Spring Term 2020
W.C. 9.3.2020
Phew - we're so glad this week has gone quickly because it's been assessment week! However, we have still managed to get lots done too!
In English, we have continued to work on the key skills for non-chronological reports including exploring appropriate subordinating conjunctions like when, if, although and because. We have also been continuing to delve deeper into our novel and think about creating summaries for the pages by answering the questions of who, what and why. Another key skill we have practiced is organising and sorting information under suitable subheadings - we also learnt lots about the Kapok tree from this! Next week, we will be researching the rainforest, planning and drafting our non-chronological reports.
In Maths, we have been looking at how we can place fractions on number lines. We began by looking at fractions below 1 whole but by the end of the week, we were confidently placing mixed numbers too! Did you know a mixed number is where you have a whole number AND a fraction? We have had to make sure that we are carefully thinking about the denominators of our fractions and ensuring our number lines have the same number of EQUAL parts!
In Topic, we have spent lots of our afternoons exploring Hinduism! We began by looking at how Hindus think the world was made. They believe that at first there was nothing, just Vishnu asleep in the coils of a snake until he heard an 'om' sound. He then had a lotus flower grow from his belly button and in there was Brahman who he told to go and create the world! We also have listened to the story behind the festival of Holi. Did you know that Prahlad was the son of a demon king who tried to kill him?! He even made Prahlad's aunt sit with him on a bonfire! Luckily, Prahlad survived! After this, we got to go and have lots of fun by taking part in our school Holi Festival on the field where there was lots of coloured paint thrown! To finish, we took a 'virtual' tour of the Mandir. We explored what it would be like for a Hindu to go there by thinking of the 5 senses! We got to touch, taste, hear, smell and see items that would be found there!
We have also been trying to figure out the tricky subject of databases. We are not beginning to understand that databases how information in different cells. They can be used to sort through data easily. Our first day saw us input data ourselves before we collected our own data from around school and used our skills to create our very own databases!
W.C. 2.3.2020
In English, we have moved onto exploring information texts, particularly non-chronological reports. For this, we have started a new narrative called 'The Great Kapok Tree'. So far we have made predictions about the story, begun to make some inferences about characters and the motives for their actions as well as exploring some skills. We have been looking closely at the perfect form of tenses like 'I have eaten' instead of 'I ate' to add more variety into our writing. We will be continuing to explore important features of non-chronological reports next week including appropriate conjunctions and organising information into paragraphs.
In Maths, we have started to learn all about fractions! This week we have been able to explain the difference between unit and non-unit fractions. Did you know if a fraction has a 1 as its numerator it is a unit-fraction? If it has any other number as the numerator, it is a non-unit fraction! We have also been able to explain that the denominator is the whole. This has been really useful for us in describing the differences in fractions, particularly tenths which we have been able to count in well! We now also know that if the numerator and denominator are the same, this represents a whole. It's been fantastic to see children transfer their bar modelling skills to this topic too!
Our focus this week has been geography! We have been exploring the differences between human and physical geography. The definitions we have agreed on are: physical geography is something which naturally occurs but human geography tends to be man made features. We have linked this closely to our Topic of Ancient Civilisations. We have been able to list physical features such as rivers, mountains and seas of the countries and thinking about how the three locations are similar because of this. We have also learnt that the human geography of these places and civilisations were similar too including having walled cities and separate parts of their main cities for the rich and poor people. There were also temples in most of these places, as well as burial grounds and baths!
We have also had lots of fun celebrating World Book Day this week! It was wonderful to see all the different costumes from both fiction and non-fiction books. To celebrate, we chose a book called 'I need a new bum!'. It's a very funny book! From this, we wrote our own versions about our character's poor dad breaking his bum too! We have also had lots of fun taking part in 'Drop Your Books and Boogie' on Tuesday which ended in a whole school conga!
Reminder: Our Holi celebrations will be taking place on Tuesday - don't forget to bring in a white top!
W.C. 24.2.2020
It's term 4! Wow, this year is passing by in a flash. That's meant there's been no time to waste!
In Maths, we have completed our unit on multiplication and division by exploring the formal methods one last time. We moved from expanded multiplication to short column multiplication which has continued to challenge our knowledge of our 3s, 4s and 8 times tables! Some of us have been able to do this easily without any resources at all! We've also been continuing to practice our short division, remembering with this method that we start with the highest valued column!
In English, we have been practicing Haikus. We first explored the syllabic structure of the poems recognising that they have 5 syllables on the first line, 7 on the second and 5 on the third. In total, there are 17 syllables across 3 lines! We were able to clap out the syllables in our names too! After this, we looked at how a Haiku would be successful by thinking about its form, purpose and audience! We also created a vocabulary word bank that was appropriate for the Haiku we would be writing about... the four seasons! I was soooo impressed with the children's big write this term - they have really blown me away!
In our Topic this week, we have been focusing on Science. We began by exploring food chains and picking out key vocabulary such as predator, prey, producer and consumer! We discussed different food chains that we could think of and spoke about what would happen if one of the living things was no longer a part of it! We then moved onto exploring the five animals groups: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and fish! We looked at the different characteristics for each and challenged ourselves to classify different animals! We have also been exploring classification keys. We now know that these are a series of questions that can be used to sort animals and living things from one another. To practice this, we used licorice allsorts and thought about how the types were different to one another. Lastly, we have been thinking about the manmade and natural changes that can happen to environments. For this, we read a book called 'The Vanishing Rainforest' which spoke about the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. We then received a letter from Baron Von Buildmore who wanted to cut down the trees in our local area and replace it with a supermarket! We wrote some very persuasive letters back explaining why this was not a good idea and the impact it would have on the local wildlife!
W.C 3.2.2020
In English this week, we have continued to read about Grandad's island. To start the week, we explored the rule of 3 and how having three adjectives in a row can help to catch the readers attention. Next, we focused on alliteration making sure that we were choosing appropriate adjectives to describe the nouns on the island! To end the week, we have planned and drafted our adverts ready to transcribe on Monday.
In Maths, we have continued our journey through multiplication and division! We are starting to get much more confident on multiplying larger numbers using partitioning and equipment if we need it. We have also learnt how to divide 2 digit numbers by 1 digit - on Friday we even explored some which had remainders!
In History, we have started comparing the different civilisations. We have looked at the different scripts of each and learnt about how they were formed. We learnt that they are all based on pictures and some of them we still don't know what they actually mean! We discussed why we thought they created writing and decided that it is a really important method of communication.
In Geography, we have thought about what the 3 ancient civilisations have in common with one another. First, we explored important features of our globe including where the equator, hemispheres and poles were. We next placed the ancient civilisations on our map and found that they are all on the same line of latitude! We also discovered that they are all situated by a river and gave reasons for why we thought this was.
In RE, it's been all about the Prophet Muhammed. We have learnt all about his life and how he became the chosen messenger of Allah. We also thought about how he may have been feeling at each point in the story.
In PSHE, as the next part of our Dreams and Goals, we have constructed our designs from last week. We made sure to only use the equipment that we had chosen and had to think really carefully about how we communicate with the other members of our team - next week will be the egg drop!
W.C 27.1.2020
We have finished our myths and legends this week in English and have since moved onto exploring persuasive writing and our new novel 'Grandpa's island'. So far, we have discovered that Syd and his Grandpa are going off on an adventure to an island - Syd's also been able to explore Grandpa's attic! In our skills work, we have explored key feature of persuasive adverts including repetition, rhetorical questions and the rule of three. We have also been able to adapt our sentence types by using adverbial phrases.
In Maths, we have been continuing to develop our understanding of multiplication and division by exploring related facts. These are calculations that we are able to work out the answers to because of the prior knowledge we have! We have been able to link together calculations such as 7 X 8 and 70 X 8! To end the week, we have begun to look at multiplying harder two digit numbers by a 1 digit number by using practical equipment.
In Science, we have been learning all about the digestive system. We have learnt that food starts its digestive journey in the mouth and we followed the journey all the way down to the anus where it is expelled as excrement (poo!). As you can imagine, we loved learning about this!!
In History, we have learnt all about the achievements of the Shang Dynasty. We know that they created bowls, vases and even had kings (unlike the previous civilisations!). We wrote our own newspaper reports all about our favourite new invention as if we were in the Shang Dynasty ourselves.
In Art, we have finished our printing unit by completing our printing blocks. We have also been able to replicate the chinese design by using 2 different colours (blue and white) to create different patterns. These look really effective.
In French, we have learnt how to ask others how they are and how to reply. We are able to confidently explain how we are feeling and are getting much more confident in holding a conversation!
In PSHE, we have been set a challenge as part of our dreams and goals unit. We have to try and protect an egg and prevent it from cracking when it is dropped! This week, we have been planning in our groups how we are going to solve this problem - next week will be the test!
W.C 20.1.2020
In English this week, we have been busy planning, drafting and editing our myths and legends. We have taken inspiration from The Secret of the Black Rock but have put our own spin on it! We have made sure to include noun phrases, adverbials and direct speech to show case all of the key skills we have been practicing!
In Maths, we have continued to work on our 8s, thinking carefully about how we can use our other times table knowledge to help us! We have also been looking at how to understand divisibility! We were able to use sticks to create triangles and squares (for our 3s and 4s) and work out if our numbers were divisible by the number or if they had a remainder. We moved onto looking at this with pictures and use abstract number further in the week. We have also begun to explore related facts and how we know that there are always 4 calculations that all use the same numbers!
In Science, we have been exploring the purpose of our muscles. We know that they are important for helping us to move. For this, we took part in a mini-experiment. We had to complete some exercise by first predicting which muscles we thought would be used and then seeing if our predictions were right!
In History, we have moved onto the Indus Valley! We have been discussing the important successes of these civilisation by thinking about how they are still used today. We have continued to pick out key vocabulary that we can use in our writing. Next week is alla bout the Shang Dynasty!
In Art, we have started to create our printing blocks using our designs from last week. We have been thinking of how we can create intricate designs that aren't too complicated as we had to make 2 printing blocks! Next week, we will be completing these and then printing.
In RE, we have looked at the role of the Prophet Muhammed and how important he is to the Islamic religion. We learnt all about his life and what he taught muslims about ways that they should live their lives.
In French, we have learnt how to introduce ourselves. We know that 'je m'apelle' means my name is. It's been so much fun practicing our conversations in French and knowing how to ask someone's name and how to reply!
W.C 13.1.2020
Year 3 continued to impress this week!
Our English has continued to focus on closely linking our reading with writing. This week we have been working hard on recapping our understanding of direct speech and how to punctuate it. We started by using speech bubble post-its to clearly plan what we want each character to say and then we looked at our direct speech rules and how to transfer what we want into inverted commas. I was impressed with how much we remembered! We have also been looking at recalling the events and using our inference skills to work out how Erin was feeling when she was sinking into the sea. From this, we wrote our first short burst diary entry to explain what Erin's day was like.
In Maths, we have continued with practicing our division and multiplication. This week we have been focused on our 4s and even started to explore our 8s! This has been tough and we will have to keep practicing our knowledge of each of these times tables to make sure we can answer questions quickly! We have, however, been able to spot some patterns between the 2s, 4s and 8s!
In Science, we have been working on what the purpose of our skeleton is. We know it is important to help us with our movement, support and to protect our organs. We had to reconstruct our poor friend Sid by placing his bones in the correct place. We even got to learn the correct scientific names too!
In History, we have been looking at the achievements of Ancient Sumer! Did you know they were the first civilisation to create the wheel and the first written script? They were known as the 'cradle of civilisation'! We had to match the artefacts to the definitions and their names and then decide which we thought were the most important and best achievements!
In Music, we have been continuing to explore Bob Marley. We first recapped 'Three Little Birds' explaining what we liked and disliked and then moved onto comparing this to 'Jammin'. After, we got to practice playing 'Three Little Birds' on the Ocarinas!
In RE, we have started to explore Islam. For our first lesson, we looked at the 5 pillars. We know that these are important to Muslims as a guide for their religion and practices. We discovered that Muslims should pray 5 times a day and that they must face Mecca. Mecca is a place in Arabia where Muslims should visit at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it!
In Computing, our next unit is all about databases! This week we have learnt what a database is and how to input information onto a spreadsheet.
In Art, we are taking inspiration from the Chinese Willow Pattern. We first got to listen to the story and also the origins of this design. Next, we had to collage our favourite patterns from a range and then design our own using these ideas to help us. Next week, we will be transferring our prints onto printing blocks!
W.C 6.1.2020
Wow a new year and a new decade!
In English this week, we have started to look at our new book - we haven't learnt its name yet but have been using our prediction and inference skills to use the information we do have. We have also been practicing our creative writing skills by writing noun phrases, character descriptions and similes - all of this only using the first 4 pages!
In Maths, we have started our new unit of multiplication and division. We began, as always, by taking a pre-test to see what we already know and have since been practicing our 3s! This week we have learnt to multiply and divide using these times tables thinking about easy ways that we can work them out. We have even been able to transfer our bar modelling skills too!
In Science, we are exploring our next strand of biology. This half term is all about animals and humans. To start, we look at nutrients that humans need to function. We found that, while it is similar to the 5 food groups, there are 7 types of nutrients. We also found that carbohydrates are the group which we get most of our nutrients from.
In Topic, we are exploring the Ancient Civilisations of Ancient Sumer, Indus Valley and the Shang Dynasty. We have completed our 'pre mind map' and have also found out which countries these ancient civilisations would be in today!
In French, we have been focused on greetings. We know that there are different ways to say 'hello' to people - some are more formal and some are friendlier! We say 'salut' to our friends rather than people we don't know very well!
In PSHE, we have explored our dreams and goals. For this week, we have been looking at pictures of people facing challenges. We had to work out what their challenge was and how they were showing resilience and perseverance by trying to overcome them.
As you can see, it's been a verrrrrrry busy week but Year 3 are ready for this term!!
