Harnessing the Wind!

As the end of the academic year glimmers on the horizon, the teachers in Year 2 have been trying to make the most of every last second with the children with whom they have grown so close.

World Book Day was an exciting way to get the children straight back into their learning at the beginning of Term; Year 2 refocussed their attention on The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. The story immediately captivated the children’s attention as they went on adventures with Beth, Frannie and Jo and met Moonface and Silkie as well as journeying to strange and wonderful lands at the top of the Faraway Tree.

The focus then shifted onto poetry, where children learnt a fun farmyard poem about a mysterious egg. This text lent itself wonderfully to tasks where the children could use their imagination and creative thinking: they had the opportunity to write their own interpretation of the poem, coming up with their own setting, animals and mysterious objects. Children looked at many poems in class and each child put on their bravest poses and presented a poem in front of the whole class. The focus was on using their loudest voices and delivering the poems with expression and actions. Every child presented their poems with confidence and as they continue to work on their presentation skills, they are sure to become more and more comfortable sharing their work with an audience; it was wonderful to see how their enjoyment for reading and presenting has grown over the course of the year. The Year 2s then got ready for their poetry assembly: the children could not wait to show off their rhyme and rhythm as well as their actions as they wore sunglasses to enhance their look as rappers.

Amidst all of their poetry fun, children have also been learning about clean, safe, renewable energy for their STEAM projects. They started off their windy fortnight by visiting a kind homeowner in the area, Mr Joshua, who showed them around his land. He had a small wind turbine with six blades that converted wind energy into electricity with the help of a small solar panel. He explained each of these processes to the children while they drew a scientific diagram of the wind turbine and solar panel project. Mr Joshua even let the children into his home to witness the turning on of a light switch and television, which were powered by the wind turbine and solar panel. The children enjoyed this hands-on learning experience and showed great respect when inside Mr Joshua’s home and on his land.

Year 2 then continued their investigation into wind energy by using the iPads to research the advantages, disadvantages, location and processes of a wind turbine. The children worked wonderfully in their groups to take the information found online and change the language into sentences that they understood. They worked well in their groups and presented their findings to the class. They completed written tasks surrounding wind energy and wind turbines. The children put on their ‘Imagination Hats’ and pretended that they were a wind turbine to describe how a wind turbine would feel, what it might spend its day and night doing and what its favourite and least favourite things to do might be. The Year 2’s imagination never ceases to amaze and they produced some beautiful pieces of writing!

Children’s Art and DT skills have been put to the test during this STEAM fortnight as they built their own windmills using toilet rolls and cardboard to make blades that allow the models to turn. They then moved on to creating a wind farm by building wind turbines. This involved plenty of glue, patience and resilience (from both the children and the teachers!). The excitement surrounding STEAM fortnight has been wonderful to see, as has the children’s keen interest in learning about wind energy and wind turbines.