Welcome to the Year 3 Blog!
Our teacher is Mr Edgar
Our Learning Support Assistants are Ms Breen, Ms Friel and Ms Vasconcellos and Ms Baptiste.
Summer 1
Starting our final term of Year 3 we are approaching a fun filled, busy few weeks!
English
The Romans is a theme across many of our areas of our work. In English we will be using Roman Myths as the theme for our first long writing project. We will be looking at the features of these stories, the use of characters as well as creating a moral behind our stories.
If you fancy doing some research and learning at home based on the Romans why not learn some of these great songs from BBC radio https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/music-ks2-romans-index/zdfk92p
Explanation texts
We will then be using the text ‘Until I met Dudley: How everyday things really work’ by Roger McGough and Chris Riddell.
Using the ingenious ideas, text and diagrams in this book we will be inspired to create our own explanation texts for everyday items.
Maths
In our Maths we will be building on prior knowledge, skills and techniques we have learnt in Year 3 as well as a few new topics.
Time
We will be starting the half term with time focusing on using Roman Numerals.
Measures
Reading scales and measurements will be our focus as well as using this information for problem solving.
RE
We will be learning about Hinduism in our world religion unit of work. We will be focusing on learning about the gods and godess of the religion, the Aum symbol and what we can learn from their religion to improve our own reflections and attitudes.
Science
Our Science is all about plants and their growth. We will be building on our previous learning from Key Stage one and focusing on the best climates and environments for plants to grow. The features of different plants and leaves and conducting experiments to explore this.
Art
Our Art this half term is focused on Roman Pottery
We will be learning about the designs and uses of Roman pottery. We will be designing our own pots before creating them out of clay.
Have a look at these techniques to see the skills we will be learning.
RSHE
‘Relationships’ is the theme for this half term.
We will be focusing on the following
- - Family roles and responsibilities
- - Friendships
- - Keeping myself safe online
- - Being a global citizen
- - Celebrating our special relationships
Why not create your w relationship circle to this about all of the different relationships you have.
History
The Romans will be our focus for the summer term in Year 3. We will be considering why the Roman invaded England and the impact this had on our history.
If you have ever visited any roman sites either in this country or others then please share any photos you have.
Some of the key vocabulary we will be using is
amphitheatre – a circular building with tiers of seats.
aqueduct – a large system used for carrying water from one place to another.
mosaic - is the art of decorating a surface with little pieces of tiles in different colours
centurion – an officer who commanded a group or 80-100 soldiers within a Legion.
chariot – a mode of transport pulled by horses.
gladiator = professional fighters in Rome whose fierce fights in amphitheatres were watched by huge crowds.
toga – a loose piece of clothing worn by the people in Rome.
emperor – the ruler of an empire
basilica – a large church used for law and meetings.
legion – large section of the Roman army, made up of 5,000 soldiers.
Geography
Extreme Earth
We will be building on our recent learning in Science on rocks to learn all about the extreme weather, events and disasters that effect the earth.
If you want to do some of your own research then have a look at this website https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/category/discover/geography/
PE
Our PE lessons will be focusing on Athletics and Dance. We will also be preparing for Sports Day at the end of this half term.
Computing
‘We are communicators’ is the title of this unit of work where we will be learning about sending and receiving emails, adding attachments and how to communicate safely online.
Spring Two
Over this half term we will be continuing and building upon our learning for some subjects as well as starting new and exciting topics. Read below to find out more, find links to our knowledge organisers for this half term and links to support learning at home.
English
Describing Settings
Our first topic in English will be focused on this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HfBbSUORvo
based on a lighthouse. We will be creating a variety of texts based on the video including a descriptive paragraph, diary entries and newspaper reports.
Poetry
We will then be looking into shape and theme poetry focusing on weather. We will be performing poems written by others, writing our own poems and performing them.
Maths
Fractions
We will be starting this half term with a unit of work on fractions. Use the picture below to see the skills we will be learning including finding equivalent fractions.
Measures
In our work on measures we will be looking again at measuring using mm, cm and m. We will be looking at weight, capacity and mass.
RE
Matthew 26: 36-40, Jesus said:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
These are the two greatest commandments. The first of our units will be answering the question
How do Christians believe following Jesus’ new commandments and his 2 greatest commandments make a difference?
Easter
We will then be learning about Easter including the important people in the Easter Story
- salvation:To be rescued/saved by God. Relationship between God and humankind is restored.
- disciple:A follower of Jesus
- betrayal:to be let down/break of trust between people
- denial:Not owning up to the truth
- forgiveness:To ‘let go’ of those things that hurt us.
- redemption:Being set free by Jesus’ death.
- crucifixion:A method of executing criminals.
- resurrection:The rising from the dead of Jesus Christ
Gospel - The Christian message and the good news of the Bible.
Commandment - A divine rule from God.
New Testament- The second part of the Bible that tells stories of Jesus and his teachings.
Science
Amazing Bodies
We will be learning about our amazing bodies and what they can do. Including focusing on
- Living things need food to grow and to be strong and healthy.
- Plants can make their own food, but animals cannot.
- To stay healthy, humans need to exercise, eat a healthy diet and be hygienic.
- Animals, including humans, need food, water and air to stay alive.
Art
Our Art this half term is focused on Rangoli patterns
We will be learning about how Rangoli patterns are used in regions celebrations, about how to use complementary colours.
Our final piece of work will be creating a whole class mural of Rangoli patterns.
RSHE
‘Healthy Me’ is the topic for this half term.
We will be learning about how to keep health, set ourselves aspirational targets for our health, ways of exercising. We also will be looking at how to keep our selves safe around topics such as drugs.
Think at home about all of the activities you do to have a healthy lifestyle and how you could encourage others to do the same.
Spanish
En nuestras lecciones de español este semestre estaremos...
Numbers and how to ask and answer questions about age.
Have a look at the number word mat below to help remember the numbers to 20.
History
We will be continuing our topic on Stone Age
Geography
We will be continuing our topic on The Lake District
PE
Our PE lessons will be focusing on Athletics and Striking and Field games.
Computing
Our topic for this half term is ‘We are Vloggers!’
The key questions we will be thinking of will be
- How might you teach yourself something new?
- How does Google produce search results?
- How can we make a great presentation?
- How do you think the internet works?
- How do you think Google Image Search works?
- How could we make our own images for our presentations?
- What makes an effective presentation?
Other Events
World Book Day – On Friday 7th March we will be celebrating World Book Day. Have a look at their website for brilliant ideas, tasks and videos. https://www.worldbookday.com/
Arts Week
From 10th March to 14th March we will be taking part in our annual Arts Week.
Spring 1
This half term we are starting some exciting new topics across a range of subjects. We also have some exciting activities such as STEM week and our class assembly to look forward to!
Read below for information all about the half term
English
We will be starting our new class text ‘Stig of the Dump’ by Clive King and our first few weeks of English will be based on this text and creating play scripts based on it.
We will then be continuing with our Prehistoric theme and be creating Non Chronological reports based on our own Prehistoric animals.
Then finally, we will be writing instructions. We will be reading the text ‘How to wash a woolly mammoth’ by Michele Robinson & Kate Hindley.
Maths
The first half of the term will be continuing to learn about multiplication and division and we will be focusing on learning formal methods for both.
Knowing the inverse of the timetables will be incredibly helpful this half term.
Length and perimeter
Our next unit will be on length and perimeter. See the picture below for the strategy to find the perimeter.
RE
We will be starting our first unit of work on a world religion this half term and will be focusing on Judaism. We will be carefully studying the religion, making comparisons to our own beliefs and learning to respect and understand other religions.
Have a look at this BBC bitesize website to learn more.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zh77vk7
Science
Our topic will be rocks for this half term. We will be examining specimens and different soils. We will also be learning a range of vocabulary to make us rock experts. Use the grid below to help with some of the language we will be using.
Computing
Our topic will be ‘We are Presenter’s we will be learning how to use cameras and recording equipment to create videos with commentary, edit and adapt our videos.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zdn3d6f#zqhqqfr
History
The Stone Age is our new topic for History. We will be studying this until Easter. In Spring 2 we will be visiting Gunnersbury Museum for a ‘Survive the Stone Age’ workshop. Until then we will be looking at timelines and important skills and life developments that were essential to Stone Age life.
Geography
The Lake District is our topic for the Spring term. We will be contrasting the Lake District to where we live. We will be focusing on the features of the Lake District, the famous tourism spots and using mapping skills to explore the area on mapping tools.
Music
Our new topic for Music will be focussing on the song ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley. Looking at rhythm and rhyme and then using instruments to recreate parts of the song.
Have a listen to this great song here.
Spanish
We are excited to start our Spanish lessons with Mrs Jensen. This term we will be focusing on colours and opinions.
Here is some of the vocabularly we will need this half term.
Art
Joan Miro and Surrealism is the topic for our art work this half term. We will be learning about Surrealism and how Miro went about creating his masterpieces before creating our own.
To learn more about Miro then have a look at the Tate website here https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joan-miro-1646
RSHE
Dreams and Goals is our topic for the half term. We will be thinking on what our own dreams and goals are and then what our roles in fulfilling others dreams and goals are. We are going to think about how to overcome obstacles that can stand in the way of our achievements.
Spring 1
This half term we are starting some exciting new topics across a range of subjects. We also have some exciting activities such as STEM week to look forward to.
Read below for information all about the half term
English
We will be starting our new class text ‘Stig of the Dump’ by Clive King and our first few weeks of English will be based on this text and creating play scripts based on it.
We will then be continuing with our Prehistoric theme and be creating Non Chronological reports based on our own Prehistoric animals.
Then finally, we will be writing instructions. We will be reading the text ‘How to wash a woolly mammoth’ by Michele Robinson & Kate Hindley.
Maths
The first half of the term will be continuing to learn about multiplication and division and we will be focusing on learning formal methods for both.
Knowing the inverse of the timetables will be incredibly helpful this half term.
Length and perimeter
Our next unit will be on length and perimeter. See the picture below for the strategy to find the perimeter.
RE
We will be starting our first unit of work on a world religion this half term and will be focusing on Judaism. We will be carefully studying the religion, making comparisons to our own beliefs and learning to respect and understand other religions.
Have a look at this BBC bitesize website to learn more.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zh77vk7
Science
Our topic will be rocks for this half term. We will be examining specimens and different soils. We will also be learning a range of vocabulary to make us rock experts. Use the grid below to help with some of the language we will be using.
Computing
Our topic will be ‘We are Presenter’s we will be learning how to use cameras and recording equipment to create videos with commentary, edit and adapt our videos.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zdn3d6f#zqhqqfr
History
The Stone Age is our new topic for History. We will be studying this until Easter. In Spring 2 we will be visiting Gunnersbury Museum for a ‘Survive the Stone Age’ workshop. Until then we will be looking at timelines and important skills and life developments that were essential to Stone Age life.
Geography
The Lake District is our topic for the Spring term. We will be contrasting the Lake District to where we live. We will be focusing on the features of the Lake District, the famous tourism spots and using mapping skills to explore the area on mapping tools.
Music
Our new topic for Music will be focussing on the song ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley. Looking at rhythm and rhyme and then using instruments to recreate parts of the song.
Have a listen to this great song here.
Spanish
We are excited to start our Spanish lessons with Mrs Jensen. This term we will be focusing on colours and opinions.
Here is some of the vocabularly we will need this half term.
Art
Joan Miro and Surrealism is the topic for our art work this half term. We will be learning about Surrealism and how Miro went about creating his masterpieces before creating our own.
To learn more about Miro then have a look at the Tate website here https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joan-miro-1646
RSHE
Dreams and Goals is our topic for the half term. We will be thinking on what our own dreams and goals are and then what our roles in fulfilling others dreams and goals are. We are going to think about how to overcome obstacles that can stand in the way of our achievements.
Autumn 2
This half term we are continuing with some of our interesting areas of learning as well as moving onto some new topics. We will also be preparing for Christmas, Poetry Recital, having out first DT day of the year and going on a trip to the Royal Albert hall.
English
Our main text this half term will be ‘The Firework Makers daughter’ by Philip Pullman. We will be reading and exploring this fantastic adventure tale before producing our own writing on based on the text.
We will also be looking at writing recount texts, continuing our weekly SPaG lessons and spelling tasks.
During this half term we will be focusing on or knowledge of the Year 3 and 4 Statutory Word List. These are the words that the children are expected to know how to read and spell by the end of Year 4. Have a look at the word mat below to help you practise at home.
These words can also be practised on Spelling Frame! https://spellingframe.co.uk/
Maths
In Maths we are focusing on calculations until Christmas. Firstly, we will be continuing our addition and subtraction and learning the formal methods of column addition and subtraction. We will then go onto multiplication and division leading up to formal methods of these too.
RE
We will be studying two units of work this half term.
Remembrance
We will start with a short topic on Remembrance. We will think about why it is important to remember, think about why we wear poppies and the significance of remembering.
A fantastic child friendly video which explores the theme of Remembrance can be found here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/poppies
How do Advent and the Epiphany tell us what Christmas is really about?
This is the question we will be answering in the lead up to Christmas. We will be setting wishes for Advent and discovering why it is such a special time for Christians.
Why not use this kindness Advent Calendar in the lead up to Christmas…
Computing
We are bug fixers – Finding and correcting bugs in programs
We will be building on our knowledge of coding from last half term to be able to correct algorithms and find any problems and create solutions. We will be working on Scratch.
Don’t forget you can access the online version of Scratch and create your own projects here https://scratch.mit.edu/
Science
Can you see me?
Our science topic will be based on Light. We will be exploring light sources and how to make shadows. There will be lots of practical experiments for us to plan and take part in.
Have a look at the key knowledge and vocabulary we will be needing to use below:
The BBC bite size page is a fantastic place to watch videos and explore about Light
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z3nnb9q
History
Our topic of Ancient Egypt will continue till the end of term. We will be continuing to learn all about the cultures and traditions of Ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs that ruled.
Geography
We will continue our learning about the UK. Thinking of the differences between different regions and learning about physical features of the UK.
Spanish
Our Spanish learning will be thinking about introducing ourselves. We have learn how to have a simple conversation and share our likes and dislikes. Now we will be able to add more information about ourselves to our conversations including our names and ages.
RSHE
Our RSHE unit for this half term is celebrating difference. We will be linking this topic with Anti-Bullying week and discussing how we can challenge derogatory language. We will be celebrating what makes us unique, how we can ‘Let our Lights Shine’ and learning to give compliments.
Art
Our Art this half term we will all about Pointillism. We will be looking at famous art works and artists that use pointillism, how pointillism became to be an art movement and creating our own pieces of work using pointillism. We will be learning about George Seurat and his work. What do you think of one of his most famous pieces of art?
Autumn 1
Welcome to Year 3. This autumn term we are starting the year with some fantastic topics. After spending some time settling back into school, renewing our friendships and making new ones with our new friends we are going to be working hard and making a great start to Key Stage 2! As well as our great learning in the classroom, we will also have some great days with some brilliant events in school.
English
To start or English learning we will be looking at some alternative traditional tales from other cultures and periods of history, which link well to our learning in our other subjects. We will be using the text ‘Cinderella of the Nile’ as our inspiration. We will be looking at character development, making comparisons between texts that we know, and writing descriptions. All of this will lead to us writing our own version of an alternative fairy-tale.
Then we will be moving onto looking at writing non-chronological reports. We will be using a variety of texts that have wolves in them to inspire our writing; help us find our facts and help create our reports.
Maths
At the start of the term we will be looking at number and place value. We will be revising our previous knowledge and then building on our understanding of 3 digit and 4 digit numbers. We will be practising counting in different values, including starting to think through some of our times tables.
Don’t forget to login to TT Rock stars to get some fun timetables practise in!
We will then move onto looking at addition and subtraction. We will be beginning to learn formal methods for this calculations and use some problem solving skills when working with word problems.
If you want some daily practise to help your maths skills why not use this ‘Number of the Day’ board!
Science
‘Forces and Magnets’ is the topic we are starting with in science. We will be doing lots of practical experiments to see when we use forces in our daily life. We will then go onto experimenting with magnets, thinking about how magnets can effect objects.
RE
‘What is the Bibles big story and what does it reveal about having faith in God?’
This is our big question for this half term. We will be looking at the bible in detail, learning about the story that runs through the bible, where main events fit into the bible.
What is your favourite bible story?
Can you look in your bible at home and find a story?
What is a verse in the bible?
Computing
We will be using the programme Scratch in our computing lessons to be programmers. We will working on creating our own animations.
Have a look at this website to explore some scratch projects that other people have worked on
https://scratch.mit.edu/explore/projects/games/
https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/editor/?tutorial=getStarted
History
Our history topic for this term will be Ancient Egypt. We will be exploring the world of Ancient Egypt and how it effects our lives today. We will be learning about the culture and lives of people in Ancient Egypt – and of course learning about mummification!
Geography
Our topic in geography is ‘The UK’. We will be exploring areas of the UK. Looking at the different countries and their symbols and flags that make the UK. We will be looking at the unique features of the UK.
Where have you been in the UK?
It would be great to get some details/photos/information about places in the UK, which are important to the children. Maybe places they have been on holiday to or you have family that live there, or maybe somewhere else that they have lived. If you have any photos or details about this then please bring it into school or email it to Mr Edgar!
Art
We are going to be starting the years art topics with studying Van Gogh, and specifically his ‘Sunflowers’ art work. We will be studying Van Gogh’s work then learning skills to help us then create our own final pieces of work.
Spanish
Our Spanish topics this half term are ‘greetings’ and ‘classroom instructions’. Have a look at the word mat below to see some of the language we will be using.
PE
In our PE lessons we will be doing Gymnastics and Invasion games. Remember PE lessons are on Mondays and Tuesdays this year. Please bring in your PE kit on both of these days.
RSHE
‘Being Me in My World’
Our RSHE topic to start the term is all about celebrating us! We will be thinking about how to make everyone feel welcome, how to make our school a happy place for everyone.
What a great first half term we have to look forward to!
