year 3 – Hazeldown Primary School

Year 3 Roman Day – 6.4.22

Year 3 have had a brilliant day celebrating the end of our topic ‘Emperors and Empires’. Some of the activities today have been: designing and making mosaics, writing a diary entry in the role of a Roman soldier, learning about Roman numerals and taking part in a special Roman PE lesson. We even did a Roman march around the playground with our shields!

Everyone looked amazing in their outfits and so much effort went into them, as well as the shields and swords. Well done Year 3!

Here are some photos of the day.

Throughout the week, as part of our celebration of books and reading, in Spanish classes we will be reading classic tales we all know and love… in Spanish! Today Y3 enjoyed listening to ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The children learnt some new vocabulary and joined in with the storytelling of the repetitive parts of the story. ¡Muy bien chicos!

Well done to Gisella. Gisella has really challenged herself with her reading and is getting much better quiz results. Keep it up Gisella!

Congratulations to Lola. Lola is really focussed with her reading and is getting great quiz results. Keep reading Lola!

Congratulations to Patience. Patience really enjoys reading and is very focussed and organised when she visits the library to choose her books. Well done Patience!

Well done to Teagan. Teagan is an avid reader and enjoys visiting the library to change her books. Teagan also recommends books to her friends. Keep reading Teagan!

Year 3 had fun creating San Valentín greetings in Spanish this afternoon; linking prior knowledge from their ‘Mi familia’ topic to the new vocabulary and expressions.

Happy New Year from the Forest School team.

It was a super busy Autumn term at Forest School.

Huge thanks to Sam and Noah for planting our beautiful new trees. And a huge thank you to Becky Jose for donating the trees.

We are very excited as a whole school community to watch our Forest grow.

What a busy term we’ve had in Spanish lessons in KS2! We have been using all of our Hazeldown Values to learn how to greet people, say how we’re feeling and ask others, ask for school equipment and talk about our personalities and those of our friends plus key vocabulary such as numbers and days of the week. We have begun to learn about Spanish phonics and are acquiring bilingual dictionary skills. We have also really enjoyed using our online platform to play vocabulary games to support our learning.

Congratulations to this half term’s Star Readers.

Year 3

Well done to Oscar who is trying really hard with his reading and is reading every day in school. Brilliant, keep it up Oscar!

Year 4

Ellie is now enjoying reading and finds the books she is choosing interesting. Great news Ellie!

Year 5

Jet is challenging himself by reading longer books. Fantastic Jet!

Year 6

Aussie has gone from being a reluctant reader to a very confident reader and in his own words, “I really enjoy reading now”. That is great news Aussie!

Oak class have started their new literacy writing unit this week, The Snowman. We have fully embraced the story as it’s so close to Christmas. Today, we retold the story and drew pictures on a story map to help us remember the main events. We then tried hot seating and we got to ask the Snowman and James how they felt flying through the air, what it was like at the party and how they felt getting up to mischief in the house. We are really enjoying this new writing unit and we can’t wait to share our writing soon.

Oak class today were learning their new vocabulary for their new writing unit, The Book of Bones.

We first had to discuss any words we were already familiar with and which words were new to us. We had the challenging task of matching the definitions up with the correct CiP words, but we worked collaboratively to complete the task. Then we had a go at spelling 3 challenging words in our best handwriting. We can’t wait to get writing so we can put our new vocabulary into practice!

Can you use one of our CiP words in a sentence?

This afternoon, year 3 began their new learning topic, Through the Ages. We became archeologists for the afternoon. Some of the things we found were quite new as they were made out of plastic, whilst other objects appeared to be really old. We had a lot of fun and we can’t wait to find out more about our new topic! Can you remember what you found?

Year 3 celebrated the end of their learning journey, Urban Pioneer, by becoming graffiti artists.

We had to plan and design a graffiti tag with our names or initials. First, we practiced spelling our names out in different graffiti styles. Then, we chose the design and colours to go around our names. When we were ready, we used special marker pens to decorate so our tags would really stand out.

We had a lot of fun, but we can’t wait to see what our next learning journey is.

This half term, Year 3 have been learning about cities. As part of this, we learnt about urban art and then created some of our own with special graffiti pens. We then used the metacognition cycle to plan how we wanted to create our art, monitor the techniques used throughout and then evaluate and reflect at the end.

Well done to this half term’s Star Readers!

Year 6

Izzy has really focussed on aiming for her reading target challenge this half term. Well done Izzy!

Year 5

Joe who is doing well with his quizzes. Keep it up Joe!

Year 4

Max who is really enjoying reading his books. Keep reading Max!

Year 3

Austin who is enjoying reading his books from the library. Keep reading Austin!

Today in maths, Oak were learning how to bridge through ten using part whole models and number bonds to 20. We were able to partition our single digit numbers, but then we fell into the learning pit. We found it challenging to choose the right part whole model that would help us answer the number sentence. We haven’t made it out of the learning pit yet, but we will continue working on this together until we can climb out.

Year 3 have been exploring their new maths vocabulary. In pairs, the children discussed the words and their definitions, challenging each other to justify their opinions and prove that they were right. As a further challenge, the children put the words into a maths context.

This morning, Cherry Class had a fantastic indoor PE session. We talked about why yoga is important and how it can help us to feel calm and relaxed. Then we learnt four new yoga poses: tree pose, butterfly pose, happy baby pose and moon pose. Can you remember what they look like?

This morning Cherry dissected owl pellets. We learnt where the pellets came from. They are regurgitated by an owl between meals.

First, we had to soak the pellet in warm water for 10 minutes to soften them.

Then, we pulled the pellet apart to see what the owl had eaten. Some of us were fascinated and some of us were less than pleased by what we found. We found all sorts of bones including feet and skulls. We used a bone identification chart to identify the animal skeletons.

Can you remember which bones you found?

This year we have made a sculpture for the art trail in Teignmouth. The sculpture features a piece of artwork from each class, Forest school, breakfast and after school club, and Little Acorns. Each class had a school value to represent on their piece and we are sure you will agree they did a fantastic job! All the children and staff, joined in by leaving their own mark or fingerprint on the artwork. Please pop down to the seafront and take a look, the sculpture is in the flower bed close to the pier. Please remember to vote for our sculpture once the voting opens. As soon as we get the voting information, we will pass it on to you.

Today, Cherry were travelling to the Amazon Rainforest in hunt of predators and other animals native to that part of the world. We began by flying over in our canary yellow sea plane before kayaking down the river. Then, we spotted bugs, enormous plants and elephants! Later in the week, we are going to write our travels down in diary entries. Can you remember what other animals you spotted in the rainforest?

Cherry have been exploring how to find fractions of amounts. We have found this challenging in the past and today we showed a lot of resilience as we found ourselves in the learning pit. Some of us have climbed out and are feeling more confident with fractions of amounts. For those who are still in the learning pit, we know that there will more opportunities later in the week to have another go.

Today in maths, Cherry were exploring which shapes showed fractions and non- fractions. We learnt it is important that all parts are equal to have a fraction. We are now feeling much more confident with recognising fractions and we can’t wait to use this knowledge tomorrow.

Cherry class were learning to identify different types of lines in maths today. First, we made sure we understood vertical and horizontal lines. Then, we had to use our detectives skills to spot parallel and perpendicular lines. Finally, we had to create our own parallel lines in as many different directions as possible. Once we started we could not stop!

Can you spot different line types around your house?

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?

Despite the weather, Cherry had a fantastic day at the zoo today! We learnt about which animals are vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered, where they came from and what they ate.

We met up with our guide by the big cats and although they were feeling very shy, we still learnt lots about them. In the picture below, our guide is holding a tooth from an hippopotamus!

The zoo even had a 2-day-old zebra which we spotted keeping close to its mum.

What was your favourite predator you saw?

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?

Today, Cherry class learnt their new CiP words for their new writing unit. We are going to be writing leaflets about our favourite predator. There were words we already knew and some we had to spend time learning.

First, we were timed to see how many CiP words we could match with their definitions. It was challenging as some words were synonyms and their definitions were similar. Then, we played BINGO! We love playing CIP word bingo. Can you remember any of the words from today’s lesson?

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.

Today was a victorious day for the Cherry Romans!

We sailed across to Britannia in our ship. We travelled North to reach the Caledonia border to battle the evil Celts. After a triumphant morning, we then set up camp to create our own mosaics.

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?

Cherry class loved their literacy lesson today. We learnt new CIP words for our new literacy unit- letters. We are writing letters home as Roman soldiers who have marched over to Britain to grow the empire!

We first had to find our partner who had the matching CIP word or definition. It was challenging as we came across words we had never heard of before, but we showed resilience and kept persevering.

Then, we played BINGO! This tested our listening and memory skills but we had a lot of fun.

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.

Cherry class were exploring expanded noun phrases today. We are going to be writing our own myths next week, so this was a perfect opportunity to practice using expanded noun phrases. We were very creative and were able to use powerful adjectives to describe our nouns. When we were confident with our phrases, we wrote sentences remembering not to write a verb between our noun and preposition. Can you write any more expanded noun phrases?

Today, Cherry class became Roman Gods and Goddesses. We are writing myths as part of our new topic and to help us understand the structure and features of a myth we created freeze frames based on the myth of Proserpine and Pluto. We had a lot of fun working collaboratively and we are excited to create our own myths. Can you remember what happens with Proserpine and Pluto?

Today, Year 3 had their class parties to celebrate all the birthdays that have happened this term. We ate party food, showed off our dance moves and played with our friends. We always look forward to this time of term. We had a lot of fun today celebrating parties and breaking some of the rules!

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?

Today, Cherry class used collaboration, relationships and empathy to understand and discuss what makes a friend. We talked about if there was a difference between best friends and a friend. Then, we created drama pieces about what a kind friend looks like. Lots of our dramas showed friends listening carefully, solving problems, being kind and spending time together.

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?

In maths today, we compared different lengths in metres and centimetres. We discussed when this skill would be useful or where we might have seen different lengths being measured- sporting competitions and the Olympics. We then went outside and had a competition of who could throw a beanbag the furthest. We had to use a metre stick to measure the distance in centimetres and metres. After that, we had to compare the distances before deciding who came 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

Here are some great photos from the children who were at home learning on World Book Day.

It looks like you all had a great World Book Day!

Around the School in 13 Bubbles!

I was lucky enough to take a socially distanced journey around the school to take some photos of the children dressed up for World Book Day. There were some fantastic costumes from all year groups. Thank you to everyone who joined in both at school and at home. Photos of the children who are currently home learning will be added to the blog at a later date.

Year 3 have been exploring homophones today. Our main focus was understanding which ‘to’, ‘two’, ‘too’ and ‘there’, ‘they’re’, ‘their’ to use. We even recapped some of the previous homophones we have looked at. We marched, clapped and tapped our heads to spell the correct homophone for the sentence. We had a lot of fun doing this and we can’t wait to learn more about homophones.

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!

This afternoon, year 3 began their new topic of Rocks, Relics and Rumbles. We became geologists as we studied a range of rocks to find out if they were metamorphic, sedimentary or igneous. We first used our excellent observations skills on the rock’s appearance, then we used wire to investigate if the rock was hard or soft. Finally, we used pipettes to drop water to test if the rock was permeable or impermeable. All of these tests led us to discovery the rock type. We had a lot of fun and we’re excited to learn more about our topic.

This afternoon, year 3 were lucky to take part in a virtual pilates session. We enjoyed taking part, but we especially loved the plank competition! Have a look at how much fun we had.

Year 3 have become news reporters this week as we interviewed historians about wealth and power in the Bronze Age. We had a few technical difficulties, but after showing resilience we have produced a piece of work we are proud of. We hope you enjoy our news reports!

Presenters: Sophie and Melody

Camera crew: Maddie