Our last term in Year 3, can you believe it?! Here's what we'll be getting up to...
English
Non-fiction
How Far Would I Go...
In this unit, the children explore the Big Question: How far would I go to look cool? They read the interactive eBook, retrieving and collating information about different styles and explore unusual fashions from contemporary and historical times. They learn to skim and scan for information, identifying vocabulary that is specific to the topic and using dictionaries to clarify the meanings of words. They answer the Big Question, planning and writing a newspaper report in the role of a fashion editor.
Fiction
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
The children start by listening to Ottoline and the Yellow Cat, asking and answering questions and making predictions. They focus on the characters’ thoughts and feelings, and on the features of mystery stories. They revise their knowledge of different types of sentence and clause. The writing tasks include writing a newspaper report, a postcard to Ottoline’s parents and an extract from her notebook. For the final writing task they focus on the structure of mystery stories and create their own mystery stories about Ottoline and Mr. Monroe.
Live! unit
The children are introduced to the main idea of the unit: that they will take part in a Town Hall debate and chat show, discussing the age of the railway in role as a character from history. As a class, they consider the pros and cons of railways and the different opinions that were held by people at the time. They use a range of questioning techniques, including probing questions aimed to elicit certain responses. In the debate, the children put across their points of view about the idea of a railway being built. They then receive a ‘surprise’ newspaper article, telling them about the opening of the railway. The unit concludes with a chat show, to discuss the feelings of the characters once the railway has been built.
Poetry
In this unit, the children learn about and enjoy reading calligrams before writing their own. They go on to look at and explore shape poems, writing their own both as a whole class and individually.
Maths
Unit 10
Unit 11
Unit 12
Unit 13
Unit 14
Science
Magnets and Forces
In this unit children will work towards answering the Quest question, ‘can you make a tool that can move something on the floor far away from you?’ They will be asked to make a tool that can pick up things made of a magnetic material and consider the use of a telescopic arm or a folding arm to enable them to reach an object far away. The lessons leading up to answering the Quest will enable children to explore the properties of magnets and magnetic materials. They will also be able to apply their knowledge of how things move on different surfaces to create a table top game.
Parts of Plants
In this unit children will have learned about the parts of flowering plants. Children will have identified and named the basic parts of flowering plants and recognised and described the functions of these parts, including the function of the flower in the plant life cycle. Children will have investigated the function of roots, stems, leaves and flowers and will have researched methods of seed dispersal. In addition, children will have learned about the process of pollination. They will also have investigated the way in which water is transported within plants and they will have constructed a terrarium to demonstrate how plants recycle water in a closed system.
Geography
Land Use
This unit on land use provides children with the chance to take a careful look at the places around them, and begin to look for patterns in land use. They will become cartographers, making maps of the local area, and agricultural surveyors by considering where different types of farming activities occur within the UK.
History
Crime & Punishment
This Crime and Punishment unit will teach the class to develop their chronological knowledge beyond 1066 through studying this aspect of social history. The children will find out about the legacy of the Roman justice system and crime and punishment through the Anglo-Saxon, Tudor and Victorian periods. They will also deepen their historical awareness and understanding of how our past is constructed through studying the famous highwayman Dick Turpin. The final lesson allows the children to reflect upon and evaluate what they have learnt in this unit, as well as comparing modern day crime prevention and detection methods with those from the past.
We will also be visiting the National Justice Museum to extend our learning within this unit!
Other foundation subjects...
Computing: 'Connecting Computers' and 'Events and Actions'
PSHE: 'Relationships' and 'Changing Me'
R.E: Hinduism
Art/DT: 'Insects' and 'Let's Go Fly a Kite'
Music: 'Bringing Us Together' and 'Reflect, Rewind & Replay'
PE: Fitness/health, cricket, rounders & athletics
French: 'Our School' and 'Time'
We will also be taking a trip to Loughborough Library.
We're going to have so much fun!
