Year 3 Blog
11th - 15th November
Wonderful week of learning!
In Literacy, this week we have been learning each part of the text, exploring the adventurous vocabulary as well as discovering the underlying pattern.
In Maths, we have been practising the 5x table through songs, adding practically, sharing and grouping (division) as well as consolidating this knowledge through games.
In this week's theme, we went on an exciting adventure around the school, practising the skill of using maps to create the longest route from our classrooms to the back of the field. We were all very successful at this and had great fun at the same time.
In Computing, we have begun using Canva to create stop motion animations. We had a look on how we could add characters, backgrounds and speed.
We hope you have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team
4th - 8th November
Welcome back after half term!
This week has been packed with thrilling activities and new learning for everyone to enjoy.
From hands-on science experiments to our big Friday TTrockstar assembly, there’s something exciting planned for each day.
How would you feel with a brighter, more dazzling smile? This week, we have been looking at persuasive adverts in Literacy , learning how words like 'brilliant' and 'powerful' can make a product sound irresistible! Our text, Dazzling Demon Dentures, is packed with rhetorical questions and bold adjectives that help sell a superstar smile
This week in Maths, we’ve learned the 2 times tables and practice division in exciting ways. We sang catchy songs to help us remember our facts and used practical lessons with blocks, counters, and other concrete resources to make learning hands-on and fun.
This week, we recapped the continents and oceans, exploring their unique features and used Google Earth to make our learning more engaging. We also looked at maps of the UK to learn about different boroughs and towns, discussing what makes each area special.
Please remember our PE days are Thursday and Friday but the PE kit should be in school all week. As the weather is becoming colder please remind the children about coats and hats when coming to school.
Have a lovely weekend!
Year 3 Team
30th September - 4th October
Fabulous week of learning!
This week in Literacy we were changing the crayons to any colour we like and deciding why they had quit. I must say, we have some amazing imaginative writers in Year 3!
In Maths, we have been learning to add 1s and 10s across a 100. We have practised counting forwards and backwards from random numbers as well as singing songs to help us remember our 10 times table to support adding 10s.
In History, we looked at Stone Age houses and how those houses changed over time through the Bronze Age and Iron Age. We compared those houses and looked at the Skara Brae settlement which can still be visited today in Scotland.
In P.E this half term, the children have been really enjoying Yoga and learning different ways to keep calm, such as through different types of breathing and poses. This week we practised dragon breathing and a range of poses related to the North Pole.
Have a great weekend,
Year 3 Team :)
23rd-27th September
Another lovely week of learning for Year 3!
This week in Literacy, we have been embedding our knowledge of the Day the Crayon Quit by unpicking parts of the story, including any examples and grammar we could find.
In Maths, we have been practising our number facts with numbers to 1000 as well as continuing to recognise the numbers in hundreds, tens and ones.
In Art, we have been learning about the Art medium of printing. This week we have painted using natural dyes, such as beetroot, paprika and tea to create a background of what will be our African inspired patterned tile.
In History, we created our own survival kit for the Stone Age. We discovered what they would need for clothes, food, shelter and tools.
We hope you have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team
16th-20th September
We had a busy week in year 3. The children have been working hard in their lessons, maintaining good focus throughout the week. They are engaging well with the curriculum and showing a growing interest in the different topics covered.
In Literacy, we introduced our new text, The Day the Crayons Quit, which the children will be studying. To engage with the story, the children wrote letters to the crayons, asking why they decided to stop working. They have also written letters of complaint from the perspective of a different classroom equipment.
In Maths, the children have been learning about hundreds, tens, and ones to deepen their understanding of place value. They have also been working with number lines up to 1,000, practicing how to place and estimate numbers accurately. This has helped them develop their skills in estimating and understanding the position of numbers within larger ranges.
In RE this week, the children have been learning about Hinduism and the significance of the Puja ritual. They explored the different elements involved in the ritual and what they represent. This has given them a deeper understanding of how Hindus practice their faith.
Things to remember:
- PE lessons happen every Thursday and Friday. Children that wear earrings need to have them covered with tape otherwise it is not safe for them to take part.
- Children should read to an adult every day for at least 20 minutes.
- Children can practice their times tables using the TTRockstars website.
- Water bottles should be sent to school everyday.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Year 3 Team
4th-13th September
The children have settled into their new classes. It’s great to see them building friendships, engaging in their lessons with enthusiasm, and enjoying all the activities that make learning fun and exciting.
In Literacy, this week, the children had an exciting time hunting for verbs around the playground, identifying action words in their environment. They also learned about adverbs and put their skills to use by writing creative sentences about a mischievous cake thief.
In Maths, the children have been learning how to partition numbers up to 1,000, breaking them down into hundreds, tens, and ones. This skill is helping them deepen their understanding of place value and develop stronger number sense.
In Science, the children have been exploring where rocks come from and learning about their different properties, such as hardness and texture. They’ve enjoyed examining various rock samples, using their observational skills to identify and compare each type.
Things to remember:
- Our PE days are Thursday and Friday, but children should have their PE kit in school every day
- Water bottles
- School reading books
We hope you have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team.
15th - 19th July
Lovely last week!
The weather has finally improved and shown us some sunshine towards the end of this week!
In Literacy, the children have become inventors and designed their own inventions. They have thought about what their invention will do, what it will look like and why they have invented it. They then presented their inventions to their class at the end of the week.
In Maths, we have been doing some multiplication and division practice with the 4 and 8 times tables. We have played games and practised calculations.
In R.E this week, we have concluded our learning on Buddhism by creating our own two page spread, including everything we have learnt over the last half term. The children really took their time with this and did an excellent job.
Next week we will be winding down for the last two days of term. Just as a last reminder, we finish at 1.15pm on Tuesday.
Lastly, we'd like to thank all the children, parents' and carers for all of your hard work and support this year. It has been greatly appreciated and we hope you have a wonderful summer.
Year 3 Team
24th-28th June
Another great week of learning in Year 3.
The children all participated beautifully on Sports Day – and it was lovely to see so many parents cheering them on in their sporting endeavours.
In Science, we have been finding out about the ‘Journey to the centre of the Earth’, making their own models of the planet and describing Lehmann’s discoveries about the Earth’s layers.
This week in Maths, we have been continuing to develop our understanding of statistics, reading and creating different charts and pictograms.
We are seeing some wonderful ideas for invented stories in Literacy this week. The children have been basing their writing on the ‘Land of Neverbelieve’ text, and making some very imaginative changes. The children have been planning to write about a new make believe land populated by some incredible creatures.
3rd-7th June
Welcome back!
We have had a great week in Year 3.
In Literacy, we have started learning an extract from the book 'The Land of Neverbelieve'. We have practised applying prepositions to our writing as well as learning the definitions of new vocabulary.
In Maths, we have learnt about turns on a clock as well as drawing lines accurately, including the vocabulary: horizontal and vertical.
In Science, our new unit is 'Inventors' and we have begun by learning about plant hunters who have travelled across the world to find different types of plants and study them.
On Friday, we had our own school international day! Each year group had their own country to focus on and Year 3's was Greece. We made tzatziki from yoghurt, mint and cucumber as well as learnt Zorba, the greek dance, the national anthem, Greek traditions, the Greek language and food.
Have a lovely weekend.
Year 3 Team
20th-24th May
Fantastic final week before half term!
This week in Literacy we have been practising the skill of paraphrasing. We have learnt a step by step guide to help us.
Step 1. Read the text carefully.
Step 2. Highlight key words in each sentence.
Step 3. Rephrase the sentence so it has slightly different words but keeps the same meaning as the original sentence.
Step 4. Check it makes sense.
In Maths, we are in our final week of time. We have been focusing on converting minutes and seconds, as well as units of time then applying this knowledge to word problems.
In Science, we have been looking at the life cycle of a plant. We learnt the following new vocabulary: germination, growing, flowering, pollination, fertilisation, seed formation and seed dispersal.
We had a very exciting time going out to forest school with Mr Brown. We learnt about the different types of plants and trees on our school grounds then built our own temporary shelters using anything we could find (sticks, leaves, branches etc).
Our next forest school session is Tuesday 4th June after half term. Please check back in your emails for the appropriate details.
We hope you have a lovely half term and fingers crossed for the sunshine to return.
Year 3 Team
13th-17th May
Year 3 has done some exciting and enthusiastic learning this week!
In theme, we used our roman shields to create formations on the playground whilst others 'attacked' with foam balls, reenacting life as a soldier on the battlefield in roman times. The children thoroughly enjoyed this memorable activity. Following on from this, in Literacy, we planned and wrote a diary entry as if we were a roman soldier going to battle.
In Maths, we began focusing on digital time using am and pm. Further on in the week, we moved on to calculating the start and end times on clocks, then using number lines to find the duration.
In P.E, we have had super fun learning the rules and skills of cricket. This week we have had a focus on our over arm throws through pair activities, small team games and building to whole class practise games.
In D.T, we built our roman aqueducts using a range of materials and tested them out using water. We did this to ensure they were strong and sturdy, as well as waterproof.
Year 3 will be teaching the RSE (Relationships and Sex Education) unit to your child’s class from the week beginning 3rd June.
Please be aware that all content is age appropriate for the year group in which it is being taught. Please click on the following link to view the content on our school website:
https://www.jupiter.herts.sch.uk/130/pshe-relationships-and-sex-education
Thank you for your continued support.
Have a great weekend,
Year 3 Team
6th-10th May
What a wonderful, sunny week!
In Year 3, we have been writing our own portal stories based on Narnia. The children have been super imaginative and worked really hard to include a range of grammar and punctuation. Well done everyone!
In Maths, we have been focusing on time. Initially beginning with a recap of o'clock, half past, quarter to and quarter past, then building on our knowledge to find time to the minute. This has been a tricky concept for all so it would be hugely beneficial if you are able to practise at home.
In D.T, we have begun designing our roman aqueducts, ready to start building them next week! We still need lots of cardboard (such as cereal boxes and toilet rolls) and tin foil so if you are able to donate, it would be greatly appreciated.
In theme, we have been learning about how the Romans conquered many countries over hundreds of years and why they were so successful at doing so.
We hope you enjoy the sunshine this weekend.
Year 3 Team
29th April-3rd May
Another great week of learning in Year 3.
The children enjoyed making Roman Shields in preparation for our lesson on the Roman Army – our topic of Romans
is proving very popular.
In Science, we have been extending our knowledge about plants by carrying out an investigation into how water
travels round a plant – ask your child to tell you about the celery experiment. We have also been excited to see some
of our basil beginning to emerge from the soil.
This week in Maths, we have been learning about money with a focus on addition, subtraction and finding change.
Next week we will be moving on to ‘Telling the Time’ – any support to help your child do this at home is always very
helpful.
We have seen some wonderful innovated stories in Literacy this week. The children have been basing their writing
on the ‘Through the wardrobe’ text that we have been learning, and making some very imaginative changes. We will
be continuing to develop the children’s writing skills as they plan and write their own stories next week.
Have a great weekend,
Year 3 Team
22nd-26th April
Another fantastic week in Year 3 with lots of new learning.
In Literacy, we have continued learning a section of the story ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis. We have embedded our knowledge by thinking like an author by understanding why or how the vocabulary has been used to create effect.
In Maths, we have continued finding a fraction of an amount as well as recapping volume and capacity. We have applied this learning to reasoning in word problems.
In Science, we each planted our own basil plant and labelled the parts of a plant. We also investigated what we need for plants to grow. Within this, we have set up another investigation with sunflowers, trying to find the answers of these questions 'What happens if a plant has no water?', 'Can a plant grow in the dark?' and 'If a plant has no heat, will it still grow?'.
Just a reminder, please make sure your child has their PE kit in school every day.
Well done to those children who have been reading at home, it has been lovely hearing all of you. Keep it up!
Have a lovely weekend,
Year 3 Team
15th-19th April
It has been wonderful to have the children back in school and so enthusiastic about their learning.
In Literacy we have started a new sequence of lessons based on a section of text from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by CS Lewis. The children were very excited to come into their classes through coats in a pretend wardrobe and wonder why various items were present in their classrooms. They have written some wonderful diary entries in character as Lucy.
This week in Maths, we have been extending our knowledge of fractions, adding and subtraction them and finding fractions of amounts.
Our new Theme topic is ‘The Romans’. The children are very keen to find out more about them and will be able to link this learning with a trip to the Roman town of Verulamium (St Albans) later in the term. Our DT lessons are also
related to the Romans and the children will be learning about and eventually constructing model aqueducts.
Have a great weekend,
Year 3 Team
25th-28th March
It's been a wonderful and busy week with lots of fun activities across school!
We kicked off the week with an exciting assembly from a special visitor from the council who taught us about all the amazing things our rubbish can become when we recycle it - including turning old water bottles into our very own school ties!
Then we had a fun interactive workshop practising our sorting and recycling, which the children really enjoyed.
Finally, we put our environmental learning into action by going litter picking in our community to improve the local area. The children were brilliant community heroes and made a massive difference to Jupiter Drive.
As the holidays approached, we also had an amazing Easter Egg hunt in the school grounds to solve the puzzle and win a chocolate egg!
In between all this, we did some wonderful literacy, writing our very own poems and learned more about healthy eating and using traffic light labels on our food in science.
11th-15th March
What a lovely week it has been!
We started science week off with a visit from a mad scientist who did the most mind boggling assembly. Then the children have been busy completing lots of different science experiments with different adults each afternoon. This included making paper flowers open when you put them in water with Miss Young, creating foil boats that sail across water with Mrs Waters, building gliders with Mrs Gaze and designing paper spinners with Mrs Albon.
In Literacy, we have been tweaking our persuasive letter to include different reasons why we should not cut down rainforests. We have been collaboratively working to collect ideas and boxing those ideas up, then writing our persuasive letter to stop deforestation.
In Maths, we have continued our fractions learning. We have been learning the parts and whole of a fraction, and using number lines as a visual representation.
In Spellings this week we have been practising high frequency words for year 3 and 4. These can be super tricky as you cannot decode them.
We hope you have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team
26th February - 1st March
After a very soggy half term, the rain continued all through our first week back!
However, Year 3 have still had a brilliant first week with lots of fun in our learning.
In Literacy, we started our new text about rainforests with a bushtucker jungle challenge and a debate about deforestation.
In Maths, we began our work on fractions and the children have really enjoyed getting to grips with comparing different fractions using visual representations to help us.
We started our new topic in Science by looking at lots of strange and wonderful animal skeletons, and are looking forward to learning more about human skeletons next week.
The highlight of our week was meeting the ducklings in Reception and learning about their life cycle, as well as petting them.
Finally we have been busy working on both our respective class assemblies, which we hope you will enjoy, so watch this space!
5th-9th February
There has been lots of learning going on in Year 3 this week.
The children thoroughly enjoyed participating in Number Day last Friday. We took part in many different activities,
including working in teams to solve puzzles and using ‘Scratch’ on the Chromebooks to enhance our learning.
This week in Maths, we have been developing our understanding of millimetres, centimetres and metres. We have
been converting from one unit of measurement to another and comparing heights and lengths and adding and
subtracting different measurements.
In Literacy, we are using the skills we have been developing over the last few weeks as we write innovated stories,
following the structure of the Great Kapok Tree. We definitely have some confident budding authors in the making!
We have also been learning the spelling pattern for adding the prefix tele- . Next week is Book Week and all our
learning will focus on the text – ‘Diary of a Killer Cat’ – we look forward to seeing the children in their Pyjamas on
Wednesday and dressed as a book character on Friday.
Our History lesson this week focussed on finding out about what people wore during in the Stone Age and the
reasons for their clothing choices. We drew and labelled Stone Age people in their outfits.
We carried out an investigation in Science this week, predicting and then finding out how to change the size of
shadows. We made shadow puppets and varied the distance between torches and the puppets, measuring the
change in the shadow sizes carefully. In our final lesson of this topic we will be finding out about sun safety.
22nd-26th January
The children have been very busy with their learning again this week.
In Maths, we finished our unit on multiplication and division. We have moved on to learning how to measure accurately in metres, centimetres and millimetres using rulers and metre sticks. We enjoyed measuring different objects around the school – especially our friends.
In Literacy, we have been doing lots of short burst writing about rainforests, rainforest creatures and imagining what it was like to be Pedro, the main character in our story. We have been practising skills such as using a thesaurus and including expanded noun phrases in our work.
We have been learning the spelling patterns for adding the suffixes –ment, -ful and -ness and finding out about the spelling of plural words.
We have continued developing our artistic skill, using charcoal to draw plants and ferns in our Art lessons and creating Cave paintings in our Theme session, with some very impressive outcomes.
We all engaged in our Science learning this week, going out to the playground and drawing round our shadows and comparing them as they change throughout the day. We are now able to say a how a shadow is formed and have found out what an opaque object is.
Have a great weekend,
Year 3 Team.
15th-19th January
Year 3 have had such a busy and wonderful week!
In Literacy we have begun learning the actions to the story, 'The Great Kapok Tree'. We have also created a toolkit on how we can write a successful character description. We wrote our own descriptive stories and dialogue between animals.
In Maths, we have been working on dividing two numbers with one number. We used various resources such as, tens and ones grids, counters and whiteboards to support our working out.
In Science, we carried out an investigation on reflective materials. We had a range of materials (such as sandpaper, foil, chiffon, metal, hi-viz etc) and used torches to see which materials reflected light and would be suitable to use in the dark.
On Friday we had a workshop all about the stone age! We started off in the hall learning lots of new and exciting information and played a game to remember all the different facts. Then we had a range of activities to complete, including creating our own drama pieces (dressed up and using props), moulding our own arrowheads from salt dough, building our own Stone Henge using sand and stone, and drawing our own stone age tool. At the very end of the day, we had a big quiz to test our knowledge.
We hope everyone had a fun week and has a restful weekend.
Year 3 Team
8th - 12th January
It has been a great start to the Spring term in Year 3.
This week in Maths, we have been comparing numbers and consolidating our knowledge of multiples. We are continuing to develop our understanding of the times tables and will be building on that next week as we move into working on linking multiplication with division.
In Literacy, we were excited to see our teachers pretending to be woodcutters to introduce us to our new story ‘The Kapok Tree’. We created wonderful ‘Save the Rainforest’ posters to support our learning and have been developing our descriptive skills using alliteration. Next week we will be continuing to practice a range of techniques for writing imaginative character descriptions.
We enjoyed finding out about ‘Botanical Art’ our Art sessions and using watercolours to paint some very impressive flower and fruit pictures, paying great attention to detail.
This half term the children will be having Mindfulness sessions with Mrs Mortimer on Thursdays in which they will be taught a range of skills and strategies to help them focus and maintain a growth mindset. They participated well in their first session this week and we look forward to them practising their skills going forward.
Have a lovely weekend.
Year 3 Team
4th-8th December
This week we have been publishing some brilliant fact files on Christmas in different countries around the world. We have worked really hard to produce interesting facts and beautiful formats for other pupils and families to enjoy when they visit the school next Friday.
We have also had some amazing activities for our theme day - making 3D volcano models, amazing volcano paper stop motion movies and looking at some interesting data on volcanic eruptions in the last few years. We hope you will enjoy seeing some highlights of these on your visit, if you are able to join us.
We have been developing our science skills with more exploration of magnets, looking at magnetic materials and our magnetic Earth - and some of us even made our own compasses to test this.
As ever, we are continuing to work on our times tables, focusing on our 8s this week. If you would like to continue practising this at home, please do use the TT rockstars logins or maybe practise with the song we have been using for our 8s this week! Link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_BJjR9rdwA
Have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team
27th-30th November
This week we have been researching the countries are class are focusing on for our Christmas celebrations and looking at how different countries celebrate the festive period with traditions that are similar and different to our own. We hope you will enjoy seeing some of what we found out on our seasonal door displays in the upcoming Humanities open afternoon.
We also continued our work on timestables in our maths lessons and in our very special TT Rockstars relaunch day! It was fabulous to see so many pupils dressed as rockstars and enjoying this fantastic resource for practising their timestables fluency. Please do use this at home too where possible.
We continued our exploration of magnets and magnetic materials in science which pupils have really enjoyed engaging with and there are lots of ways to continue this exploration at home with a simple fridge magnet or two, if this is something they are interested in doing.
We also filmed our very own stopmotion creations and shared these with the whole class. Some wonderful stories were depicted and it was brilliant to see so much creativity as well as technical understanding in their work.
We are very excited to have started work on our paper mache volcanoes in preparation for next week's STEM day and look forward to sharing more news with you about this soon.
Have a lovely week!
Year 3 Team
20th-24th November
This week Year 3 have been creating their own original reports about a mythical creature of their own design. We have had some fabulous writing about amazing creations, from Flying Mermaids to Dragon Cats.
In maths, we have been working hard on our 3 times tables, practising multiplying and dividing by 3 using grouping and sharing.
In science, we are beginning to look at magnets, which the pupils are very excited to learn about. We are testing how magnets affect each other and various test materials, whether attracting or repelling.
We have been exploring stop motion animation techniques with paper cut outs and created some brilliant storyboards ready to create original stop motion films in our computing lesson next week.
We've also squeezed in our individual school photos, ready for families to order should you wish.
Have a great weekend,
Year 3 Team
13th-17th November
This week, we have been writing some fabulous non-fiction texts about phoenixes. We have been using great expanded noun phrases and fronted adverbials to add detail and make our writing interesting for the reader.
The children have also been working really hard on their checkpoints in reading, spelling and maths, which many have really enjoyed doing.
In D&T, the pupils made some delicious ratatouille. They used their knowledge on healthy diets and practised their cooking skills. See if they can remember the recipe and make you some at home.
Both classes have also really enjoyed science, learning about friction by testing cars and balls on different surfaces to see how they move.
Finally, Christmas preparations have begun, we have been learning some catchy new seasonal songs in our music lessons - perhaps you might hear these at home!
Have a lovely weekend.
The Year 3 Team
6th - 10th November
Despite the soggy weather, we've had a lovely week.
In literacy we have been developing our description skills by using expanded noun phrases to describe our unicorns.
In maths we have been starting to learn about multiplication using repeat addition and arrays, and have focused on our 2 times tables.
In science we have been looking at forces and how these pushes and pulls are in the things we do everyday.
We have also been looking at well-being, discussing online safety in computing and learning about a healthy, balanced diet in D.T.
Finally, we rounded off the week with both Remembrance Day and Diwali assemblies, discussing what these two very different special days mean to people across our world.
And amongst all this, we still had time to look at our new spelling pattern for the week - the letter c making a "s" sound in most words when it is front of an e, i, or y.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Year 3 Team
30th October-3rd November
It's been a busy first week back with lots of special events for our pupils.
In literacy, a mysterious unicorn appeared to have visited our classes overnight, leaving a trail of magical debris behind. More to come next week...
In maths, we have been working more on our addition and subtraction - focusing especially on using inverse operations to check our answers
In science, we discovered the power of forces in our introductory friction experiment. We investigated whose shoes had the best grip by testing which shoes required the most force to pull them across the floor.
In music, we were introduced to a number of orchestral instruments, and a few of us even had a go at playing them.
And in addition to all this, we found time to decorate some beautiful autumnal pumpkins - we will soon announce the winners of the competition!
Finally, we discussed a new spelling pattern, the "ge" "dge" sound at the end of words including "huge" and "dodge".
We hope you all have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team
16th-19th October
This week in Literacy we did lots of collaborative activities, including creating a storyboard as well as fact finding about Harriet Tubman. Can anyone share a fact they learnt in Literacy this week?
In Maths, we have been exchanging numbers across 10 and 100, building upon previous knowledge of addition and subtraction.
In Science, we used the chromebooks to create fact files about Mary Anning - the famous fossil hunter. The children worked in pairs to read information and type it on the computer into a document. We used many different skills, such as typing, editing, adding an image to a document and changing the text size or colour. The children loved this activity and I'm sure you will enjoy reading them in their books one day.
In R.E, our focus was Diwali. We understood what Diwali is and why it is important to some people. Then we drew some lovely rangoli patterns in our books.
Learning next half term:
- in Literacy there will be a focus on creating and writing fact files.
- in Maths we will be focusing on multiplication and division.
Thank you all for such a wonderful start to the year. We will see you after half term!
Year 3 Team
9th-13th October
This week we invented our own traditional tale stories in Literacy. We had to begin the week by boxing up our plan, remembering each stage of the story mountain. We then wrote our stories and practised editing our work with a purple pen, ensuring our work makes sense and has capital letters and full stops, as well as adding in descriptive language.
In Maths, we continued practising addition and subtraction, but focused on adding and subtracting three digit numbers. The children did really well and some even challenged themselves to word problems!
In Science this week, our focus was the different layers of soil using materials. We did a practical lesson in groups followed by drawing and labelling what we did. First we put in the bed rock (oreos), then the parent material (clay), after that was the subsoil (digestives), then top soil (mud) and finally, the organic layer (grass/leaves).
In theme, we have continued learning about volcanoes. This week our focus was Mount Vesuvius and the famous eruption in 79AD, covering Pompeii. The children imagined themselves in 79AD and wrote diary entries as though they were there during the eruptions. They used skills they learnt in Literacy and applied their knowledge of description throughout.
Thank you to those who came to parent's evening this week.
We hope you have a good weekend.
Year 3 Team
2nd-6th October
This week has been very exciting. We have been making changes to our story of Hamelin in Literacy. We each changed the main character, the animal invading a place and a change in setting.
In Maths, we have been adding and subtracting across a 10 and 100. We started by using the place value grids and counters and practised physically exchanging the counters and moving them across the place value columns. After that, we used number lines to support us with 'jumping' the right direction for adding or subtracting.
Our spelling practice over the next couple of weeks will be based around homophones.
In Science we became archeologists and paleontologists by searching for dinosaur fossils. There were clay fossil models within a tray of mud, leaves, rocks and leaves and we used paint brushes to dig and find them. Can anyone remember what they found?
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Year 3 Team
25th-29th September
What a lovely week it has been! Despite the interruption this week, the children have done lots of wonderful learning.
This week in Literacy we have been practising our story map of The Pied Piper of Hamelin as well as choosing and describing our character, ready for next week when we innovate our text.
In Maths, we have added and subtracted numbers across a ten and hundred, and finding the rules of number patterns.
In R.E we have been looking at Ganesh and creating our own Ganesh using clay. We made sure we added extrra details, such as the Ladoo and the crown.
Have a great weekend.
Year 3 Team
18th-22nd September
We have had a very exciting week in Year 3. We have started learning the story 'Pied Piper of Hamelin', including our hook of a video of a rat in the ceral box in the cooking room! We couldn't believe our eyes but there was also a letter from the county council informing us that there had been a rise in rats in the area! We have learnt the actions of the whole story - can anyone show their grown ups at home?
In Maths, we have been mainly focusing on greater than less than and equal to, with numbers up to 1000. The children have used their own chosen resource and displayed it in their books, along with their workings out. It has been great building upon previous knowledge with this concept.
In Science, our unit is 'Rocks' and this week we ran an investigation to test the rocks' permability, durability, density and whether they were hard or soft. We used a range of resources to test the rocks, including sandpaper, peppets with water and a clear box of water.
We have also started our timestables challenges and our first challenge to get bronze gladiator is 2, 5 and 10 timestables. You all have logins for TT Rockstars so hopefully you can find time to practice at home as well.
Lastly, we have sentt home the Christmas 4 Schools form, along with their design. If you would like to make an order, please bring the forms back by Monday 30th October.
We hope you have a great weekend!
Year 3 Team
11th-15th September 2023
We have had a wonderful week in Year 3 and have learnt so much already!
We have been recapping our knowledge within SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar). We have learnt about inverted commas and when this should be used in our writing and working in pairs to create a diaglogue between the Genie and Aladdin.
In Maths, we have focused on partitioning numbers to 1000 as well as choosing a three digit number and calculating what is 1, 10 and 100 more or less of that number.
In Georgraphy, we are learning about Volcanoes and this week we used oreos to describe how a mountain and volcano are formed and how earthquakes can happen. We learnt new terminology - I wonder if anyone can remember the words and tell their grown ups at home?
Have a lovely weekend!
Year 3 Team
4th - 8th September 2023
Welcome back! It has been a delight to get to know the children and see them settle into their first week of Key Stage 2. The children have come back with a positive attitude and look extremely smart in their new uniform.
The children have demonstrated superb creativity this week, creating Ganesh masks in R.E. They also impressed us with their recount of their summer holidays - it looks like you’ve had a wonderful time!
Some gentle reminders:
- children need to bring in water bottles every day.
- children need to bring in their reading books and records every day.
- P.E is on a Tuesday and Friday.
- in Key Stage 2, children are encouraged to bring in a fruit or vegetable snack for break time. Milk can be ordered the usual way.
We look forward to meeting as many of you as possible on Wednesday 13th September for ‘Meet the teacher’.
We are also looking forward to working with you all this year.
Year 3 Team
21st July 2023
Wow this past year has been busy and full on!
We have seen the children have grown so much both socially and academically, which the Year 3 team are very proud of.
As you and the children head out to summer holidays, Mrs Albon, Miss Cox, Mrs Harthill and Mrs Sanders would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support this past year. In addition we would like to thank you for your incredibly generous gifts, we are always very grateful.
Have a super holiday and we look forward to seeing the children back in their new classes on the 4th September 2023.
The Year 3 Team.
7th July 2023
This week the children have looked at statistics in Maths and in Literacy we have looked at some grammar.
On Monday morning we marched to Astley Cooper school and took part in a ukulele workshop led by Herts Music Service and some year 10s as part of their GCSEs. All the children had a fabulous time and learnt to play basic notes on the ukulele. Have a look at Facebook for some photos.
On Wednesday morning we had a fantastic sports day, on Friday morning we were treated to a super performance by the year 6s, where we practised being a gracious audience and in the afternoon we had an afternoon of singing.
In Literacy next week, we will continue to practise prefixes, suffixes and look at using dialogue whilst in Maths we will continue to look at statistics and how we present this information.
Have a great weekend.
The Year 3 Team.
30th June 2023
This week the children have continued to look at the properties of shapes in Maths and in Literacy we wrote our poems about pollution.
In Science we did some research about inventors and their inventions including ball point pens, shampoo and the internet. In Theme we learnt about some of the things that Romans brought over that we still use today in some form such as central heating, swimming baths and toilets.
On Wednesday afternoon we went to our new classroom again and had another session with our new teacher.
On Friday we walked to and from Gadebridge Park, whilst we were there we took park in some races and games, also we had a go at orienteering and using a compass to navigate our way. But the best part was eating luunch at 11.30 as we had built up an appetite by walking there!
In Literacy next week, we will look at prefixes, suffixes and contractions whilst in Maths we will continue to look at the properties of shape.
Have a great weekend.
The Year 3 Team.
23rd June 2023
This week the children have been completing assessments each morning and we would like to congratulate all the children on their super mature attitude and approach.
In the afternoons, we continued with our usual lessons and in Science we looked at Inge Lehmann and how she explored what was below the earth's surface. In Theme we learnt about mosaics and designed our own mosaics.
On Wednesday afternoon we went to our new classroom to meet our new teacher which was very exciting and all the children returned excited for September.
In Literacy next week, we will pick up writing about pollution and use this to create our own poem, whilst in Maths we will continue to look at the properties of shape.
Have a great weekend, enjoy the sun.
The Year 3 Team.
16th June 2023
Wow - what a hot week! However the children have coped so well and completed some fantastic work.
In Literacy we have continued to take our inspiration this week has been the idea of pollution and how it affects us and the environment this week looking at ways to use figurative language to build a scene in the reader's mind. In Maths we have looked at parallel and perpendicular lines and properties of shapes. The children loved this song….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYoKDS6hsKk
In science we looked at Marie Curie and X-Rays. In Theme we learnt about Boudicca and her adventures finding out that she attacked Roman settlements at Colchester, London and St. Albans.
Have a great weekend, enjoy the sun.
The Year 3 Team.
9th June 2023
The children have returned to school keen and eager this week. In Maths, we have started looking at angles and turns.
In Literacy we have written a descriptive setting using positive language for one and negative language for another, our inspiration this week has been the idea of pollution and how it affects us and the environment.
Every afternoon this week we visited a new classroom and tried a variety of techniques as part of Art Week - there are some fabulous pictures on facebook, take a look.
Next week we will continue with pollution as our inspiration for learning in Literacy and in Maths we will learn about parallel and perpendicular lines. In Science we will look at the achievements and inventions of Marie Curie
Have a great weekend, enjoy the sun.
The Year 3 Team.
26th May 2023
In Maths, we have continued looking at time, using days, months and years to work out calculations about the duration of time.
We have continued with our Science topic, this week looking at the lifecycle of a flower.
In Literacy we have written our portal story, remembering to include a good character description, an exciting setting and of course some suspense!
First week back after half term we will continue with Romans in our Theme topic but in Maths we will look at angles and in Literacy we will be using descriptive language.
Difficult to believe that the children only have one term left in year 3, it has flown by!
So enjoy your week off and we’ll see you back on the 5th June.
Warmest wishes,
The Year 3 Team.
17th May 2023
In Maths, we have continued looking at time, including days, months and years. This little rhyme helped us.
30 days has September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have 31
Except February alone,
Which has 28 days clear
And 29 in each leap year.
We have continued with our Science topic, plants this week focusing on pollination, the children went on the MUGA and drew their own flowers, using pom poms to show the movement of pollen the children became bees moving the pollen to show how pollination happens. Photos of this activity will be on the facebook page in the coming days.
In Literacy we are continuing to build up to writing a portal story, this week concentrating on writing a good character description.
Next week we will plan, write and publish (display in school) our own version of a portal story.
Warmest wishes,
The Year 3 Team.
12th May 2023
Another short week but we have still completed lots of learning.
In Maths, we have been looking at time, which is a very tricky concept! If you would like to support your child's learning at home this game is excellent for time.
https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/116/telling-the-time
We have continued with our Science topic, plants looking at the transportation of water up the stem. We have set up an observation experiment putting celery into coloured water and observing the changes, also with one located in swans (Cool room) and one in Ducks (hot room) we can also see if the temperature affects the rate of transportation..
In Literacy we have explored the idea of portal stories and particularly settings, looking at the moment Lucy comes through the wardrobe and sees the snowy scene. Comparing this to a scene at a dump in ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Brown.
Next week we will continue to explore character descriptions from both texts in literacy and in Maths we will continue to look at time..
Warmest wishes,
The Year 3 Team.
5th May 2023
Even though we have had a short week we have still been incredibly busy.
In Theme learning we have looked at a timeline starting with the building of Rome in 753 BC, through to the Romans invading Britain- 43 AD, finishing with the end of Roman Rule in Britain in 410 AD .
In Maths, we have been looking at capacity and volume.
We started our new Science topic, plants by labelling a plant and planting some sunflowers and broad beans. We have started a comparison experiment with 4 plants to see how factors such as no light, no water and no warmth will affect the growth of these plants.
In Literacy we have written our own adventure story remembering to use metaphors and trying to build tension and suspense into our writing.
Next week we will continue to build on these areas but Literacy we will be looking at a new portal text.
Have a fabulous coronation weekend, see you Tuesday.
Warmest wishes,
The Year 3 Team.
21st April 2023
Welcome back to the summer term.
We had great fun with our introduction of our new Theme learning- The Romans. We loved making Roman bread, honey cookies and wine (Blackcurrant squash). If you would like to see photos of the activities keep an eye on our facebook page.
In Maths, we have been looking at fractions and adding and subtracting them.
Our new Science topic is Plants - If anyone has any small yoghurt pots we can repurpose for planting this would be great, please send in with your child. Thank you.
In Literacy we are looking at Aventure type stories and will eventually write our own.
Warmest wishes,
The Year 3 Team.
31st March 2023
In our Theme learning, ‘World War One’ we finished our topic by completing a knowledge harvest of all the facts we have learnt, our recall was fantastic especially with facts we learnt on our trip.
In Maths, we have been looking at using scale alongside fractions- such as looking at a scale of 1-100 and finding ½ or â…” and so on. In Literacy, we have continued with observational poetry using the same structure to create our own poem remembering to use all the elements that make our poem more interesting to the reader. Such as personification, alliteration and rhyming. In Science we have continued to explore ‘Animals Including Humans’ , this week observing how animals with different types of skeletons move.
Next term our new Theme will be Romans and we will be having a Roman dress up day on the first Friday back (21st April 2023)
Next term in Science we will be doing some planting as part of our new topic - please could we ask if you have any small individual yoghurt pots that you send them in at the beginning of next term - Thank you.
To keep your child busy over half term these websites can be great. Just 5 or 10 minutes each day will keep their brains ticking over .
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjkphbk/articles/zf4sscw
Enjoy your Easter break!
See you on the 18th April 2023.
Warmest wishes,
The Year 3 Team.
24th March 2023
In our Theme learning, ‘World War One’ We have created a poster showing some of our learning about the ‘Home Front’ and how the war impacted on day to day life for those left at home.
In Maths, we have been working with fractions, both unit fractions and non-unit fractions. In Literacy, we have started to look at some observational poetry and at the structure of poetry and all the elements we can include to make our poem more interesting to the reader. Such as personification, alliteration, rhyming or simply creating a pattern or melody when read aloud. In Science we have continued to explore ‘Animals Including Humans’ , using a plastic straw with a varying amount of cuts, to show how having lots of small bones allows us to move freely, rather than having one longer bone in our arms or legs.
Next week we will come to the end of our World War One Theme. In Maths, we will start to look at mass and use scales, such as, grams and kilograms. Whilst in Literacy we create our own observational poem. In Science, we continue with our topic ‘Animals including Humans’’ and explore the different types of skeletons different species have.
If you would like a different way to support your child's recall of their times tables, then hit the button is a firm favourite of the children.
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
The Year 3 Team
17th March 2023
This week the children have completed their termly assessments and we want to say how proud we are of the children in year 3 who have shown such a grown up and sensible approach to these. A big well done from all the adults in year 3!
In science we have looked at the names of bones in our body and labelled a life size drawing. Whilst in Theme we continued with World War 1 looking at how animals were used in the war effort and also the weapons available to the soldiers at that time.
Next week, in Maths we will focus on using scales whilst looking at ‘weight and mass’ . During Literacy we will begin a poetry focus looking at the observational poem ‘The Candle’. In Science, we continued with ‘Animals including humans’ making observations on the use and impact of joints and bones.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
The Year 3 Team
3rd March 2023
Such a super week in year 3!
This week, we have continued with our Theme learning ‘World War 1’ with our fabulous trip to RAF Hendon where the children enjoyed seeing all the fantastic vehicles and learning about all the uniforms that both men and women wore. The children called upon their artistic skills and spent some time sketching many of the vehicles in the hangers, you can see these drawings in their Art books on parents evening. In Maths, we have continued to explore perimeter and calculate the best way to work this out. In Literacy, we have continued with the non-fiction text ‘Dragons’, and have made a plan making changes to the original text.
Next week, in Maths, we will begin to explore fractions, learning about the
numerator. Whilst, in Literacy, we will use our plans to write our own non-chronological report about Dragons. In Science, we will be looking at how seasonal changes affect an animals diet.
The Year 3 Team
24th February 2023
Welcome back.
This week in Maths, we have continued to look at units and converting mm – cm – m, to make adding and finding equivalent lengths more manageable. In Literacy, we have started a new text – non-chronological report called ’Dragons’. In Science we will start a new topic – ‘Animals including humans’ this week we have recapped on what we already know about living things.
Next week, we will be continuing to focus on measurement looking at measuring accurately and finding perimeter in Maths and will be innovating (making changes) to our text ‘Dragons’. In Science we will be researching how seasons can change an animals diet.
Spellings can now be found on the website @ this link
https://www.jupiter.herts.sch.uk/116/year-3
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
The Year 3 Team
10th February 2023
Another busy half-term in year 3!
In our Theme learning, ‘World War One’ We have created some fantastic artwork depicting a silhouette soldier in front of a pastel background. We also discussed the ‘Christmas Truce’ and the children went out to play a game of football in the same way as the soldiers.
In Maths, we have been using measurements making sure we have been using the correct units . In Literacy, we have continued with ‘Jupiter and the Bee’ using the structure of the to create our very own myth. In Science we have continued to explore light, looking at shadows and the impact on them depending on where the lightsource comes from.
When we return after the break we will continue with World War One as our Theme Topic. In Maths, we will continue to look at measurements including perimeter. Whilst in Literacy we begin to look at non-chronological reports around dragons! In Science, we begin to look at a new topic ' ‘Animals including Humans’’.
A reminder that contributions for the trip need to be made by February 16th - Thank you
Have a restful week off!
The Year 3 Team
3rd February 2023
Another busy year 3!
In Theme learning, ‘World War One’’.We created a mind map as a plan for us to imagine we were at the front line writing a letter home to our loved ones. In Maths, we have been exploring giving change. In Literacy, we have continued with ‘Jupiter and the Bee’ using the structure to create our very own myth. In Science we have continued to explore light, experimenting with different materials to see if they were opaque, translucent and transparent.
Next week we will continue to look at measurements in Maths, whilst in Literacy we will continue with ‘Jupiter and the Bee’ creating our very own myth. In Science, we will continue to explore light, making shadow puppets and using these to explore the size of shadows!’.
A reminder that trip reply slips should be sent into school by Monday 6th February 2023 - Thank you
The Year 3 Team
27 January 2023
Another great week in year 3!
In Theme learning, ‘World War One’’.We learnt about conscription and all that this meant for the people of Britain. We also looked at the uniforms soldiers wore and decided they would not have been very comfortable! In Maths, we have been exploring money, converting from pence to pounds and partitioning into pounds and pence. In Literacy, we have continued with ‘The King of the Fishes’ using the structure of the wishing tale to create our very own wishing tale. In Science we have continued to explore light, by looking at shadows and the impact of the time of day and the position of the sun (our light source) on our shadows.
Next week, in Maths, we will continue to look at money and giving change. Whilst in Literacy, we will begin our text - ‘Jupiter and the Bee’ looking at how we can build excitement into our sentences by using a wider vocabulary , ending the week by making changes to our main character and writing our very own myth. In Science, we will continue to explore light looking at things that are ‘opaque’ ‘translucent’ and ‘transparent’.
We hope you have a lovely week
The Year 3 Team
20 January 2023
Another great week in year 3!
In Theme learning, ‘World War One’’.We looked more closely at the main reason WW1 started and learnt about Franz Ferdinand. In Maths, we have been exploring division and flexible partitioning.In Literacy, we have continued with ‘The King of the Fishes’ innovating our own story by changing our character and the type of creature that granted the wish. In Science we have continued to explore light, exploring reflective materials.
Next week, in Maths, we will look at money, looking at the value of coins - we will partition amounts into pounds and pence. Whilst in Literacy, we will continue with our text - ‘The King of the Fishes’ looking at how we can use dialogue in our stories to show what our characters are feeling, we will finish the end of the week by writing our very own wishing tale. In Science, we will continue to explore light,fingers crossed the sun shines as we would like to explore shadows outside at different times of the day.
Just a reminder that as a school we have a subscription to TTRockstars. The children still have the same username and password that they were given previously, please do have a look as this is a great way for the children to learn their times tables. If you need the login again please let your class teacher know at the end of the day and they will get sent home with your child asap.
A reminder that year 3 assembly is Monday 23rd January 2023 8.50AM. We look forward to seeing you then.
We hope you have a lovely week
The Year 3 Team
13th January 2023
What a busy start to the new term in year 3!
This term our Theme learning is ‘World War One’’. This week we have started to look at the timeline of events from 1914 - 1919. In Maths, we have been exploring multiplication including exchanging. In Literacy, we have begun to look at ‘‘wishing tales’, and have met the main character Li, a poor fisherman in the ‘The King of the Fishes’. In Science we have started to explore light, learning what a lightsource is and what is a reflector.
Next week, we will be continuing with multiplication and looking at grouping to support our understanding of multiplication in Maths. Whilst in Literacy, we will continue with our text - ‘The King of the fishes’ using this text to build on our use of expanded noun phrases in our writing. In Science, we will continue to explore light, comparing natural and artificial.
Also next week we have our year 3 assembly - Monday 23rd January 2023 8.50AM. We look forward to seeing you then.
We hope you have a lovely week
The Year 3 Team
9th December 2022
Another couple of busy weeks in year 3!
We have continued with our Theme learning ‘Through the Ages’. This week we have made comparisons between the three eras and discovered how life slowly improved over the many years. In Maths, we have revisited previous learning on 2D and 3D shapes and their properties. In Literacy, we have been introduced to a type of poem called a Kenning. A kenning has a two-word structure for each line, with each line containing a verb-verb or a noun- verb. For example ‘crater cracker’ or ‘moon sculptor’, from the kenning ‘Volcano’ written by John Foster. In Science, as part of the topic ‘Forces and Magnets’ we made observation of what happened when iron filings were sprinkled over a tissue with a bar magnet underneath, exploring the magnetic force. This week we had a ‘First Aid’ workshop where we learnt about ‘DRSABC’ and how to place someone in the recovery position.
Next week, we will be revisiting both column addition and subtraction in Maths and in Literacy, we will continue with our poetry focus and write our own Kenning. In Science, we will bring the topic on forces to a close by completing a knowledge harvest to see how much we now know about forces and magnets.
We hope you have a lovely week
The Year 3 Team
18th November 2022
Another busy week in year 3!
This week, we have continued with our Theme learning ‘Through the Ages’. This week we used ‘Now Press Play’, to listen to the story of Etta, her sister and her dad, who live in a roundhouse in the Stone Age. In the story, we follow the family as they hunt for food whilst avoiding a woolly mammoth. In Maths, we have been counting in 4’s, which continues to help us in our weekly multiplication tests. In Literacy, we have continued with the text ‘Beware of Boys’, and have written our own instructional text, remembering to use imperative verbs and adverbs. In Science, as part of the topic ‘Forces and Magnets’ we explored newton metres and how the measures the force it takes to stop an object from falling.
Next week, we will in Maths and Literacy we will be completing some assessments, these are nothing to worry about and simply a checkpoint on learning for this part of the school year. We will continue with Theme – Comparing Stone Age to the Bronze Age and Science – using magnets to find metals that attract in a ‘Scrapyard Challenge’.
We hope you have a lovely week!
The Year 3 Team
