Year 2 teachers this way please...

[foofi]

Are there any kind and helpful Y2 teachers who could fill me in on what they do and offer any useful tips? I'm teaching in Y2 after Easter and it's one year group I haven't had much to do with. Obviously it's SATS term, so tell me everything I need to know about that - but basically anything you can think of for the person who otherwise might be saying and doing the wrong thing when we go back!! Buzzwords, organisation tips etc. TIA

Sentence structure
Adjectives
Spelling of key words and using strategies to spell new or unusual words
Stories having a beginning, middle and end.
Reading with understanding (predict what might happen next etc etc)

Number bonds
Recognition of 2d/ 3d shapes
2/5/10 x tables
MONEY PROBLEMS
Time to the hour and half hour
Interpreting simple graphs an pictograms
Measuring

Check out your target children (at level 2c) and assess how you can help them get to 2b
Make friends with TA and check that SEN Profiles are up to date (to cover your own back!)

YR2 is just about the same as any other year, my school are not doing KS1 SATs any more but in the past, the children have hardly noticed them as they are very low key. You may want to show them some past papers beforehand, just so they get used to the format and the idea of working independently.

Best of British

Great advice so far on the academic side from nell12!

My advice (which I'm sure you already know!)is to try to get to know the kids as quickly as possible - once you make a positive relationship with them, they will want to do their best to please you. Find out what makes each of them tick, especially the more fidgety / disengaged boys 5 lots of praise for each negative - catch them being good!
Try to keep each bit of teaching/learning short and snappy - don't keep them on the carpet for more than 10mins at a time (their attention span is their age +/- 1 yr!!!!) and try to make activities as multisensory as possible, not just pencil and paper.

Good Luck!

Thank you all of you. Any good websites or books you recommend I use?

Ooooh yes!
Topmarks.com - fantastic for games and interactive whiteboard stuff, similarly ictgames and primaryresources.co.uk has lots of worksheety things.
I find that if you google the exact thing you are looking for, like oa blend, etc, it comes up with all sorts of stuff - some good!