Welcome to Class 3

Welcome to our class!  In Class 3 we teach children in Years 3 and Years 4 and teach Key Stage 2 of the National Curriculum.  Class 3 is sometimes referred to as lower Key Stage 2 – the children will continue to work in  Key Stage 2 until they leave primary school at the end of Year 6.  We continue to develop our reading, numeracy and literacy skills – through a greater emphasis on spelling strategies, reading comprehension skills as well as reading a wider variety of genres, a more complex range of sentences, applying and explaining their maths along side developing skills for all their multiplication tables.  You can learn more about the Key Stage 2 national curriculum on our National Curriculum page.

On this page you will find useful information about your time in Class 3 including our Topic of the Term, information about home learning and links to our Key Instant Recall Facts.  If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact Miss Hill, the Class 3 teacher.

Topic of the Term

This term our topic is ‘Raging Rivers’….follow the link to a range of useful websites.

We will be looking at the Geography topic of rivers focusing on seven key questions:

• Where does our water come from? (the water cycle).
• What can we find out about the River Lyn, and its local area including animals and habitats?
• How do maps help us find out about a place?
• How do rivers change from source to mouth?
• Where are the major rivers of Britain?
• What can we find out about rivers of the world?
• Why is The Ganges so important to Hindus?

As our workshop for this term, we will be visiting the River Lyn with the National Trust, walking down the river from source to mouth to get a real experience of the journey of a river and how it changes along the way. This is a great way to look at the features of a river as well as investigating the habitats it provides for different plants and animals.

Reading.  Children in Class 3 are encouraged to choose books to bring home and read.  Please continue to listen to your child read as often as possible and keep asking them questions about the text: what is happening in the story, can they summarise it, what can they infer from the text, can they guess what may happen next, do they like the book?  We encourage children in Class 3 to read as much as possible – fiction or non fiction, multi media, newspapers, magazines – all reading is great!  Please help your child to record their reading in their Home Learning/Reading Journal book; children need to record the date,  name of each book and the author.  The children are responsible for changing their own books from our library outside the classroom and parents are welcome to come in and help them choose after school. For reference your child’s book band is written inside the front of their reading journals.

Spelling.  We follow the Decision Spelling program. Children will be sent home with weekly spelling sheets on a Thursday.  These will usually be based on a rule or spelling pattern we have learnt in school and will include an explanation of the rule and a list of common words that it applies to, as well as any relevant words from the yr 3/4 word list. The children should practise the rule so that they can apply it, not only to the words on the list, but to any words that fit the pattern. The children will be tested on 10 words that fit the pattern every Wednesday.

Weekly home learning.  A home learning task will be set on Friday each week alternating between maths and English.  A sheet will be pasted into your child’s homework book containing the task.  This needs to be handed in every Wednesday, when their reading Journals will also be checked and signed.

Tables sheets.  In addition to their homework, children are expected to take home and practise any tables sheets they get stuck on to ensure their progress through the year. The tables sheets are kept in the yellow folders by the classroom door and parents are welcome to come in and get them when ever they wish.

Projects.  Once a year your child will be asked to complete a project relating to the topic of the term.  Projects will be broad based, around a theme, and provide your child with the opportunity to explore their topic learning in a way that inspires them.  Children will typically be given 2-3 weeks to complete their project.

Key Instant Recall Facts (KIRFs)

Each half term we will send home a sheet of Key Instant Recall Facts that we would like you to practice.  The objective is for children to know and be able to recall, instantly, the numeracy facts on the sheet.  The facts can be practised in many ways – the key to success is practising a little and often – walking to school, in a car journey, over dinner time?  Have a look at our suggestions for fun games to help you practice and learn the facts.

 Click here to download the Year 3 Autumn 1 Key Instant Recall Fact Sheet

 Click here to download the Year 3 Spring 1 Key Instant Recall Fact Sheet

 Click here to download the Year 4 Autumn 1 Key Instant Recall Fact Sheet

 Click here to download the Year 4 Spring 1 Key Instant Recall Fact Sheet

Spotlight..

During your child’s time in Class 3 they will be asked to present a ‘Spotlight’.  A spotlight is a short presentation on a topic of their choice related to a theme we are studying in class.  The spotlight is your child’s chance to explore something of interest and talk to the class about it.  The aim is to help them develop speaking and presentation skills – the goal is to present and communicate information to their audience, clearly, concisely and in a way that promotes questions and thoughts from the class.  They may bring in supporting materials to show as part of their spotlight but the goal is not to read from a sheet, rather to present and talk about something that interests them.  This is a fun task and done in a way that encourages all children to listen to each other and support each other.

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