Year 3 Newsletter 2023

This half term, we will be looking at two books. First, we will be reading the book called ‘Stone Age Boy’ by Satoshi Kitamura which covers our history topic of the Stone Age. We will be making predictions about what we think the book is about, learning a variety of grammar styles (such as conjunctions, inverted commas and first person writing) and creating a fact file about life in the Stone Age. The final writing outcome will be a sequence of diary entries highlighting the key events within the book.

Second, we will explore ‘Somebody Swallowed Stanley’ by Sarah Roberts. The children will discuss the opinions about the book, using conjunctions and punctuating questions correctly. The final writing outcome will be a letter to Sarah Roberts, discussing the books and asking questions about her job.

The children will be learning about place value as well as addition and subtraction. This includes counting to 1000 in 100s, looking at number patterns, adding and subtracting three-digit numbers as well as counting in 4s, 8s and 50s.

Some expectations of the children during this half term are as follows:

• Recognising the place value of each digit in three-digit number (hundred, tens and ones).
• Comparing and ordering numbers up to 1000.
• Using mathematical terminology such as more than and less than to describe and compare different three-digit numbers.
• Solving problems using place value, reasoning and number facts.

We will be using aims and values adopted by Reading Gems and Complete Comprehension to support the children in their guided reading lessons, giving them the confidence and independence to apply their comprehension skills within given tasks and activities.

We will look at a variety of different texts, extracts, and books to ensure that the children are being exposed to several different genres, helping them develop expression and fluency as well as analysing a multitude of texts.

We will be looking at drawing this half term and helping the children become ‘growing artists.’ This will cover:

• Seeing like an artist
• Shading
• Adding texture to pictures
• Botanical drawing
• Abstract flowers

The children will be taught art for an hour and a half weekly, improving their drawing skills and learning about different artists who work with different media.

We will be looking at the key question: What do Christians learn from the Creation story?

In this unit we will make links between Genesis 1 and what Christians believe about God and Creation. We will describe what Christians do because they believe God Is Creator. We will also be thinking about what the story of Adam and Eve might show us about human nature and how to act, making links between stories in the Bible and pupils’ own ideas about how people should behave.

In this unit, the children will learn about the importance of the right type and amount of nutrition as well as the functions of skeletons and muscles.

The children will understand that plants and animals obtain food in different ways, identifying the right types and demonstrate they understand the right amounts of nutrients for animals including humans.

The children will also be naming the different types of skeletons as well as identifying and categorising animals based on the type of skeleton it has. They will identify the main bones in the body and how a skeleton protects, supports, and helps the body to move, also exploring how pairs of muscles work together to enable movement.