Poplar
Welcome to the Poplar Class page!
Teachers: Miss Henderson
Year 3 Teaching Assistants: Miss Passmore and Mrs Deverill
We are a Year 3 class at St James Church School.
Welcome and thank you for visiting our class page.
We are really enjoying the autumn term and getting to know the children. Our Learning Expedition this term is 'Extreme Earth' and you can find more information about the curriculum coverage on the autumn Curriculum Learning Map below. The door is always open so if there is a problem, a question or a query, please don't hesitate to come and talk to one of the year 3 team.
P.E and Forest School
This half term Poplar class have P.E every other Wednesday afternoon and P.E every Friday afternoon. After Christmas we will swap back to Forest School on Wednesdays. Please remember to bring the correct clothing for these days. This can remain in school on their peg if this makes life easier.
Dates to remember this term:
Monday 4th November- INSET day
Thursday 5th December - Christmas Fayre
Wednesday 11th December - Christmas Lunch
Friday 13th December - Christmas Jumper Day in support of Save The Children
Tuesday 17th December - Christmas Carol Service
Thursday 19th December - Mince Pie Event
Friday 20th December - Last day of term
Times tables
Times tables are an essential part of every child's learning. From this academic year, the Government have now introduced a times table check at the end of year 4. Times tables are practised daily in school and are tested on a Monday. The children receive a special certificate when they pass each level.
Any practice at home will really help to develop these maths skills. There are many websites and apps to support learning in this area. Each child now has their own login details for Times Table Rockstar which is an interactive game that helps children with their times table recall. Login details are written inside the cover of their home learning book.
There will be various competitions in school to motivate the children.
Homework
Homework each week will comprise of reading, practising of times tables and spellings. All homework needs to be completed and handed in each Monday. Books are checked on a Monday afternoon and the children stick in their new homework on a Tuesday.
Please pop in to see me if you need any support with homework as it is an important part of your child's learning.
Reading
In Key Stage 2 all pupils have access to Accelerated Reader. When a child has read their book (often more than once) and can tell someone else about it in detail, they are able to have a go at an Accelerated Reader quiz. They access this on an iPad in school time and have to answer a selection of multiple choice questions. The percentage that they get correct shows their understanding and contributes to the average class percentage.
Each child is set a termly points target on Accelerated Reader and they earn points each time they pass a quiz at school.
Any support that can be given at home with reading is incredibly beneficial - reading together daily, discussing new vocabulary as well as making trips to the library all help. For those children that meet their reading target and complete all homework, a reading reward will take place at the end of the term.
Spellings
The children learn a new spelling pattern each week and practise the bronze award spellings. Children are tested on their spelling patterns each week but our focus is on learning the rule and understanding of the patterns. New spellings will go home on a Tuesday and will be tested the following Monday. Children will be tested on their bronze spellings each half term and will be awarded a special certificate if they get them all correct.
Please view our Curriculum Map below, which outlines our learning in each subject area for this term.
Our new learning expedition for the
Spring term is Marvellous Minds.
Take a look at the curriculum learning map above
to find out what we will be learning about!
On Wednesday 12th December, Lower Key Stage 2 celebrated the end of their Autumn Term Learning Expedition of 'Crazy Carnival' by hosting their very own carnival! Working in small groups, the children designed, created and ran their own stalls and it was delightful to see over 50 parents attend the afternoon event. With food, dancing, music, games and activities, everyone had a fantastic time!
Spelling Lists
A display to make parents and children reflect on the importance of daily reading and its beneficial impact.
How you can help your child:
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Encourage mental maths skills such as adding and subtracting differing amounts.
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Rehearse times table facts and related division facts.
(eg 3 x 9 = 27 so 27 ÷ 3 = 9)
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Practise telling the time with your child, using both an analogue and a digital clock.
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Talk about the books they are reading: What was their favourite bit? Did they have a favourite character? What do they think will happen next and why? Lots of discussion helps develop children’s language and understanding of the text.
If you have any questions or queries, you are very welcome to come in and talk to us.
On Friday (9.11.2018), we had a Mathemagical Shape Day. We explored a few things about shapes, used lots of vocabulary linked to 2D and 3D shapes, we learnt about right angles and turns, we went on a school hunt for right angles using magnifying glasses, we made 3D shapes using sticks and blue tack and we completed many tricky challenges. It was a really fun and active way to learn many new things about shapes.
RE Day Remembrance and the Red Cross Thursday 8th November 2018 Today we concentrated our learning on the role of the Red Cross charity - today and in the past. This lead us to research the role of our school during the First World War as an auxiliary hospital, where, instead of school desks, there were hospital beds and volunteer nurses treating wounded soldiers from all over the world. We thought about the up-coming remembrance Sunday and why it is important to remember these people. We wrote shape poems in response to our learning, to explain their role and thank these brave men and women for the work they did and the loss they experienced, for us to be able to live our lives freely today.
7. 11. 2018 No Pens Wednesday
For the big Poetry Slam we organised in our school on Thursday (18.10.2018), Poplar Class have been rehearsing and performing The Zax - a poem about two very stubborn characters by Dr Seuss. We had so much fun acting, using expressive voices, stomping and being in character! We think we're very good at arguing and being stubborn! Another wonderful learning experience, through which we practised the oral aspects of our Literacy Curriculum, such as speaking and listening. We were also a great audience for the other classes performing in the Poetry Slam.
For our Harvest celebration, Year 3 learnt a poem about harvest and homophones. It made links to our learning of how words can sound the same but have different meanings and made us think about the values that we think are important at this time of year, and all year round.
Y3 and Y4 met in a phase assembly today (4.10.2018) and shared their learning in different languages. We all said good morning in many languages we speak in our school and many others that Mrs G taught us and then shared what we learnt following the European Day of Languages celebration we had last week. Y4 taught us all the colours in French, then a few children taught us the 4 colours of our houses in their own language. Y3 also helped everyone say the colours of our houses in many different languages (French, Italian, German, Spanish, Turkish, Polish, Welsh, Romanian) and we sang a song in Italian that Poplar Class taught all of us, from the Italian session they do on a Friday (This is the link, if you want to give it a go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHvWW1hYHds ). We felt part of a multicultural, varied world that values everyone for their culture, language and traditions and our school, with its wonderful children from all around the world, reflects these values. We are now looking forward to seeing what the other classes will share in their assemblies.
On Wednesday, the 26 September, St James celebrated the European Day of Languages and the many children in our school coming from other countries were in the limelight. We got together for an afternoon assembly to talk about diversity and multiculturalism. We were inspired by the many languages the children in our school are speaking (26 different languages, apart from English) and we challenged ourselves to change our language for a day and to learn from each other how to count in other languages, how to greet someone, colours or other vocabulary we were interested in. Y3 tried to learn the colours of our four houses in as many languages possible and we are practising a song in Italian about colourful fish. We will all share our learning in the coming weeks. In such a globalised world, languages are a wonderful way to improve our communication with others and to expand our horizon. At the end of the day, our children were buzzing with enthusiasm, saying Hello and Goodbye in many languages and feeling proud of themselves for teaching others or for learning from others, happy to be part of such a multilingual and multicultural school.
As our WOW Topic starter, Y3 spent a fabulous morning looking at footage about carnivals around the world, designing and making headdresses and also samba dancing to get into the carnival atmosphere. It was a fun filled morning for all!
This term our learning expedition is Crazy Carnival which focuses on carnivals around the world, why they are celebrated and what they involve. All of our learning will be linked as we continue on our learning expedition. The children have enjoyed sharing their knowledge of carnivals and on Friday we made carnival headdresses and danced to samba music.
Last Year's Class Page
2017 - 2018
On the 3rd July, Year 3 went to Vivary Adventure Centre for a fun, active and exciting day. It was our school trip, linked to our Topic this term - Sports Superstars. We were faced with many challenges, but we faced our fears and pushed our limits. We achieved great results - many of us went on the low ropes, then on the high ropes and we also tried the climbing wall. It was challenging, but equally rewarding. In the afternoon, we played games on the field and mini golf. A fantastic way to celebrate the end of Year 3!
During Science Week (18-22.06.2018), Poplar Class did a lot of thinking about what "explore" and "discover" mean and researched about the most significant discoveries in history. We found very interesting facts about electricity, antibiotics,vaccination, computers, transplants, steam engines, cancer treatment, clean water and other crucial discoveries, without which our lives would be very different today.
The children in Poplar Class that achieved their reading target at the end of the Summer Term 1. Congratulations!
Our new topic for the Summer Term is 'Sports Superstars'. We have begun learning about the Ancient Olympics. We have some exciting things to look forward to this term!
On Friday, the 18th May 2018, the whole school was dressed in bunting and royal symbols for a massive celebration of the Royal Wedding. All children and adults came dressed in their best outfits, fit for a royal weeding, and we had a carousel of activities that entertained us all and kept us smiling all day: field games, street party with cakes and tea, a wedding ceremony with mock brides and grooms and a fantastic dancing party where we learnt a dance routine to be able to perform a flash mob with the whole school. It was the most memorable day in recent times - one that children won't ever forget. We all made memories for a life time!
Photographs from our amazing Maths Day, when we rediscovered that Maths is fun! This was the secret message hidden in the surprise boxes, multilayered with challenges, with a golden ticked in the core. We solved challenge after challenge, using money and cubes, and all of our groups won golden tickets for working well as teams, for using our maths knowledge and for persevering. But only the fastest team won the mini Maths Cup. We also went outside for an exciting treasure hunt, with challenges to be discovered all around the school site, using a map, working with friends and trying to find the way to the treasure (golden coins). We were all rewarded for attempting to find it and we preserve fantastic memories from a very fun and engaging learning experience.
Friday 23rd March 2018 - Today Years 3 and 4 celebrated the end of their current topic by holding an 'Extreme Earth Exhibition' in the hall. It was lovely to see so many parents looking at the Art, DT and English on display.
Poplar Class had a fun afternoon erupting their volcanoes that were made from mod-rock and then painted. We observed how the reaction between the vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda caused an 'eruption'. We used washing up liquid and paint to make the eruption look more dramatic. Some of our eruptions shot straight up and were really fun to watch!
MET OFFICE morning (15.03.2018) Y3 and Y4 had a fantastic morning learning about weather and doing some impressive experiments with a visitor from the Met Office. He taught us about different types of weather, how it's generated, how they predict the weather using very expensive and very modern technology. We got to use some of the equipment and did some unforgettable experiments. For example, we learned how to create a cloud in a bottle by increasing the pressure and the temperature and then making them drop down very quickly.
Poplar Class making volcanoes
RE Day - The Cross. In Y3, we chose to make a large replica of the San Damiano Cross, which hangs in a monastery in Assisi, Italy. Both Y3 classes worked together to make this impressive cross, which is now displayed in our school.
Y3-4 World Book Day Performance ( Rumpelstiltskin)
On Friday, 2nd February, the Y3 classes and Y4 classes joined forces for an ART DAY, focusing on artists that reflected natural disaster in their work. Inspired by Hokusay and Warhol, we sketched and painted our own volcanoes, to help us further with our learning about natural disasters.
On the 29th January, we had an amazing workshop with the writer, poet and performer A.F. Harrold. We learnt about kennings and created our own kenning as a class. The day after, every one of us wrote our kenning about either an animal, or a natural disaster.
On the first Thursday back, Y3 had a whole day to learn about the Christian Values and the British Values. We focused on RESPECT. We had a lot of discussions to understand better what kind of society we live in and what values we embrace and adhere to. We are all very proud to live in such a democratic country that allows all of us to enjoy all of the liberties that democracy makes possible and all of the kindness and support of a Christian school like ours.
Charmouth Trip
Recently, Year 3 enjoyed a wonderful trip to Charmouth. We learned from some experts, who taught us lots about how fossils are formed and the history of the area, including Mary Anning, who lived in Lyme Regis during the Edwardian times and was lucky enough to find the first fossil of an Ichthyosaur. Many children were lucky enough to discover great finds during our fossil hunting time on the beach. Olivia from Pine Class found a fossilised vertebra from an Ichthyosaur, Oliver from Poplar Class discovered a large stone with crystals inside while the majority of the other children found Belemnites and others also found Ammonites. Children were also excited to find many artifacts from a Victorian rubbish tip which had fallen down the cliff, finding lots of different types of pottery, and Melina from Poplar Class found what could be a metal spoon or bolt from the Victorian Era.
We will use all of our discoveries as we begin our new topic learning of Rocks and Fossils.
Poplar Class enjoyed making Roman shields to learn how to write a set of instructions.
Poplar Class enjoyed a fun start to our new topic, Time Team. We went through a portal on our classroom door and found ourselves in the Stone Age! There was a camp fire and cave paintings. Someone saw a bare foot so we thought there may have been a cave man in school. We went for a hunt and enjoyed forest school so we could experience Stone Age activities.
