonderful morning making iMovie trailers all about internet safety. We had a class discussion about how to stay safe online and the children decided on a set of golden rules. They then worked in teams to use the iPads to make a trailer about one or two of the rules. Many of the groups put to the test the work we have done on emotional intelligence. In other words they had to compromise, consider the feelings of their team mates and come to an agreement to the content of the trailers. They did a fantastic job!
Teamwork within STEM Curriculum
29/01/18
Teamwork was the order of the day during some Year 2 STEM work. The children were put into teams and given as many balloons and as much masking tape as they desired. Their challenge was to build a tower as tall as possible using these materials. Before beginning their task they were given some time to design their tower and were also reminded about our previous work regarding emotional intelligence. We discussed how to recognise emotions in others, how to show empathy and how to compromise.
At the end of the activity we utilised thinking hats to assess how well the activity went for their team, judging not just the final product but their work together.
Neuroscience Continued
19/01/18
Today the children continued with their work learning about the brain. They matched common tasks to various parts of the brain. For instance the children decided that riding a bike would require the cerebellum because that part of the brain controls movement and balance.
Once they had completed this task they had another problem solving task to complete. They had to move into a specific order on the line without going into the “swamp”. The task required communication teamwork and some of the elements of emotional intelligence that the children have been learning about.
Learning Behaviours
24/11/17
Today the children in Year 1 and 2 have been learning about learning. We talked about what we already know about our brain and neurons and how we can be good learners. The children know that we learn best when we are happy and calm. Crucially, they know some strategies to help them to calm down in ties of stress. They know that perseverance, hard work and good team work can help us to learn. Listening carefully, looking for clues or other things that may help us to solve problems are also important. They were then given the opportunity to put this into practice in a team task. The children had to get all their team across the swamp with limited resources. They did a fantastic job. The ability of our children to work in a team is improving fast. This is a valuable skill for the future.
Calming Strategies
29th September 2017
Today the focus was on Emotional Intelligence. The children discussed what makes us feel angry or worried and then we thought of strategies to calm down. So that we didn’t forget the strategies, the children worked with a partner to make posters to display around the school. I think that you will agree that some of the posters are stunning. They are also an excellent reminder of calming strategies.
Emotional Intelligence
Today our Year 1 and 2 children have been working together in a session focused on emotional intelligence. Research indicates that emotional intelligence is closely linked with academic and leadership skills. It includes elements of self-motivation and persistence; skill at introspection; delay of gratification; self-control of impulses, moods and emotions; empathy; and social skills. Today the focus was on recognising emotions and the children did a fantastic job at making collages based on a given emotion. This was then used as a topic of discussion as children thought of various scenarios and their feelings. This was an excellent opportunity for children to work with others outside their year group and get to know new friends.
