Year 3

India

For our India Topic, we have had a fun filled day with 'Bollywood Belles' Learning all about Bollywood dance.  We learnt lots of Bollywood moves, which are called Mudra and two routines - this took lots of co-ordination and energy.  Whilst we were having a rest from the dancing, we made Chapatis and Raita, which we loved eating!

Stone Age Soup Day!

In year 3 we have had a 'Souper' fun day preparing a Stone Age Soup.  We learnt chopping techniques, such as: the bridge hold and the claw grip so we could chop vegetables ourselves safely.  We also learnt how to peel, dice, mix, blend and the skill of keeping a cookery area tidy and clean by washing and drying up.  It was very important that we worked as a team and we also needed lots of  patience whilst we waited for our soups to simmer and finally cool ready for us to eat.  After that, we finished our soup making experience by enjoying our soups in our forest area, like the Stone Age people would have done!  We were all very adventurous and tried the different groups' soups!

Topic Day - 24.4.17

What a busy day we have had learning about the Stone Age. In class we completed a stone age challenge; we imagined we had been transported back in time, we had no food, water, shelter or clothing—how would we survive? What should we do first? How and what would we eat? In our table groups  we decided that finding water was our priority, some of the group decided to hunt for food, but weapons had to be made first. Others in the group gathered food, (berries, leaves, nuts) that is because Stone Age people living in the Mesolithic age were hunter gatherers. Once food had been hunted, fires were made to cook food, animal skins could also be used for clothing.

Next we went out in the forest school area to make tools of our own; axes, arrows, spears and bows. We found out that Mesolithic hunters mainly used spears but Neolithic hunters made bows and arrows.

Escape Arts Changing Landscapes project

Escape Arts Changing Landscapes project worked with year 3 last week .  We found out about the legend of an escapee steer that was saved from slaughter due to his adventure. We were all challenged to create a new landscape for the steer and give him a name.  If we are lucky enough, some of our landscapes will be chosen to be part of the Arts Anniversary Exhibition (June 30^th – July 1^st, Stratford Town Hall). www.escapearts.org.uk

Ashmolean Museum Trip

Here's a selection of pictures from our trip to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.  We loved being Egyptian detectives for our session and learning even more about Ancient Egypt. We were amazed when we got to hold an Ancient Egyptian artefact - it made our day! We also enjoyed exploring the other parts of the museum too and completing our scavenger hunt!

Year Three Lego Day

Today was our Lego Innovation day. We thought abut how Ancient Egyptians built the pyramids by dragging huge blocks on sledges, using ramps and floating stone down the River Nile. Our challenge was to investigate pulleys. We followed instructions to build a special fishing rod, pulley block and giant fish. Working in teams is tricky but we discussed any difficult instructions / steps, helped each other, showed great patience as well as using our super problem solving skills.

We investigated the difference in effort and speed using a single or double pulley comparing the actual results to our predictions. We are sure that pulleys would have been very useful to the Egyptians if they has been invented 4 thousand years ago!

Egyptian Gods Homework

Here are some links to websites to support you with your research for your homework.

Spring 2017

Happy New Year!

Egyptian Day

What a busy first day back we have had! To begin our Egyptian topic we spent the day completing activities, challenges and puzzles related to daily life in Ancient Egypt. In maths we used our problem solving skills to make pyramids and tried to spot patterns and predict how many cubes there would be in each pyramid, depending on the number of layers. We learned that Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphs and had a go at writing our own names. For fun we used our teamwork skills to make the best mummy using toilet roll! In the afternoon we were archaeologists, digging up Ancient Egyptian artefacts and making deductions abut what they might be. We ordered timelines and discovered that Ancient Egyptian society began a VERY long time ago. We also used our art and observation skills to make collars in the style of those worn by wealthy Ancient Egyptians.

Electricity - Making switches  

In science this term, we have been learning all about electricity.  We have learnt how to make a simple circuit, what the parts are called and learnt how to recognise some common conductors and insulators.  Finally, to end out topic, we learnt all about switches and in groups we made our own switch and tested if they worked by seeing if they opened and closed a circuit. 

Bright Sparks!

We started our Bright Sparks topic today. We experimented with static electricity and had lots of fun with balloons! We talked about Michael Faraday who first begun to generate electricity around 250 years ago. We learnt that electricity has always been here; it was not invented, just discovered.  We also talked about the inventor Thomas Edison, who created a light bulb that lasted 50 days.

We  thought about how electricity  is changed into different types of energy such as light heat, sound and movement. We went on an electricity hunt  around the school ( we even got a peek in the staffroom!) and considered what people used in the past as alternatives to electrical devices today.

Design and Technology

Pneumatic Rainforest Animals!

The children have been really excited this week to put all the junk they had been collecting to good use. In groups, they applied what they had learnt about pneumatic systems and created a rainforest animal with a moving part!  Ocelots, Jaguars, Tocuans, Frogs and Chameleons appeared in just a matter of hours!  Fantastic work year 3, you persevered throughout the day and worked really well in your teams!

As part of our Design and Technology work we investigated a range of objects to try and find out what they had in common. We discovered that they used air to make them work. We investigated simple pneumatic systems by trying to make an egg box open using a balloon, and using a larger syringe to push open a small syringe. We compressed air through a tube which made a balloon inflate and deflate.

Let's Investigate!

In Science this week, the children have set up their own investigations.  They have discussed all different types of questions that they could test about minibeasts (worms and snails) and as a class decided on five questions for each group to examine.  Over the next week, we will be observing the minibeasts and seeing if our predictions are correct! 

Brandon Marsh Trip

What a wonderful day we have had at Brandon Marsh! 

The children have learnt all about habitats, pond dipping, bird watching and food chains. 

See a selection of pictures below.

Rainforest Websites

Here are some interesting websites you might like to explore, they may help you with your homework too.

Talk For Writing ‘Hook’

This year we are using the new whole school strategy called ‘Talk for Writing’ in our English lessons. Each unit of work starts with a ‘hook’ to enthuse and motivate pupils, we thought you might like to hear about ours…

When Year Three came into their classrooms on Tuesday 20^th September, something mysterious was waiting for them; an egg! But who did it belong to? Attached to the egg was a message from the owner, it had left clues around the school to follow. Each class had to read riddles carefully and think about the locations they described. Pupils followed all of the clues, which led them to…..A DRAGON!! The dragon is now watching over the classrooms and comes to sit at tables when children are working particularly hard.

Autumn 2016 in Year Three

Our topic this term is Rainforests and it has certainly captured the children's imaginations. We used our own Forest School as a starting point to discuss the similarities and differences between a temperate forest and tropical rainforest. We became forest explorers and looked around the forest school to find rainforest facts and pictures of animals, which we sorted into those native to the UK and those which live in a rainforest.

We are really looking forward to our trip to Brandon Marsh on Friday 30th September which links to our Science topic of 'Habitats'.  Thank you to all who have volunteered to come along. Watch this space for photos of our trip.