Welcome to Year 3 

Miss Sharma

Miss Richardson, Mrs Milbourne, Miss Hackleton, Miss Robinson and Miss Chisolm 

Spring 2

Our Theme

Our driver theme this term is called ‘What is a mountain and how is one made?’.  We will be looking at where the UK major mountain ranges are and see how they are represented on a map using the contour lines.  We will look at how mountains are formed and look at the three main types of mountains.  We will look more closely at contour lines and consider whether it is a hill or a mountain.  We will learn about Snowdon and to find out about peoples experiences.  The children will celebrate their fantastic learning by making a leaflet for tourists visiting Snowdon.     

English

In English, we are focusing on narrative writing and biographies.  We will be using some extracts from Michael Morpurgo’s book called ‘King of the Cloud Forests’.  The children will link their learning with our theme and will consider what it might be like to climb a mountain such as the Himalayas or Mount Everest.  We will then develop an exciting story together about an adventure to the summit and will write parts of it together.  The children will then write their own story about a mountain.  We will learn about two famous explorers – Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay and find out lots of facts about them.  The children will look at some examples of biographies and see which features we need to include when writing one.  They will then choose one of the explorers to write an informative biography.  

Reading, as always, will be a crucial part of the children’s learning. The children will have a variety of reading lessons this year, whole class comprehension lessons, Little Wandle reading groups, AR quizzes, as well as one to one reading.  

Maths

In maths this half term, we will continue multiplication and division before learning about time. This will include reading analogue and digital clocks as well as measuring time and intervals of time. It would be helpful at home to encourage children to read the time whenever possible.                

Science

This half term we will be learning about plants.  We will be doing two units about plants in Year 3 - one now and the other in the summer term.  We will learn about the parts of a plant and what they do to help the plant grow and thrive.  We will consider what plants need to survive and will conduct an interesting experiment to see whether we can grow a seed in different conditions.      

RE

In RE, we will continue to explore How religion can be expressed through architecture and art. The children will move on to explore how dance and symbols can also represent different worldviews and religious beliefs.

Design and Technology

In our DT lessons we will be learning about linkages, levers and pop ups to create some cards.  The children will look at different cards and how they use these techniques.  They will then understand how these create movements and have a go at trying them out.  They will design a card using a technique of their choice and then make their final product.     

PE

This half term the children will be taking part in fitness skills with the coaches on Mondays and also hockey skills on Tuesdays.  During fitness we will be working on teamwork skills and resilience.

Computing

In computing this half term we will begin our units of work on spreadsheets and touch typing. The children will play games to help increase their speed when typing. Dance Mat is linked at the bottom of this page where children can practice their typing skills at home.    

PSHE

In PSHE this half term the children will consider many aspects linked to the unit ‘Healthy Me’.  We will explore what it means being ‘fit and healthy’.  We will also look at healthy and balanced diets. Towards the end of our unit we will celebrate our amazing body and consider how we can look after it. 

Important information

• PE this half term is timetabled for Mondays and Tuesdays. Children should come to school wearing a white T shirt, black shorts/joggers and trainers/plimsolls (please put their name in all of their belongings).  

• The children will need to bring in their reading books and reading records every day. They will be able to quiz on their AR books during the school day. 

• Homework will be sent every week.  The tasks are outlined in the weekly email sent to parents and are explained in class.  There will be an English task and a maths task that links to the lessons we have been doing during the week. Children will also need to read to an adult 3 times per week and record this in their reading records. They can also use Timetables Rockstar to help them secure their multiplication and division facts. 

• Spellings will be sent home weekly in their yellow spelling books.  These will be a focus during our spelling lesson during the week.  It would be great to learn any tricky words at home. Please bring in the yellow spelling books on Friday so you can have the next set of words.  

How you can help your child at home

Children can access Purple Mash at home to do some extra games with the spellings for the week. They can also access the computing lessons for this half term.

Support your child in learning multiplication and division facts for the 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 times tables.

Listen to your child read at least 3 times per week and have discussions about the text (record the reading sessions in their reading records).

If you have any queries or questions about this information or any other concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Many thanks,

Miss Sharma.

Oxford Owl- provides access to free e-books (you have to create a free account to view them).

Your child has an individual log-in for this website. They can play spelling games based on lists of words. Please email Miss Sharma if you need reminding of your logins. 

Use these links to find an interesting image. What do you think is happening? Can you describe what is happening in your exercise book? Can you write a story about it?

On the Pobble 365 website, there is a different image everyday for you to use. If you click on 'Pick a Day' in the right hand corner of the Pobble 365 website you can select an image from any day. 

This website gives you access to thousands of free audio books, suitable for children to listen to once you sign up for free. 

Audible also has a large variety of free audiobooks for you to listen to. 

Spotify have recently introduced thousands of audiobooks to listen to if you have a subscription with them.

BBC Bitesize has lots of games and activities to revise spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPAG).

The School Reading List provides a variety of suggested texts that are appropriate for your children. 

This website has LOTS of age appropriate maths resources and they have produced home learning packs for each year group with helpful videos and activities for each day of home learning. 

This website has lots of fun maths games. 

Look out for updates on inter-class battles!

BBC Supermovers : Select KS2 Mathematics to find all of our times tables dances and routines!

3 Times Table song

4 Times Table song

6 Times Table song

7 Times Table song

8 Times Table song

Lots of free videos, games and presentations about different topics and themes, see what takes your fancy!

Once clicking this link, choose 'Espresso' from the drop down log-in menu in the top right hand corner. You have been given, in the front of your exercise books, a username and password for this website. 

Free resources to help learn more about Science, History and Geography topics.

With this link you can take a virtual tour around the British Museum, London. 

This website has lots of activities you can do in the garden, as well a lots of information about animals and plants for research tasks.

These games are the first steps of computer programming, they are very engaging for children. 

This is a typing game for children to become confident in typing on a keyboard. 

This website has fun movement videos for children.

We work with a company called SEND Supported at school and they are releasing newsletters each week offering support and guidance to parents of children who many have additional needs in school. Please find below a link to these newsletters:

There are also lots of other resources and information available on their website. The 'Things to do Issue 2 - Resources' file has some lovely activities for all children regardless of whether they have additional needs or not. There are lots of great visual puzzles and games for children to play so please have a look if you can. There are also resources available now to support with developing children's memory skills in 'Thing to do Issue 3 - Resources.'