Year 3
Welcome back to Year 3
A warm welcome back to school, we hope you had a lovely break.
Coming up this term...
R.E.
This term we will continue to think about how God call’s us and our response to that call. We will begin to learn more about the Sacraments through the theme of belonging, thinking about how we, as Catholics, celebrate our belonging to the Family of the Church through the Celebration of Mass. We will also be beginning our preparation for First Reconciliation, by thinking about the choices we make each day and the effects our choices have on others. We will continue to focus on God’s call to us, thinking about how we choose to respond to His call.
Topic
This half term, we will be exploring the prehistoric lives of the people of Britain from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. We will learn about life during the Stone Age, discovering what humans needed to survive, before researching Skara Brae and considering the importance of what was found there. Following this we will move on to the Bronze Age, identifying how copper mining changed people’s lives, particularly children of the time. We will briefly study the landmark of Stonehenge and the theories regarding its construction. Finally, we will discuss why we think people began to move their settlements to hillforts and depend upon Druids to help them run their societies.
If you have any fiction or non-fiction books about the Stone Age, Bronze. Age or Iron Age at home, please do encourage your children to read them in addition to their school reading book! Additionally, the local library is a wonderful resource, which is free for children to use. https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/leamingtonlibrary
English
Our English learning this term will once again be linked to our topic as we share The Stone Age Boy story by Satoshi Kitamura. We will make predictions about the story before writing narratives about our own Stone Age adventures.
Our second text this term is The Boy with the Bronze Axe. We will discuss the genre of this story, deciding if it is fiction, non-fiction or both. We will use the plot of the story and our history learning about Skara Brae to write non-chronological reports about the settlement and the events that led to its discovery.
Our final text this term will be Ug by Raymond Briggs. We will use a day in the life of Ug as inspiration for our own narratives about Stone Age life, before stepping into his stone trousers and coming up with our own inventions to advertise. We will end the term by combining our learning about all three texts and writing a persuasive essay to convince people to travel through time and experiences life at Skara Brae with a tour guide (Ug).
Maths
In maths this half term, we will continue to revise our knowledge of multiplication before introducing new strategies for division, using this developing understanding to solve problems and give reasons for our answers. During Spring 2, we will begin to expand our understanding of fractions by identifying that fractions are a part of a whole, using both objects and numbers. fractions are a part of a whole, using both objects and numbers.
In shape and measure, we will revisit what we already know about money, using coins to make totals and adding and subtracting sums of money to give change during practical problem-solving activities. We will also begin to learn about statistic presenting and interpreting data in pictograms, tally charts and bar charts, using our interpretations to answer questions.
Times tables
It is so important that your child can recall and use times tables at speed. Their ability to do this will significantly influence their learning. Please help your child by practising with them. The internet is a great tool for finding games, songs to make this a fun thing to do together. In year 3, children should know the 2, 5 and 10 times tables and begin to learn the 3, 4 and 8 times tables.
Science
In science this half term, we will be learning about different kinds of natural and man-made rocks, considering their suitability for a range of purposes and observing and grouping natural rocks based on their physical properties. We will also learn about the formation of fossils, drawing comparisons between fossils and the animals they belonged to, learning about famous palaeontologist Mary Anning.
After half term, we will learn what animals including humans need to live, grow, be strong and be healthy, beginning by looking at food groups and nutrition, considering our nutritional needs to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. We will investigate skeletons, identifying the bones which make up our skeletons, recognising the role both the skeleton and muscles play in helping us to move.
P.E.
Children will continue to have P.E. lessons with Mr. Bromley on Monday and Friday afternoons until Monday 2nd March when swimming lessons begin. This half term, children will be improving their hand eye co-ordination and learning other skills involved in playing competitive games such as hockey.
Please ensure children come to school with the appropriate kit on these days. Unfortunately, children who do not bring their kit to school will be unable to participate in P.E or swimming lessons.
Things to remember…
- Reading books must be read five times per week and reading records signed with page numbers
- Swimming kit is required on Mondays from the 2nd March
- P.E. kits are required every Friday
- Homework will be due on Tuesdays
- Practice times tables; 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10
Spring 1 Timetable
