Year 3
Autumn One Term
Year 3 have had a fantastic half term and have settled into their new classes. Lots of learning has taken place this half term and we are so proud of the children’s hard work and effort over the last 7 weeks. In English, we focused on narrative writing on the story of Tadeo Jones. We used Pie Corbett’s ‘Talk For Writing’ to retell the story of the Ancient Egyptian explorer. Following the Egyptian theme, we then learned about the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. We wrote a diary entry and focused on using emotive language to retell the events from that special day in 1922. In Maths we have focused on addition and subtraction with numbers up to 1000. For our wider curriculum topics yes you guessed it, we have been learning all about Ancient Egypt! From identifying Egypt on a map, to learning about the great pyramid of Giza. From the River Nile to building our own pyramids. From learning about Egyptian pharaohs to mummifying pharaohs (tomatoes) – we have had a fun filled half term focusing on the ancient civilisation of Egypt. We have also learned about much more, including forces and magnets (Science) What makes a good life? (RE) Spanish numbers to 10 and basic greetings (Spanish) Key touch typing skills (Computing) Key throwing and catching in Dodgeball (PE) and finally the story of Rosa Parks. (PSHE)
Phew! Well done for all of your hard work this half term Year 3. Enjoy the break and we shall see you after the half term!
The Year 3 Team
Autumn Two Term
Year 3 had a fantastic half term full of hard work and Christmas cheer. In English, our topic was the Polar Express an we used ‘Talk for Writing’ to retell the magical Christmas tale. From this, we produced some outstanding pieces of writing. In Maths, we deepened our understanding of multiplication and division facts, using different methods to solve questions. In Science, our topic was light and dark. We looked at different light sources around us and how light may or may not travel through an object. Our Geography topic was Egypt. We discussed the location of Egypt as well as the physical and human features of it – we then produced some fantastic fact files all about Egypt. Finally, in R.E. we focused on how different religions express spirituality. As always, the children were focused, hard working and a pleasure to have in class.
The Year 3 team looks forward to more of this in the Spring term!
Spring One Term
Spring One term has been very busy in both year 3 classes and all of the staff have been very impressed with all children’s hard work and effort during the half term. In Maths, we looked at length/distance, mass and volume. The children learnt how to convert length using centimetres, metres and even kilometres. We looked at distances of places close to Castleton to give some context to our learning, but also in the wider world! In English, we had a full half-term focusing on the classic fictional story of ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes. Firstly, we retold the story using ‘Pie Corbett’s Talk for Writing’ method. We produced some outstanding pieces of writing about our own creature from a different dimension. Following this, we created a newspaper report about the famous battle between the Iron Man and the Space Bat Angel Dragon! Our reading focus has been on the American novel ‘Flat Stanley’ by Jeff Brown. The children have really enjoyed reading about Stanley’s adventures in the world after accidentally becoming flat as a pancake!
In Science, we learnt all about animals including humans. We looked at different types of skeletons as well as why humans and animals need one. This led to us creating our own skeletons (out of paper) in small groups – how fun! In R.E. we read creation stories/parables and discussed the messages these convey. For P.E, we enjoyed hockey for our games lessons and gymnastics for our indoor gymnastics lessons.
Finally, we enjoyed our Spanish lessons with Mrs Outram learning about families and pets, as well as our music and singing lessons with Mrs Leadbeater.
Well done for a fantastic half term year 3, enjoy you week off and we look forward to seeing you all in March – ready for World Book Day on Thursday 3rd March!
Spring Two Term
This term has been a fantastic term for year 3. The staff have been amazed by the resilience and had work of the children.
In Maths, we have looked at money. The children have learnt to identify different coins and notes, write amounts of money, exchange money, calculate total amounts and how to calculate change. We have practiced this in both written methods and in a real-world context setting up class shops to secure understanding!
In English, we have had a full half-term focusing on the classic fictional book ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl. We practiced retelling the story using Pie Corbett’s 'Talk for Writing’ method. We have designed some of our very own chocolate bar wrappers that would not look out of place in Mr Wonka’s very own factory! We produced some fantastic pieces of writing around the character of Augustus Gloop describing the scene where Augustus falls into the chocolate river.
Our reading focus this term has been ‘The Hodgeheg’. The children have enjoyed reading all about Max the hedgehog and his struggles safely crossing the road. In Science this half-term we have been learning all about plants. We looked at what plants need to survive and grow. This led to us designing our own experiment where we placed flowers around our school each in a different environment. We had some without light, some without water and some in the fridge! We worked scientifically to discuss why some plants survived and some did not. We have also spent some time looking at the dispersal of seeds witch both year 3 classes found fascinating.
For P.E, we have enjoyed our games sessions of football. We have been learning how to dribble and control the ball as well as how to pass the ball using the inside of our foot. In Gymnastics, we have been putting together a topical dance routine revolving around Stonehenge. This has linked with our history topic of ‘Stone Age in Britain’ where we have had lots of fun learning about prehistoric Britain. We even went on a school trip to Murton Park to learn more about the stone age. We spent the day making pottery, weaving thread and going on a prehistoric beast hunt!
Finally, we enjoyed our Spanish lessons with Mrs Outram learning about food and colours as well as our music and singing lessons with Mrs Leadbeater. Well done for a fantastic half term year 3, enjoy you week off and we look forward to seeing you all after the holidays!
Summer One Term
It has been another half-term full of hard work in both year 3 classes. Here is a snippet of all the learning that has taken place over the last 6 weeks. In English, our focus has been ‘The Tin Forest’ by Helen Ward. We produced some super narrative writing about the old man’s dreams of living in a beautiful forest. We read ‘The Diary of a Killer Cat’ by Anne Fine for our guided reading lessons. Year 3 have really enjoyed hearing the tales of Tuffy the Killer Cat and the adventures he gets into with his family. We produced a book review after finishing the story and most of the children gave it 5 stars…wow! Our focus in maths this half term has been on time, beginning with telling the time in 15-minute intervals and moving onto 5-minute intervals, digital time, 24-hour time and finally solving word problems. Lots of time (excuse the pun) and effort has gone into this work and we are proud of all the children’s determination. Furthermore, in history we have travelled back 4000 years to the Bronze Age, to discuss what life was like in prehistoric Britain. The children really enjoyed learning about Stonehenge and produced a fantastic fact file about this ancient wonder of the world. We even had enough time to use Lego to create our own versions! Rocks and Soils has been our focus in Science, and we have learnt about the different types of rocks as well as where these may be found. We conducted an experiment to see the different properties of rocks and the children really enjoyed dunking the rocks into water to see how dense they were. We then moved onto fossils and looked at the fossilisation process. Using salt dough, we created our own fossils and then painted them. Our P.E. focus has been striking and fielding with the sports coaches and indoor gymnastics with Mr Groves and Mr Coulson. As always, we have loved our Spanish and Music lessons with Mrs Outram and Mrs Leadbeater. Another half term full of learning and laughter in both year 3 classes and we couldn’t be prouder of all the children’s hard work. Enjoy the half-term break everyone and we look forward to our last half-term in Year 3!
