Aspen Class
21st June, 2024
Summer Showcase
Hampton Court Palace
We took a step back in time this month when we visited one of Henry VIII’s most luxurious homes, Hampton Court Palace! We saw the beautifully maintained grounds featuring lush gardens, flower beds and bush mazes. Explored the depths of Henry’s apartments, seeking out his many tapestries and portraits, gazed in awe of his weapons collection that had been arranged in a majestic and artistic geometric pattern and we enjoyed an incredible workshop that taught us to question what we thought we knew about Henry VIII, as we used artefacts to investigate the infamous monarch!
Maths
One of Year 3’s favourite subjects has been deliciously interesting this month as we have dived into geometry. Year 3 students have been investigating the properties of both 2D and 3D shapes, understanding what the difference between parallel and perpendicular is and creating 3 dimensional constructions of familiar shapes. Using crafting sticks and marshmallows, we crafted the edges and vertices of cubes, cuboids, triangular and pentagonal prisms. We will now be exploring “Mass and Capacity”, so if you need a hand with measuring out the flour in any recipes…you should be able to find plenty of help!
19th April, 2024
Welcome back to Birkbeck Aspen! We hope you had a brilliant break!
Here's what's in store for you this term...bring on the summer time!
20th March, 2024
We have had such an exciting month in Year 3, complete with World Book Day costumes, wearing red for Comic Relief, exciting events and brilliant learning opportunities!
History - Roman Day
Last week we had an immersive history day where the children dressed up as Romans and experienced life in Roman Britain. Throughout the day, the story unravelled about how they were invading Britain and going against Boudicca and her tribe, the Iceni!
The day began with a carousel of activities where the children were able to create traditional Roman items including, mosaics, necklaces, clay pots, traditional games, pouches, wax tablets and also take part in extracting olive oil for oil lamps, writing their name with charcoal and marching with roman shields. Following this, the children began to prepare for the afternoon's roman banquet. They were split into groups of actors, dancers, soldiers and servants and practiced their tasks. To conclude the day, we had our Roman banquet, where it was announced that the Romans had successful destroyed Boudicca and had taken over. The children sat around the edge of the hall, watched each others performances and were served traditional roman food (bread, cheese, grapes and 'wine').
It was a fabulous day, ask your child what their favourite part was!
Maths - Money / Measurment / Fractions
Our Spring term began with the children learning about and understanding the value of money. We role played buying items and calculating their change and how many of an item they could buy or would need for specific projects.
The children also delved into data representation using bar models and pictograms to build their skills in visualizing and interpreting data. They explored perimeter calculations, and were excited to use trundle wheels to measure various sections of the playground and record the data captured while having fun exploring their surroundings.
As we transition into our next topic, we are entering an exciting phase of learning where students will deepen their understanding of fractions and their applications in real-world scenarios - see if your children can already identify fractions in the world around them!
Science - Forces
We have had such an adventurous and scientific month in Birkbeck...we actually became scientists! Celebrating our knowledge in the best possible way by dressing up like famous scientists that have helped shape the world of science as we know it! We weren't satisfied with this though, we had some visitors that gave us a hands-on experience with our science topic. For Year 3, we have been exploring various forces that affect our world and we have particularly focused on magnetism! We have been experimenting with various magnets, looking at the different materials that can be attracted, what happens when two magnets meet and seeing magnetic fields with our very eyes by using iron filings! Ask your children about magnets today as I'm sure they have a lot to say about it!
In addition to these forces, Year 3 have also been exploring the various forces that can affect us human beings such as gravity, friction and uplift…I wonder what else we can find out about forces!
23rd February, 2024
Hello once again Aspen Class!
Back again in a new half term and we have already managed to explore some very interesting things!
English
In Spring 1 the children have written an information text titled 'All about the Romans' where they thought carefully about how to share information to a reader that knows nothing about the Romans. They gathered important information and facts to present in paragraphs with sub-headings and focused on using a range of subordinate conjunctions within their writing. Below you can see a sample of one child's work in our class.
Now the children are working on their very own narrative based upon 'Escape from Pompeii'. They have worked hard on using pathetic fallacy within their writing to really engage their reader and create an intense setting.
Maths
In Maths this term we are starting off strong by looking at interpretting data and representing it using tally, pictograms and bar charts. Using these, children will be able to gain an understanding of how we can using visual aids to compare a wide range of data. Further into the term, we shall be tackling measurements. This will include how to add and subtract measurements, compare lengths and calculate the perimeter of rectilinear shapes.
DT
In Design and Technology this term, we are exploring healthy eating habits, why they are beneficial and where we can get our food from...not just from Asda or Tesco! We shall be exploring the origins of various foods that can be grown within the UK and those that must be imported for us to enjoy! By the end of the term, we hope to be able to make some tasty (and healthy) treats for the children to take home and share with the family...if it lasts long enough that is!
History
History this half term is looking closer to home as we investigate and discover the history of Romans in Britain! We shall be looking at how Roman innovations have influenced British living, even to this day! Looking at the life (and death) of the last Iceni King and how this impacted Roman rule over the British tribes and also the Battle of Wattling street!
16th January, 2024
Welcome back to Birkbeck Aspen Class!
We have hit the ground running this year and already off to a blazing start in Year 3! We have lots of exciting topics and trips planned for this year and you can find out more about our Spring term by watching the video below.
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24th November, 2023
We have had an incredible month as we begin the countdown to our festivities.
Maths
We have had a very successful (and mathematical) month this November as we moved away from addition and subtraction. In this new block, pupils have been exploring multiplication and division in greater depth. We have been using arrays, number tracks and number lines to improve our understanding of multiplication and utilising many resources to experiment with division through sharing and grouping. Helpful supporting materials can be found on your child’s MyMaths account as we regularly update tasks based around the activities we encounter throughout the week.
History
Yesterday we visited Stonehenge on our school trip. We explored the museum which had a 360 video of Stonehenge that showed how it had changed over time and then looked at the Stone Age tools, bones, fossils and models of Stonehenge. We also saw a skeleton of a human found near Stonehenge. Then, we walked around Stonehenge. It was huge! We thought about how it was built all the way back in the Stone Age and why it was built. Was it built as a burial ground or as a clock or as a place of worship for Druids? Ask your child what they think. Finally, we explored the Stone Age houses from the Neolithic period. Inside were wooden beds, fire pits and clay pots. The walls were made from chalk, wattle and daub with thatched roofs. We had a great time. Ask your child what their favourite part of the trip was.
Design Technology
Thank you to everyone that has sent in cardboard so far to be used in our DT lessons.
If you have more cardboard at home for your child to use to continue building their castle, please send them in with it on Monday.
We look forward to updating you on their castles in our next blog post.
20th October 2023
Welcome back to our class blog.
We have had such an exciting month and have so much to share with you!
Maths
In Maths we have moved from Place Value to Addition and Subtraction. The children have been adding and subtracting 1 and 2 digit numbers from 3 digit numbers. We have explored crossing into the 10s and the 100s columns using both place value counters and column method.
Science
In Science we have been learning all about igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. To show our understanding of how these rocks are formed, we used chocolate to create chocolate rocks.
For igneous rock, we placed chunks of chocolate into a bag, sealed the bag and then placed it into hot water. This melted the chocolate and it then hardened into one piece of ‘rock’.
Sedimentary Rock required us to layer gratings of white, milk and dark chocolate and then press down to push it together, just like the sediments dropping to the floor of the ocean and pushing down on each other to form rocks.
To make metamorphic rock, we had to use our sedimentary and igneous rock. We placed the rocks together and applied heat from our hands to merge them and shape into a ball.
History and Science School Trip
On Wednesday 11th October, we visited the Natural History Museum to support our learning about the Stone Age and Rocks. We thoroughly explored the red zone, examining and touching lots of different rocks, learning more about how rocks are formed and how they are shaped by the elements. The children also experienced an earthquake and viewed precious gemstones. For history, we explored the human evolution section, seeing a range of skulls and models of humans, from Neanderthals to Homo-sapiens.
Until next time, have a great half term!
Welcome to the blog page for Year 3 Aspen, your new teachers have made a video to introduce you to the Autumn term and what to expect for the next few weeks at Birkbeck!
See you soon!
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What an amazing start to a brand new school year for our Year 3s! We have come back to school with an incredible enthusiasm for our learning.
We have been reading two great new books that explore the lives of humans from prehistory in 'Stig of the Dump' and 'Stone Age Boy' and we have started to rewrite them in our own styles!
In Maths we have been getting to grips with our place value, using base 10 and place value counters to understand what exactly goes into a 3-digit number! We have just recently looked into number lines that go up to 1000!
We have gotten very messy in art as we attempted to create our own paints using water, flour, berries, leaves and beetroot!
And in Science, we have been analysising and catergorising rocks that have been on the Earth longer than buildings and cities based on their observable features...
Stay tuned as we explore more in Year 3 Aspen!
