Year 3 – Redwood Class
What We’ve Been Up To This Term
Who were the first people who lived in Britain?
As well as our key text, The Finger-Eater by Dick King-Smith, we will be learning all about the Stone Age. We will use historical sources to describe the clothes, way of life, culture, leisure activities and actions of people in the past.
Books your child could read at home:
- The Boy With The Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler
- Ug: Boy Genius Of The Stone Age And His Search For Soft Trousers by Raymond Briggs
- The First Drawing by Mordicai Gerstein
What have we been doing?
The children have shown real enthusiasm for the book ‘War and Peas’! As part of our English learning, we have acted out the dialogue of the two kings and had great fun representing one of the main scenes in the book, the food fight, focusing on the body language and expressions of the characters. Can you guess who is who by looking at the picture from the book? We have been developing our observational skills in science by exploring the parts of different flowering plants from our playground. We identified the stem, petals, anther, sepals and the filament.
Still thinking about food, we have been creating observational drawings of apples.
Autumn Term 1 – Redwood Class
English
The children’s learning will be linked to the core text War and Peas by Michael Foreman. They will explore a variety of fables such as Aesop’s fables, identifying the main features. They will use conjunctions to extend and explain ideas and prepositions to describe a scene. They will learn how to punctuate direct speech too. As part of their reading, they will consider how a character might change as a result of an event. The children will be given opportunities to write their own fable.
Maths
The children will be identifying and representing numbers using different representations. They will learn how to find 10 or 100 more or less than a given number and read, write, compare and order numbers up to 1000 in numerals and in words. They will also count from 0 in multiples of 50 and 100. They will learn to add and subtract numbers mentally and by using formal written methods.
RE
The children will be considering the key question ‘What do Christians learn from the creation story?’ To do this, the children will place the concepts of God and Creation on a timeline of the Bible’s ‘Big Story’ and describe what Christians do because they believe God is Creator. They will also ask questions and suggest answers about what might be important in the creation story for Christians living today, and for people who are not Christians.
Science
The children’s learning will be focused on plants. They will explore the different parts of flowering plants, the requirements of plants for life and growth and the role of flowers in the life cycle including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal. They will identify that animals, including humans, need the right types and amount of nutrition, and that they cannot make their own food; they get nutrition from what they eat.
PE
The children will be focusing on developing their passing and shooting skills. This will include dribbling, attacking and defending. There will also be a focus on agility and co-ordination.
PSHE
The children will be exploring families and friendships. They will learn to recognise and respect different types of families, the different ways people care for each other and what to do if a relationship makes them feel unhappy or unsafe.
Art/ DT
The children will develop their practical skills of recording by selecting and drawing from first-hand observation. They will also look at a range of Georgia O’Keefe’s work who had a unique way of capturing flowering plants.
Autumn Term 2 – Redwood Class
English
The children’s learning will be linked to the core text The boy with the Bronze Axe. They will be encouraged to infer and explain characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from actions and what they say. They will begin to understand that the language and vocabulary used is related to the text type. They will also explore non-fiction books and non- chronological reports about Stone Age. They will group events/information into sections and will have the opportunity to write their own non – chronological report. The SPaG focus will be on conjunctions, adverbs, prepositions to show time and the prefixes ‘mis’ and ‘re’.
Maths
The children will be developing their knowledge in relation to addition and subtraction. They will add and subtract 2-digit and 3-digit numbers crossing 10 or 100. They will investigate how to exchange by using mental strategies and formal written methods. They will solve addition and subtraction word problems. The will estimate answers to calculations and use inverse operations to check their answers.
RE
The children will be considering the key question ‘What is the trinity?’ To do this, the children will identify the difference between a ‘gospel’ and a letter and be given the opportunity to develop their understanding around baptism and the trinity. They will describe how Christians show their beliefs about the trinity in worship and make links with bible texts. The children will make links between some Bible texts studied and the idea of God in Christianity, expressing clearly some ideas of their own about what the God of Christianity is like.
History
The children will be focusing on prehistory to understand the differences between Stone Age people and modern people. They will explore cave paintings focusing on the materials and colours used and the themes represented. They will learn about the types of shelters Stone Age people built exploring a popular monument in the UK, Stonehenge. They will explore the clothing and the diet of Stone age people. distinguishing the differences between their diet and ours. The Bronze Age and Iron Age will be introduced to the children too.
PE
The children will be focusing on football developing their passing and shooting skills. This will include dribbling, attacking and defending. There will also be a focus on agility and co-ordination.
PSHE
The children will be focusing on caring friendships, which will be a theme across the school. They will learn how friendships make them feel happy and secure and how people choose and make friends. The children will consider what is appropriate to share with their friends, classmates family and wider social groups. They will learn about what privacy and personal boundaries are including online. They will explore basic strategies to help keep themselves safe online such as passwords, using trusted sites and adult supervision. They will learn about both the effects and consequences of bullying.
Art/ DT
The children will explore cave art and create their own cave painting using oil pastels. They will design and make axes and spears for hunting. They will look at Celtic patterns, designing their own Celtic shields using water paint.
Music
The children will listen and appraise songs. They will build on their knowledge and understanding about the interrelated dimensions of music through warm up and flexible games.
French
The children will focus on greetings. They will be able to say hello and goodbye French. They will learn to ask how someone is and ask others what they are called.
Spring Term 1 – Redwood Class
English
The children’s learning will be linked to the core text ‘Greek Myths’. They will be encouraged to explain and identify how the language shows the setting of a book. They will consider the importance of fronted adverbials and how to find identified information. Children will be given opportunities to re-tell a Greek myth, write their own myth and a recount.
Maths
The children’s learning will be linked to the core text ‘Greek Myths’. They will be encouraged to explain and identify how the language shows the setting of a book. They will consider the importance of fronted adverbials and how to find identified information. Children will be given opportunities to re-tell a Greek myth, write their own myth and a recount.
RE
The children will be considering the key question ‘What kind of world did Jesus want?’ To do this, the children will make clear links between the calling of the first disciples and how Christians today try to follow Jesus and be ‘fishers of people and they will offer suggestions about what Jesus’ actions towards the leper might mean for a Christian.
History
The children’s learning will be around a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world. The children will answer questions such as ‘Who were the Ancient Greeks and what did we learn from them?’ ‘What were the main differences between Athens and Sparta?’ ‘What was daily life like in Ancient Greece?’
PE
The children will observe and evaluate movements describing the contrasting dynamics. They will also perform a pair/group dance. Links will be made with traditional Greek dances. The children will compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.
PSHE
The children will be focusing on caring friendships, which will be a theme across the school. Their learning will be about on developing strategies to resolve disputes, to recognise how their behaviour affects others and build on their learning about positive relationships.
Art/ DT
The children will observe and evaluate movements describing the contrasting dynamics. They will also perform a pair/group dance. Links will be made with traditional Greek dances. The children will compare their performances with previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best.
Music
The children will experiment with making sound using the recorder. They will begin to play some simple tunes using combinations of the notes B, A, G in time with a given rhythm. They will rehearse and perform with others.
