Year 3
Welcome to Year 3 at Samuel Lucas
Starting KS2 is a very exciting time for children, and the next major educational adventure! At this stage we aim to develop further the independent learning of your child. On entering the junior section of school, slightly different expectations will be required.
Elm Class
Mrs Hull & Mrs Farnell are the teachers for Elm Class.
Ash Class
Mrs Butterworth is the teacher for Ash Class.
Year 3 Autumn Term 2024
Welcome to Ash and Elm classes! The adults working in year 3 are Mrs Butterworth, Mrs Hull, Mrs Farnell, Mrs McNish and Mrs Barclay.
In English, we will be beginning with poetry by exploring the poem, âThe Magic Boxâ. We are then going to be looking at alternative fairy tales and writing our own for the year 2 children to enjoy. Once we have done this, we will be learning how to write explanation texts based on our Science topic of âRocks and Soilsâ. After half term, we will explore the story Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura which links with our Stone Age topic in History and then we will be exploring more poetry styles by writing haikus, tankas and kennings. Within each of these writing genres, we will be improving our spelling, handwriting and editing skills well as developing our use of language and vocabulary. We will have reading based activities every day in school which should be consolidated and enriched by reading daily at home.
In Maths we will be focusing on place value with numbers up to 3 digits. We will be looking at methods for fluently adding and subtracting numbers up to 3 digits and developing our reasoning skills. By the end of Year 3, children are expected to know the 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10x tables and this will be addressed during lesson time throughout the year and then consolidated by regular practice at home through the use of time table rockstars.
In Computing we will continue to use Purple Mash software to help us create branching databases to help us classify rocks and we will then move onto touch typing skills and coding. Â In Science, we will be learning all about rocks and soils, the famous scientist Mary Anning as well as working on developing our âworking scientificallyâ skills in investigations. In Geography, we will learn all about the structure of the earth and natural disasters and how they occur. Our History learning this term will span the Stone Age, we will investigate sources of evidence and develop our questioning skills.
In Art, we will be looking at sketching and animation, particularly focussing on the work of Steve Kirby. In DT we will be designing and making our own pencil cases using our sewing skills.
In PE we will be developing our tag rugby skills at the start of the term. Pupils will participate in music lessons music each week and Mrs Sewell is helping to develop their language skills through weekly French lessons.
In PSHE & RSE theme for the Autumn Term 1 is âBeing Me in My World.â Year 3, our weekly sessions include:
- setting personal goals and understanding self-identity and worth,
- understanding the positivity in challenges and making responsible choices,
- understanding rules, rights and responsibilities, rewards and consequences,
- Seeing things from other peopleâs perspectives.
Every lesson has a social and emotional development learning intention which focusses on either how we communicate or our feelings.
Vocabulary will include: welcome, values, achievements, proud, pleased, personal goal, praise, acknowledge, affirm, emotions, feelings, nightmare, dreams, fears, worries, solutions, support, rights, responsibilities, learning charter, behaviour, rewards, consequences, actions, fairness, choices, co-operate, challenge, group dynamic, team work, viewpoint, ideal school, belong
In PSHE & RSE theme for the Autumn Term 2 is âCelebrating Differencesâ. In Year 3, our weekly sessions include:
- understanding families and their differences,
- family conflict and how to manage it (child-centred),
- witnessing bulling and how to solve it,
- recognising how words can be hurtful,
- Giving and receiving compliments.
Every lesson has a social and emotional development learning intention which focusses on either how we communicate or our feelings.
Vocabulary will include: family, loving, caring, safe, connective, difference, special, conflict, solve it together, solutions, resolve, witness, bystander, bullying, gay, unkind, feelings, tell, consequences, hurtful, compliment, special, unique, similarity.
Welcome to Ash and Elm classes! The adults working in year 3 are Mrs Butterworth, Mrs Hull, Mrs Farnell, Mrs McNish and Mrs Barclay.
We are looking forward to a great year ahead!
Core Subjects
Click on a tab below to read detailed information about how and what is taught in English and maths for Year 3 children. For an overview of the other subjects taught please view the Year 3 Curriculum Overview document.
Year 3 English
Approach
In English lessons, children are taught speaking, listening, reading and writing skills through studying a variety of styles of writing (genres). Teachers follow the Teaching Sequence for Writing, which means that children will firstly be taught to read and understand the text, then practise the skills of the style of writing (including grammar) and apply into their own writing.
The Primary National Curriculum statements will be taught through the modules below.
Y3 Â English Coverage
The year 3 English curriculum consists of the following modules:
Term One | Term Two | Term Three | |
---|---|---|---|
Narrative | Information Texts Traditional Tales â Fables Writing and performing a play | Traditional Tales â fairy tales (alternative versions) | Adventure stories |
Non-fiction | Recount Instructions â giving directions | Explanations Report | Persuasion â persuasive letter writing |
Poetry | Vocabulary building Structure - limericks | Vocabulary building Structure â haiku, tanka and kennings | Vocabulary building Take one poet â poetry appreciation |
Curriculum Content
Speaking and Listening
Children will be taught to discuss their learning and to develop speaking skills. They will become more familiar with and confident in, using language in a variety of situations, for a range of audiences and purposes. They will, for example:
- Develop their understanding of a subject through discussions, learning to give their opinions and listen to other view points
- Speak clearly and in different ways for drama, formal presentations and debate.
Reading
This part of the curriculum is broken down into âword readingâ and âcomprehensionâ.
At this stage, word reading skills (including phonics) will continue to be taught, but the main focus will be helping children to understand what they are reading (comprehension). Â In comprehension children will be taught key skills to enable them to read, understand and enjoy a wide range of books. They will, for example:
- Listen frequently to stories, poems, non-fiction and other writing.
- Ask and answer a range of questions about a text
- Discuss ideas that are not obviously described in a text eg âExplain why the character behaved in this way.â
- Describe characters, summarise plots and predict what might happen next
- Explore themes and conventions in a range of books eg good versus evil
- Consider the effect of the authorâs choice of language
- Offer opinions about  what they have read and justify their views
We are able to provide you with lists of age appropriate texts to support the learning
- Traditional Tales â Fables
- A Tale of Two Wolves â Kelly Susan
- The Amazing Adventures of Idle Jack â Robert Leeson
- Daedalus and Icarus â Geraldine McCaugrean
- Rainbow Bird â Eric Maddern
- Too much talk â Angela Medearis
- The gift of the sun â Diane Stewart
- The hare and the tortoise â Helen Ward
- Rama and the Demon King, â Jessica Souhami
- Tusk, Tusk â Â David McKee
Traditional Tales â fairy tales (alternative versions)
- The Iron Man â Ted Hughes
- The Boy and the Tiger (and other stories for 9-11 year olds) â compiled by Pie Corbett
- Ulf the Finger Eater â Dick King Smith
- The Truth About Hansel and Gretel â Karina Law and Graham Philpot
- The Truth about those Billy Goats â Karina Law
- The Pea and the Princess â Mini Grey
- Cinderboy  â L.Anholt
- Mixed up Fairy Tales â H. Harrison
- Eco Wolf and the Three Little Pigs â Laurence Anholt
Adventure stories
- The Pirate Cruncher/The Pirateâs Next Door/The Jolly Roger and the Ghostly Galleon â Â Jonny Duddle
- The Invisible Boy (and others in the series) â Sally Gardner
- It was a Dark and Stormy Night â Janet Ahlberg
- Fantastic Mr Fox â Roald Dahl
- Charlie Small â Charlie Small
- Tuesday â David Weisner
- Dimanche Diller â Henriette Blandford
- The Jaws of Doom â Alex Cliff
- Jolly Roger  Captain Abdulâs pirate school
- Black Queen  â Michael Morpurgo
- Dominicâs Discovery â Â Gervase Phinn
- Gorilla City, Â The perfumed Pirates of Perfidy â Charlie Small
- The Speckled Panic â Hazel Townson
- Shipley manor, â Tim Walker
- The Great Smile Robbery â Â Roger McGough
- The Haunting of Pip Parker â Â Anne Fine
- Julian, Secret Agent â Â Ann Cameron
- The Secret of Weeping Wood â Robert Swindells
- The Thing in the Basement â Â Michaela Morgan
Writing
Writing is developed through teaching the following:
Spelling
Children should learn to spell new words correctly and have opportunities to practise spelling skills. Â They will begin to learn and use the words included in Appendix 1 of the National Curriculum for years 3 & 4. They will be taught spelling patterns and conventions, building on the spellings taught in Year 2.
Handwriting
This will continue to be taught, building on the joined writing started in Year 2 and with the aim of increasing consistency and fluency throughout their independent writing.
Composition (structure)
This includes vocabulary, grammar and punctuation. To develop their composition skills, the children will be taught to:
- Plan, draft, compose, edit and evaluate their writing
- Use an increasing range of sentence structures
- Write sentences that include when, where and why something happens
- Write for a range of purposes and audiences as part of their work across the curriculum. In year 3 this will include (cross curricular example, schools to insert their own)
- Check whether their work makes sense
Grammar will be taught throughout the writing process and teachers will follow the terms and concepts of Appendix 2 of the National Curriculum.
Should you wish for a more detailed explanation, please follow this link to the Primary National Curriculum document.
Year 3 Maths
Working mathematically
By the end of year 3, children will talk about their mathematics using the numbers they are familiar with, applying their understanding of number, measures and shape to a greater range of problems. They will make decisions about calculations and information that is needed to solve problems, for example when a recipe for two people needs to be doubled to make a recipe for four. Children will be expected to prove their thinking through pictures, jottings and conversations. They will be encouraged to pose their own questions, working in an organised way to solve them which will help pupils to identify common patterns or any errors more easily.
Number
Counting and understanding numbers
Children will be very familiar with numbers that have 3 digits and will have experienced many opportunities to order, compare and show them in different ways using apparatus such as a tape measure, a 100 grid or money. Â Using their understanding of place value (how the value of each digit changes depending on its position in the number), children will be able to partition (break and make) numbers in different ways e.g. 234 = 200 and 30 and 4; 100 and 100 and 20 and 10 and 4; or 200 and 20 and 14. Â They will develop a secure understanding of numbers up to 1000 and will count beyond it in 1s, 10s and 100s. Â They will use this counting to help find 10 or 100 more than any given number.
Children will be introduced to numbers with one decimal place and will count up and down in tenths; share groups of objects or shapes into tenths and represent these in pictures and using hands-on resources.
Children will count forwards and backwards from 0 in steps of 4, 8, 50 and 100 and link this to multiplication and division. They will also count in 3s to help maintain their fluency from Year 2.
Calculating
Children will continue to develop their mental calculation skills to add and subtract combinations of three-digit numbers e.g. 248 +/- 8; 319 +/- 40; 428 +/- 200. Â They will develop their range of strategies using jottings (sketches and notes to help them remember the steps) and number lines to help them understand how each calculation works. Â Children will share their methods with others to help them see which work best, are quickest and most accurate. Children will understand the importance of estimation when calculating to see if their answer is reasonable or not. They will recall their multiplication and division facts for 3, 4 and 8x tables and be supported to see the links between the 2, 4 and 8x tables. They explore patterns and rules for the times tables they learn and will use pictures and objects to support their understanding. Â They will also learn that multiplication can be done in any order e.g. 3 x 4 x 2 = 2 x 3 x 4.
Children will be introduced to more formal methods of recording addition and subtraction, including column methods. Â They will use hands-on resources to secure their understanding of these methods. Â This will be applied to numbers up to three digits. Children who become very adept at these calculations will be stretched through problems such as those involving missing numbers so that they know when, if and why they need to use these methods.
Children will develop their understanding of multiplication and division and apply their times table knowledge to multiply 2-digit by 1-digit numbers using the skills of partitioning (breaking and making numbers). For example, 43 x 5 can also be thought of as 40 x 5 and 3 x 5 or (4 x 5 x 10) + (3 x 5). They will move from informal methods of calculating multiplication and division to formal written methods i.e. short column multiplication and be supported by using hands-on resources.
Fractions
Children will develop their understanding of fractions and decimals and will be introduced to tenths. Â They will count and understand tenths as ten equal parts as well as through dividing sets of objects into ten equal parts / groups. Â They will find and write fractions of objects using their multiplication tables knowledge, e.g. 1/5 of a group of 20 buttons can be solved by 20 Ă· 5 = 4, and will continue to explore equivalent fractions using diagrams to explain their understanding e.g. 2/4 is equivalent to or of equal value to 4/8. They will also begin to add and subtract fractions where the denominator is the same e.g. 4/6 + 1/6 = 5/6.
Measurement
Children will continue to measure, compare, add and subtract measurements and progress to mixed units e.g. expressing amounts as litres and millilitres â 2 litres 400ml. Â They will measure the perimeter of 2-D shapes and will continue to add and subtract amounts of money including giving change. Â Children will estimate and read time to the nearest minute on analogue and digital clock faces. They will be introduced to the Roman numerals I to XII to help with this. Â Problem solving and calculating with time will involve comparing the duration of events such as the length of favourite television programme or journeys to school. Â They will use language with increasing accuracy, such as seconds, minutes and hours; oâclock, a.m. / p.m., morning, afternoon, noon and midnight. They will need to recall the number of seconds in a minute and the number of days in each month, year and leap year.
Geometry
Children will accurately draw 2-D shapes with rulers measuring sides accurately.
They will make 3-D shapes to help them understand how they are composed and will recognise 3-D shapes in a range of places and contexts (e.g. buildings, packages) and use correct mathematical vocabulary to describe them. Â They will learn what a right angle is and know that two right angles make a half-turn, three make three quarters of a turn and four a complete turn as well as identify whether angles are greater than or less than a right angle . Â They will also be able to identify horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular (Ê) and parallel lines (=).
Statistics
Children will collect, organise, answer and pose questions about information using bar charts, pictograms and tables to answer questions such as âhow many more children prefer football to cricket?â.
Year 3 Learning Blog
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