From  4.9.19 our topic and class book will be ...

Week 7

The children have been working very hard this week in Literacy. They have been learning about preposition words and how they describe time, place or cause in a sentence. They have been developing these skills and will be using them to improve their sentences when they create their non-chronological report after half term.

In Maths children have been developing their mental addition skills by adding a 1 digit number to a 3 or 4 digit number. Some children needed to use base ten resources to physically make the numbers before adding. The children worked hard at developing their fluency in this area.

I would like to thank all parents that came to our parents afternoon this week. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to you all about how your child has settled in and how they are progressing in their work. If you wish to see me at any time my door is always open before or after school if you have any additional concerns or worries.

Have a well earned school holiday everyone! Please keep safe! Remember STRANGER DANGER and fire safety rules if you are going to a bonfire. I look forward to seeing you all again after the holidays!

Week 6

We finished our week this week with a welcome Mass in church. We enjoyed singing the hymns and joining in with the prayers with Father Declan.

In RE we have learnt all about the story of Ruth and Naomi. We thought that Ruth was a loyal and caring person. Using artwork we added speech and thought bubbles to show what they would have been saying or thinking.

We also completed our beautiful artwork of Joseph and his magnificent coat that we started last week.

In History this week we learnt all about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii AD 79. We researched facts using QR codes on the ipads to find the answers to questions. We learnt that archaeologists excavated the area to reveal buildings and bodies that were destroyed and covered under 9 meters of ash and lava. It was fascinating to learn about the Roman people of Pompeii and what the buildings looked like. We learnt about pictures and diaries that were recovered from eyewitnesses. We used this information to create a report using the computers. We noticed that the posters looked very much like the reports we have been exploring in literacy. 

In Literacy we have been developing our understanding of report writing by looking at paragraphs. We have been thinking about when they are used, where they start and finish and why they are used. We will be using this new learning to create our reports at the end of our sequence. 

The highlight of our week was our class visit to Magna! We visited all the different areas Earth, Wind, Air and Fire it was so exciting! There were lots of things to try and out and experiments to do. We learnt a lot about the world around us. Our workshop was about volcanoes and rocks. We carried out an investigation to see what happened to the size and shape of a volcano every time it erupts. It got very messy! We tested and sorted different kinds of rocks to see if they were magnetic, permeable, if they floated and if they were durable.

Week 5

Ready..... Steady..... Cook!

What an exciting week here in Class 3. The children have enjoyed taking part in our Healthy Week learning about how to keep our bodies and minds fit and healthy. We have been learning about the food and nutrient groups and the differences between them. We have been taking part in circuit training, dancing and yoga to get more exercise and experience different ways to get fit. The highlight was our ready ...steady... cook challenge! We enjoyed learning how to make smoothies and fruit salads and more importantly we enjoyed tasting them! Some of us were really brave trying new fruits like kiwi and melon for the very first time! We will certainly be trying these again! We voted for our favourite teams!

We have reached the end of our Literacy journey this week by creating our final Escape From Pompeii stories. We have been very proud of our efforts.

Week 4

The children have been planning their 'create' stage of the literacy unit. They made a visual story plan of their own versions of the Escape from Pompeii which they will use as a plan for their stories. They role played each area of their plan in small groups to consolidate their understanding. 

In maths the children have been linking their multiples of 5 to count in 50s! They have worked really hard to develop this fluency and have been solving problems using their skills. 

In topic this week the children have been researching volcanoes around the world answering questions using books and ipads. They have been investigating why volcanoes erupt and have made a 3d cross section of Mount Vesuvius using folding, joining and cutting techniques.

In RE the children have been listening to the story of Jacob and his sons. They have been using their family trees to see where Jacob came from and looked at his descendants. 

In ICT we have been looking at the artist Kandinski and how he creates art work using shapes, lines and colours. The children experimented with this using a computer program.

Week 3

What a week! The children have been extremely busy this week and have been adapting well to life in key stage 2!

In Guided Reading we explored our new class book, The Firework Maker's Daughter and the children predicted what the book would be about by looking at the front cover and the blurb. They then worked with partners to read chapter 1 together.

In Literacy the children have been developing their writing by looking at synonyms for the word ‘shake’ to recreate and improve a poem from the story Escape From Pompeii. They then rehearsed the poem in their pairs and performed it to the class. I was very impressed with their word choices and some children even added actions to their poem too. Afterwards we discussed how we could improve our performances next time.

In Maths the children have been continuing their place value work. They have been writing numbers in words and comparing and ordering numbers looking at place value to help. For early work the children have been showing numbers in as many ways as possible using pictures, words, numbers and physical resources.

Football skills have been developed in PE. The children have been learning how to control the ball with different parts of their foot and changing direction with the ball. They were then put under pressure to do this quickly with a defender following them.

We had a visit from a member of Barnsley Youth Choir who worked with the children on making different types of sounds with their voices. They looked at pitch and volume and had fun singing some funny songs.

Check out our music page for a weekly update on recorders!

Week 2

The children have had a great full week at school. They really enjoyed learning to play the recorder and how the music is made up of musical notes. They sang songs and clapped beats. 

Children presented their School Council manifestos to the class and said why they would make a good member of the council. The children then voted for who they thought would be a good representative. The first school council meeting took place with Mrs Dickinson and Mrs Blakemore!

In maths the children partitioned 3 and 4 digit numbers and could tell me the value of each number. I was very impressed with their place value knowledge. The children completed their work quickly and neatly.

In Literacy the children have started reading the Escape from Pompeii which links in with our topic Tremors.

Science work has started by looking at types of rocks. The children had fun watching a video and acting out the processes to each types of rock, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

Week 1

The children have enjoyed a very busy first week back. They loved reading their coat pegs which have a motivational message on each morning, creating a positive mindset for the day. We have been sharing these messages with each other and tried to remember them all day.

In circle time the children worked in teams to think of good behaviours for learning. They were all really confident and shared their ideas with the class in group presentations.We put these ideas into the class contract.

In maths the children investigated 3 and 4 digit numbers with base ten equipment. They made a range of numbers and represented them in different ways.

Our first PE lesson was a huge success, nearly everyone brought their PE kits and had fun doing Zumba. The children demonstrated some of their fabulous dance moves and learnt about patterns and  beats in dances. 

I cannot wait for another fun filled, busy week next week!!!

Have a lovely weekend Class 3!