Welcome to Year 3
Year 3 Curriculum Map
Welcome to Year 3!
We hope you all had a wonderful spring break and we hope you all managed to spend some time as a family. We are now into the final term of Year 3- we can't actually believe it!
This term we are starting our brand new topic on the 'Ancient Greeks' and we loved kick starting our new topic with our Greek Day, as you can see in the blog. Thank you for all your efforts with the children's costumes; they all looked amazing! We will begin by learning about Greek history which will include the different gods and goddesses, what they were famous for as well as touching on the Olympics which will take place in the summer. We also have an exciting trip planned for the June term based on the Greeks! In science, the children will complete their topic on forces before moving onto plants where they will learn about germination and pollination. In art, we will have a focus on three dimension where the children will create their own story through drawing and making. In RE, the children will continue with their learning on Hindus but with a focus on celebrations this time. Please note that swimming has now finished for this year but the children will still need to come to school dressed in their PE kit on a Wednesday.
An exciting term ahead for us all!
Teachers in Y3
Staffing this term in Year 3 will stay the same where the teaching week will be covered as follows; Miss Jackson - Monday and Tuesday and Mrs Pape will cover Wednesday- Friday. We are also supported by Miss McNamara throughout the week and Mrs Starkey will take the children on a Wednesday morning for PE and alternate Thursday afternoons for PSHE and PE.
We understand communication is vital for sharing information. It is always busy first thing on a morning, as we are preparing the lessons for the day in class. But should you wish to pass on a message an adult at the cloakroom door can pass this on to us. Anything of urgency, or that is confidential, please ask an adult at the door and we will try and meet with you briefly in the cloakroom area. Should you wish to contact us by email, these are our addresses.
Emma.jackson@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk Katie.pape@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk
It will be useful to add both of us to any emails you send, so we can both be aware of anything needing our attention. We will aim to respond within 2 working days.
Reading in Y3
We make reading a priority in Year 3. We encourage the children to develop a love of books in all genres and themes, with a big focus on reading for pleasure. During the school day children will be reading independently as well as taking part in class guided reading. The children will be able to choose a book from our class bookcase, which they can read in class at quiet reading times. They will also choose a book from the school library to bring home. They will be able to return this book when they have finished it and choose a new one. We appreciate some books are longer and will take more than a week to read. Books will be signed in and out, so we can monitor the regularity of children’s reading.
PE
PE is on Wednesdays and Thursdays where the children will need to come to school dressed in their PE kit with trainers. As we approach the warmer weather (we hope!) please ensure that your child brings a sun hat to school and sun cream is applied before school. We will be focusing on athletics and netball this term. .
Homework
Spellings will be sent home on Friday for children to practise at home. The test will take place in school on the following Friday with Mrs Pape.
We also encourage you to read with your child at least 3 times per week. Every child in school will have a reading record, even if they are a free reader. This is a place to record any new words children have learnt, progress you see or titles of other books read at home.
Mathletics online – there will be three activities set on Mathletics that link to our learning that has taken place in the week. Your child can use paper to help them work out answers. Find Mathletics at Mathletics.com and use your child’s logging in details to access their account. The beauty of Mathletics is, it shows the teacher how a child did with a particular learning intention but also there is an option for children to do more than just the activities set. Use the help buttons if unsure of an activity.
A national times table test now takes place in Y4, so we will prepare the children for this by testing their fast recall of answers throughout the year. To support your child at home, there are some great activities on the ‘Top Marks’ website. One game in particular, ‘Hit the Button’, requires fast recall of times table answers. Another great website is timestables.co.uk which does a mock test and has some fun games that make learning times tables fun.
Things to remember:
- All children should bring a flask or bottle of water to school. This should be taken home and washed every day.
- In Key Stage 2, children are required to bring their own snack, as it is no longer provided. This should be a piece of fruit to be eaten at playtime. Our school is strictly ‘nut-free’ due to some children having allergies.
- School Policy is that, other than for religious reasons, we do not wear jewellery in school apart from a watch. We do not wear Fitbits or expensive watches as it is the responsibility of the child to keep them safe. These need to be removed for PE lessons.
We look forward to seeing you all again at celebration events that will take place for the remainder of the year.
Many thanks,
Miss Jackson and Mrs Pape
Year 3 Class Blog
Character Drama
Peter Dalrymple (PDalrymple) on: Year 3 Class Blog
This week we have been continuing with our class read ‘The Last Bear’ which we have been using in our sentence stacking lessons in English. To help us with our writing, we carried out some drama based on the character’s feelings. We created a ‘thought alley’ where the children whispered positive and negative thoughts into the character’s ears to help her come to a decision in the story.
Our First Week!
Peter Dalrymple (PDalrymple) on: Year 3 Class Blog
We have had an amazing first week in year 3! We have been so impressed with how well the children have all settled and it has been wonderful getting to know them over the past few days. The children started their new topic on ‘Poles Apart’ where they researched the Arctic Circle using the iPads to gather any information. We also used Google Earth to find out where Bear Island is which is linked to our class story, ‘The Last Bear’ by Hannah Gold.
How big is the classroom?
Peter Dalrymple (PDalrymple) on: Year 3 Class Blog
Last week in maths, the whole school was set a mathematical challenge of finding out how big our classrooms are. The children worked in pairs to carry out their investigations and in the beginning had to decide how they would tackle this challenge. There were lots of wonderful mathematical discussions as well as some interesting measuring! Some decided to use rulers, metre sticks, bodies, feet and shoes! It was wonderful to see all the children engaged and enthusiastic!
We are poets!
Peter Dalrymple (PDalrymple) on: Year 3 Class Blog
We have some budding poets in our class! Some of the children in year three have been writing their own poems at break times after being inspired by the poem ‘I asked a little boy you cannot see’. Here are a few examples of some of their fantastic independent writing.
Plants
Peter Dalrymple (PDalrymple) on: Year 3 Class Blog
This half term we are learning about plants in science. At the beginning of our topic, the children were asked to create a poster in groups explaining everything they already knew about plants from their learning in KS1.The children worked collaboratively; sharing ideas, allocating jobs as well as lots of wonderful discussions. The posters were so good that they are all displayed in the classroom!
