Year 2 English Objectives

Year 2

 

Children learn to:

 

Speak and listen for a wide range of purposes in different contexts

1.         Speaking

• speak with clarity and use intonation when reading and reciting texts
• tell real and imagined stories using the conventions of familiar story language
• explain ideas and processes using language and gesture appropriately

 

2.         Listening and Responding

• listen to others in class, ask relevant questions and follow instructions
• listen to talk by an adult, remember some specific points and identify what they have learned
• respond to presentations by describing characters, repeating some highlight and commenting constructively

 

3.         Group discussion and interaction

• ensure everyone contributes, allocate tasks, and consider alternatives and reach agreement
• work effectively in groups by ensuring each group member takes a turn challenging, supporting and moving on
• listen to each other’s views and preferences, agree the next steps to take and identify contributions by each group member

 

 

4.         Drama

• adopt appropriate roles in small or large groups and consider alternative courses of action
• present part of traditional stores, own stories or work from different parts of the curriculum for members of their own class
• consider how mood and atmosphere are created in live or recorded performance

 

Read a wide range of texts on screen and on paper

5.         Word reading skills and strategies

• recognise less common digraphs and trigraphs, exploring word families
• routinely apply phonic knowledge for reading unknown or difficult words
• use syntax, context and word structure when reading for meaning
• use knowledge of word structure to support reading, including polysyllabic words

 

6.         Understanding and interpreting texts

• draw together ideas and information from across a whole text, using simple signposts in the text
• give some reasons for why things happen or characters change
• explain organisational features of texts, including alphabetical order, layout, diagrams, captions, hyperlinks and bullet points
• explore how particular words are used, including words and expressions with similar meanings

 

7.         Engaging with and responding to texts

• read whole books on their own, choosing and justifying selections
• engage with books through exploring and enacting interpretations
• explain their reactions to texts, commenting on important aspects

 

 

Write a wide range of texts on paper and on screen

 

8.         Creating and shaping texts

• draw on knowledge and experience of texts in deciding and planning what and how to write
• sustain form in narrative, including use of person and time
• maintain consistency in non-narrative, including purpose and tense
• make adventurous word and language choices appropriate to style and purpose of text
• select from different presentational features to suit particular writing purposes on paper and on screen

 

9.         Text structure and organisation

• use planning to establish clear sections for writing
• use appropriate language to make sections hang together

 

10.       Sentence structure and punctuation

• write simple and compound sentences and begin to use subordination in relation to time and reason
• use tense consistently (present, past and imperative)
• use question marks and use commas to separate items in a list

 

11.       Word structure and spelling

• spell new words using phonics and a range of self-checking strategies
• spell correctly common inflections, including plurals, tenses (-ing, -ed), words with double letters and common prefixes

 

12.       Presentation

• write legibly, with ascenders and descenders distinguished
• use upper and lower case letters appropriately within words
• word process short narrative and non-narrative texts