Spring Learning
Spring 2 Week 6.
What a lovely end to a busy half term!
Monday morning saw the children creating their own pizzas - we first looked at the origin of pizza and why it was so popular. The finished products were very impressive and we hope that the children enjoyed eating them when they got home!
The children have really enjoyed exploring their different European Countries. This week they have finished their google slides presentations answering our Big Question ' Where in Europe would make the best holiday destination'? They showed great team work during these lessons and have really worked well together.
During English the children finished their leaflets and took great pride in sharing these with Year Two. It was lovely to see how engaged they were and also how sensible sharing the knowledge they have gained.
In our last History lesson of the term - the Museum came to us! We had several artefacts from the Stone age through to the Iron Age. The children were asked to identify these artefacts and describe them noting what they might have been used for and what period they were from. They were very successful, which shows how well they have retained the learning.
Our maths learning has continued with fractions, we have looked at how a half and two quarters are the same using problem solving questions to explore this further.
We would like to wish you a restful break.
The Year
Spring 2 - Week 5
The children have enthusiastically continued to create their google slides presentations on the European country of their choice. We look forward to seeing the finished article next week!
On the same theme our Geography lessons have focused on research skills and looking up key information about our chosen country, we have used Maps and atlases to inform us about the landscape and topography as well as websites and books to look up facts such as population and culture.
As mathematicians we have continued to look at fractions, we have covered halves,quarters and thirds and are now moving on to knowing the difference between unit and non unit fractions.
In our last science lesson of the half term we explored how magnets both attract and repel each other and investigated how magnetic forces work.
We very much enjoyed meeting you all on Friday at our parents consultations, remember please do contact us if you have any questions.
The year 3 team.
Spring 2 - Week 4
British Science Week has been fantastic and we have enjoyed hearing and seeing this week's home learning. The children learnt about a wide range of scientists and all presented their research in different ways. Thank you for all the help and support at home - it is greatly appreciated!
In maths we began to explore fractions, revisiting our knowledge of recognising equal and unequal parts. We used a range of practical resources to show this including paper, counters, cubes and Numicon.
English this week has focused on the features of an information leaflet. The children will be producing their own in the coming weeks and showcasing them to year 2. The theme will be European countries, so their Geography learning will help to produce something we are sure will be very informative for our year 2 children.
Science has been a big focus this week as we have continued to explore forces and magnets. Year 3 investigated which materials are magnet and why. A topic of conversation was sparked by some coins being magnetic and some not. Ask the children what we found out!
Our budding artists have created a piece based on the work by Joan Miro, it has been really lovely to see their imaginations run wild. This contrasted very much with the work they created previously. It was nice to have a discussion based on the art they like and why.
On Wednesday this week, we joined local schools by dedicating a day for Ukraine. The questions and messages written by the children were both moving and heartfelt - we were extremely impressed by their maturity!
We hope you have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine 
Spring 2 - Week 3
This week we have been focussing on innovating our model text, following the structure but including our own ideas. Our grammar focuses have been to include fronted adverbials and subordinate clauses as a way of increasing the description in our writing. As mathematicians, we have continued to explore length, with a particular emphasis on perimeter – children have enjoyed investigating the perimeter of classroom objects with a variety of measuring tools including string, rulers metre sticks and tape measures.
As artists, we have continued to learn about European artists, placing an emphasis on abstract art. This week, we learnt about Joan Miro and how he used colour and shapes (inspired by Picasso) to create his pieces. The children expressed themselves by creating their own works of art in his style.
In history, we have continued to explore the Bronze Age, using subheadings as a way of categorising and organising information. It was lovely to see how the children chose to present their ideas as well as making comparisons between their modern-day lives. In RSHE we have been continuing to develop our knowledge of a healthy lifestyle. The children discussed their fitness goals and we then investigated food packaging to find out about their calorie, sugar and fat content. We were shocked to discover the high sugar content in some of our favourite snacks!
As scientists, we have been exploring magnetism further, constructing our own scientific enquiries to plan and test our theories! The children worked as a team to conduct fair tests and then reflected on their results afterwards. In preparation for British Science Week, we have asked the children to research a famous scientist of their choice. How they wish to present their new knowledge is up to them – we look forward to hearing all about it!
Have a lovely weekend 
Spring 2 - Week 2
We began the week recapping the children's prior knowledge of measuring length, exploring equivalent lengths and have had fun measuring items in the classroom.
In English we have continued to learn our model text, using drama to infer a characters feelings throughout a story and how writers can show this using exciting vocabulary.
We have explored European landmarks in Geography, deciding if they are human or physical, and chose our favourites to investigate further.
Our journey through pre-history has taken us to the Bronze Age, where we looked at how we can use our inference skills to investigate how a person would have lived based on how they buried and what they were buried with.
Book week has been great fun this week. We have begun each day with a different book-themed activity, making bookmarks, creating character selfies and word searches. On World Book Day itself, we loved seeing how much effort the children made with their costumes and the creativity shown in making their wooden spoon characters.
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
Spring 2 - Week 1
We welcomed Year 3 back as passengers on a Chennestone Airline flight to Europe. We began the week by filling in our passport details, exploring the emergency exits and taking off on our brand new topic, 'Where in Europe would make the best holiday destination?'.
As geographers, we completed a grid sharing our current knowledge of Europe and then asked insightful questions about what we want to know which will shape our learning over the next few weeks. We used atlases to locate and label European countries, their capital cities and the oceans around them. In history, we began learning about The Bronze Age using our knowledge of The Stone Age to work out how the period of time got its name. We also learnt how to extract metal ores from rocks, mixing tin and copper together to make bronze!
In English, we began to learn a new model text about Jenny's adventure across the globe in a hot air balloon - ask your children if they can retell the story to you at home! We then focussed on adding description to our writing using carefully selected adjectives and extending our sentences by using subordinate clauses.
In maths, we have been learning all about money this week. We began by converting pounds into pence, using our knowledge of exchanging to help us. Following a selection of lessons on adding and subtracting money, Year 3 opened up their very own shop to practice buying items, giving and receiving change! Any opportunities to experience this when out and about at the shops would be fantastic!
As artist we have looked at the work of Vincent Van Gogh and used this to inspire us to plan a piece depicting a European landmark. We will create the final outcome next week.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and look forward to Book Week
Week 6
This week, our focus in maths has been solving word problems. We have recognised the importance of highlighting key information to help work out which operation to use and what method is the most efficient. Some of the word problems we have explored contained more than one step, so we also looked at using the inverse and estimating to check our answers!
In English, we have continued to explore the features of instruction writing and have written step-by-step guides on how to make a clay pot, Stone Age weapons/tools and cave art. Our Stone Age day was a fantastic success, children created clay pots, cave art, weapons, tools and even got to sample some foods that would've been eaten in the Stone Age (see pictures below). We also explored rhythm and beat in music, putting out own spin on the classic song 'We Will Rock You'. In science, we compared a typical Stone Age diet to a modern-day diet, exploring the similarities and differences. It was interesting to categorise each item into food groups as well as looking at the nutritional value.
As it has also been Children's Mental Health Week, we have taken time to reflect on what makes us happy and calm. This linked really nicely with our RSHE learning this week where children have worked in groups to design a garden for a person facing a challenge. The children thought long and hard about both physical and hidden challenges. After 3 lessons of planning, each group presented their garden to the rest of the class, explaining the reasons behind each feature. We were impressed with the children's ability to empathise with the needs of others.
Have a lovely half term!
Stone Age Day!
Week 5
We started the week by excavating our fossils from last week. The children used 'tools' to carefully uncover their treasures to reveal secrets of the past. In maths, our focus was on representing data in the form of tally charts, pictograms and bar charts. We also created our own charts based on our dice investigation. In English, we began to look at the features of instruction writing inspired by 'How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth'. As a year group, we decided the instructions were quite simple, so we have up-levelled them using more complex vocabulary. As scientists, we observed the ground beneath our feet, showing the different layers of soil and exploring how it is created. A highlight of the week was Biscuit-henge! We created our own versions of the famous landmark out of biscuits and explored the history of its creation.
Have a lovely weekend :-)
Week 4
We kicked of the week with our Stone Age workshop, this both reinforced previous learning and gave us some more information that the children have been able to show in their excellent mind maps in our History lesson this week. Many of the lovely Meerkats have also shown their learning through dance - they have been incredibly creative using rhythm and mime. They have practiced during playtimes and showcased them this afternoon!
Our maths learning has moved on to division with remainders, we had great fun showing this creating shapes with lolly sticks. Science has focused on how fossils are formed and we conducted an experiment to demonstrate the process they go through. We will be excavating on Monday!
We hope you have a lovely weekend!
Week 3
What a fabulous week we have had in Year 3! From exploring how people lived in the Stone Age to looking at the differences between made made and natural rocks and thinking about their uses. In Maths we have been practicing using the part whole model and short multiplication to help us work out a variety of questions. In RSHE we have thought about our goals and how we might achieve them. Our English lessons have been great fun and we have uploaded a sound file below for you to listen to the children performing our model text, listen out for the fantastic expression and intonation, this has been one of our focuses this half term.
Stone Age Model Text
Week 2
