English
Despite a shorter half-term, Year 3 have fit in so much learning! First, we learned about Recounts. This tasked the children with accurately identifying the features of a recount, leading them to plan and write their very own recounts. While most children wrote a recount of our Autumn 1 visit to Norwich Cathedral, covering their activities such as making their own stained glass windows and eating lunch in the cloisters, several others who joined us later in the year wrote a recount of an exciting cooking session they had! Following this unit, Year 3 moved onto biographies, linking to our Science topic of Mary Anning by writing a biography of who Mary Anning was and what she achieved. We have finished the half-term by writing a poem on World Poetry Day!
Maths
Year 3 began the term by learning about the formal methods for multiplication, trying hard to place one number in each box to help ensure our calculations were accurate. Following this, we learnt how to divide using place value counters; this involved exchanging tens for ones to make sure we could divide the numbers equally. Our main topic for Spring 2 was fractions. We learnt lots of new vocabulary connected to the topic; our daily retrieval meant the children could practice giving definitions for these words. Our lessons included comparing fractions, finding fractions on a scale and number line, adding and subtracting fractions and finally to find fractions of amounts.
Guided Reading
This half-term, we began with our two-week unit around the non-fiction text ‘A Rock is Lively’. The children enjoyed utilising their passion for gemstones and different types of rocks to answer many retrieval and inference questions, as well as improving their understanding with a vast variety of information from this text! Following this, linked to our Science Week activities with a focus on ‘time’, Year 3 then read a very similar text called ‘A Seed is Sleepy’. Written by the same author, the children had many opportunities to improve their understanding of seeds and their growth processes, standing them in good stead as they move through the school. Finally, we have just started our new fiction book ‘The Water Horse’, which we will continue after half-term.
Additionally, to find out how Year 3 celebrated a love of reading on World Book Day earlier this month, please click onto ‘special events’ or our very own Year 3 tab, in order to see some of the children’s marvellous double-page spreads.
Art & DT
In Art, we have been looking at our focus artist Georgia O’ Keeffe, a 20th century artist who experimented with bold colours and different techniques when creating her beautiful pieces. In particular, we have carefully studied O’ Keeffe’s close-up paintings of flowers. The children have worked hard to emulate O’ Keeffe’s techniques by first creating a viewfinder which they used to pick a section of their flower to sketch, and then sketching two of these into their books. After evaluating which one they liked best and why, the children then sketched the outline of their flower at a larger scale, ready to be completed using our chosen medium of oil pastels. Once they had explored a number of techniques, such as sgraffito and dry blending, Year 3 then meticulously filled in their sketch using oil pastels to replicate the shades and tints of their flowers. As part of DT, the children finished the half-term by stitching their very own bookmarks! First, they sketched a design of what they would like to see on their bookmark; then, they practised the three different techniques of the running stitch, overcast stitch, and backstitch onto pieces of paper. Finally, the children threaded their needles and began sewing their design onto strips of Binca. Whilst this was a tricky task, the children worked hard and produced many beautiful bookmarks!
RE
In RE, Year 3 have been learning about Islam and what Muslims believe about God. This has been a very interesting and detailed unit in which the children have discussed who the Islamic god Allah is, how Muslims show their dedication and belief to Him, and why prayer is an important part of their religion (see the pictures of the children trying out the Islamic position for praying). It has been excellent to see the children enquiring about the similarities and differences between Islam and religions they have previously learned about, such as Christianity and Hinduism. Please find details of our previous March visit from Janet Marshall, in which she discussed many aspects of Islam and developed the children’s interest in exploring a new faith, under our Year 3 tab.
Computing
In Computing, Year 3 have continued to consolidate their prior knowledge of Scratch and how it is used, and further developing this. This has involved adding more than one character to their game and including a variety of motions, operated by a number of keys on the laptop rather than by just a click as practised in Spring 1, in order to have more than one character at once. The children have greatly enjoyed their learning in Scratch, and have learned a range of skills which will benefit them as they move into their next year group.
Music
Children have continued to have great fun learning the ukulele! They have learned a variety of picking patterns and are beginning to create rhythm in their strumming with up and down strokes. Pupils are practising songs using the C chord and now introducing Am.
MFL
Year 3 started the term learning about Spanish colours, this led to asking our learning partners if they liked certain colours and being able to reply with yes or no. The children had great fun designing their own Little Miss or Mr Men characters, which were named using Spanish names and of course colours! Our second topic was about equipment found in the classroom. We played Bingo! to practice this new vocabulary and using our retrieval skills the children decorated pictures of equipment using their knowledge of colour vocabulary.
Science
This half-term, Year 3 have been enjoying their exciting topic on Mary Anning! As we are sure the children will tell you, Mary Anning was an underappreciated fossil hunter of her time, and made many significant discoveries which helped scientists and researchers to develop our knowledge to be as extensive as it is today. Our lessons have included producing a timeline of Mary Anning’s life and taking part in a fossil excavation with our visitor. We have also explored Mary Anning further, in links to our Science topic, with our biography in English, before finishing the half-term by producing some beautiful double-page spreads about Mary Anning and her accomplishments. Please find details of our previous March visit from Janet Marshall, for which she portrayed Mary and explored her history and her achievements with the children, under our Year 3 tab. Additionally, our dinosaur-centred activities during Science Week and Year 3’s wonderful contributions to the science fair can also be found under our Year 3 tab.
PE
In PE this half-term, we have been practising our sending and receiving skills. The children have enjoyed lessons where each week they have developed their balancing skills individually and in pairs, which has not been easy when they have also be incorporating equipment into this! Additionally, Year 3 and 4 have been very fortunate to have some excellent sixth-form students from DESA visiting as part of a 10-week placement; this has involved teaching the children many skills and engaging in a variety of activities with a focus on co-ordination, teamwork and communication. This will continue into the summer term, which the children are very keen to explore further!
Geography
For our Geography unit this half-term, Year 3 have been studying land use. First, we explored what urban and rural areas are across the UK, and what defining characteristics these areas had; the children were then able to create a mind map of how land is used across the country, and what the features of urban and rural areas are. In our next lesson, the children developed their understanding of which areas in England are most suitable for growing wheat, and breeding pigs and sheep. Finally, the children really enjoyed creating a sketch map of Toftwood as the concluding lesson of our unit, focusing on their knowledge of the local area and how to present this on a map using OS symbols.