Blue

Summer 2

Saying our goodbyes...

We are coming to the end of year and have lots of exciting things planned for the last two weeks including outdoor activities, a picnic in the park, fun year band sports sessions and revisiting our favourite activities from the current year. The children are already getting excited about their new classes and friends. 

Over the next few days we will be gradually sending home books and work. We hope the children enjoy sharing their achievements with you. 

We wish them all the best for September. We will miss them lots! 

From Sapna, Jenny, Claire and Molly. 

Summer 2

Hello and welcome back to Blue Class' page. We are very much looking forward to a jam packed final term in Blue Class.

This term our topic is based on 'Treasure Island' with a focus on Pirates. We will be using old clothes to make our own costumes and making our own Pirate dressing up props. We will be learning about treasure maps, islands, boats and the sea. We will also be looking at different flags and designing our own. We will be making junk model boats so please send in any items you think might be useful for us to use. We are also making treasure, gold coins, skull and crossbone tops and paper plate pirates. At the end of the term we hope to use everything we have learnt and made to have our own Pirate Party!

Our Literacy lessons will be based on 'Pirates Love Underpants’ which the children seem to be enjoying already! We will be linking our Literacy to our book to label pictures and write sentences about the characters in the story. We will be able to use pirate vocabulary in role play situations. There will be lots of opportunities to practise our reading through activities linked to the book. We plan to use the green screen to record a special pirate video at the end of the term.

In Maths we will be continuing to work on our number skills, including addition and simple subtraction. We will be using treasure maps to practise our geometry skills (particularly shape and position). Maybe you could have a go at making a map of your home and help your child follow instructions to find the treasure? We would love to see/hear about it.

In cookery we are making fruity smoothies, fisherman’s wraps, jeweled rice, dips and crudites, flag biscuits, pirate punch and party food for the final week.

In gardening we are developing the area outside our classroom. We are weeding, tidying, decorating and planting new vegetables and flowers. Look out for the before and after pictures!

We will keep you updated about various events (e.g. sports day, parent’s evening) through home school books.

Summer 2- Money

We have been working on our money skills in maths. Try practising at home with some coins. You could play shopping, sort the coins and name them. 

Summer 2- Ahoy!

We've been busy making pirate hats and designing our own pirate underpants linked to our story 'Pirates Love Underpants'. 

Leighton Buzzard Splash Park 

We had so much fun on our trip this week. We got to dig for treasure on the beach and play in the water fountains. Then we played in the park before stopping for an ice cream on the way home. 

Summer 1

Hello and welcome back to Blue Class' page. We said goodbye to Jodi before Easter and now have a new team in Blue. Our adults are Sapna (teacher), Jenny (TA2), Claire and Molly. 

This term our topic is based on 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' with a focus on the theme of life cycles. In our topic/science lessons we will be looking after our very own eggs and watching them turn into caterpillars, grow cocoons and hopefully transform into beautiful butterflies. We are planning a walk out to release them when they are fully grown. Look out for pictures over the coming weeks. We will also be learning about frogs, chickens and plants. 

Our Literacy lessons will be based on 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' too. We will be ordering, sequencing and retelling the story. We will also have a go at writing linked to the text and acting out different parts. By the end of the term we should be able to name all the foods in the story (maybe even in the correct order!)

In Maths we will be going out to different places such as the woods and park to practise our positional language. We will take it in turns to be the leader on our daily power walks to tell the other children which direction to go in. We will also be practising our numbers and shapes. We will continue to develop our counting skills. Some of us will be revisiting addition and simple subtraction. The adults will be encouraging us to join in with number/games and rhymes - have a go at trying some of these at home too. See 'maths songs' in our video resource centre (children's section) for ideas.

In cookery we are making butterfly cakes, caterpillar fruits, cheese and chive bread, frog in the hole, frog creams and cheesy hearts. The children will be bringing home leftovers if we have any!

In PSHE we are focusing on road safety. We hope some of the children will be able to tell you some of things we have been learning when they are out and about with you e.g. stop, look, listen. We will also be developing our independence skills even more this term e.g. washing up, tidying, personal hygiene, changing quickly for PE. Please try to encourage this at home too. 

As always, any questions can be sent in through the home school books. 

Spring 2

Our topic this term is ‘Kings and Queens’. During Topic pupils will be learning about knights and making shields. They will learn who the Queen is and make crowns and jewellery. They will make robes and masks to help identify and name the key members of the current royal family. When learning about royal sports they will make sporting t-shirts. Pupils will explore castles and design and build their own versions. They will find out about the guards who look after Buckingham Palace. Some pupils will learn about key members of the royal family from the past.

During Literacy pupils will work on their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills linked to the story ‘The King’s Socks’. They will continue to take part in differentiated phonics and handwriting sessions throughout the school week. In Maths pupils will learn about time and length during measurement. Geometry and number skills will be taught in a linked fashion to the topic.

Cookery will be traditional British dishes this term e.g. Victoria sponge cake and queen of puddings. In Computing the unit this term is ‘musicality’. Pupils will learn about the story of King Arthur. They will make their own individual audio and visual clips to create videos. In Expressive Arts pupils will help to create for the whole school truck art project as well as learning about street dance and slow motion and freeze frames. In PSHE pupils will work on turn taking and using and responding to ordinal language i.e. first, second, third, last etc. 

Happy new year from the staff team in Blue Class (Jodi – Teacher, Jenny – TA2, Claire  – TA1 and Molly TA1).

Our overarching topic this term is ‘Come Dine with Me’. Pupils will be exploring changing states. They will be making and melting scented and coloured ice cubes, heating up and melting ice cream and making their own wax candles. Pupils will explore eggs and what changes occur once they are cooked! Pupils will design and make their own place mats and design and make sponge cakes. They will also be creative in the process of making table decorations. Each week will link to food from different countries. Pupils will learn about and make during cookery; British scones, Chinese duck pancakes, Italian brushetta, Indian pakora and American blueberry pancakes.

Paint projects will be the focus during Computing. Pupils will create healthy dinner plates. They will also match, reveal and name a range of foods. In Expressive Arts pupils will experience handling and wearing Asian materials and learn some movements during Bhangra dancing. They will also move on to role playing 'going to the café'. Pupils will work on their table manners and use of cutlery at the dinner table.

Temperature work during the measurement strand of maths will link in with the changing states of water and ice cream. Pupils will experience and have opportunities to observe how water freezes to form ice and observe how it melts. They will focus on steam from the kettle as water boils during role play café work. In number work pupils will develop their understanding of number, how many, and one more and one less. Pupils will use, shape, and manipulate modelling material to make their own dinner plates during Geometry focused sessions as well as exploring positional vocabulary.  

In Literacy our text is ‘The Tiger who came to Tea’. There will be lots of opportunities for children to develop their speaking and listening skills as they join in with role play and act out scenes from the story. Pupils will work on their reading skills by naming characters, identifying key symbols/words and they will focus on the emotions of characters as portrayed in their facial expressions. Pupils will continue to work on their phonics during differentiated sessions. Pupils will continue to work on their handwriting skills; letter formation for some and pattern making for others. Pupils will be encouraged to use their growing writing skills to create pictures to add to the group and add key words to pictures.  

Welcome to Blue Class! I am the class teacher, Mandy is our TA2 and Tina and Carol are our TA1’s. There are currently six year 3 pupils in the class. Please do keep in touch using the home – school contact books. Kind regards, Jodi Smith

Our topic in autumn term two is ‘over the rainbow’. We will cover numerous Science objectives. Pupils will learn about primary and secondary colours through colour mixing activities. Pupils will make colour mixing mice, salad spinner patterns, green frogs, stained glass window style colour displays and colour mixing bags. Pupils will explore changing states e.g. through mixing bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and food colouring. They will make fireworks using a range of sensory resources. Pupils will work on their fine motor skills to make pipette and fruit shoot firework pictures. Pupils will mix coloured salt with chalk to make rainbow shakers. Pupils will make a range of seasonal craft towards the end of the term. 

In Maths pupils will develop their understanding of number through dice games, learn about shape, position and direction in Geometry and measurement during the mid section of the term. In Literacy our text for the term is ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. 

Pupils will work on their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills linked to the traditional tale. All pupils will take part in separate phonics and handwriting sessions. Emotions and dressing for the weather will be the focus during PSHE. In Cookery pupils will create dishes based on the colour of the week e.g. red jam tarts, orange mousse and green vegetable frittatas.

In Computing pupils will develop their typing and word processing skills. In Expressive Arts pupils will join in with ‘shopping’ role play, decorate a chair as part of ‘side by side’ and experience tap and mime.

Our Topic during Autumn Term (one) 2016 is ‘Champions’. Pupils will join in with ‘getting to know you’ activities such as parachute games and join in with body awareness action songs such as ‘this is me’ during Science. Pupils will participate in individual, partner and small team games when exploring ways to exercise. When focusing on the sense of taste pupils will learn about healthy eating and develop their teeth cleaning skills. Pupils

will explore using their bodies, specifically their hands and feet, whilst focusing on touch. The sense of sight will provide opportunities for pupils to recognise emotions from pictures and follow an exercise routine. An outing to an athletics track and outdoor gym will provide pupils with first-hand experience of an exercise environment.

Keeping clean and hand washing technique will be touched upon when working within the area of sense of smell. Finally, the sense of hearing will give rise for opportunities to

listen to exercise routines and develop awareness of kind voices. Pupils will participate in Computing sessions with the overarching theme of ‘beebots’. The programmable robots can be used on road mats, treasure island maps and even on Olympic style tracks to find out who is the ‘champion’! We will predominantly be focusing on chopping and cutting skills during cookery sessions to make a range of culinary delights such as fruit salads, vegetable frittatas and courgette muffins to name a few.

Our two texts for the term are ‘Orange Pear Apple Bear’ by Emily Gravett

Pupils we work on their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills linked to these texts. Pupils will also participate in discrete phonics and handwriting sessions. Everyday, pupils will work on specific communication targets too. In Maths pupils will develop their understanding of position and direction during Geometry, place value and number concepts during Number and temperature and weight during Measurement.