Year 3
Year 3 Weekly Blog – 23.2.26
It has been another busy and exciting week in Year 3, filled with creativity, problem-solving and new skills!
English – Poetry Inspired by Purim
In English this week, we have been exploring poetry inspired by the festival of Purim. The children created wonderful shape poems, carefully presenting their writing in creative forms linked to the theme of Purim.
They experimented with nouns, verbs, alliteration and similes, thinking carefully about their word choices to make their poems vivid and expressive. We also explored rich vocabulary linked to the story and celebrations of Purim. Alongside our creative writing, we discussed important poetic features such as stanzas and verses, developing our understanding of how poems are structured.
Maths – Measuring Length and Finding Perimeter
In Maths, we have continued our learning on length and perimeter. The children have been practising how to calculate the perimeter of different shapes by carefully adding the lengths of each side.
We discussed efficient addition strategies, particularly using number bonds to help us add more accurately and quickly. The class has been encouraged to explain their reasoning and share different methods, helping everyone to deepen their understanding. It has been wonderful to see their confidence growing as they tackle more complex shapes.
Computing
This week in Computing, we began our exciting new topic of touch typing. The children are learning how to position their hands correctly on the keyboard and use the home row keys.
Over the coming weeks, they will develop the skills to type independently without looking at the keys. The class showed great focus and determination as they practised both accuracy and speed.
Trip – Celtic Harmony
We had a fantastic trip to Celtic Harmony, where the children stepped back in time to learn about life in the Stone Age.
Throughout the day, we explored how people kept warm, built shelters, prepared food and hunted for survival. The sun was shining, which made our outdoor learning even more enjoyable! The children made excellent use of their Forest School skills to build shelters and think carefully about the materials they would need.
We learned about the different types of materials used during the Stone Age and discussed why certain materials were chosen for particular jobs, such as building, tool-making and cooking. The children asked thoughtful questions and showed great enthusiasm and curiosity.
We were very proud of their behaviour, teamwork and resilience throughout the day. It was a wonderful hands-on experience that truly brought our learning to life.
Humanities
In Humanities, we began our exciting new topic on the Roman invasion of Britain. The children explored who the Romans were and learned about where they invaded. We looked closely at maps to identify where the Romans came from and which parts of Britain they settled in. The class enjoyed discussing why the Romans might have chosen certain locations and how their empire expanded over time.
Music
In Music this week, we learned the note G on the recorder. We split into groups, with each group playing a different note within a piece of music. This helped us develop our listening skills, timing and teamwork as we performed together.
Well done, Year 3, for another fantastic week of enthusiasm, creativity and hard work. We are so proud of all you have achieved!
Dear Parents,
I cannot believe we have almost reached the end of the year and that we have just completed our last full week at school. It has been such a fantastic year and I am really going to miss this class.
In English, the children wrote a story titled ‘The Machine’, where two children built a machine, either a space machine, time machine or robot, and they wrote about what happened when the children went on the machine. The children focused on their beginning paragraph, ensuring they set the scene and included a detailed character description.
In maths, the children started a new topic on Time. They recapped what the long hand and short hand on an analogue clock represent and decided where the long hand points to when it is ‘o-clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past. They then learnt how to tell the time to 5 minutes and to 1 minute. Please, wherever possible, ask the children to tell you what the time is on an analogue clock. The children were also introduced to the concept of am and pm, looking at analogue and digital clocks at various times throughout the day, in order to compare what is the same and what is different.
In science, the children learnt about the structure of a seed, looking at the inside and outside of a seed, and how the structure helps the seed grow into a plant. They then completed an end of unit quiz to see how much they have learnt on the topic of Plants.
In guided reading, the children read the lyrics from the song ‘Try Everything’. They discussed the key messages of the song, which include never giving up, making mistakes and learning from them and showing resilience in all that we do.
Our spelling rule for this week are words that are spelt with an ‘ei’ but sound like they are spelt with the ‘ay’ sound. These words include vein, abseil, beige, rein, reign, surveillance, and veil.
Important reminders:
- Children will be bringing their books home next week so they should have a suitable bag to carry all their books.
- Please can their reading record books and reading books be returned to school by Tuesday next week.
Wishing you a Shabbat shalom,
Mrs Prais
Friday 28th June 2024
Dear Parents,
I cannot believe we are almost at the end of our time in Year 3. It has gone by so quickly! This week the children had their first transition session with their new Year 4 teacher and saw their new classroom. As a class we discussed how the children are feeling about moving up a year group and about Year 3 coming to an end. The children had the opportunity to reflect on their achievements, in and out of school, over the past year.
This week in English, the children wrote their own fantastic haiku poems, incorporating the features they learnt about these poems. The children also completed a reading comprehension about tornadoes, which links to their geography lesson. They focused on highlighting key information in the text and then referring to this information when answering questions on the text.
In maths, the children started a new topic, Data Handling. They learnt how pictograms give us a visual image to represent data and that the symbol on a pictogram may represent different values and it is important to always look at the key to find out the value. They also learnt that a bar chart presents data in bars. A bar chart has a y-axis, and an x-axis, both of which are labelled. We discussed how they need to be careful when reading the intervals between the scales, as it will not always be going up in 1s. The children went on to draw bar charts representing different information, focusing on their scale and how to label their axis.
In geography, the children learnt about tornadoes. They learnt how tornadoes form, what causes them and how scientists collect data about them.
In science, the children learnt about seed dispersal. They learnt all the different ways that seeds can get spread around, including via the wind, water, animals and humans.
Our spelling rule for this week is words that have the /s/ sound but are spelt with an ‘sc’. These words include scenario, scene, scenery, science, scientist, scissors, discipline, fascinate and ascend. The common exception words are library, material and medicine.
Important reminders:
- Please make sure your child brings a water bottle into school.
- Please send your child wearing green on Wednesday 3rd July to support environmental initiatives at Kerem. Please kindly send a minimum donation of £1. No sports kits. Girls should not wear trousers.
Wishing you a Shabbat shalom.
Mrs Prais
Friday 21st June 2024
Dear Parents,
This week has been a very exciting week with Sports Day on Tuesday! It was wonderful to see all the children participating and persevering in the various sporting activities. They showed excellent team spirit and it was lovely to see them cheer each other on.
In English, the children completed a comprehension about Tsunamis. They focused on writing their answers in full sentences, in addition to referring back to the text to answer questions. They also learnt about Haiku poems, learning that they are always about a natural theme and they are three lines long. The first line is always 5 syllables, the second line is 7 syllables and the third line is 5 syllables. Please see some examples of Haiku poems below:
- Winter is coming.
Snow will be arriving soon.
We should rake the leaves.
- Holidays are here.
We can go to the seaside.
Hot sand and the sea.
In maths, the children learnt that a horizontal line is a straight line that goes from left to right and a vertical line is a line that goes from up to down. Some shapes have vertical and horizontal lines of symmetry, e.g. a square. The children were also introduced to the terms perpendicular and parallel lines. Parallel lines are lines that go in the same direction and will never meet. Perpendicular lines are lines that meet at a right angle. They used all this knowledge to describe the properties of 2D shapes.
In science, the children learnt about the lifecycle of a plant. They learnt about the 5 steps involved in the process, including germination, the plant growing due to photosynthesis, pollination, fertilisation and lastly speed dispersal.
In geography, the children learnt why tsunamis occur. They learnt that a tsunami is a giant wave caused by a huge earthquake under the ocean. The earthquake causes a large amount of water to be displaced very quickly, causing a series of waves to travel through the deep water. As the waves travel through shallow water near the land, they get bigger.
Our spelling rule that we reviewed this week is words that sound like they are spelt with the ‘k’ sound but are spelt with a ‘que’. These words include technique, cheque, unique, critique, antique, plaque, physique, opaque and boutique.
In the children’s last Forest School session, they discussed how today is the summer solstice. They also practised mindfulness and had the opportunity to sit in the forest and connect with nature, whilst being able to colour if they wanted to. Lastly, they made dream catchers out of willow and wool.
In D&T the children began creating their own pop-up books, incorporating the mechanisms that they have learnt over the past few weeks, for example a rotating wheel, a lever and pivoting.
Important reminders:
- This week was Year 3’s last Forest School session.
- Please send your child in with 50p so they can replace any stationery in their pencil pots.
- English and maths homework are due in on Wednesdays.
Wishing you a Shabbat shalom,
The Year 3 Team
Friday 14th June 2024
Dear Parents,
I hope you all had a lovely Shavuot and enjoyed eating lots of cheesecake!
In maths, the children started a new topic, Shape. First, the children learnt that an angle is created when two straight lines meet at a point and it is the measure of the amount of turn between two lines. They learnt that a quarter turn is called a right angle, 2 right angles make a half turn, 3 right angles make 3 quarters of a turn and 4 right angles make a complete turn. Lastly, they compared angles, seeing if they are smaller or greater than a right angle. An angle smaller than a right angle is called an acute angle and an angle larger than a right angle is called an obtuse angle.
In English, the children read a comprehension about earthquakes and answered questions on it. The key focus was to refer back to the text in order to answer the questions.
In geography, the children learnt all about earthquakes. They learnt that as the tectonic plates move in different directions over long periods of time, this causes friction, which in turn causes energy to build up. The energy becomes so great that it is finally released, which creates a shock wave - an earthquake. The children discussed the destruction caused by earthquakes, and the level of destruction depends on the strength of the earthquake.
In D&T, the children learnt how to make rotating wheels, which they will incorporate into their pop-up books. They also started planning to create their own pop-up books which they will create in the upcoming weeks.
Important information:
- Due to a change in the timetable, next week is Year 3’s last Forest School session.
- Please send your child in with 50p so they can replace any stationery in their pencil pots.
Shabbat shalom,
The Year 3 Team
Friday 7th June 2024
Dear Parents,
It has been a busy week in Year 3! The children participated in a mini first aid course training on Tuesday, learning what to do in certain emergencies. They learnt how to perform CPR, as well as what to do if someone is choking. The children also took part in an e-safety course on Friday. They learnt about what information they should never share online and never to speak to strangers online.
In English, the children planned and created their own narrative based on the story ‘Escape from Pompeii’. Following the structure of the story, the children wrote about their characters escaping the great Mount Vesuvius erupting, building up the tension using a range of powerful verbs and varying their sentence structure. They wrote excellent stories which were a real pleasure to read!
In maths, the children learnt about volume and capacity, understanding that volume was how much liquid is in the container and capacity is how much liquid the container can hold. They measured the volume of liquid in litres and millilitres, for example, 5L and 500ml. They also added and subtracted capacities, applying their knowledge of the column method and and part-whole models.
In geography, the children continued learning about volcanoes and focused on where volcanoes are found in the world. They learnt about active volcanoes, dormant volcanoes and extinct volcanoes. They held a great discussion about the risks and benefits of living near a volcano.
In science, the children dissected a flower and discovered the different parts of a flower. They learnt about the function of each of these parts and how flowers play an important role in the life cycle of a plant through the process of pollination.
In D&T, the children learnt how to create a lever mechanism. They are going to go on to apply this knowledge, in addition to the other mechanisms they have learnt, to design and create their own pop-up book.
In Forest School, the children focused on their teamwork skills. They had to work as a team to get a rock across to the other side without getting caught by the opposing team. They were then given the opportunity to reflect on their strategies and how it was working as a group. They were also allowed to go back into the woods part of the forest, which has been closed off to them in order to give the soil time to repair itself. When they were in the woods area, they learnt how to tie different knots, which they can use when they are building dens.
For our spelling lesson this week, we continued to recap previously learnt spelling rules. Our spelling rule for this week is words that are spelt with a ‘ch’ but sound like they are spelt with a ‘k’. The words the children learnt include: scheme, chorus, chemist, echo, character, stomach ache, schedule, mechanic, chaos, choir.
Wishing you a Shabbat shalom and hope you have a lovely Shavuot.
The Year 3 Team
Friday 24th May 2024
Dear Parents,
This week in English, the children wrote a descriptive recount of Mount Vesuvius erupting. They focused on using a range of powerful verbs and creating an unpleasant atmosphere which tells the reader that something ominous is going to happen. Additionally, they completed a comprehension about volcanoes, focusing specifically on the skill of referring back to the text in order to answer questions.
In maths, the children started their topic on Mass. They measured objects in both kilograms and grams, for example, a basket of pears weighs 1kg and 500g. They used weighing scales to explore the mass of different objects. They then compared the mass of different objects, identifying which objects were heavier or lighter, using their understanding that kilograms are used to weigh heavier objects. Lastly, the children learnt to add and subtract mass. They used a range of mental and written methods, choosing the most efficient one for each question. They learnt to add the kilograms and grams separately and then add them together. For example:
2kg and 500g + 1kg and 400g = ?
2kg + 1kg = 3kg
500g + 400g = 900g
Total = 3kg and 900g
In science, the children investigated the structure of a leaf and compared the different shapes, colours and sizes of different leaves. They learnt about the different parts of a leaf, including the stalk, midrib and veins of a leaf.
In geography, the children created their own volcanoes and discussed why volcanoes erupt. They then had the opportunity to erupt their own volcanoes, which they loved!
In Forest School, the children loved exploring nature. They enjoyed building dens and swings, making slingshots, investigating outside creatures and bird watching.
In spelling, the children recapped the rule of words that are spelt with an ‘ou’, but sound like they are spelt with an ‘u’. These words include young, touch, double, trouble, country, enough, couple, cousin, rough, tough, southern, courage. The more they practise these spelling words, the more they will learn the rule.
In D&T, the children explored the different mechanisms that are used to create a pop-up book. They then created their own pop-out object and window flap, in preparation to create their own pop-up book.
Wishing you all a lovely half term!
Shabbat shalom,
The Year 3 Team
