What Are We Learning This Half Term?

Year 3 Spring 2015

WHAT ARE WE LEARNING THIS HALF TERM?

Geography We will be learning about the human and physical features of the rainforests, in particular the Amazon. We will also discuss the environmental impact that man can have on the forest and conservation issues. The children will be using maps to locate and name the continents and oceans of the world, as well as some countries and their major cities. They will also be learning the significance of features such as the Equator, Northern/Southern hemispheres, Tropics etc.

Science This term we will be learning about plant and animal life in the rainforest. We will explore the food and nutrition requirements of different animals (including humans) and the structure and function of muscles and skeletons. Later in the term we will move onto the plants topic and will explore the life cycle of a flowering plant, the functions of different parts of a plant and how different plants have different needs to survive.

Art and DT: The children will be exploring the work of Henri Rosseau alongside other famous landscape painters and photographers and will develop their use of pattern, mark and texture. This knowledge will build into their DT work where the children will use sewing and other textile skills to create a class rainforest.

Maths:  Fractions – Being able to find a fraction of a number e.g. What is ¼ of 12 or 5/6 of 30? Adding and subtracting fractions with the same denominator e.g. 2/5 + 1/5 = 4/5. Understanding equivalent fractions e.g. 2/8 is the same as ¼.  Addition and subtraction – Securing our understanding of simple column addition and subtraction (please see Lyndhurst Progression in Calculation documents in the ‘Curriculum – Maths’ section of school website for details).  Multiplication and division – Securing the use of the grid method to multiply and ‘chunky jumping’ for division (please see Lyndhurst Progression in Calculation documents in the ‘Curriculum – Maths’ section of school website for details).  Mental calculation – Improving our mental skills to be able to quickly add and subtract numbers in our heads. By the end of Year 3, children should be able to add and subtract 1s, 10s and 100s from a 3 digit number in their heads, crossing tens and hundreds boundaries. Literacy: We will be focusing on the following genres of writing linked to our rainforest topic:  Persuasive and letter writing  Descriptive writing – using a range of interesting adjectives, adverbs (lazily, loudly etc), similes and conjunctions (words that tell the reader about time, place and position)  Poetry  Explanation texts – such as posters and leaflets

PE: PE days are now as follows: Tuesday – Leopard class, indoor PE Wednesday – Jaguar and Panther classes, indoor PE Friday - all classes, outdoor PE For outdoor work, please ensure that your child has clothes that are appropriate for the colder weather (e.g. tracksuit bottoms and tops). Also, please make sure they have sensible footwear such as trainers or plimsolls.

Please remember that children should not bring toys or trading cards into school. Recently, we have had a number of incidents regarding lost/broken toys and ‘trades’ that children have been unhappy with. These can be very upsetting for the children so please support us in this regard by ensuring that these items are left at home.

Thank you for support over the past term. Remember, if you have any questions or worries, please speak to your child’s class teacher.