Goodbye Year 3.
Goodbye Year 3. You have been fabulous. Good luck in Year 4. Have an amazing summer!
Year 3 have been busy learning all about their favourite creatures since our first trip to Paignton Zoo. In school today, we finished writing up our leaflets which we are sending to Matt at the Zoo. Other visitors from the Zoo can then learn more about these fascinating creatures like we have been.
@Paigntonzoo
We have had a busy and exciting start to our predator topic so far.
Over the last few weeks, we have been carrying out a science investigation to test the conditions that plants need to grow. We have looked at no air, no water, no light and no soil. From the photos below which plant has continued to grow the best? Why do you think that is?
We have also looked at seed dispersal. Can you tell how the seeds in the photo below disperse?
In computing, we had to create programmes for our cars to avoid the predators. If we made a mistake we had to adjust our programme and try again.
The most smelly learning so far came from investigating owl pellets. We had to use our careful observation skills to identify the animals that the owls had been eating. We were also able to identify some of the different types of bones. Which bones can you see?
At the start of the week, Oak Class set up a trail camera in the forest school area to see if we could capture any predators in our local area.
Take a look at what we captured.
Which of these do you think is a predator? Can see see any after their prey?
Year three spent the day monkeying around at Paignton Zoo. We went in search of the fiercest predators. At crocodile swap, we found out and drew on a map where the different species of crocodiles live in the world. We also used our map skills to locate the different animals enclosures using a 4 figure grid reference. There was time for a little play too.
Oak Class had great fun today enjoying all things sporty. It was great to see such determination, teamwork and smiles. A big well done to everyone!
This afternoon, Oak Class spent some time investigating the predators that could be found in the pond. We had lots of fun! We found many creatures we’d never heard of or seen before. The leaches, newts, frogs and blood worms were some of our favourites. We used identification keys to help us name some of the animals we found. Do you recognise any of the creatures in the pictures below?
Year Three have been having fun with mirrors and exploring their reflective properties.
We had to decipher Mrs Jeffery’s secret message and then created some of our own. We needed a bit of resilience for this task. We used our mirrors go guide us around a path on the playground. It was very hard not to cheat and look at the floor. We also used them to shine light in different places around the room, see things that were on our backs and look what was on the table when we were under it.
In science today, we discussed the importance of sun safety. We talked about why it’s important not to look at the sun and different ways we can keep safe. We then had some special beads that we needed to keep safe from the sun. We would know if the sun’s light energy had reached them because they would change colour.
We thought about different ways of doing this such as:
- suncream
- under sunglasses
- in the shade
- covering them up (in different ways)
- in water
This led us to other questions as well. We wondered if covering them in shiny paper would be better as it might reflect the sun away. We wondered why the suncream didn’t work as well as we expected.
What would you try?
Year 3 had a terrifying time this morning. First it was maths, we were learning our numbers from 1 to 20 in roman numerals. If we made any mistakes there would be harsh punishments!
Next, we set sail to Britannia.
After we arrived, we marched to the Caledonia border and set up camp. From here, we sent spies to learn all they could from the savage’s settlements before we battled them. Obviously we were victorious.
Knowing how great and powerful we were meant we could relax a little in the afternoon and focus on more creative activities. We learned all about mosaics and created some of our own.
Today, Year 3 were using an online thesaurus to find synonyms for words to describe different feelings. We had to make sure that we made appropriate choices to match the context we wanted. For example, when we looked at the word ‘tired’ we decided that ‘fatigued’ would be suitable but ‘tatty’ would not in the context that we were exploring.
As a pair, we then had to order these words from weakest to strongest. If we didn’t agree we had to say phrases such as, ‘Can you justify your opinion?’, ‘ Can you explain why?’ or ‘ I don’t agree because..’.
Here are some of our thoughts:
Year Three will shortly be writing their very own Vindolanda Tablets in the style of a letter home from a Roman soldier based at Vindolanda, a fort alongside Hadrian’s wall.
To get to know some of the jobs and the arduous duties the Roman soldiers had to carry out, we did some role play.
We marched across the empire to invade Britannia, building our campsites, ensuring they had ditches and added spikes for protection. If you were on duty and caught sleeping you faced harsh punishments. As we moved from place to place, we built straight roads to ensure quick travel in the future.
Finally, we practised our fighting and moving as a unit to battle the tribes in Caledonia (Scotland).
Can you tell from the pictures who is worried about the battles to come?
Year Three have been taking it in turns to visit Rome using virtual reality.
So far we have been most impressed with the statues, the roads and The Temple of Caesar.
What would you like to explore?
In today’s P.E lesson, we looked at improving our batting and bowling skills.
To throw the ball we had to remember to grip it using THE CLAW. This helped the ball leave our hands smoothly.
We also worked on our positioning and making sure we stood side
ways to strike and bowl.
In our P.S.H.E lesson today, we discussed lots of ways of keeping safe online and how much we can trust different websites. Mrs Jeffery read us a statement and we had to think about if it was true or false and why we thought that.
What do you think about this statement?
Most 12 – 15 year olds who go online say if they visit a new website they would check it first.
It’s true!
You can do a safe browsing check on a website to see if you can trust it.
Today, Year Three were investigating what causes earthquakes. We investigated, modelled what happens and then set about presenting what we found out. Some of us chose to collaborate and present our learning by creating videos. Others chose to draw diagrams or make models with reflective sentences. Can you remember what causes an earthquake and where they occur most frequently? 
In maths, we have been leaning about perimeter.
We had great fun yesterday designing floor plans for veterinary surgeries, gardens which needed fences and even writing our name in bubble writing and finding the perimeter of each shape the letters made.
How many sides would you need to measure for a square field if you needed to build a fence to keep your animals in? Why?
Today in class we revisited the Zones of Regulation. (You can learn more about them here: https://www.zonesofregulation.com/learn-more-about-the-zones.html).
After talking about the different emotions that people feel and the zones that those emotions belong in, we talked about how to recognise those emotions. We then watched Shoo Rayner draw the different expressions and had a go ourselves. Can you guess the emotion from the picture?
Year 3 had a wonderful start back. We enjoyed a range of activities but particularly enjoyed kicking off our science week.
We discussed a Zoom Out activity to develop our thinking and reasoning and completed an innovation challenge. We chose a goal and thought about how a different insects could help us solve different problem.
What do you think this is? Why? What clues are there?
Year 3! What a journey we have been on. We are all incredibly proud of you. It was so wonderful to see so many of you all together on Zoom today. I hope you remembered to go and give your adults a big hug and a thank you for helping you along the way.
Below are some images of key things you might want to remember.
We can’t wait to see you!!!!!
Year 3 have been learning about what makes up the earth and the different layers.
Can you spot the different layers in these photos?
Look how many different ways we found to show the same thing (there were even more ways shown over zoom). Aren’t we a creative bunch!
Year Three continue to blow us away with their ever creative ways of presenting their learning about the prehistoric times. Can you spot the diary entry or the drawing of the chief? What do you think the jewellery has been made form ?
Some of our fabulous Year Three children have missed having the working wall to refer back to their learning. They’ve realised just how often they use it and how it supports them with their learning. As such, they have been ever so resourceful and created their own with key information on.
We have been having fun with spelling in Year Three.
Have a look at the table below and the photos of us. Can you find and object and say what the rules for that object is if it becomes plural?
One of our delightful Year 3 children has completed a marathon through January. She ran a total of 26.2 miles with her Dad (and younger sister for the last mile) in aid of Prostate cancer U.K. She managed to raise an incredible £420.
What an achievement that is!
Here are some videos and images of scenes that the children in Year 3 have made. They are reenacting elements of life in the Bronze Age, in particular the Beaker People who travelled from Europe to the UK. What can you learn about their lives from these videos?
Here are just some of the things our young historians at home have been up to.
They have been finding out how tools and weapons changed during the Stone Age. Some people, carefully with the help of an adult, then had a go at making some of these.
They have been asking their own questions about historical findings and not only trying to answer their own questions but also decide if the evidence is trustworthy.
Lots of people have also been very creative when replicating Stone Age monuments. We’ve had different monuments from around the county made from cake, brownies, Jenga blocks, stones, clay, lego and more. I do love seeing all your creative ideas.
Year Three are impressing with their willingness to reflect and make progress with their writing.
Over our Zoom meetings, we have been working together to mark some of our learning. We then used this the next day to make improvements to our writing. Can you see the learning we marked together in Green and Pink. Then you can see how we changed sections in purple or added parts to improve the next day.
Some of you have even missed BIG writing so much you’ve been putting on calm music. Everyone is really impressed by your wonderful efforts with your diary writing. They have been a joy to read.
In Year Three, we have been sharing some of the resources we have been using to help us with our a maths learning from home. What a resourceful bunch you are! We have seen cars, lego, cereal, coins and some of you have even made your own base ten. These resources have then been used to represent different numbers. For example one car could represent 10. That would mean ten cars are worth 100.
Mrs Jeffery also asks us to explain our learning during our zooms. We’ve been trying hard to explain over the chat facility at times.
Here are some of the creative and wonderful things Year 3 have been up to this week?
Do you recognise this famous Stone Age Monument?
What would you use this Stone Age tool for?
Here’s a timeline of different period of the Stone Age and someone else has been comparing them.
Here is some of our literacy from this week. We looked at informal writing and have been using lots of different word classes in our sentences.
How do you help others know your learning? Have a look at this sign someone made for their door.
Year 3 what an incredible start to your homeschool learning. Miss Halloway and I (Mrs Jeffery) have been blown away by your incredible response and enthusiasm. It has been amazing to see so many of your smiling faces on Zoom. I’m really proud of those of you already growing in confidence and asking questions and sharing ideas. Next week should give even more of you the chance to share as we will be breaking off into our smaller groups.
Below is just a small glimpse at just a few of the wonderful thing you have shared. Don’t forget to look back at some of your leaning as I am writing some comments on their for you. Feel free to have it ready to share and talk about in our Zoom sessions too.
Keep up the excellent work.
Have a wonderful weekend. You can tick Friday off on your calendars now.
Bonjour
Today, we have been using our knowledge of French numbers,
shapes and colours to create a Christmas picture.
How high can you count?
un deux trois quatre cinq
We have learned an incredible amount during our computing lessons this week.
We used the Chromebooks to create tables to record the data from our science investigations in. Later, we used Google Slides to create a presentation about everything we have learned during this topic. We can now insert images, change the back ground, add extra slides, change the font and more. Most importantly, we can now share our work with Mrs Jeffery and our friends.
Some of us chose to create our won slides all about Christmas during SOLE.
Today we had to create bells for Santa / a wind chime. We had to carefully selected our chosen metal objects for how they sounded whilst also considering how they would be attached together.
In maths today, we were investigating what happens when we create shapes from a set number of lollypop sticks. We knew we were dividing the total number of sticks by the number of sides our shape had. We noticed that if we were making triangles we were diving by three and there would never be a remainder of more than 2. Any more than 2 left over and we could make another triangle.
What shapes could you make at home from sticks?
If you had 21 sticks and were making pentagons. How many pentagons could you make and how many sticks would you have left over?
Year Three have been building up to make their carts. There have been a few challenges and hurdles along the way but evaluating and overcoming these obstacles along the way is something everyone took in their stride.
First we started by creating our design criteria. What did we want from our cart and how could existing designs both help us and be improved upon.
Next we draw diagrams of how we wanted our carts to look . We had think carefully about how the wheel was attached to the chassis. How did you attach yours? What worked best?
Finally we got to make them. Ask one of us about a challenge we faced and how we overcame it.
Today we researched existing spinning tops, thinking about which ones young children would like the best.
We then had a go at designing and creating our own spinning tops. We had to evaluate along the way to discover what would make them spin the best.
What do you think would make one spin more easily?
Today we have been designing and creating spinning tops as well as developing our art skills. We looked at different techniques to bend and shape wire and well as ways to emboss into foil. We used this skills to create Christmas based products.
Today Oak Class were set a challenge from a visitor to school.
They had to use their map skills, work as a team and find pictures of animals hidden around the school grounds. The first letter of each animal when rearranged spelt out a word.
How did your team do? Which learning values did you use?
This week in Year 3 we will be learning how to block print. Please watch this video that Mrs Bryant has made. You could have a go at home too.
We have seen some wonderful collaboration in Oak Class this week from finding out about the oceans as a team, improving sentences and solving problems in maths.
Here is a photo of two children in particular who we taking in turns and having purposeful discussions to help move their learning on.
How have you collaborated this week? What could you do next week to show your collaboration skills?
Today, we have been using resources to find and locate the seven continents around the world. When we had discovered where they were and some facts about them, as well as the equator and poles, we had to put them back together in the right place using what we had learned.
Later on in the week, we will be challenging you do do the same but with maps that are a bit different from the one your used to seeing. Can you think of any features that make the continents look different from each other so that you can place them on any map?
Today, we were lucky enough to have Mrs Moye join us for gymnastics. She is a qualified coach and she really got us working our tummy muscles. She helped us warm up our bodies and stretch our muscles before creating some balances and movements.
As the home learning as been arriving in class this week, the children have had the opportunity to share it with their classmates. We learned from what each other had being learning about and celebrated each others successes. We also managed to enjoy a few games of top trumps too.
Thank you for all your hard work. It has been lovely to see all the learning you have been getting up to at home.
Today, Oak class have been using colourful semantic cards to help them create expanded nouns. This will help them write a more descriptive recount in their newspaper reports. Tomorrow Oak Class will be extending these further using prepositions.
Today we have been learning words to include in our newspaper writing. Some of these are common exception words for Year 3 and 4. This means they don’t fit the normal spelling rules and its really important we learn to spell them correctly. We played hangman to help us with this. Later we role played what some of the words meant and matched them to their definitions.
This word has had its vowles removed. Can you figure out which word it is? f_m_ _s
Today, Heroes and villains descended into Oak Class for a huge dance off.
It was fantastic to watch our dance take shape with everyone in their costumes. It really helped to set the scene and bring it all alive.
We also spent time thinking about an event our heroes/villains could be involved in that would then be reported in a newspaper. After some time role playing these, we created freeze frames to create pictures of the main event. What do you think is happening in each of the freeze frames?
In Year 3, we have been learning dance. We have been learning our dance moves based on our topic Heroes and Villains. We have learned about gesturing, travelling, turning, jumping and stillness. Can you see any of these things in the photos below? Next week we are going to be wearing our superhero costumes and learning a new section to our routine.
Today we have focused our learning around the zones of regulation. We have been learning what it feels like when we are in the different zones and how we can move from one zone to another. Lots of us said talking to people made us feel happier and taking some time to sit quietly also helps us to calm down. We carried out some role play this afternoon, guessing which feelings were being demonstrated.
Can you think of a time when you have been in each zone?
Also take a look at some of the learning values that the children are demonstrating. They are being extremely resourceful, getting everything organised for their learning. What superstars they are!
What a busy few days we have had back in Oak Class and the children have all grown in more ways than one. It has been delightful to be back amongst such a friendly, happy and delightful bunch.
We have been learning about worries that we might have and thinking of ideas that could help us solve them. When we revisited the school rules we discussed what they ‘look like’ and what we would expect to see. Today, we had our first trip to the library and chose our first books. This was particularly exciting and we are planning on visiting again in the week so we can change them after we have quizzed on them. Everyone was keen to be able to have a go on the Chromebooks. We have a few experts amongst us but a few of us will need to keep practising how to log in and create documents.
We are looking forward to more exciting learning and time spent with our friends.
