Year Three 2018/19

Welcome to the Year 3 page! On here, you will find out what we have been learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Make sure you look here regularly as I will update it with pictures and documents.

Wishing us all a fantastic year,

Miss Hudson.

Autumn 1

Look below at our context for learning for this half term.

By the end of Year 3, the children will be expected to count in 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 3s, 4s and 8s. We had a mad maths lesson to see what we already know. They worked in groups to represent some of these times tables using numbers, pictures, objects and some even used money! Have a look at the pictures below.

Our theme this half term meant that we learnt all about the Stone Age. We used the book 'Ug: Boy genius of the Stone Age' as well as a range of non-fiction texts to find out information. One thing that we learnt was the different homes that they lived in. We tried to create our own shelters using the materials that were available to us, just like they did all those years ago. 

We also created cave paintings to decorate our Year 3 cave. We did not use paint brushes but decided to get messy like cavemen and painted with our fingers!

To end our theme, we learnt about the Iron Age and the warriors that fought against the Romans. We made our own Celtic shield ready for battle!

Autumn 2

Look below at our context for learning this half term.

During our science topic, we learnt all about rocks and soils. To begin with, we looked at how we can group rocks based on their properties. This can easily be done by observing and feeling the rocks to test whether they are smooth or rough for example. We later did more in depth  tests to test the permeability, density and durability 

Another way of grouping rocks is by looking at how they were made. We are fantastic at using our scientific vocabulary and we can describe the differences between sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock. 

We used different types of chocolate to create our own chocolate rocks! We melted the chocolate and molded it to create different layers just like sedimentary rock. 

Have a look at the pictures below of us creating the rocks and wait for an update on the finished products!

To finish our rocks topic, we looked at soil. We learnt that soil is made up of water, air, organic matter and minerals. We used play dough to create models of the different layers showing base rock, subsoil and top soil. 

When we were asked 'What makes our Earth angry?' we were a little bit confused. However, we soon found out lots of information about the layers of the Earth and how they cause a raging volcanic eruption.

We looked at this across the curriculum including geography, English, science, art and design technology. After learning about volcanic eruptions, we discussed and debated whether we would like to live next to a volcano. We all had different opinions and learnt that people can have different views that we should listen and try to understand, even if we do not agree.

 We were given a very exciting challenge to design and create an erupting volcano. Year 3 were definitely up to the task and we started by drawing cross-sectional diagrams to design our masterpieces. We thought very carefully about the different materials to use so that our volcano will be sturdy and realistic.

Have a look below to see the designing process, the finished product and the grand finale of the eruptions!

After we had used our brains so much over the half term, the children definitely deserved a treat. It was time for party clothes, music, games and lots of sweets! We had a lovely time and Father Christmas himself even turned up!

 Every year, we remember why we celebrate Christmas as we tell the story of the Nativity. Year 3 have got a very important job as we dress up and act out the story. 

I will take this opportunity to say how fantastic the children were during rehearsals and performances of the Nativity. They were very professional and I am sure parents will agree that they did us all proud.

Well done everyone and Merry Christmas!

Spring 1

Have a look below at our context for learning for this half term. 

As part of our science topic this half term, we have been talking about the different nutrients in food. We have talked about the importance of a balanced diet which should include carbohydrates, fats, protein, minerals, vitamins and fibre. The children are fantastic at explaining what each of the nutrient’s jobs are in our body, so you should quiz them to see if they remember!

We looked at different packets of food to see the nutritional information in products like rice, cereal, jam and Nutella!

We have learnt lots about the country of Greece already this half term, and today it was all about food. We planned and made our very own Greek salad! Before we made it, we looked at whether the ingredients had been grown, farmed or caught. We washed our hands and made sure we knew how to use a knife sensibly because health and safety is very important when making food. 

We chopped cucumber, pepper, olives, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese before mixing it all together with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. We all agreed to try the salad, even though we had doubts about a few of the ingredients. I was so happy to see that the majority of the class liked the taste. I think they surprised themselves because there some doubts about certain ingredients!

Have a look below to see the Year 3 chefs hard at work and see if you can spot whether they gave it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

Not only did we look at the nutrients we put in our body, but we also looked at what our body is made of, particularly the skeleton and muscles. We looked at what we already knew about the bones in our body and labelled them on our skeleton, some of the drawings were very interesting!

We discussed the different jobs that the skeleton has: to support, move and protect. After looking at different animals, we also discovered that there are different types of skeletons and we used very scientific words to describe them including endoskeleton, exoskeleton and hydro-static skeleton.

Our computing job title this half term was 'presenters' and we had lots of fun using input and output devices to create our very own news report. We first looked at Newsround and the different devices they use to make  it so interesting and informative. The children then discussed their own report about St. John's, making sure they all had a role within the creation of this. 

Once the planning process was complete, the children filmed their report with the children being camera men, presenters or reporters. It was fantastic to see how much confidence the children had and I was very proud of everybody's efforts. 

After the filming was complete, we enjoyed watching our recordings, however, we wanted to make them better. The children split into smaller groups to edit their films on imovie. They cut their clips, pieced them together, introduced interesting transitions and even added music to their report. 

The children did so well with this and I think they would all be up for a job at Newsround!

Whilst looking at Greece, we compared it to other places in the continent of Europe and with this, famous musicians. We looked at modern day artists like Ed Sheeran from England and more classical composers like Mozart from Austria. As our focus is Greece, we listened to and studied the famous piece that people dance to called the sirtaki. 

The children split into groups and there was a conductor in each group that controlled the piece of music through improvisation. They focused on the tempo and ways to get their musicians to change from slow to fast, just as the sirtaki does. The children did a fantastic job and there were some brilliant pieces of music!

After studying the music, we looked at Greek art and we designed our own pots. The children used fantastic technique to mold clay, making them sturdy and smooth. Once they had dried, they painted them with Greek patterns that we earlier identified. 

Spring 2

Have a look at our context for learning this half term below...

This year, we spent World Book Day reading and retelling Greek myths. The children acted out the tragic love story of Orpheus and Eurydice, using gestures and their tone of voice to show meaning. 

Our science topic this half term is all about magnets and once we had investigated magnetic materials, we designed and created our very own magnetic mazes!

We were given the fantastic opportunity to spend 6 days at Scotman's flash where the children took part in kayaking or sailing. They also had the chance to do land activities like rock climbing, fire starting, archery and they were even let loose with hammers!

There are a lot of pictures below, so take a look and see how much fun we had!

Summer 1

Have a look below at what we will be learning this half term...

For mental health awareness week, the focus was on positive body image. We spent the afternoon talking about what this is and we looked at things we loved about ourselves and what we love about each other. We all left feeling fantastic, just look at the smiles!

Our book this half term was 'The Tin Forest' which was a short book but had really interesting language that we used to write poetry. We also made our own tin forest like the old man in the story.

Summer 2

Have a look below to see what we are doing this half term...

As part of our science topic, we have looked at water transportation in science and to investigate this, we used coloured water. We will use observations and labelled pictures to record our findings.

To help us with our learning about the Victorians, I invited an educational visitor to visit us at school and she lead us through a whole day of activities. We all dressed up, completed jobs as servants, practised writing with an ink pot, made our own rag rugs and lots more! The children had a fantastic day so have a look at the pictures to see some of the things they got up to.