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Oral language#

Ideas to support oral language at home

With your child, you could:

  • vary endings to familiar stories and act out scenes
  • turn a story into a play and act it out
  • play games that involve following instructions
  • talk about the similarities and differences between everyday objects – for example, flowers or plants in the garden, cups and mugs in the kitchen, soft toys
  • talk about what happened at school that day
  • discuss the meaning of words and find different words that have similar meanings
  • when reading stories, talk about the characters' personalities and actions using full sentences – for example, "Manu is a kind kiwi because he helped the other animals feel brave enough to enter the talent show".

The teacher will focus on expanding your child's oral language skills. For example, your child will be taught to:

  • describe experiences and retell or adapt stories in detail, using words that link events in a sequence – for example, 'first', 'next', 'then'
  • describe objects in detail, and explain the similarities between those that are grouped together
  • plan and present an oral presentation about a topic, using visual or written supports
  • participate in long conversations by sharing and explaining reasons for their ideas and opinions, taking turns, listening carefully, asking questions and respectfully agreeing and disagreeing with others
  • use specific words that:
    • name and describe things they are learning – for example, gigantic, gallop, recipe
    • explain how often something happens – for example, daily
    • describe a place – for example 'outside'
  • think and talk about a learning task and what they learned, what they did well and what they could improve.

Reading#

Ideas to support reading at home

Expand your reading activities to:

  • last for 10 minutes at least without interruption
  • be an enjoyable, interesting and special time.

With your child, you could:

  • share the reading or see whether your child wants to be read to
  • read or identify known words in all sorts of things – for example, online menus for streaming platforms, street signs, recipes, and food labels
  • read songs, poems, and rhymes and sing them together
  • read to them no matter how old they are – they can understand more challenging information than they can read.

If your child gets stuck when reading a word:

  • wait a few seconds, ask them to sound out the word – help them to break the word up into individual sounds and blend the sounds together to make the word, 'm-i-d-n-igh-t' – 'midnight'
  • check – does the word now makes sense in the sentence
  • support them to try again if they miss a sound – if they don't know what the word means, talk to them about the meaning.

The teacher will focus on expanding your child’s reading skills. For example, by the end of the year your child will be able to:

  • pronounce the sounds made by:
    • all common long vowel patterns, where the vowel 'says its name', such as 'ai' in 'paint' and 'igh' in 'night'
    • vowels when they are next to the letter 'r' (r-controlled vowels), such as 'ar' in 'star' and 'o' in 'corn'
    • 2 vowels next to each other that make 2 different sounds blended together (diphthongs), such as 'oi' in 'boil' and 'ou' as in 'loud'
  • read and understand words that start with 're-' and 'un-', and end in '-est', '-er', and '-ly'
  • use this knowledge (above) to read 2- and 3-syllable words, such as costume and lightning
  • correct their reading attempts by trying other sounds they know for letter patterns – for example, trying out the 's' sound and the 'k' sound for the 2 cs in 'circus')
  • work out what new words and parts of sentences mean by using information from the story and their understanding of how sentences work
  • read and understand longer sentences that include details about the main idea, using joining words like 'because', 'when', 'if’', and 'although
  • recognise and discuss the purpose, and some of the different characteristics, of writing to entertain – for example, plays and stories – and writing to inform
  • fix their reading when it doesn't make sense by rereading, drawing on their existing knowledge, and asking questions
  • retell the key details of the text in response to questions – for example, "what happened?" "When did it happen?" "Who did it happen to?" "What happened next?
  • make educated guesses about the meaning of the story, including predicting what might happen, using the words and images, and their existing knowledge
  • share opinions and personal feelings about the ideas in texts.

Texts for the second year at school#

Books used early in the second year at school will include decodable texts that contain sounds, letter patterns, and word parts that have a meaning (morphemes) that children have already learned. This will help your child to practise reading words with the sounds, letter patterns, and morphemes they have been learning about in a text.

Children will also be reading a wide range of carefully selected books with a wider range of vocabulary, sentence structures, and punctuation. These texts could include Ready to Read Colour Wheel books at Orange and Turquoise levels.

There are examples of books on the page below.

Reading books at home in Year 2

Although your child may not bring these exact books home, they will bring texts that give them extra practise with the reading skills they have been taught.

Writing#

Ideas to support writing at home

With your child, you could:

  • encourage them to practise writing by having felt pens, pencils, crayons, and paper available
  • help them to go back and check what they have written
  • write letters, cards, and messages to friends and family
  • keep a diary, especially if you are doing something different and exciting
  • write lists – "things I need from the shop", "games that I enjoy," or "things I want to do in the holidays".

If your child writes letters backwards or misses sounds in words, praise them for trying and encourage them to have another look at it. If the letters are backwards, you can write the correct letter for them to copy.

The teacher will focus on expanding your child's writing skills. For example, by the end of the year your child will be able to:

  • write all letters and numbers correctly using a comfortable grip, making sure each letter or number is formed, sized, and placed correctly
  • break longer words into syllables, then break each syllable into individual sounds for spelling – for example, handstand – hand / stand – h-a-n-d / s-t-a-n-d
  • spell words with common endings (for example, -s, -ed, -ing) and common contractions (for example, those ending with 'am', 'is', and 'are' – I'm, she's, he's, it's, we're)
  • combine 2 simple sentences with a joining word like 'and', 'but', or 'so'
  • use full stops and capital letters correctly and independently
  • write:
    • short stories about 2 or more events with some details and an ending
    • several sentences about a topic with a main idea and some details
    • several sentences about their opinion on a topic and a reason for their opinion
  • plan their writing through talk, thinking carefully about each sentence before writing it
  • check each sentence as they write, fixing spelling mistakes, adding or deleting words, and using capital letters and full stops.

Resource#

pdf thumbnailReading and writing at home - Year 2 NZ Curriculum
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