Welcome to the Poplar Class page!

Teachers: Miss Henderson

Year 3 Teaching Assistant: Miss Passmore

We are a Year 3 class at St James Church School.

Welcome and thank you for visiting our class page. 

P.E and Forest School

This half term  Poplar class have P.E every other Friday  Please remember to bring the correct clothing for these days. P.E kit can remain in school on your peg.

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. The children need to have a rapid  recall and use multiplication and division facts and we will be starting with the 2, 5 and 10 times table.

Times tables are practised daily in school and are tested on a Friday. The children receive a special certificate when they pass each level.

Any practice at home will really help to develop these Maths skills and speed. There are many websites and apps to support learning in this area. Each child 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 available in your child's Home Learning Journal.

https://ttrockstars.com/ 

Homework

Homework each week will comprise of reading, practising of times tables, spellings and some exciting activities linked to our Learning Expedition.  All homework will be sent out on Fridays and will need to be handed back in on Fridays to mark.

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  pupils have access to Accelerated Reader or Bug Club . When a child has read their book (ideally more than once to develop their understanding). They are able to have a go at a  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/ book target  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/Phonics  

We will focus on the a specific phonetic sound or spelling rule each week within school and  the children will be provided with a list of spellings that they need to practice each week and will be quizzed on them every Friday. Please help your child to learn their spellings, even if its just one or two a day as practice makes perfect. Here are some suggested activities that will help make spelling fun.

 Poplar class have been experimenting with colour gradients and oil pastel resist techniques.

The children have discovered that oil pastels will repel watercolour paint and retain its original colour - perfect to capture the silhouette of Stonehenge against a sunset sky. 

First we collected soil and mixed it with sand, chalk and a plant based butter (as a substitute for animal fat after hunting) to create our own Stone Age paint. 

We found sticks and branches to use as painting tools.

Charcoal was used to sketch outlines of Stone Age animals and then colour was added with our batural paint. 

How you can help your child:

• Encourage mental maths skills such as adding and subtracting differing amounts.

• Rehearse times table facts and related division facts.

  (eg 3 x 9 = 27 so 27 ÷ 3 = 9)

• Practise telling the time with your child, using both an analogue and a digital clock.

• 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.