What a beautiful week we have had in Oak class! Our week started with finishing our newspaper articles focused on the events of 79AD. Mt Vesuvius spewed toxic ash over the city of Pompeii, burying it for centuries. We have also explored Greek philosophy, we shared our ideas as to what some interesting quotes may mean and thought about how they may relate to our own lives. We have also had Woodland School today! We used nature to create images of our favourite animals! We saw bats, cats, stick insects and more! 

Next week we will finish our newspaper unit by writing an article on either the discovery of a new dinosaur in China or the current situation in Italy, regarding the tragic floods. We have researched information and details of what has happened and will use the skills we have gained over this unit to write our independent pieces! 

Our Spellings this week are:​

• where
• were
• wear
• there 
• their

It has been great to see the engagement in reading rise over the past half term. We really would like to see that the children are reading their levelled book from school at least 3x a week. A comment about how many pages and the date in the reading record help us identify how frequently they are reading. If we notice a child is struggling to read at home, we can put things in place here to support them. 

Have a lovely weekend! 

It has been a fun week exploring Pompeii, the lost city and fractions! 

We have been sequencing the story of Escape From Pompeii and thinking about how it must have felt for those people as they felt the rumble of Vesuvius across the city. We have used fronted adverbials to explore the setting, imagining ourselves at the scene. The sound of ash falling amongst the rushing footsteps of the citizens as they run for cover. Next week, we will begin to explore features of a newspaper and think about how we can report the the eruption of Vesuvius as a newspaper reporter. 

In Maths, we are going to explore mass and capacity! Year 3 Mass and Capacity - YouTube This might help give you an idea of the styles of questions we may explore! Well done to those children using TTRS, I can really see a difference in your recall of tables! 

Our spellings this week are:

• closely
• gently
• basically
• happily
• cuddly 

Please continue the great work with he reading records. I am checking reading records on Mondays and Thursdays. Please ensure the children have their reading book and reading record each day. This will help when we ask them to read with adults and check their levels. If they do not have their books, I am unable to check their understanding of the text and assess their level. 

Have a lovely, long weekend! 

What a lovely week back at school! It was great to see the children after the holiday, they have grown so tall!

This week, we began exploring Ancient Greece and found that the land ruled back then is different to the land that we know as Greece today. We learnt that Greece was ruled differently in each city state and we thought about the benefits and the negative sides to this system. 

We also planned our investigation into how plants grow, carefully thinking about our independent and control variables. We plan to see how light impacts the speed of growth in plants by growing some plants in a cupboard, some next to the window and some in a more shaded area of the classroom. We will predict and sow our seeds next week!

This week's spellings are:
carrying
babies
hopped
hoped
hoping

It was great to see the reading records this week, so much reading is happening! Just a reminder that 3x a week, reading the school reading book is what we recommended and set as our class expectation. 

I look forward to next week where we will continue with our English unit, exploring the text Escape From Pompeii! The children created brilliant collages of Mt Vesuvius this week. These have gone home, so please check their bags to see their volcano! 

Spring term has come to an end, what a busy and exciting time we have had! We have explored ancient China, volcanoes, earthquakes and mountains as well as forces and  sound!

​Next term, we will be exploring ancient Greece! This unit will provide pupils with a knowledge and understanding of how Ancient Greece was organised and some of the key cultural achievements, including the work of some of the most prominent Greek philosophers of the time. Pupils will also learn about significant events including the Peloponnesian War and the differences between Athens and Sparta. The unit concludes with a focus on Alexander the Great, his conquests and the legacy he left behind. 
​Vocabulary: democracy, monarchy, tyranny, Olympia, Athens, Crete, Sparta, trade, empire, philosopher, invasion, myths, oligarchies, civilisation, vote

In Science, we will explore plants and how they grow. We will identify what they need to grow as well as how they adapt to their surroundings. We will investigate the parts of a plant and draw scientific diagrams to help us understand how they are structured.
In English, we will be focusing on non-fiction and exploring writing in the style of a newspaper article to inform the reader of an event. Perhaps explore some suitable newspaper articles and identify some key features, headings and the layout would be a great place to start.

We will continue to explore fractions in maths. Fractions can be quite difficult to grasp at first and so taking a look through here may help with any questions that pop up. Fractions in Year 3 (age 7–8) - Oxford Owl for Home

Thank you for your support this term, I look forward to seeing the children when we return after the holidays.
Mr Newland
 
 
 

What a rainy week we have had! 

It has been a busy one, here in Oak class. We have been learning to calculate the perimeter of a shape, this has allowed us to se lots of prior learning! We have used conversion of lengths, from cm to m and cm to mm as well as using our knowledge of column method for addition and subtraction. We have explored how perimeter may help us in everyday situations! 

In English, we have focused on drafting our invention of the text 'Until I Met Dudley'. This has been incredible fun! Some of us have explored creative ways as to how a Nintendo Switch might work or how an iPad may work. Did you know that tiny people live in your phone and tap away in microscopic typewriters as you type your message to your friends? Amazing! We have used parenthesis to add extra detail, trying to use humour to entertain the reader as we go! 

In Science, we have explored gravity and how gravity was discovered, we know that the force acting on an object can be measured in Newtons, named after Isaac Newton! 

Our spellings this week are: 

• grate
• great
• rain
• reign
• grown

Have a lovely week! 

​Although it has been a shorter week, we have been super busy with our writing! We have planned our text by following the model of ‘Inside a Toaster…’ from our class text ‘Until I met Dudley’. We have been writing about what we think happens inside a clock to make it work. Perhaps there are two, microscopic mice with tiny hammers tapping away to make the ticking sound, who knows?!  
In maths we have been exploring adding and subtracting lengths which has tested us with our column method and place value knowledge. We have had to apply skills acquired from earlier in the year and apply them to our new learning!  
We have also had a wonderful time in Art exploring water colours and how to use them. In Science, we have explored forces and what forces are. What is a Force | Forces for Kids | DK Find Out Take a look here to find out some more information!  
Our spellings this week: 

• Early  
• Earth 
• Eight 
• Eighth 
• Enough  

Please ensure we are reading 3x times a week or more. If you would like any ideas to support your child with their reading at home, please do contact me.  
Have a lovely weekend.  
Mr Newland 

What a week! It has been a wonderful week in Oak class. We have explored new maths units, investigated how toasters really work and had a dive into the world of books.  
Can you dig through planet earth? We discovered why this is not possible by exploring the layers that build our planet. By making our own small earth, we found that there are four main layers that make up the inside of our blue planet. Next week we will investigate how fold mountains are made and create pop-up books in our Geography books, using paper to construct a working model of a fold mountain being created!  
In guided reading we will be reading the text, The Pebble in my Pocket. This text will help us explore descriptive language and how the author really engages the reader with their vocabulary choices.  
We will also continue our measurement unit, we are learning to measure in cm and mm and convert between the two. Our tables really help with this! The children are doing well with their tables, TTRS is a great tool so please continue with this at home!  
On Wednesday, we dressed up as our favourite characters from our favourite books, what a wonderful day we had! The children looked incredible, thank you for your hard work with this. We enjoyed exploring our characters by writing character profiles and designing book covers for our favourite texts!  
Today we had fun in Woodland school! We used nature to build our own portraits. Using twigs, moss, leaves and anything else we could find to create our faces!  
This week’s spellings are: 

• Decide 
• Describe 
• Different 
• Difficult 
• Disappear  

What a half term it has been! It has been super busy and incredibly fun! We have explored ancient China, myths and multiples along with how sound is created. We have built guitars, written our own quest tales and learnt some Mandarin along the way!  
Today we finished our Shang Dynasty projects and presented our learning to our peers, we created interactive posters and fact files to share! 
Next half term we will begin our Geography unit of Mountains, Earthquakes and Volcanoes as well as our new science unit of Forces!  
Use these links to explore either before or during our unit!  
Mountain Facts | How Are Mountains Formed | DK Find Out 
Volcano Facts | Volcanoes for Kids | DK Find Out 
Earthquake Facts | Earthquakes for Kids | DK Find Out 
What is a Force | Forces for Kids | DK Find Out 
Some of the children have been working incredibly hard on their reading and TTRS home learning. It has made an incredible difference in their recall of tables and reading speed. Using TTRS at home a few times a week can really help the children learn those trickier tables. We have focused on 3, 4 and 8 this half term.  
The children will continue to get spellings after half term, we check our learning on a Friday morning. This week the children have explored the ‘ch’ group of letters that makes the ‘sh’ sound, as in machine, chalet and chef.  
Have a lovely half term and I look forward to seeing you all soon!  

Did you know that a crying baby can reach the level of 120dB? This week in science we have explore amplitude and have been measuring how loud we can be as well as how loud other everyday objects are. Next week we will explore how scientists and designers create spaces and objects to enhance sound or to use it’s power. Recording studios, microphones and how stadiums are built to maximise the quality of sound.  
In our writing lessons, we will use the settings we have designed this week to write our own quest tale. We will focus on dialogue and commas in lists. The settings the class have created are incredibly imaginative and beautifully detailed. We have floating mountains, deadly mists and glowing stars in pale green skies.  
We will continue to explore multiplication of 2-digit numbers, we have been exploring this over the past week. It really does support the children to know their tables. Using TTRS will support them with quick recall of the facts for them to apply to their new learning.  
Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week. We have PSHE each week in class but today we have been exploring what mental health is and how being connected to those around us is important for our mental health. This connection looks different for each person but it is important that we recognise our connections and support each other.  
The children are enjoying our class novel, The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery. The adventure has only just begun but we can tell it will be one to remember!  
This week’s spellings are: 

• Telescope 
• Television 
• Telegraph 
• Teleport  
• Telephone  

Have a lovely weekend!  

​新年快乐!
This week we have been learning all about Lunar New Year and how it is celebrated in different parts of the world. We have been exploring life in ancient China and how the social class systems were structured. We have made our own lanterns and were gifted a hong bao by one of our classmates.
Next week we will be making a guitar in our science lesson, this will help us really explore how sound waves work and how the vibrations are transferred. Shoeboxes or tissue boxes along with long kitchen roll tubes would be really helpful so that we can all build one!
It is really important that the children are reading 3x a week, the book that is levelled from accelerated reader. It is lovely for me to see in their reading record that they have read other books too!
Spelling lessons next week will focus on the suffix ‘ful’. How many words can you find that have the suffix ful?
The children have worked hard to develop their 3-, 4- and 8-times tables. Times Table Rockstars is really helping those who are accessing it, so please encourage the children to use it if you have the time.
Have a lovely weekend and 新年快乐!