Year 3 Newsletter

 Year 3 Newsletter

Last week, we visited a Hindu temple that was established by the Beatle' s very own George Harrison! We were inspired by the religion and the culture of the trip and learnt many new, exciting things such as: 

• The importance of Brahman to Hindus
• Treating different religions with respect
• What it is like to live as a Hindu at the temple
• The importance of worship to Hindus

As our school year draws to a close and we write our final blog; we cannot help but reflect on all the hard work that our amazing year 3's have done this year. From understanding the process of mummification, exploring a range of ocean vertebrae, performing our changemaker speeches to writing expert stories; we couldn't be prouder. Well done year 3!

Year 3 Newsletter

 Year 3 Newsletter

Topic

In topic, we have explored the importance of the Amazon Rainforest and its role in helping to prevent climate change and help us to breather. Additionally, we explored what crops we import from all over the world and what we specifically import from these hot, humid and heavily rained in areas. To do this, we took a close look at the packaging of this fruit and found their locations on a map. We even got to try some of these exotic fruits!

Science

As we near the end of year 3 science unit "plants", we are still continuing to push and challenge our learning. 

This week we have become experts in pollination and the process that follows. We also investigated what types of creatures can be pollinators and the importance of the role they play in helping plant life to grow.

Some key words we have learnt this week are: 

• nectar
• pollen
• attract

Year 3 newsletter

 Year 3 newsletter

Science

In science, we have been discovering and learning about flowering plants and their lifecycles. To help us understand how these amazing things live, we have planted many seeds and even created a strawberry patch!

Topic

In topic, we have travelled to Brazil and begun to explore the geographical features of the country. We have compared manmade landmarks to amazing natural spaces and investigated how we can identify these. We also researched the Amazon River and how to identify this colossal natural feature by re-enacting the tributaries, main river and the basin.

Maths

In maths, we have become experts in all things measurement and begun converting millimetres, centimetres and even metres! We used real life objects (and even friends) to put our skills into practise!

Year 3 Newsletter

 Year 3 newsletter

Science and STEM

This term, we have been lucky enough to have a day dedicated to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). In year three, many of us have dream jobs that are heavily influenced by STEM. We spent the morning investigating different jobs and skills needed to be successful in this area.

We also participated in a variety of different activities to explore the different aspects of this such as: 

• planting a variety of seeds including pumpkins, peas, broad beans, radishes and many more!
• Exploring and identifying different plants around the school field using iPads
• Meeting and interviewing a blacksmith and inspecting the work he creates with his tools.
• Becoming experts in Mary Anning's work and removing "fossils" from ice blocks.
• Experimenting with reactions and forces using bottle rockets.

Year 3 Newsletter

 Year 3 Newsletter

Writing

Today in writing, we put ourselves in Lucy’s shoes. It was the middle of the night and not a soul was awake, but we heard noises. Hustling and bustling noises. Creeping and prowling noises. Yowling and yapping noises.

Using a range of night-time sounds, a lightening machine and dramatic midnight images we were able to feel how Lucy felt within our story. We acted out how our bodies feel when we are anxious or scared but also what we might do to reassure ourselves in this situation like cuddling our favourite teddy!

PE

Exciting news, we have started our summer PE unit of dance! This week we have explored how we can use our bodies to interpret different creatures throughout the Amazon rainforest from the tiny ant to the soaring birds in the sky. 

Science

This term we are finishing our unit on rocks. We investigated the surrounding landscape of Windhill21 to understand the importance that the soil has and what it is made from. We found many interesting things such as; different types of rock, water, many creatures alive and dead including plants. 

Year 3 Newsletter

 Year 3 Newsletter

As the term comes to an end we have been lucky enough to enjoy some lovely spring sunshine. Year 3 have worked hard to develop their tennis skills and handling of a racket and ball.

We have:

• Practiced catching a ball both on our own and with a friend
• Practiced balancing a tennis ball and using hand-eye co-ordination
• Explored different techniques of hitting a tennis ball (from the ground/our hands)
• Practiced how to aim a tennis ball at a target or partner
• Explored how to use the power to hit a ball further or closer

Year 3 Newsletter

Year 3 newsletter

This week in RE, we have been exploring the theme of forgiveness. To understand what forgiveness is, we first looked at ways we could forgive ourselves and help to bring about a positive outlook on negative situations.

We then used our knowledge of forgiveness within the Easter story to get inside the minds of Jesus and his disciples and how they may be feeling during the "Last Supper". Using drama, cloth and body language we were able to replicate the story and consider the emotions of our chosen person. 

Year 3 Newsletter

Year 3 Newsletter

Writing
Have you heard of the the three little pigs and the tall tale they spun about the "big, bad" wolf? Well, year 3 have got their thinking hats on and ready to investigate this story further.

With his charming smile and passion for reducing waste (including leftover pig!), we were lucky to hear the wolf's side of the story.  

We couldn't wait to interrogate the wolf with many questions like: 

• Do you think you have been treated fairly?
• Are you the true villain of the story?
• Why did you eat the first two pigs?
• Did you mean to hurt anyone?

We were able to understand the wolf from a brand new perspective and who knows, maybe year 3 can prove Mr Wolf's innocence and change the story once and for all!

The TRUE story of the three little pigs

PE
This term, we are focusing on ball skills to prepare ourselves for tennis techniques and skills. We have used our knowledge of stopping, throwing and catching to help refresh our memories of ball handling and how we can apply this knowledge to different areas of sport.

RAW
We had a fantastic RAW (Religion and Worldviews) lesson this week. With the question being, "will we ever live in a world without fighting?", we were influenced by popular music that addressed this issue. This matched nicely with World Kindness Day and we each created pledges to show how we can work towards making the world a better and kinder place for everyone to live. 

Year 3 Newsletter

Year 3 Newsletter

Science
This term in science, we have been exploring and experimenting with how light is made. We have used our immersion room to help use investigate a range of different materials to understand the meaning of the scientific terms: transparent, translucent and opaque. We also explored how shadows can change based n distance from a light source and how this affected the darkness of the shadow.

Writing
We are becoming global changemakers and using our voices to prepare speeches ready for our Windhill21 speech writing unit. We are advocates for the oceans and fighting against ocean pollution. It has been a great unit for research and inspiring us to call people of all generations to action to protect our world!

Celebration of work
This week we were lucky enough to be visited by the adults of year 3 and celebrate all the work and learning they have done so far this school year. We shared our artwork, published work, books both old and new and even performed a taster of our Plastic speeches to the attending adults.

We are incredibly proud of all they have achieved and loved seeing them sharing their achievements with you all. Well done year 3!

Year 3 Newsletter

Year 3 Newsletter

Writing 
This term in our English lessons we have been inspired by a picture book called "Flood". It is a book with beautiful illustrations that shows the story of a family having to leave their home to escape from a looming storm that threatens to flood their beloved house. 

The children have thoroughly enjoyed getting into the role of the family members each lesson. As part of our writing, we have used our fantastic immersion room to experience what it was like to leave all our belongings behind and be trapped within a storm. We saw thunder, lightening and torrential rain; we heard the roar and boom of the storm; we felt the wind blowing from the fans and even felt the rain spray onto us when the storm hit! 

The children have worked especially hard to improve their writing with skills such as:

• 'Show not tell' to portray a characters thoughts and feelings 
• personification to describe the storm and the house
• repetition to create drama and intensity 
• similes and metaphors to emphasise the severity of the storm

Well done year 3!