Class 3

Class Teacher: Mr Holt

Teaching Assistant: Miss McCoskery, Mrs Parker

Welcome to Class 3. This Class contains Year 3 children only and is part of Lower Key Stage 2.

Please check this page regularly to see updates of what we are learning.

Important Information

Welcome Letter

Knowledge Organiser - Spring 2 - Earth and Space

Knowledge Organiser - Spring 2 - Light and Shadow

Knowledge Organiser - Spring 1

Curriculum Map - Spring 2

Curriculum Map - Spring 1

Curriculum Map - Autumn 2

Curriculum Map - Autumn 1

English

In English we have been looking at folk tales. Our story has been ‘The Tin Forest’. This is about an old man who lives in a small house, on top of a big hill in the middle of nowhere filled with all of the rubbish that nobody wants. Every night he has a dream. He dreams of a forest filled with beautiful flowers and wild animals. One day the old man sees a metal light that looks like a flower. This gives him an idea and the old man uses the rubbish to make his dream come true. What do you think the old man did?

Mathematics

We have been working really hard with our times tables this half term. We have been looking specifically at the 2, 3, 5 and 10 times tables. We have been identifying each pattern on the 100 square below.

Maths Investigation- Number Lines

In Maths we have been looking at place value. We worked together in groups to work out what the missing numbers could be on the number line as well as what the missing number patterns could be.

‘The number line helped me understand number patterns’- Emma T

‘We could help each other learn with our learning partner’- Maggie W

Science

Science Experiment (Melting and Cooling)

In Science we have been learning about solids, liquids and gases. We conducted an experiment on how a solid melts into a liquid. We used 3 same sized containers, the same volume of water and the same amount of chocolate to make it a fair test. We used a thermometer to see what the temperature reading was for each container. We placed the chocolate onto a piece of tin foil and poured cold water, warm water and boiling hot water into each different container. After that, we placed the chocolate and tin foil on top of the water to see the results. We found that the cold water didn’t melt the chocolate, the warm water only melted the chocolate a little and then the boiling hot water completely melted the chocolate. This showed us that solids needed something warm or hot to change them into a liquid and that the cold has no effect.

‘It was exciting to see what the chocolate would do in each container’- Zach S

‘It was interesting to see how long it took for each piece of chocolate to melt’- Simrah A

In Science we have been looking at teeth and the digestive system. We have been looking at drinks that harm our teeth and drinks that keep our teeth healthy. As the half term closes we will be conducting a science experiment on the stomach which will highlight to us how food is broken down and used as energy. As well as this, we will also find out where our food waste goes.

Topic

Space

In LKS2 our topic is space. For homework over the half term the children were asked to create rocket models made from recycled materials. The children have put a lot of commitment into this task and produced some wonderful models. Children have built upon prior knowledge from their Design and Technology lessons. Due to the children’s enthusiasm we have promoted our space topic out onto our LKS2 corridor to enhance and build upon our learning.

Zach S- ‘It was a good challenge to design, create and make our own rockets. I am so happy with how my rocket looks.’

Hooria N- ‘I found this task very challenging but it was a good task to do with my family at home.’

River Deep, Mountain High!

In our Geography, we will be learning about mountains, rivers and coasts. This will link in with our Science topic about materials and states of matter, learning about the water cycle. Please learn as many facts from our knowledge organisers so that you can build on your learning in Spring 1.

Volcano Experiment!

In Geography we have been learning about mountains. One mountain that interested us was volcanoes. We wanted to see why volcanoes were so dangerous and what happened when they erupted. We made our own volcanoes with plastic plates, plastic cups and tin foil. After we had completed this we mixed together washing up liquid, vinegar, baking soda, water and food colouring. This made a reaction which gave us an insight into what a volcanic eruption would look like. Look at some of our learning responses below:

‘The lava and magma is very dangerous because it will destroy anything in it’s path’- George T

‘It was so exciting to see what a volcanic eruption actually looked like’- Emma T

‘Many people have lost their homes and lives to volcanoes’- Harrison BC

In our Autumn topic, we studied World War 2. We have been looking at how the Blitz affected people in Britain as well as what it might have been like as a child evacuee. How would you have felt if you were a child evacuee?

Religious Education

In our RE we have been looking at the ‘Big Frieze’. We worked together with our learning partners to look at the pictures and what they represented to us as Christians. The children had some very good discussions about the ‘Big Frieze’ and came up with some clever concepts about what each part of the ‘Big Frieze’ meant to them.

Tia D- ‘The pictures from the Big Frieze helped me understand about God and Jesus more’.

Amy W- ‘It was good to discuss what the pictures reflected with our learning partner’.

In RE we have been looking at God, David and the Psalms. We have shared the story of David and Goliath and looked at what it means to be brave and have courage.

For our learning in RE we have been learning about how the light and dark is a powerful symbol linked to Jesus and God. We have explored songs, images and Bible stories that have reflected this, however this week we had the opportunity to make Christingles. It is the 50th year of celebrating the Christingle and class 3 made their very own. Once completed we used these to celebrate Jesus’ light that shines all over the world, prayers for those in need, our families and celebrated with our favourite class hymns.

‘It was nice to celebrate this special occasion with my teacher and class’- Aimee B

‘It was nice to hold the Christingle while singing our favourite songs’- Harley M

Curriculum Enhancement

World Book Day

On Friday we celebrated World Book Day. Our theme was dragons. The children came dressed as their favourite character from their favourite book. We had a fantastic day in school celebrating World Book Day and got involved in a number of activities linked to, ‘How To Train Your Dragon!’

Simrah A- ‘I enjoyed the activities in class that we got to do linked to dragons’.

Aiden G- ‘It was nice to come to school dressed as our favourite characters from our favourite books’.

Music (Glockenspiels) and Art (Beowulf)

We have had a fantastic afternoon of learning. In music we have been learning about Bob Marley’s music and have been looking specifically at ‘Three Little Birds’. The children in class 3 have been really engaged by his music and we have been learning how to play the Glockenspiels along side Bob Marley’s music. The children have even had a go at incorporating their own music linked to Bob Marley.

Additionally in Art we have linked this to our English topic ‘Beowulf’ and have been looking at creating different patterns and collages of a Viking template that the children can display onto our working wall in class.

‘Doing Art makes me feel calm and happy’- Hooria N

‘The Glockenspiels are challenging but very enjoyable to play’- Aiden G

‘I can’t wait to see the end result of our Beowulf art work’- Maggie-Rose W

‘Bob Marley’s music is very uplifting’- Zainib Z

Dance

In PE we have been studying dance linked to street dancing. We have been fortunate to have a dance coach come into school and teach class 3 everything about street dancing. The children have got really involved and have even made up some of their own street dance moves. Watch out for the next ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ superstar!

‘I really enjoyed the street dancing because I learnt some really cool moves’- Edward S

‘It was exciting to do street dancing because it is something that I have never done before’- Lucy K

Science day

This week we celebrated science day in school. This involved all of the children from Key Stage 2 conducting a science experiment with children from Key Stage One. Class 3 had the opportunity to work alongside class 2. Due to our topic being all about teeth and the digestive system we conducted our experiment on the stomach. This involved using a plastic bag, crunched up cream crackers, bread, water, orange juice and coca-cola. As we mixed the ingredients together we saw how the stomach broke down our food. The food looked very mushy but it gave us an insight into how the acid breaks down food in our stomach for digestion.

‘The digestive system is disgusting’- George T

‘The experiment was so fun and we learnt a lot about how the digestive system works’- Simrah A

A Secret Visitor

We kept finding carrots and hay all around school so being the investigators that we are at St. James’ we came across one of Father Christmas’ reindeers called Lighting. The children got to meet Lightining and one of Father Christmas’ special elves. What a fantastic surprise just before Christmas!

‘I couldn’t believe that it was a real reindeer!’- Owen C

‘I was very excited to see what we would find’- Oliwier T

STEM Day

For STEM day our class target was to look at building structures. Due to our topic being space we decided to build rockets that had a solid structure. The children designed and created their own rocket working alongside their learning partner. After we had created and evaluated our product we went outside to see how far our rockets could fly which resulted in being a great success.

George T- ‘We had so much fun building our rockets. It was very challenging but it made me very happy when I got to see my rocket fly.

Lucy K- ‘At first I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to build my rocket but after much perseverance and effort I didn’t give and created my own rocket’.

Ash Wednesday

Father Peter led our Ash Wednesday service in school. The children thoroughly enjoyed the service and sang some of our favourite hymns to celebrate. The children came out for a blessing off Father Peter as we celebrated our special day together.

Owen C- ‘I enjoyed helping Father Peter with the service’.

Aimee B- ‘It was nice to celebrate Ash Wednesday together’.

Design and Technology

In Design and Technology we have been focusing on textiles. We have been working towards making peg dolls that reflect the clothing worn during medieval and Tudor times. The children in class 3 have worked really hard to shape and cut their own material as well as assembling their peg dolls together.

Emma T- ‘It was very challenging but I am very happy with how my peg doll looks.’

Aiden G- ‘I liked cutting and shaping my own material to fit my peg doll with Tudor clothing’.

RE Day

Last week we had a day to celebrate RE linked to different subjects that we study in school. As part of Key Stage 2 we visited each class and participated in carousel activities. The children in class 3 thoroughly enjoyed the day as well as gaining more knowledge through the activities and subjects studied.

‘I enjoyed taking part in all the different activities and working with different people in class’- Tia D

‘We learnt how RE can be linked to any subject in school’- Zach S

Celebrating 100 years since WW1

We paid tribute and respect to all of the brave men and women who experienced and fought in World War 1. We made our own Union Jack flags and celebrated 100 years since the end of World War 1 through song.

‘I enjoyed making my Union Jack to remember the men who fought in World War 1’- Harrison BC

‘I enjoyed singing songs that I had never sung before’- Lucy K

Ukulele Performance

Class 3 have been learning how to play the Ukulele since September and this week was their end of unit outcome (to play an end of term performance) to the whole of Key Stage 2. It was an outstanding end of term performance and the whole of year 3 should be very proud of their courage and resilience throughout the Autumn term. Congratulations!!!

‘I felt very nervous at first but my class supported me as a team and we put on a really good performance’- Molly B

‘I felt really proud that I remembered every note that I had to play’- Aiden G

Christmas Enterprise

During our DT, we made Christmas decorations and invited parents in to buy our special items which we had made. We will let you know soon how much money we raised as a key stage!
Merry Christmas!