Year 3 prepare for battle!

 Art/Design Technology

Today in year 3, we have researched all about Roman shields. We discovered lots of interesting information about things such as: 

• The designs that would often be on the shields.
• What the shields wold be made from.
• How the handles were fastened, including our own research on how we could attach our handles.
• The shape and size of Roman shields.
• Why shields were used and how they could be used in battle.

We used our artist skills to: 

• Created a design based on Roman gods and other traditional designs.
• Practiced upscaling our designs from our practice A4 to our final A3 work.
• Practiced how to hold our paintbrushes and use beautiful long brush strokes in the same direction.
• Used a variety of different brush sizes to create intricate details and make our work stand out. 

We used our design technology skills to: 

• Explore what materials were used for real life Roman shields and why.
  
• Practiced different ways to attach our handles using a range of different materials.
• Using a pinch and snip technique to cut out a boss for the centre of our shield. 

Maths all around - Year 3

                                                                   Maths all around us

On Friday, we were exploring all the uses that maths can have in everyday life and we realised that we use it for lots of different things! We spent the morning outside putting all of our maths knowledge to work. 

Task 1:

This task drew upon our understanding of measurements that we have been learning about over the last week. We were each given a container and had to estimate (which we learnt meant to make a sensible guess) how many litres of water that the container could hold. This was a great reminder of our key words volume and capacity. We used a range of different beakers, flasks, cylinders and jugs to measure out the water and helped us to recognise that each container could hold different amounts of liquid and we could use our skills in addition to work out the total volume of water. 

Task 2: 

This task was great at helping us work together as a whole class as we created a class pictogram based on our favourite colours. We used this information to discover the most and least popular colours which helped us to work out the difference as well. 

Task 3: 

We were challenged by Mrs Moore to find an area for the chickens to explore. We used squares on the playground and metre wheels to work out the perimeter of different sized areas. This then helped us to work out how big an area the chickens could have and how many fences she would need. What a great challenge! 

Just dance!

Physical Education

This week in PE we have been practicing different ways in which we can make our bodies move. We have used a variety of techniques to stretch and warm up our bodies so that we are ready to exercise. We then learnt about how our muscles work when we exercise and how we perform better when our muscles are warmed up and ready for sport. 

We practiced: 

• stretches and warm ups 
• yoga
• routines/sequences of movement
• different dance moves 
• dancing in time to music

We then put all of this hard work to the test and practiced dance routines individually, in pairs and fours. It was great fun and we enjoyed putting our new skills into practice. 

 

Year 3 Newsletter

Is graffiti art or crime?

In English, the children have been learning how to write a balanced argument for and against graffiti. The children spent time learning facts and statistics from both viewpoints to help form and support their own opinions. As a class, we were divided on the matter! To conclude the week's learning, the children worked in small groups to engage in a debate. We discussed the importance of preparation and listened to some tips from the Year 6 debate club to help us with body language and voice projection. The Year 3s did a fantastic job! Their speeches were well rehearsed and full of facts. We were blown away by their poise and passion for the subject. 

In Science, we have been learning all about soil! We got into small groups and examined a soil sample using magnifying glasses. It was important to wear protective gloves to protect our hands from bacteria. We found a range of different things like insects, feathers, eggshells, stones, plants, snail shells and top soil. As well as many natural discoveries, we sadly found some plastic within our soil sample which prompted a discussion about plastic pollution. 

We had a great afternoon investigating and loved the chance to get our hands dirty. We even got a chance to unveil our fossils that we made the week before! 

As part of our RSE lessons, the children have been learning how our bodies change as we go through puberty. The children worked in small groups to label the male and female body parts using the correct scientific vocabulary. We had a few giggles along the way but the children really impressed us with their maturity. Well done, Year 3!