Year 3 Weekly Blog 4.10.24
Date: 3rd Oct 2024 @ 10:23pm
It’s been another fantastic and busy week in Year 3, with the arrival of October, and lots of learning across all our subjects. Here’s a little peek of what we’ve been up to!
This week in English, we’ve been focusing on when to use ‘a’ and ‘an´in a sentence. The rule we’ve been practicing is that we use ‘a’ before words that begin with a consonant sound (like “a dog”) and ‘an’ before words that begin with a vowel sound (like “an apple”). The children have all tried hard to identify and use these in their own sentences. We’ve also continued to read our class novel, Charlotte’s Web, enjoying themes of friendship, kindness and resilience in the story so far.
In Maths, we’ve been working hard on perfecting our column method of adding three-digit numbers together – with renaming! This means when the numbers add up to more than 10 in one column, we “rename” it to the next column. For example, in 246 + 157, we always start by adding the ones. Since 6 + 7 = 13, we place the 3 in the ones column and rename the 10 ones as 1 ten, which we carry over to the tens column. We then add the tens column, remembering to add that extra 1! The children are making great progress and its brilliant to see those lightbulb moments as everything clicks into place!
Our IT lesson this week focused on discussing how we are connected. We explored how we use technology, like computers and the internet, to communicate with others. This inspired some brilliant ideas and suggestions about how we can stay safe online.
In Art, we’ve been working on gestural drawings. This is a style of drawing where we focus on capturing the movement of a subject rather than just the details. The children had lots of fun experimenting with charcoal, using quick, expressive strokes. The results were fantastic!
Our Science work this week has been building upon our knowledge of what plants need to grow. As a class, we’ve set up a controlled experiment with five plants:
- One plant is getting everything it needs – water, soil, light and warmth.
- Another plant isn’t getting any water.
- One is in the dark.
- Another has no soil.
- And one is being kept in the fridge!
The children have made their predictions about what will happen to each plant, and we’re excited to record our findings!
We are all getting very excited about our Harvest Church Service on Monday. The children have worked so hard at rehearsing their parts. It's going to be a wonderful celebration of the season.
Home Learning
This week, your child has been set two activities on Doodle Maths: “recall addition and subtraction facts to 20” and also, “add three digit numbers”. These tasks are designed to reinforce the learning we’ve been doing in class, particularly around renaming. Please work with your child and support them in completing the activities at their own pace, to help boost their confidence and understanding.
In addition to Doodle Maths, we recommend that your child uses TT Rockstars in ‘Jamming mode’ to support their learning of the 2, 5, and 10 times tables. A few minutes of practice two or three times a week is a fun and engaging way to improve their speed and confidence. Logins for both Doodle Maths and TT Rockstars can be found in the first few pages of their reading record. If you are having trouble logging in at home, please let your child’s teacher know, and we’ll be happy to help.
We’re now just under three weeks away from the end of our first half term in Year 3 – time is flying by! We’ve really enjoyed all of the wonderful home learning tasks which have been completed already and brought into school. If your child still has tasks to complete from their home learning grid, now is a great time to stagger those activities. This way, they can still work at a relaxed pace, without feeling rushed. We can’t wait to see what they bring in!
Important – Don’t forget! Year 3 should come into school on Monday in their full school uniform for our church service. Please remember to send your child with an outdoor games kit and trainers in a bag, as they will be changing into these before lunchtime. Please also ensure all uniform is named, this way nothing can go missing when the children are getting changed 😊 Thank you for your support, we look forward to a wonderful service together!
The Year Three Team
