Welcome to Year 3

In Year 3 we have lots of exciting learning to explore and to share with you.

Please come and visit our page for all of our super learning! 

Our Summer Topic

In Summer Term we are very excited to be starting a brand new topic about the Marvellous Light and Dark.  It promises to be full of lots of exciting learning so there will be lots to find out about. Please have a look at our new Topic leaflet to see some of the learning that will be taking place.  We will also be looking at Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine' so there will be lots of discover and enjoy!

Shadow puppets with Year One

Today Year 3C went down to Year One to show our shadow puppets and tell the stories to the children.  They used torches to shine onto a surface and then used shadow puppets they had made, by moving them forwards and backwards on the screen to make them bigger and smaller. It was a lot of fun and some of the Year One's even had a go themselves! 

Our Visit to Stoke City's Bet365 Stadium.

Today, Year 3 visited the Bet365 Stadium to celebrate all the hard work they had completed with our Stoke City Coaches in PE and Maths.  They were given a tour of the grounds and changing rooms and then after lunch took part in the Pottermus Challenge and played Stoke City Bingo! It was a fabulous day and we all had a brilliant time! 

Constructing 3D Shapes

Today Year 3 worked very hard constructing 3D shapes by using different materials such as magnetic rods, Play-Doh and cocktail sticks. We used the correct vocabulary to describe what we had made to our partners and created all sorts of different shapes. It was a lot of fun as you can see from our faces and we learnt loads too!

Coordinates and Battleships

Today we learnt all about co-ordinates and how to plot them and read them correctly on a grid. We then used this to play a game of battleships against each other. We had a lot of fun and didn't even realise we were learning maths!

Time

Today in Year 3 we worked hard on learning our past and to times reading the time to the nearest minute. We were able to link them to digital times as well!  Mrs. Carpenter was really proud of us.

Clay Schools Cast of 1000!

Today Year 3 spent all day designing and making a self-portrait of themselves in clay. It was a very intense day of concentration and hard work. We had to make each part separately and then connect them with slip. Each part had to be the right size so our models had the right perspective and looked like us. We had so much fun!   The figures will be fired in our school Kiln and then collected by the Clay Schools van before we break up for the summer. All pupils will then be invited to then view their work as part of the festival at several ceramic studios such as Wedgewood and Middleport and finally they will get to take them home!

Coding, algorithms and debugging

 Today Year 3 learnt all about how coding is using in a computer to create a program. We looked at how an algorithm is needed (A set of rules or steps to be followed especially by a computer) and if there are any errors the algorithm needs to be debugged (The process of identifying and removing errors from computer hardware or software). To do this we used the triangle dance! The children first used counters to decide the steps of their algorithm and then we went outside to practice. As we practiced we debugged our algorithm until it was nearly perfect. It was a lot of fun and we worked really hard as you can see!

Freeze Frame and Fractions

Today Year 3C were very busy. Firstly we applied our learning about fractions by matching pictorial fractions to numbered fractions and then we challenged ourselves by ordering them. It was a lot of fun and we all rose to the challenge! Then we used freeze frame drama techniques to develop of understanding of Grandma and George in George's Marvellous Medicine. We explained how we felt, what we said and our thoughts as the characters. It was a marvellous lesson!

Stoke City Maths

Today in the rain, we worked hard to learn how to tell the time and keep fit too! We counted in 5 minute intervals and then played a game to collect different items to make our clocks complete using numbers, cones and hoops. It was lots of fun and we didn't want to stop.

Science Learning about Forces

Today we learnt all about a force acting on an object. We discussed which forces can make things move, which forces can slow things down, stop them or change their direction and which forces can change the shape of something. We looked at how  these could be divided into pushes and pulls and many actions can be both. We then predicted what effect a surface might have on an object moving and carried out a fair test making sure the only variable we would change would be the surface. We used balloons and elastic bands to make sure we pushed or pulled the same each time.  We had a very exciting science lesson and at the end of the lesson all agreed that the rougher the surface the more the push or pull had to be to make the car move!

Our Roman Chester Trip to the Dewa Roman Experience.

Today we had an amazing day in Chester learning all about the Romans. We became Roman Soldiers for the day with our centurion 'Walkus Crispus' and learnt all about how to survive in the Roman Army. We had to shout Sin, Sin, Sin, Dex Sin as we walked around the streets and Mrs. Carpenter was made to fight in the Ampitheatre and unfortunately she was beaten by Mrs. Walker so the children had to decide if they wanted to save her or have her put to death.  Strangely, several children said 'Put her to death!' Then we got to explore the Dewa Roman Experience Museum and had lots of fun learning more about the Romans in Britain. We had an amazing day as you can see!

Chicks in Year 3

Today Year 3 went to visit some of the chicks that have been hatched at school in the last two weeks. We loved hearing them and getting to stroke them. We were very excited.  

Guided Reading

In Guided reading this week we have focused on how vocabulary, language, structure and presentation contribute to the meaning of a text. We studied different book covers and were able to explain which audience they were suited for. Then we matched the covers to the illustrations and the content of the text. We had some very intense discussions about which texts were age appropriate for each audience and why the blurb and front cover were so important.

Measuring Perimeter in our Maths is Everywhere lesson

Today our class went outside to use our learning about measurement and perimeter to measure two of the playgrounds. We used trundle wheels to measure the number of clicks to see how many metres they each had.  Each of us had a go counting clicks up to 10 and then we added them all together.  We found that both playgrounds had the same perimeter of 90 metres and we discussed why this would be important to know.  We had lots of fun as you can see!

Roman Mosaics.

This week we learnt all about Roman mosaics and how rich Romans would use them to decorate their floors to make them look elegant. We used tissue paper and glue to stick little pieces in to try and make a picture. It was very tricky and it took a lot of concentration too! 

Our Last Time4Sport Lesson

Today was our last Time4Sport lesson and we were very sorry to say goodbye to Mr.Kelter because our learning was such fun and we enjoyed getting fit! As a final lesson we got to play lazer quest using lazer guns. We had a lot of fun and learnt so much about being healthy and how to keep ourselves fit.  

Online Safety Week

As part of our learning this week we have been focusing on online safety and how we need to stay safe online. We had a very in depth discussion about how we can stay safe, what we need to do with our self image and identity online and how we represent ourselves. We thought about our 'online relationships' and how they are different to knowing someone in real life and that 'knowing someone online' is very different to trusting them and sharing information with them that we need to keep private. We also discussed how we need to treat everyone with respect while we are online just like we would face to face in real life. Finally, we discussed how long we should stay on a game to make sure we stay healthy.  We put all of these ideas into practice by writing an e-safety rap.  It was a very busy afternoon!  

Be Bright, Be seen. 

Today as part of our Eco-heads work to making our school and the children safer we all wore really bright colours to school. This was to highlight how bright colours and relective colours can be seen by drivers at this time of year and keep us safer than wearing dark colours.  We all looked amazing!

Time4Sport

Over this half term Year 3 have been working with Mr. Kelter by taking part in different exercises and talking about how to stay healthy. We have looked at how much sugar is in breakfast cereals and discussed the cereals that each child has before they come to school and we have discussed how much fat is in our crisps that we have in our packed lunches.  We were horrified to see that some crisps have over 30% fat in them and popcorn has over 61% of fat in it! 

Our new Topic for Spring Term

In Spring Term we are very excited to be starting a brand new topic about the Romans.  It promises to be full of lots of exciting learning so there will be lots to find out about. Please have a look at our new Topic leaflet to see some of the learning that will be taking place.  We will also be delving into Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet' as well as looking at Ted Hughes 'Iron Man' so there will be lots of discover and enjoy!

Romeo and Juliet Drama

This week we have been learning the story of Romeo and Juliet through using a 'whoosh' drama and freeze frame and we have been comparing different texts to find out more about the main characters in the play. We have really enjoyed it so far and are looking forward to writing our own versions of the story. Look at our expressions! Mrs. Carpenter was very impressed at how well we thought about how the characters felt, thought or said.

Our Romeo and Juliet Balcony Scene

Today we read the script of Romeo and Juliet's famous balcony scene with expression! Mrs. Carpenter showed us how to use actions and expression to show emotions and the children really got into the role of the characters!  Well done Year 3!

Magic Crosses and Problem Solving

Today during Maths is Everywhere we solved the problem of magic crosses where the horizontal total was the same as the vertical total using the numbers 1,2,3,4, and 5. We all worked very hard with our cooperative learning partners and found a lot of magic crosses! We really enjoyed our learning today!

Christingles

Today in school we all made Christingles with Father Chris for this evening's Christingle service. The children were very knowledgeable and could explain each part to Father Chris and enjoyed making these. We were very tempted to eat the marshmallows and raisins but we resisted!  We look forward to seeing these in the service at St Andrews Church later this evening.

Solving Maths puzzles

Today we worked together to solve puzzles by using clues.We looked for patterns and key clues and eliminated days on a timetable to discover Sam's favourite day. Then we challenged other groups to guess our favourite day by using the clues. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it.

Our V.I.P Visitor Mrs. James

Today we were very lucky to have Mrs. James come to visit us for a poetry workshop. We shared all of our fantastic knowledge with her and she was very impressed with how much we knew. In fact she said that we had taught her loads that she didn't know.  We listened to her amazing poems and then she helped us to write our own. We had a brilliant time. Thank you Mrs. James!

Wind in the Willows.

As part of our new English topic 'Wind in the Willows' we have been learning all about the story and the characters.  Yesterday we used  'Whoosh' drama to find out the main events and today we studied the main events of the story and added accompanying music to make a story map. We were very thorough and very imaginative. 

We had a lot of fun and were very impressed with the effects that went with each event including train sounds, crashes, rushing water and shouting underwater as Mole nearly drowns, the fight scene and the beating of Mole’s heart when he got lost!

Fantastic Mr Fox final chapters drama

Today in Year 3 we used drama to act out the last 3 chapters of Fantastic Mr Fox. We really enjoyed finding out what happened to the characters in the end and how Mr. Fox got the better of the farmers by digging underground to save his family and all the other 'diggers' that lived on the hill.  Look at our expressions ....they show just how much we have enjoyed our story!

Problem solving with Loop cards.

Today Year 3 worked hard on their division and multiplication facts to use loop cards to solve a problem. They had to work with their team members to listen carefully and to work out the correct answers using their times tables. There was a lot of thinking going on! We all managed to complete the loop and helped each other if we found it tricky!

Year Three Science Share

Today Year 3 invited in parents to share in our Science learning. We used chocolate to show how different rocks are formed. First we layered dark and white chocolate into a cup and pressed down to form sedimentary rock. Next we put the sedimentary rock into clingfilm and formed a sphere then rubbed it on the outside to form metamorphic rock.  Finally Mrs. Carpenter put the metamorphic rock into hot liquid (to represent a volcano) and we counted to 30 to form igneous rock.  It was lots of fun teaching our parents!   

The shovels drama!

Today we used drama to study how the different characters felt in our story Fantastic Mr. Fox. We thought carefully how the characters felt in each part of the story and used body language and expression to show this. We tried very hard to think, say and feel how the characters feel. Can you see this in our freeze frames? 

Drama with Fantastic Mr. Fox

 Today we used drama to express how the characters in the first three chapters of Fantastic Mr. Fox felt. We listened to each part of the story and worked in threes to show how the characters felt, said or what they were thinking. Everyone worked extremely hard.  Look at the expressions, they say it all!

Maths Reasoning with Money

Today we used reasoning to help us solve money problems. We used coins to help us solve the puzzle and really got involved. Some children found it tricky but because we never give up we all managed to solve the problem and some of us even went on to complete the challenge!

Our class thought very carefully about how rules make them feel safe and happy to be in school.

We thought of lots of rules that we could use but decided that we would have five main ones that we could all follow. We all signed our names to make a classroom contract to go on the wall in our classroom. 

Drama with the Rock Cycle.

Today we learnt all about the three types of rock and how they are formed using drama. Mrs. Carpenter read a story about a rock and we all acted out what happened to it using actions and a lot of expression. We enjoyed singing about the igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks as well! As you can see we had a lot of fun!