Friday 9th July 2021

What a fun week we have had, taking part in Geography Week!

The theme for this week was ‘Our Local Area’, and we spent a great deal of time thinking about the areas surrounding our school and looking at improvements we could make. The children were very observant and really noted the features of the local area. On Wednesday we went on a walk on the streets around our school. Pepsi joined us as our special guest! We looked at all the things we had discussed in class so that we could see in a practical context how and why these things are important. Some of the things included local shops and services, the condition of pavements, grass verges and roads, bus stops (seating, shelter, information about when buses were due to stop there) and crossings that allow pedestrians to cross the road safely. We then made maps of the route we took, making symbols to represent some of the features of the area and included a key, which brought us back to our data handling maths work and gave us the opportunity to revisit the function of the key.

Outside of this we spent quite a bit of time allocating parts and practising our class performance, which you will be next week! Thank you for the props sent in, we had a lot of fun making it.

On Thursday we had an action packed day. The children continued working on their extended stories in creative writing, they are working so hard on them and we are excited to read them. During Science the children tested their plant knowledge by playing the kahoots that they had made. It was really pleasing to see how much they have learnt this term.

In the afternoon the class took part in an olympic dance workshop. They were doing a dance from South Africa. We have many talented dancers in the class. After this they went to the funfair that the PTA had organised. They loved the different activities and were particularly excited by the ice-cream van!  Thank you to the PTA for organising this.

On Friday was ‘Yom Talmid’, and 2 excellent guest teachers from Year 6, Miss Teacher and Mr Cohen, came to teach some lessons to the class. This included maths, English, JS, art and even an online assembly with the Head Teacher, Miss Kark. 

Shabbat Shalom, enjoy the football!

The Year 3 team

Friday 2nd July 2021

This week we had a wonderful time taking part in STEM week at Kerem! STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. The week was introduced with a fun assembly on Monday. We made sculptures out of newspaper on Tuesday and Wednesday for Miss Dalwai’s newspaper challenge, and had an incredible time in our forensics workshop, which taught the children all about forensic science used to solve crimes.

The children really did themselves, their parents and teachers proud at their Chaggigat Hachumash on Tuesday (and Thursday), we hope you all enjoyed it, well done Year 3!

We also spent some time this week designing special labels for Camp Simcha monkeys, which are given to children having to spend time in hospital. 

In maths we continued practising how to calculate fractions of amounts and quantities. We also took part in the First Primary Maths Challenge, a (rather challenging) online maths quiz focusing on open ended, investigative puzzles and problems.

On Friday the children had their second transition lesson, with Ms Simon and Mrs Boyask, one of our new teaching assistants. Like our session last week with Mrs Collins and Ms Reiff, they played some getting to know you games and finished an art activity we started last week, which we will use to decorate our new classroom.

As a class we are performing a rap about maths. If children have any accessories relating to this, such as a baseball cap, sunglasses or hoodie, please send these in next week.

Reminders

Please copy class teachers into any emails sent about absence. Thank you!

We are looking forward to next week and can’t believe that it’s our last full week of year 3.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 25th June 2021

It is hard to believe that we only have a few more weeks left of this school year. There are so many fun and exciting things happening at school and the children are having a fabulous time!

Ms Simon and I (Mrs Collins) are absolutely thrilled to be teaching the class in Year 4. Our transition session this morning was great fun and the children had the opportunity to see our new classroom and meet one of our new Teaching Assistants, Ms Reiff. At next week’s session they will be able to meet our other TA, Ms Boyask.

In English the children enjoyed watching one another’s drama performances of a section of the story Escape from Pompeii. We moved on to describing when the volcano erupted, using strong, descriptive language. When we read the rest of the story, the children were extremely attentive and they thought carefully about how the characters might have felt to experience this and lose their home and their loved ones. We took the opportunity to discuss how the story was based on a real life event, the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE which buried the Roman city of Pompeii under a thick carpet of volcanic ash, and which parts of the story were fictional. We continued this in our geography lesson, as this week we learned about how volcanoes are formed on the edges of the tectonic plates that form the Earth’s crust.

In maths we returned to fractions, pushing the learning of the children on from where we left off. They showed fantastic knowledge of the vocabulary and concepts we had learned at the start of the term. We learned about and counted in tenths and began to learn how to calculate fractions of amounts and quantities, with a strong focus on the understanding of what you need to do and why.

In science, the children had their last lesson about plants, learning how seeds are dispersed. Next week they will finish making quizzes based on everything they learned over the course of the topic. 

We have been enjoying keeping track of how our allotted teams have been doing in the Euros. Big shout-out to Freddie, who keeps our score sheet up to date every time there's a match! Ms Simon has asked each class to create a fact file for each of their countries, so we split into 4 groups to work on a poster for Poland, Croatia, Czech Republic and Scotland. We discussed the areas to research, including flag, location on the world map, natural and man made landmarks, population size, language/s spoken, national foods and many more areas.

As we approach the end of the year, we had a short circle time about transitions and change. We reflected on the challenges faced this year, as well as achievements and how the children have changed throughout the year. It was a wonderful discussion and the children all contributed extremely mature and thoughtful points.

A polite request to please send children to school wearing shoes that the children can do up themselves. As the children are approaching year 4, spending some time at home learning how to do up shoelaces would be beneficial, however if they have difficulty doing this, please make sure that they are wearing shoes to school that they can manage themselves. As always, thank you :)

Now is also a good time to make sure that the children have some 50ps, so that they can ensure that their pen/pencil box is fully stocked with everything they will need in September.

Next week is STEM week at school and we have some exciting activities and challenges planned, including a CSI themed forensic day and a whole school newspaper challenge!

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 18th June 2021

This week we celebrated World Religion Week at school, and we spent time completing our posters showcasing what we have learned about the Hindu religion and culture. It was fascinating learning about the different values and practices and the children produced beautiful posters showcasing their learning.

In English this week we enjoyed some shared writing using strong verbs and adverbs to describe the effects of the first tremors in Pompeii. The children then acted out parts of the story where Tranio and Livia made their way through Pompeii and all the signs that something was wrong. They made their own dialogue and it was amazing to see how each pair did this differently and in their own way.

In maths we learned the terms parallel- when 2 lines remain the same distance apart, and so will never meet, and perpendicular- when 2 line meet or could meet at a right angle. We then used this knowledge, and the properties learned last week such as horizontal and vertical lines, acute, obtuse and right angles, to describe 2d shapes. We then looked at ways to describe 3d shapes, including prisms (a 3-dimensional shape with two identical shapes facing each other. These identical shapes are called “bases”. The bases can be a triangle, square, rectangle or any other polygon. Other faces of a prism are parallelograms or rectangles).

In geography the children drew diagrams of the layers of the Earth, and wrote some information about each layer- the crust, mantel, outer crust, inner crust and core. We can't wait to learn about volcanoes next week!

Due to needing to change some lesson times on Thursday, the class did not have a full science lesson. Instead they began preparing for their end of unit assessment by creating multiple choice quizzes for each other. Having had a look at some of the questions, it would seem that they make tough quiz masters!

Thank you those who have sent in books as a donation to our class library. One newly purchased, high quality book is really appreciated, though we do not have unlimited space on the bookshelf so please don't send too many. We are very lucky to have such a dedication to reading enjoyment in our class!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, Shabbat shalom!

The Year 3 team

Friday 11th June 2021

All the children have returned to school after the half term break with big smiles on their faces and ready to learn- we have had a great (albeit rather hot) week!

In maths we began learning the topic of geometry. The children learned that angles are a measurement of a turn. We did lots of turning in the classroom, using our feet as well as pencils and rulers. The children learned vocabulary such as quarter turn (and then right angle turn), half turn, three quarter turn and complete turn. The children understood the concept of a turn very well, however, the way these are represented as angles on paper is a little more abstract. We defined this as ‘two straight lines that meet at a point’, and the turn is the movement between these 2 lines. We then learned about right angles, found them in shapes, learned about acute angles (angles smaller than a right angle), obtuse angles (those larger than a right angle angle but smaller than 180 degrees) and about horizontal and vertical lines. The class made a brilliant start and we all enjoyed working on a different side of maths.

In English we started reading a new class text, Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit. We looked at the effective language used to describe the setting, set the scene and describe the atmosphere, using the 5 senses. The children then worked in groups to make a short performance poem, using words and phrases to describe the beginnings of an earthquake and looking up words in a thesaurus to vary the vocabulary. We then used strong verbs to describe what might have happened in Pompeii when the first tremors occurred, and acted out the scene.

In Science this week we reviewed the learning done during the first half of the term, ensuring that the children’s ebooks reflected the high quality work that they have completed. Next week we will be learning about the life-cycle of a plant.  

We spent some time continuing with our learning about the Hindu religion, which we started in the autumn term. They made brilliant posters in groups about different areas, such as weddings, special places and holy books.

We began a new geography topic as well this week- Extreme Earth. The first lesson was about the layers that the earth is made up of- the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust. To illustrate this, I made a model using plasticine, which I cut open to view all the layers. The children showed a lot of curiosity in this lesson and we can’t wait for next week!

Please ask your child if they need 50p or £1 for some new stationary.

Shabbat Shalom!

The Year 3 team 

Friday 28th May 2021

We have had such a busy week this week!

On Monday we had an amazing talk by a parent of the school, Mr Budwig, who taught the children about solar energy. The children were so interested and enthusiastic to learn about this, and how and why we use different types of energy, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using certain types of energy.

In maths we continued learning about measures and measuring using different units of measure; mm, cm and m. We subtracted lengths and learned about perimeter, including how to measure perimeter, and how to calculate perimeter. We took this opportunity to revisit addition, subtraction and multiplication in the context of measures, recapping the various calculation strategies we have learned this year, and which are most appropriate for different calculations. For example, if you were adding 37cm to 140, you wouldn’t use the column method as all you need to do is add the tens with no exchange, so this can be done mentally, or using a number line to support. 

In English we worked hard to finish our adventure stories based on The Tunnel by Anthony Browne. We proofread along the way as well as once the stories were finished, shared some stories and then worked on using apostrophes to show possession (singular), such as ‘My school’s dog is called Pepsi.’

In History we continued with our double page spreads about the Roman baths. See the photos below to see some children hard at work! We then had a cross curricular history/ art lesson, where we learned about Roman mosaics, which were made using little stones cut into tiles called tesserae. The children designed Roman-style mosaics in their art sketchbooks, and began making them using little coloured pieces of paper 

In Science this week it was the turn of the flower to be in the spotlight. The lesson started with a discussion about whether a flower is a plant or part of a plant. It was excellent listening to the children try to justify their thinking. What was really great was when someone said “at the beginning I thought it was a plant but I think it is part of a plant now”. The addition of the word now really demonstrated flexibility of mind which was great to see. In order to see the different parts of the flower, the children took it apart. Once they had taken it apart, the stuck it onto a piece of paper and labelled the different parts.

Wishing all our families a wonderful week, see you after half term!

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Ms Simon and Mr Portnoi

Friday 21st May 2021

We hope you had a lovely Shavuot!

This week was Walking to School week and we tried to dedicate a little time each day to thinking about the benefits of this, such as being outside and having fresh air, some exercise, making the streets cleaner and not having to sit in traffic, as well as the environmental benefits. We agreed that pupils who live too far from school could still be included, by driving and parking 5 or 10 minutes walk away from school, and going the rest of the way on foot. 

In English the children have been making great progress with their stories based on The Tunnel, using their story plan. At each stage we also practised proofreading and editing, checking for sense, punctuation, capital letters, spelling and even 'uplevelling', by adding more detail or using stronger vocabulary. There is lots of evidence of the effort the children are making with their handwriting, and we have started to notice this in their homework too. Well done children, keep it up!

In Maths we compared and ordered lengths based on measurements in mm, cm and m, and used our knowledge of converting between units of measurement to help us compare and order.  

In Science we continued thinking about the structure of a leaf. The children wrote scripts for Newsround-style videos, teaching about the structure of a leaf. Some of the children have recorded their videos, others will do it next week. Writing scripts and creating the films meant that the children really needed to think about the information they know about the function of leaves, ensuring that they were clear about it before they could present it. They did an excellent job!

Well done to Zac. Louis and Ari for their brilliant interest talks.

Next week promises to be a rather busy one (have a look at next week's blog post to read all about it), and on Tuesday we have our class photo. Please make sure that the children come to school smartly dressed and with full, correct uniform, including Kippot for the boys and school jumpers or cardigans, which can be put away in school bags afterwards if the children would like.

Shabbat Shalom, have a wonderful weekend!

The Year 3 team

Friday 14th May 2021

This week we began our new maths topic- measurement- length and perimeter. We measured the length of the hall in teams using tape measure, revised the vocabulary units of measure, metres, centimetres, and millimeters and learned about equivalent lengths converting between m and cm, and cm and mm. Please note that decimals are introduced in Year 4, so rather than saying something measures 3.7 metres, we would say 3m and 70cm, which helps with the understanding of converting units of measure and is important knowledge underpinning decimals when they come to it.

In English the children completed their story plans, which are now very well thought out and clearly structured. On Friday we began using the plan to write the story, and discussed how the story would sound different to the plan.

In History we learned about Hadrian's Wall. After reading and discussing some facts, we talked about why the wall was built and the experience of people on both sides of the wall, and what they would have felt about it. The children then wrote letters imagining that they were a Roman legionary, writing to his mother in Rome about his experiences in Britain.

In Science this week we were learning about the function of a leaf. We had a practical lesson where the children looked at leaves through a microscope. They were looking to see the veins and the pores. The children will be bringing their bean seeds home tomorrow. We have concluded that our window sill is not a good place to try and grow seeds but you may have more luck with them at home. If you do we would love to see photos. We had them resting on paper towels so that the children could see the roots sprouting but they could now be transferred into soil. 

Next week is national ‘Walk to School Week’! We would love as many children and parents as possible to walk to school however, you can also cycle or scooter if you prefer. Please see the email sent home this week for further details.

The children have been set spelling this week, but due to the Chag of Shavuot starting on Sunday evening, leaving not much time to complete written work, they have not been set English and Maths homework. As always, lots of reading and using our online apps for multiplication and division facts practice is encouraged, outside of Yom Tov days. The children could also log onto Doodle Maths and do their daily set activities on Friday and Sunday.

This week we had lots of drama over lost items of uniform and coats. Please check your child’s clothes, especially their PE kit, and make sure that everything belongs to your child and that everything is named. That way, we can make sure that any pieces of uniform found can be returned. 

Have a lovely Shavuot and Shabbat Shalom!

The Year 3 team

Jewish Studies – week beginning 3.5.21

This week in Year 3, we have been working towards remembering the Hebrew date and the Omer count every day. We have revised some Gematria values and made these relevant to the upcoming Chag of Shavuot. The children are also in the process of learning the different names of this auspicious festival and will be completing an activity on these next week! In other news, wordlist tests are back in full swing and the children enjoyed learning about Shmittah in their Parasha lesson.

Friday 7th May 2021

In history we learned about Roman roads. As well as drawing a labelled cross section and learning about how the roads were built, we discussed why the Romans made roads and why. We looked at where the largest roads were and the places they connected. Freddie told us that he had seen a real Roman road and the children were surprised that some remain today, 2000 years later.

In maths we continued learning about fractions. By shading different shapes and using a bar model to share out counters, the children realised that ½ and 2/4 are equivalent fractions. We spent a bit of time working out fractions of amounts, such as ⅔, first by working out the unit fraction (⅓), for example, to calculate ⅔ of 36, first you would work out ⅓ of 36 (by sharing or using knowledge of multiplication and division facts) which is 12. If ⅓ is 12, then ⅔ are 24. 

We also learned about counting in fractions.

This week in English we began planning our own adventure stories. In order to make really high quality plans, we are working through the planning process step by step and taking our time. So far, we have made some mini word banks for us to use, with a few examples of conjunctions (such as and, but, so, or, when, because, although, if), prepositions of time used to sequence the events of the story (later that day, in the middle of the night, suddenly,  meanwhile, a short/ long while later) and ambitious vocabulary. We discussed all of these as a class and I was so impressed that the children had so many suggestions.

In Art the children explored the relationships in their own lives and how they could show the nature of it in a portrait. They then sketched this in their Art books and really enjoyed going around and looking at what others had done. They all did a fantastic job!

In Science, it was time for the children to write up the investigation that they did into the transportation of water in a plant. Writing up investigations gives children the opportunity to complete a non-fiction piece of writing. Although much of their Science work is completed on the iPads, they completed this the old fashioned way - with paper and pen!

As per the recent email sent out to parents, please email us if your child is being collected by someone else, as we cannot release them even to another parent without knowing that you have given permission. Thanks!

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs Collins, Ms Simon and Mr Portnoi

Friday 30th April

Year 3 have had a lovely week!

In maths we learned about unit fractions, where the numerator is always 1 but the denominator might be different, such as one sixth, one third, one quarter, and non unit fractions, where the numerator is a number other than 1,

In English lessons we spent some time analysing the structure of the story we have been studying, The Tunnel. The children worked in groups to deconstruct the story and put it into a planning template, and we explored story structure beyond a simple beginning, middle and end. The children were told that in the coming weeks, we will be planning and writing our own stories inspired by The Tunnel.

In art this week the children reviewed their sketches of Rose and Jack from last week and developed them to portray their repaired relationship at the end of the book.

This week in history the children continued to learn about Queen Boudicca’s rebellion against the Romans. They did some writing from the point of view of different characters, exploring how they would have seen her differently.

In science this week the children learnt about the transportation of water from the roots, through the stem and into the leaves and flower. In order to demonstrate this, the children placed celery in a cup of coloured water to watch the coloured water travel through the celery to the leaves. If you would like to try this at home then a white carnation is a good flower to use as all of the petals should change colour.

The children had a spelling test with a difference this week. They had to write down dictated sentences. They had the chance to earn 30 points. 1 for each spelling. 1 for each correctly punctuated sentence and 1 for each sentence which was written like a handwriting hero. We were really impressed with how they did and look forward to doing it again next week.

As always the children have been working extremely hard in our handwriting lessons. This being said, for many children, evidence of all the practice we are doing is not yet in their general writing! Please join me in encouraging them to show their learning in this area as much as possible, by including the lead-in join for the letters a, c, d and g whenever they are writing. Most of them are not yet ready to join every letter, but these are the letters we have actively been learning.

We have now heard a number of interest talks and the children have really done an amazing job! There is no set structure or expectation to these, we simply want to hear about things that are of interest to each child. We hope that the children have enjoyed and continue to enjoy this experience.

Shabbat Shalom, enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend!

The Year 3 team

Jewish Studies - week beginning 19.4

This week in Year 3, we revised an important Hebrew reading rule involving a dagesh and Sh’va vowel. We have also been learning about Sefirat Ha’Omer and the unique history and some laws related to this time of year. The children enjoyed making an informative PicCollage poster to display this information.

Friday 23rd April

It was great to see many parents at the consultations on Wednesday, looking forward to seeing the rest of you next week.

In English this week we looked closely at the illustrations in The Tunnel and analysed all the fairy tale references in them. There were so many to find! We also wrote about what happened to Jack after he crawled through the tunnel, and wrote about the events in first person from his point of view.

In art we continued to explore how relationships are portrayed through art, and the children made some marvelous sketches of the characters Jack and Rose. To show their strained relationship at the start of the story, the children drew them facing or standing away from each other, frowning or folding their arms.

We had so much fun learning about Boudicca in history, the queen of a Celtic tribe who coordinated a rebellion against Roman rule. The children were put into small groups and given a character to ‘become’, these were a member of the Iceni tribe, a Roman legionary, a Roman Governor, a Roman trader working around the Roman empire, a slave from Gaul (France) and Queen Boudicca herself. Each group discussed and then presented how events affected their character. This helped the children to understand that history is somewhat subjective, depending on the point of view and circumstances of the people who experienced it.

In maths we learned about ¼, ¾ and ⅓ of shapes and quantities, including money, which presented a good level of challenge!

In science the children continued to learn about plants with a particular focus on the role of the roots. Thank you for sending in jars, they now all have a butter bean in them and the children are going to spend the next couple of weeks observing root growth. They have been planted on paper towel so that the roots can be observed but once they reach a certain point, the children will bring them home where they should be planted in soil. 

The setting of homework began last week and although there were a number of children who did not submit or submitted late, I was really impressed with the improvement in presentation, excellent work! Please note that the homework is due in by Wednesday mornings - if the children were bringing in a homework book then they would have to have it with them at the start of the day, so the deadline for submitting work is 9am and after that time the homework is late. In addition to this, we are working very hard to help the children gain a sense of independence in their work and their homework. While some of the children need this to be supported with reminders or a little bit of help, many are ready and able to do things on their own. The children should be submitting their own homework, as soon as they have completed it, and therefore this should not be done during school hours. 

The children are enjoying working on Doodle Tables! To keep track of their progress we are going to be having weekly times tables facts (including division) quizzes at school. 

Reminders:

Please make sure that:

• All snacks are labelled in a reusable container
• Water bottles are labelled
• Children have a healthy snack for morning break- they are very hungry by lunch time
• Children have a spare 50p in their school bag or to keep in their pen box- many children need pencils/ sharpeners/ rulers/ whiteboard pens/ pen refills/ glues. You will find more information as to why on Ms Simon’s blog.
• Please continue hearing your child’s reading as often as possible.

Have a wonderful weekend, Shabbat Shalom!

The Year 3 team

Jewish Studies - week beginning 12th April

In Jewish Studies this week, Year 3 had a jam packed schedule. We began the week by mentioning the Omer period and the relevant date each day. We celebrated Rosh Chodesh Iyar on Tuesday, followed by a meaningful Yom HaZikaron service on Wednesday and a fabulous day of activities to mark Yom Ha’atzmaut on Thursday!  We have also enjoyed the return of singing together in our respective classrooms, which everyone has found uplifting!

Friday 16th April 2021

We have had a wonderful week back at school and the children have all done really well.

In maths we started our fractions unit. We compared ‘parts’ and ‘wholes’ and identified equal parts and unequal parts. We recapped the vocabulary and conceptual understanding of numerator, denominator, half and quarter.

We began reading our new class text, The Tunnel, by Anthony Browne. We read to a certain point and then the children wrote their own predictions for where the girl finds herself when she crawls through the tunnel. For homework the children have been asked to describe one or both of these characters, thinking about what they look like, what their characters are like and what they enjoy doing. 

We began a new art project on how relationships can be portrayed through art. In groups, the children were given a portrait to discuss, answering questions such as who are the subjects of the painting? How might they be related? How do you know? Is theirs a ‘good’ relationship? How do you know? Each group presented the portrait they worked on, and their thoughts on it, to the class. The names of the paintings were then revealed, which gave us more information about them.

In history we learned about the Roman invasions of Britain, a little bit of background about the Roman Empire, and why they wanted Britain to be part of the empire.

The children had a wonderful time celebrating Yom Ha'atzmaut. They danced, created their own flags, made jewellery and much more. They particularly enjoyed the Israel themed biscuits that they were given at lunchtime!

Homework has been set today, and as mentioned we are working hard with handwriting and general presentation. Handwriting sheets that we have worked on in class have been included with the homework as an optional extra. These do not need to be printed, the children can just use them as a prompt. As well as joins and general neatness, other areas to look out for are writing on the line, sizing and proportion of letters.

Interest Talk Dates

Year 3 Jewish Studies – week beginning 2^nd Nissan/15.3

Friday 19th March 2021

The children have had a great week!

In English we learned about shape poems! We looked at some examples, and noticed that the poems were all written in the shape of the animal they featured (the examples were about different animals). The poems mostly didn’t rhyme, but they did describe how the animals look, move, sound and behave. Then it was our turn to write a shape poem- we wrote ours about the upcoming chag of Pesach. We used a spider diagram to write down all our ideas, and ‘magpieing’ one another’s ideas and vocabulary was heavily encouraged. I modelled how to develop initial ideas into words and phrases, which were then selected and put together to form the poem in a Pesach-related shape. It was challenging but the children really did an amazing job- ask your child to tell you about their shape poem.

In Maths we recapped some learning on addition and subtraction, as it has been some time since we practised this together. We completed some exercises to emphasise the relationship between addition and subtraction and related number facts. Using a part-whole model helped the children to understand how to calculate missing numbers in missing number problems. We also recapped how to add and subtract using a number line and why this strategy is important- it supports mental calculations.

In Art the children made amazing silhouettes of Stonehenge! 

In Science, the children talked about the different parts of a plant and the roles that they have. They were surprised to find out that the leaves and the flower have a role and are not just there to look attractive! Thank you to those people who have sent jars, and even spare jars in. We will be planting on the first Thursday back so they will need to have them the first week back. Last week we used the app 'eversnap' to find out about different plants. Although this is the one that we used, there are many others that work in the same way. Unfortunately, without wifi in the park it was not as impactful as we thought it would be so it would be great if over the holidays the children were able to use it on a device in the garden.

We also continued with our daily PSHE lessons, which have become a real highlight of our day. In these sessions we explored our feelings and the physical sensations they can cause, and the highs and lows of friendships and how to manage these. We also play some really fun games, including human Bop It and Guess Who.

Next week is such a short week and we cannot believe that it is already time for the Pesach break. On Monday we have a special Pesach activity day planned- watch this space!

We wish all our families an enjoyable and meaningful Pesach break- we can’t wait to see the children for the summer term.

Wishing you all a great weekend, Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Friday 12th March 2021

It has been a wonderful week, we have loved having the children back in the classroom learning with us.

We are delighted to welcome Ms Simon to the Year 3 team! Ms Simon will be checking the Year 3 teachers email address on Thursdays, so please rest assured that any messages will reach us.

We have spent this week working on helping the children reacclimate to life at school and working with others. We have taken part in our school’s back to school PSHE program, had lots of hands on learning and activities, collaborative work and some extra breaks whenever the children needed it.

In Maths the children worked in groups on an investigation seeing how many times each number was thrown with a dice. They collected this data and presented it in a tally chart, after some discussions on the best way of doing this and what their tally chart might look like, and what the title might be.

In English we had great fun learning about calligrams- see if your child can explain what these are! After looking at different examples of these, the children made their own.

The children started their new Science topic of plants. Having discussed what a plant is, working  together to create a definition, they enjoyed going outside and looking at different plants. They then used an app to identify what the plants were.

Next week the children will be planting seeds so they can make observations of their growth. It would be great if the children can bring a small clean jar to school for their Science lesson on Thursday. Please do not worry if you are not coming to the end of a jar, if you do not have one, we will find an alternative.

We were very excited to be able to put some amazing new books on our classroom bookshelves, donated to the class library by Louis and Hannah on the occasion of their birthdays. Thank you!

Please Note and Reminders

• The children’s reading days are the same as last term.
• If you have any copies of The Iron Man or your child’s work books at home please send them back to school.
• Most children have found that they need a new pencil/ pen/ whiteboard pen for their pen boxes. Please ask them if this is the case to help them remember. Keeping an extra 50p for equipment in a pocket of their school bag, or to bring in and keep in their pen box has worked well for some children, so please consider doing this.
• Some children have come to school this week without snacks or bottles of water, and they have found themselves getting very hungry! We now bring the snacks into our classroom to avoid bubbles mixing and general congestion in the corridors, so please name your child’s snacks, preferably in a reusable container. Thank you!

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Ms Simon and Mr Portnoi

Jewish Studies - week beginning 7.11

This week, Year 3 have learnt some of the intricacies of lighting the Chanukiah. They then made some beautiful PicCollage guidelines on how to do this and are now quite the experts! In addition, we had some great fun enjoying Chanukah songs and making Chanukah story comic strips. We even managed some Hebrew reading rules too!

Friday 11th December 2020

Chanukah Sameach! 

It is quite tricky writing up our news from this week, with so many children at home isolating and sometimes being set slightly different work. We really missed the children who were not with us this week and we hope that everyone (parents, our pupils and their siblings) has been doing well and managing being at home.

Most of the children began writing their stories, using the plan they made last week. In Maths we learned about estimating calculations, and did an investigation about finding all possibilities with in different combinations. We also had some lessons about Hinduism, one being a general introduction, and one being specifically about the Hindu festivals of Holi and Diwali. The children in class were very excited to learn about this and we drew lots of comparisons with our own Chaggim.

Well done to Zara, our star of the week, who has really been trying her best to stay focused this week in class, showing good humour and persistence in all her work. With so many children not at school we didn’t award a Writer/Mathematician of the Week this week.

We hope you enjoy/ enjoyed watching our end of term show! The children did a lot of the planning in their groups and were so creative. We are very proud of how it turned out. Special shout out to Mr Portnoi, who dealt with the filming in small groups and the editing of the clips.

We really loved our class group greeting e-cards we received, reading the messages from the children really made us smile. Thank you to those who organised this and to all the children. 

We are looking forward to seeing the children next term and hope that you have a wonderful winter break.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi 

Jewish Studies – week beginning 30^th November

This week, we have continued revising Gematria values as part of Chumash readiness. We have focused on numbers 30-60 this week and will be looking to reach 100 by the end of term. We have also begun preparations for making a learning poster on PicCollage that will detail the laws of a Kosher Chanukiah and candle lighting. Our Middah this week was value of being prepared and making a proper plan of action when facing a challenge in life. Yaakov prepared in 3 ways before being reunited with his brother Eisav – ask you children if they can name them all!

Friday 4th December 2020

We cannot believe that we are approaching the end of term and that Chanukah begins next week. This term has been a long one but we have used this time to make a running start to Year 3 and the children have done so well.

News of the week

The children have shown amazing enthusiasm for our presentation. Thank you to all who have sent in milk bottles, props and craft materials.

In English we redeveloped our story plans, making sure that ideas were kept simple and with 3 clear events. We also spent some time working on our end of term presentation. The class were put into groups and decided who would say each line themselves. They showed amazing collaboration, we were so impressed with how well they did this, and how they shared their ideas on how to perform each part. They also thought up creative ideas for actions and props.

In Maths we continued moving forward with addition and subtraction, adding and subtracting two 3 digit numbers, both with and without exchanges. We used our concrete resources (place value counters) and number lines alongside the column method, so make sure that the children understand what is happening and why. 

In Science the children carried out a very fun and exciting activity! We used starburst sweets to demonstrate the different stages of the rock cycle. We began by cutting up our starburst to show pieces of sediment and we squashed the pieces together to show metamorphic rock. We also melted our starburst and watched it cool to remind us how igneous rocks are formed! Next week we will write up our activity using a scientific layout and create a visual rock cycle on our ipads using the photographs we took.

Star of the Week is Shachar, for always having good Middot and treating others with respect.

Writer of the Week is Gaby, for developing her creative story plan.

Mathematician of the Week is James, for pushing himself in class to solve more challenging problems and persevering with these. 

Important notices

The weather is colder this week and some children are feeling the chill from our open windows. Please see if your child would like to wear some extra layers under their uniform to help them stay warm. 

Many children need 50p for a new board pen. Please send them to school with this.

The recommended reading list by Mrs Sondhelm has been posted below, and it has also been posted on Google Classroom.

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 team

Jewish Studies - week beginning 23.11

This week in Jewish Studies, we have been paying close attention to our Gematria values and revising number 1-20. We have also discussed why numbers 15 and 16 use an irregular combination of letters. Our Parasha Middah this week focused on the need to, sometimes, wait patiently for the good things in life. This was based on Ya'akov needing to wait patiently to marry Rachel.

Friday 27th November 2020

It was wonderful to speak to you all again on Wednesday in the parent consultations. Look in your child’s bag after school to find an envelope with the report summarising our discussions. We hope you find these useful.

In school we have had a lovely week. In English we have started to plan our own stories based on the class text we have been working on, Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura. The children have some fantastic ideas!

In Maths we have learned more about the column method, as always using base 10 and place value counters to ensure that every child understands what is happening in each place value column and why, especially when an ‘exchange’ is involved. We are also prompting the children to really consider the best method to use when calculating different questions, selecting the best or most efficient one to use, and explaining verbally what they have done and why.

In History we learned about life in the Mesolithic period of the Stone Age, noting the changes since the Paleolithic period. The children then wrote which period they would prefer to live in, and why.

In Art we continued our cave paintings. We looked at photos of real examples, as caves have been discovered with well preserved drawings from this time. We used charcoal in our sketch books to try out drawing different animals and figures. The children really concentrated carefully and the work they produced was amazing. We will use this next week, when we will draw onto the paint-washed cave wall that we made a couple of weeks ago. 

Today we had a short birthday celebration in honour of the children who have had birthdays so far this year- Louis, Isabel, Levi and Gaby. We played musical statues and the game Taboo (a volunteer is given a card with a word they need to describe so that others can guess, but there is also a list of works that they cannot use in their description). We had a great time!

Well done to our 3 stars of the week-

Writer of the Week is Jamie, for a fantastic story plan and consistent hard work on developing her writing.

Mathematician of the week is Louis, for an amazing effort in developing his reasoning skills.

Star of the week is Freddie, for working really hard and showing persistence to remain focused during lessons. 

 
Please check your child’s Kerem School emails over the weekend- you will find an email from them with some work they are proud of attached. Enjoy!

Shabbat Shalom, have a great weekend!

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Jewish Studies - week beginning 16.11

This week in Jewish Studies, we have nearly finished our Chumash navigation and 'Torah tracker' mini project. We have familiarised ourselves with the Etnachta (pause in a Pasuk) and Sof Pasuk (a Pasuk ending). Our Middah (value) focus this week was honouring and being polite to our Parents. This was discussed through the story of Ya'akov and Eisav.

Friday 20th November 2020

This week was Anti bullying week and throughout the week we had a small activity every day. On Monday the children wore odd socks to illustrate that being different is ok and something to value.

On Wednesday we took part in a whole school initiative and designed our own kindness rocks which will be placed around the school. On Thursday we wrote our own poems and shared them. These were in first person and we aimed to convey  feeling and emotion through our verses.

In English we held a debate- does the boy (from the story Stone Age Boy, his name is never revealed) prefer living in the Stone Age or in present times? We discussed what debates are, and how they are used in modern day democracy, for example in the Houses of Parliament, or during the presidential race when the candidates debated one another. The children then went off to prepare their arguments, using evidence from the story to support their point. Some children predicted the arguments of the other side and prepared counter arguments. They did such a good job and we had a lot of fun!

We are beginning to see evidence of our work on using dictionaries in the classroom. Please keep encouraging the children to look up words using their dictionaries at home for meaning or spelling, as the quicker and easier they can do this, the more likely they will be to use this skill and exercise their independence.

In Maths we did a bit of work on reasoning and problem solving in groups. We read the questions, discussed interpreting what has to be done, and as a group found different ways of solving the problems. As an example 365 +90. By far the easiest way is to add 100 mentally and then subtract 10. We modelled how to explain this clearly in words, and spent some time highlighting why a method such as the column method wasn’t a better one to use for this question. 

In Science the children began to research rocks, using different fact sheets to answer questions. 

We are very lucky to have Mrs Sonenfield, our Wellbeing Assistant, running sessions at school. We have a number of rolling groups taking place for Year 3 children, with different children taking part every few weeks. It is our hope that all the children will have the opportunity to attend some of these sessions in which they have the opportunity to develop their social and communication skills, learn strategies for how to resolve tricky situations, and develop their Kerem Characteristics to help them in their learning. These are short, 20 minute sessions. They take place at different times each week to ensure that pupils are not consistently missing any particular lesson, and if the timing isn’t convenient for the class, or the participants would miss something crucial, we reschedule for another time. If there is a concern or particular reason for your child attending the group, we will contact you.

We have set up a tray for children to put their reading folders if they need a new book in the middle of the week, between their reading days. Please read 2 or 3 pages a day from their school reading book. If you would like to read more with your child, please do this using a book from home they have chosen, as some children have been bringing in their books to be changed the day after receiving it, and this is not sustainable. At this stage, the focus in reading switches from fluency to a comprehension focus, so please do ask your child questions when reading with them, whether from a school reading book or your own. You can find questions to help you attached below.

Writer of the Week is Isabel, for an amazing letter written by the Stone Age boy, recounting his experiences.

Mathematician of the week is Sam, for maximum effort in his Maths work this week.

Star of the week is Hannah, for always taking pride in her work and showing initiative in Science when she did some research about her rock.

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Jewish Studies - week beginning 9.11

This week, we have continued to grow into expert 'Torah trackers' - independently navigating ourselves around the Chumash. We have been practising locating the: name of Sefer, Perek (chapter) number, Parasha and Pasuk (sentence) number. We have also discussed our Middah (value) of the week - making Shalom (peace) with others. We have focused on Yishmael letting Yitzchak bury their father (Avraham) first and making peace instead of fighting.

Friday 13th November 2020

This week in Year 3 we continued with our exciting new topics! In English we began working on the story Stone Age Boy, by Satoshi Kitamura, which is related to our History topic. This week we read the story and then wrote questions that we would like to ask the Stone Age boy. The children (mostly) remembered their capital letters and question marks, and asked very thoughtful questions. We also introduced the thesaurus off the back of our dictionary work, and use these to broaden our vocabulary when describing the Stone Age camp. We then wrote postcards that the boy might have written home, telling his family about his experiences.

In Maths, we continued working on addition and subtraction strategies. We added and subtracted multiples of 10 to 3 digit numbers, exchanging a hundred for 10 tens, or 10 tens for one hundred, when a hundreds boundary was crossed. We worked on some reasoning questions too, and adding and subtracting hundreds.

In History this week we learned all about the work of archaeologists. This helped us to understand how we know about what life was like in the Stone Age, as this age was part of prehistory- before written records.

In Art we used watercolour paints to create a wash. We studied photographs of cave paintings to look at colours and textures, using our art sketchbooks to experiment with all our ideas and how to create different tones and depths of colour using water. We created the background so that we can make our own cave paintings!

In Science the children worked really hard! We explored 6 different types of rocks and answered these questions. Are they permeable or impermeable? How dense are they? Are they hard or soft? We also learnt about the three different categories of rocks - Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic. Have a look at the photos to see what we got up to. Some children even brought in some rocks from home to share with the class!

This week we also organised our Kerem Cares representatives. 

Tzedaka: Adele and Jemima

Kehillah: Ari and Zara

Tikkun Olam: Hannah and Louis

The meetings will begin on Wednesday, and the representatives should try to get to school in time for this.

WELL DONE to our Stars of the Week:

This week’s Star of the Week is Leo, for always persisting with his work and for being organised and ready to begin lessons.

This week’s Writer of the week is Zara.

This week’s Mathematician of the Week is Emmi.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins. Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Jewish Studies - week beginning 2/11

This week, we have revised some of our key Hebrew reading rules in class and found relevant examples in our Siddurim. We have continued our 'Chumash readiness' scheme - which is preparing the children for full-on text based lessons in the near future. Our focus this week was to become familiar with the layout of a Chumash page and how to navigate ourselves around it.

Friday 6th November 2020

We hope you all had a really nice half term, even those of you who were isolating. We were so happy to see the children back at school.

A number of children need some new equipment for their pen box. We try to help the children take stock of what they need and remind them each day, though understandably they sometimes forget to mention this when they get home. Please ask your child if they need anything so that they have everything they need for their lessons. 

In light of our new ‘lockdown’ and the rise of Covid cases all around us, at school we are constantly trying to make sure that we are not contributing to this spread and this involves taking extra precautions. One of these is keeping the windows open in all rooms to allow clean air to circulate around the building. Now that the weather is becoming colder this does mean that we all feel a little cold sometimes. Please dress your child in extra layers, e.g. a thermal vest under their uniform, and tights instead of socks, to ensure that they are comfortable. 

Well done to so many of you who have bought dictionaries for the children to use at home! We have done a number of activities this week and this is already proving to have an impact. You will notice that this week’s homework is dictionary work, if there is anyone who has not yet managed to get a dictionary please let us know. Any dictionary is fine as long as it is a real, paper dictionary (not an online one), and  the children will be able to access and use it easily. You do not have to buy a new one if you already have one of these at home.

This week in Maths we added and subtracted one digit numbers to 3 digit numbers, crossing tens and therefore involving an exchange. We used base 10, place value counters, mental methods and number lines to help us do this. The children saw how this improved the accuracy of their work, and some children worked on the idea of choosing the most appropriate strategy to help them with different calculations. We then added and subtracted multiples of 10 to 3 digit numbers, not crossing hundreds.

In History we began an exciting new topic- Stone Age Britain! The children were introduced to the terms BCE and CE and how they are used. We defined the word ‘prehistory’ and looked at the timeline of prehistoric Britain, creating one with proportionate sections in different colours to represent the Paleolithic period (earliest), Mesolithic period (middle), Neolithic (the ‘new’ Stone age or end of the Stone Age), the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. We noticed how the durations got smaller with each stage and talked about why they had these names. The children asked some brilliant questions about the Stone Age after we discussed what we would like to learn. We also began  new Art project related to this- all about cave art. We looked at lots of examples and learned about how they were discovered (mostly within that last 100 years!) and how they are preserved and protected. The children found it very interesting to see the animals and shapes that were drawn and we inferred why the artists decided to draw those things. We learned that the drawings on the walls of caves might have been painted by many different artists over many years.

In Science we began a new topic learning about rocks! The children explored 6 different types of rocks, writing notes on their appearance and texture. We also discussed their possible uses and where we might find them. 

In English we completed our books about owls, bats or hedgehogs, and the children definitely felt a sense of achievement seeing their hard work over this project come together. We used published non fiction books to compare the similarities and differences between the contents page and the index page and then made these for our books. We selected tricky words used in their book and used our dictionary skills to put them in alphabetical order and define them for their glossary page. The children are very excited to bring these books home to show you, but first we will out them on display in our classroom.

On Friday the children watched some short videos made by the Year 6 children abut the different Kerem Cares committee (our school councils)- Kehilla - the school community council, Tzedaka- our charities committee, and Tikkun Olam- our ‘Eco’ council. The children learned a little bit about democracy, why pupil voice is important at school, and the role of the representatives on the councils and their responsibility to their class. Those who were interested in applying wrote a speech, outlining why they feel they are the right person for the job. Children who were not interested in applying acted as their advisors and campaigners! These speeches were allocated a number and names were not included. Instead of a vote, Year 6 will read each one and will choose the representatives for each council based on their speech. We hope that we will know who will represent our class on the councils next week.

Last but not least-

Writer of the Week is Charlie, who worked incredibly hard on his handwriting this week.

Mathematician of the week is Levi, for really brilliant work on adding and subtracting.

Star of the week is Jemima, who is consistently working hard, trying her best and for showing curiosity in her spelling and dictionary work.

We wish you a wonderful weekend, and Shabbat Shalom.

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Friday 23rd October 2020

Last week the children used their observation skills to draw a self portrait, using a photo of themselves for one half and drawing the other. See the photo below to see their wonderful work!

In Maths we continued using concrete manipulatives (place value counters and Base 10) to explore the concept of ‘exchange’ when adding and subtracting so that they understand not just what to do but why they are doing it when using the column method. We have also been discussing the most appropriate method to use for different calculations.

In English we have been working hard on finishing our books and putting them together. The children have worked so hard on finding their information and have learned about the other features of non fiction books, such as contents page, index and glossary, by making their own.

In Science the children carried out research using their ipads. They had to read through different topics and search for the right answer. We also managed to learn about the muscles in our bodies and how they work. 

Well done to our:

Writer of the Week Zac, who has written his non fiction book in amazing detail.

Mathematician of the week is Anoushka, who shows amazing enthusiasm for Maths and is always pushing herself. 

Star of the week Noah, who is constantly wowing us with his hard work and perseverance- a very important Kerem Characteristic.  

We are all proud of you!

There is no homework set for over half term, however we have set up a ‘battle’ with Year 2 on Times Tables Rockstars. Your child’s login for this should be in the inside cover of their reading record book, please note the passwords have changed. Please encourage them to play a little every day, and as always please keep reading!

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable half term, we are looking forward to seeing the children again after next week.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Friday 16th October 2020

We hope that you have all had a great week!

Last Friday, the children received a tube of Smarties to enjoy and fundraise for our new school library. We are very proud that we have already had 3 tubes returned filled with 20p pieces! Well done to Zara, Louis and Gaby for doing this so promptly. Please send in any filled Smarties tubes when you can.

We are excited to tell you about our new class recognition awards- Writer of the Week for English related efforts and achievements, Mathematician of the Week for Maths efforts and achievements, and Star of the Week for Kerem Characteristics, kindness and general ‘over and above’ acts.  

Our Star of the Week this week is Adele, who when shown that a child in our class was sitting by themselves in the playground, spent all of the lunch time play session playing with them (even though they said they didn’t want to at first!).

Our Mathematician of the Week is Ari, who is working so hard to adopt the new Maths vocabulary we have been working on in class, in fact he has already used some new words and phrases in lessons.

Our Writer of the Week is Chloe, who has worked very diligently to gather and write up information about bats for our non fiction books.

Well done to all of our stars! Please support our message of celebrating the achievements of others.

In English we continued with our animal research, and had an introduction to paraphrasing. It will take a while for the children to truly understand this, especially as in this work we are using many tricky skills, but it was a great start.

In Maths we began adding 2 and 3 digit numbers to one digit numbers when a tens boundary is crossed and an ‘exchange’ is needed. This might be more familiar to you as ‘carrying’, but please use the term ‘exchange’ as we do in school to avoid confusion. We used concrete resources, Base 10 and Place Value Counters, to enact the exchange of ten ones for one ten in addition, and 1 ten for 10 ones in subtraction. We also used number lines to add and subtract, using number bonds to 10 to partition the number we are adding into 2 parts, which made it so much easier.

In Science the children reviewed their skeleton facts. They also learnt about vertebrates and invertebrates. Some animals have their skeleton outside their body!

Please make sure all forest school clothing items are clearly labelled. There tends to be some items left at school or taken home accidentally by others and we would like to be able to return them quickly to their owner and minimise stress.

There is one week to go until half term but we will still be working hard!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Shabbat Shalom,

The Year 3 Team

Friday 9th October 2020

In Maths we started our new unit- addition and subtraction. We used base 10 to help the children add and subtract multiples of 100 and add and subtract 1s from 3 digit numbers. We used known number facts to help us, such as ‘if 7-3=4 then 70-30-40 and 700-300=400’. We also had a mini lesson on how to estimate unmarked values on a number line, by looking at the start and end numbers and labeling the ‘midpoint’ of the number line (see example below).

How can I help at home?

This is a really good time to recap the children’s knowledge of addition and subtraction facts and number bonds to 10, as using these will help when bridging 10 or 100.

In PSHE the children looked at rules for different places and why these are important, and how and why they differ depending on the environment.

In English we looked at different types of non fiction reports for our next piece of writing and the children decided that we will make a little book that includes all of the features of non fictions texts. We asked questions about barn owls and other nocturnal animals🦉🦔🦇, also recapping the use of capital letters and question marks, and will use these as our subheadings. We started searching for information and the children have done a brilliant job writing up the facts for their first 2 sections in their own words (mostly!). 

In Science we continued to learn about our skeleton. We added more facts to our brainstorm bubbles and labelled our own skeleton. We learnt that the longest bone is the femur and the smallest bone is the stapes, which is in the middle ear.

In Geography we continued learning about the globe and our world 🌎 and this week we learned about the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. We found out about the weather in these areas and compared the climate to ours in the UK. 🌧

Some of the children need whiteboard pens and Frixion pen refills. Please ask your child if they need 50p as they find it difficult to remember when they get home. Once they have these in school we can help them get the equipment they need.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom ✡,

The Year 3 team

Friday 2nd October 2020

We have had a lovely week at school this week, though without Monday it did feel a little short. We hope that you all had a meaningful Yom Kippur and an easy fast.

In English we spent some time redrafting some descriptive writing for our display, which is now up and looking amazing with our owl artwork from last week- see photos below! We also had a lesson about the life cycle of barn owls to help the children gather and organise information for a non fiction report we will be writing about barn owls in the coming weeks.

In Maths we concluded our work on Place Value, comparing and ordering numbers to 1000. We went through lots of examples of how to explain how the children knew which number was larger. We also had a lesson on counting in 50s.

Maths vocabulary used in class this week: number, digit, place value column, greater than, less than, equal to, the same, value, ascending, descending, multiple.

In Art we began learning about how to draw self portraits. This week we looked carefully at the shape of our eyes, and practised sketching them in our art sketchbooks.

In Science we began to learn about our skeletons! We brainstormed and learnt many new facts. The children were shocked to hear about how many bones make up our skeletons, especially inside our hands and feet.

Reading days- We wanted to clarify that each child’s reading day is an opportunity for us to read with them and for books to be changed if this is needed. The children do not need to have finished their reading book by the time their reading day arrives. Some books are longer than others and some weeks are busier at home than others. The important thing is that, as well as reading regularly at home, each child’s reading folder is here at school on their allocated day, so that we can read with them on a regular basis and change books a few at a time and not all in one go.

Homework- We have set English, Maths and Spelling homework this week. The festival of Succot begins this evening and extends to over next weekend, and over this festival we try to limit our regular weekly activities. For this reason, we are giving the children an extra week to complete the homework, so that there is enough time before and after Succot begins for them to complete it. This homework should be submitted by Wednesday 14th October. Next week on Thursday 7th October, new spellings will be set but there will not be additional written homework set. Please ensure that no written homework is completed on the festival days. 

Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Friday 25th September 2020

Shana Tova!

This week in Year 3 we have been having lots of discussions to help the children readjust to life in class. One of the concepts that we will be doing extended work on is nurturing a ‘growth mindset’, that if we practise skills we find difficult we will get better at them and begin to find them easier, and that mistakes and errors are an important part of learning and nothing to be ashamed of. Ask your child if they can tell you the story of Austin’s Butterfly.

We also introduced a ‘recognition board’ to our classroom. Whenever a child is listening carefully, showing enthusiasm for their learning or demonstrating the kind of conduct we agreed in class that we want to see in our lessons, the star with their name on is moved onto the recognition board. The children have really responded brilliantly to this and we have had even more productive and positive lessons because of it, with every child’s name usually making it to the recognition board at some point in the lesson. Well done Year 3! 

In Art this week the children really showed their drawing skills. We reflected on the owls we drew a couple of weeks ago in the art sketch books and remembered the things we felt didn't work well, such as drawing the face too small, drawing the guidelines too strongly so that they couldn’t be rubbed out easily, using bold strokes instead of sketching to make sure that the shape we drew was what we wanted it to be. Using those experiences we drew barn owls on pieces of card, and the children have really done an incredible job! These will be made into a display and I will include a picture of it in next week’s blog.

In English we continued reading our class text, discussing the language features of sentences and phrases and highlighting quality vocabulary. We used chapter 3- Dark is Fun- to learn about speech marks and how to correctly punctuate direct speech. The children made a great start!

In Maths we worked on number lines to 100 and 1000. We looked at the marked numbers and used them to identify intervals so that unmarked points could be labelled. We reasoned about where certain numbers might be plotted on the number line and why. 

In Geography we learned about the North and South poles. The children made information posters about the similarities and differences between them, and we learned many interesting facts. See if your child can tell about one of the facts they learned.

Please make sure that all emails relating to the class are sent to year3@keremschool.co.uk. Many thanks!

Shabbat Shalom and we wish you an easy fast,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Class Blog 18th September 2020

We can’t quite believe the beautiful weather we have had this week, we hope that you have all had some time to enjoy it.

The children were so excited to receive their iPads this week! We have enjoyed using them in some of our lessons and look forward to extending our use of them. 

We have been working hard in our handwriting sessions and general presentation of work is gradually improving. Some of the children are working on general letter formation and others on some handwriting joins, and our challenge is to ensure that everything we do in our handwriting lessons is showing through in the children’s general writing.

In English we read chapter 2 of The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark and discussed why the old lady felt that dark is kind. We then looked at the title for chapter 3, Dark is Fun, and the children wrote their own prediction of who Plop might meet in this chapter, and why they feel that dark is fun. Next week we will continue reading the text and using it to learn about dialogue and speech punctuation.

In Maths this week we learned about numbers to 1000, focusing on the place value of each digit and the importance of zero as a place holder, for example in the number 508. We have also been working hard on our reasoning skills, so that the children are able to explain what they know and refer to their Maths knowledge in their reasoning. This is a very tricky skill so we will be doing a lot of work on this throughout the year.

In Geography we learned about coordinates, identifying the locations of various countries and seas on the world map. It was challenging work but the children did such a good job!

In Science we explored what having a ‘balanced diet’ means. We identified different food items which belong to each of the 5 food groups and completed a food pyramid to display our understanding. 

We have worked hard to set up our reading system and hope it will run smoothly. Please check the front cover of your child’s reading record to see their allocated reading day. Reading folders must be in school on that day, when your child will be read with and have the opportunity to have their book changed if needed. Please make sure that all reading folders are at school on Monday so that we can write the reading days on the reading records. 

Well done to all the children for their homework last week. A couple of requests, please make sure that all photos submitted are rotated to be the right way before uploading. Secondly, there is no need to send the homework books in to school, so please ensure these stay at home so that the children aren't needlessly carrying them back and forth.

We wish you all a Shana Tova, may it be a very happy and healthy one.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi

Monday 14th September

We would like to do a collage activity in Art on Friday in honour of Rosh Hashanah. If you have any coloured magazines, catalogues or newspapers that you are no longer in need of, please send them in to school for your child to use. Many thanks!

Friday 11th September 2020

We have really enjoyed our first week with the children, getting to know them and setting off on their Year 3 learning journey. Thank you for joining us at the ‘Meet the Teacher’ meeting on Tuesday night, we hope you found it informative and helpful. Key points about homework are summarised below.

This week in Maths we started our new unit- Place Value. Knowledge and understanding of place value in numbers, for example understanding that the digit 1 in the number 153 represents one hundred, or that the number 351 is a different (higher) number despite using the same digits, underpins all other areas of number, so we will spend as much time on this unit as the children need. 

In English we then began our new class text, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, in which Plop, a baby barn owl, explores his fear of the dark and listens to the advice of those around him to see the dark in different ways. Before reading chapter 1, we discussed our own fears, why Plop might be afraid of the dark, and thought of ways to convince him not to be afraid. We discussed the role of nouns (person, object, animal or place) and adjectives (words used to describe nouns, including colours) in sentences. Please ask your child to identify any nouns or adjectives they find in their reading, or when you read aloud to them. We also learned about alliteration, when the initial sound of words in a  phrase is repeated, and wrote our own paragraphs describing Plop using some examples of this, such as ‘fluffy feathers’. 

Each child has been given a copy of the text so that they can answer their homework comprehension questions. We would really appreciate your support in ensuring that these are looked after well and brought back to school each day so that the children have them for lessons. Thank you!

We had such a lovely art lesson where we made a first draft of sketching owls. The children did a brilliant job! We talked about drawing skills such as looking carefully and sketching. We used the lesson as an opportunity to discuss growth mindset and moving away from expecting perfection the very first time we try something and then giving up. Next week we will use what we have learned to make a pencil drawing of a barn owl.

In our Geography lesson we started our new unit- All Around the World. Key vocabulary discussed included globe, Equator, Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. We wrote a list of countries in each hemisphere and along the equator, looking at a world map. We then chose one country from the Northern Hemisphere, one country from the Southern Hemisphere and one country on the Equator and wrote a brief fact file about them, with information such as official language, population and average rainfall. The children showed real enthusiasm for Geography and we are looking forward to next week's lesson.

In Science, the children started a new topic called Animals Including Humans. We learnt about the difference between herbivores, omnivores and carnivores and began to classify different animals within these groups. 

Our first session of Forest School was fantastic! The children had a great time. Have a look at our photos to see the different things we created.

The JS team asks that all Alef Champ books taken home last year are returned to school as soon as possible. If you have mislaid your book, £4 will be added to your school bill. Many thanks!

Homework

Homework will be set on Google Classroom on Friday afternoons and should be submitted on Google Classroom by the following Wednesday. We have provided each child with a Maths Book and an English book for them to complete their work in. You can print off the homework sheets if you wish, or your child can look at the digital version without printing it. As discussed on Tuesday evening, we will be focussing on handwriting and presentation of written work at school, so we ask that you support this in making sure that homework is presented neatly. If this takes a while and means that your child is not able to fully complete the work from concentrating on this then we completely understand, please just add a comment on the Classroom to let us know. You will find some information about presentation expectations for English and Maths at the front of the exercise books we have sent home. We aim to set homework that provides practice or revision for skills learned in class. Children should spend 20 minutes on each piece of work. Many thanks for your support.

Spelling homework will be set every Thursday and tested on the following Thursday.

We have now read with all of the children and provided them with a reading folder, reading journal and reading book. We aim to read with each child and change their reading book at least once a week.

Well done if you have managed to read this post all the way until this point, we promise that we are not planning to include this much detail every week.

Our email address is year3@keremschool.co.uk , please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you need.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs Collins, Mrs Kanzen and Mr Portnoi