Mad about the 90s

What a fantastic start to the half term for Year 2. Children were transported back in time to the 1990s and delighted their teachers with their enthusiasm from the word “go”.

Children started the week by looking at all things technology as there were plenty of inventions we could not do without today that first came about in the 90s, like the World Wide Web, DVD’s and MP3 players (the latter two definitely considered ancient relics by most of the children!). The first text message was sent in 1992 and children were able to send their own ‘text messages’ to each other, focussing on speech bubbles, direct speech and speech marks. Some excited Year 2s even made ‘whooshing’ sounds as the text message was ‘sent’ to their partner.

Of course Decades Fortnight had to have a film study day, where children watched a small clip from Matilda and answered questions, as well as comparing the 1995 Toy Story movie with the more recent Toy Story 3 (2010) The children compared the animation and answered some questions, demonstrating very sound logic and reasoning (it turns out that Year 2 would love for their toys to come to life when they are away at school!)

Nelson Mandela has been a large focus of our learning as he was released from prison in 1990 and became the first black president of South Africa in 1994. The children wrote their own diary entries, stepping into the shoes of Mandela when he was in prison. It was fantastic to see the way in which the children tackled such a complex and emotional topic and their appreciation of his significance was clear.

Children also took time to focus on Kenya’s history through the decade, particularly the transition from a single-party system to a multi-party system. Year 2 welcomed a guest speaker, who spoke about this change and some of the common parties today. There was then a mini-election in class, seeing one party get elected as a Year 2 president. This was an amazing experience for the children and expanded their knowledge on multi-party systems.

The toys of the 90s have brought about great excitement, looking at the Tamagotchi, the Game Boy and the toy that has been the talk of the Year 2 classrooms, the Furbie. Children designed an invention from the 90s or something that they believe should have been around in the 90s, bringing in items from home. Their imaginations have run wild and it has been amazing to see the 90s come to life in our classrooms.

Fashion of the 90s has been making a comeback recently; the children got to design their own 90s clothes using a paper doll of their choice. The food of the 90s included two fun lunch box snacks: the fruit roll up and cheese string. The Year 2s made their own fruit roll ups this week, drying out some mango and rolling it up to place in their self-made boxes.

A highlight of the 90s fortnight in the Year 2 classes has been the learning of three 90s songs. With phenomenal enthusiasm, children have been belting out the heart rendering vocals of Backstreet Boys, dancing away to the Spice Girls and giving it their all to the unanimous favourite - Steps.