Week 25

Hello children! What a week it has been, your attitude and behaviour this week has been fantastic despite all the news and preparation that has been going on around you. For those of you who stayed at home I hope you are well and safe. Hopefully, we will all be back together again soon but, until then remember that you can get in contact with me through the Home Learning Page contact form. Keep being fabulous as you always are and think of this as a new learning experience.

Week 23

First of all a big thank you to all who came to Parent Consultations this week. It was a pleasure to talk to you all and show you the fantastic work the children have been doing. Personally, it was the first time I've done a parent consultation by myself and I really enjoyed it!

World Book Day

So this week we had World Book Day! Thank you to all the children for bringing in books to share with us. It was a very relaxing day spent in pajamas as we listened to stories and looked at the different ways in which stories can be read. Also, a big thanks to Year 5 who took time out of their day to come and read some stories to the children, they all loved hearing you read and were very interested in your books.

English 

In English this week we have drafted and written up our diary entry based on Peter Pan. All the children took on the role of Wendy and wrote about how they were feeling as they met Peter Pan and he offered to take them to Neverland. As I said to many parents on Thursday, it's amazing to see how much your writing has improved since we started in September and I couldn't be prouder of you all! Together we came up with a basic plan of what our paragraphs would entail and you all produced fantastic pieces of writing full of emotion and thoughts which were made even more powerful through your use of adverbs and fronted adverbials.

Maths

In maths we have looked at addition, including dding 3-digit numbers together using the column method. This proved to be easy for the children so to make things more difficult we included questions that required the children to carry over from one place value to the other. Again this proved to easy for our young mathematicians! So we focused on how we use the inverse of a question to answer missing number problems, this required the children to change a subtraction question into an addition question and it was great to see that even this could not stop the children from doing well! Great work everyone you've definitely worked hard this week.

Week 22

As we started the 2nd half of our term we were very excited to find that we had received a letter from Fred. We were also equally surprised to find out that Fred wasn't actually a boy, but a girl! Even better was the fact that she had recently had babies so now we have some polar bear cubs as well. The children loved hearing about her and we can't wait for our next update.

English

In English this week we have started our new text, Peter Pan. We spent some time looking at the front cover and blurb in order to predict what the book is about and after reading them all it seems everyone is expecting a magical adventure to take place. Next week we be writing a diary entry based around Peter Pan, so to prepare we have spent time this week looking at different diary entries which we then magpied. We also learnt how to use fronted adverbials to improve our writing and I can't wait to see this used in next weeks published write.

Maths

In maths we are now at the point where we start to revisit subjects we have previously worked on in order to revise our knowledge and improve our skills. This week saw a return to place value where the children placed numbers into the Hundreds, Tens and Ones in order to work out questions. The most tricky area we found was the number line, but a fun practical lesson soon saw us back on track and feeling confident with them. Well done children for your remarkable perseverance!

Week 21

English

Our letters are now complete! The children have worked very hard to write their letters asking to be allowed to go and clean up the seaside and have put a lot of emotion into their writing due to how much they care. Well done Octopus you did it and now you have a week off to look forward to. You've definitely earned it

Maths

In Maths we have revisited Time and looked at Roman Numerals to tell the time. We loved watching a video where some Roman soldiers

sang us a song to teach us about Roman Numerals. In fact we loved it so much we had to watch it about 3 times during the lesson because the tune was stuck in our heads.

We also had a special trip this week to The Sealife Centre in Manchester. The children were fantastic representatives of the school and made us proud to be Waterside. We saw lots of adorable and interesting creatures and even got to stroke some starfish! The children were very eager to take Fred the Polar Bear with to show him all the animals but we had to be very careful that he didn't eat of them.

Week 20

English

In English this week we have been looking at persuasive letter writing. Using a WAGOLL we have been able to magpie vocabulary and other important features for when we write our persuasive letters next week. As we are still very interested in looking after our environment the children have decided that they would like to write a letter to Mrs Knowles asking if we can go to the seaside and do a beach clean up in order to help protect the sealife and environment. It makes me very proud to see the passion the children have about the environment and I can't wait to see their work

Maths

Maths this week was so much fun, as we learned about lots of different graphs, pictograms and charts. We even took the lesson outside one day and teamed up with the Turtles Class to create a giant Bar Chart using the children to represent the blocks of data. Everyone was very excited and had a wonderful time.

We rounded off the week with Number Day where we did lots of fun and practical activities surrounding Place Value

Week 19

English

In English this week the children have written an explanation piece of writing regarding "Plastic Pollution in the Ocean". We looked at using Cause and Effect sentences that tell our reader what has happened and why. An example that one of the children came up with is that "It's like when you do something in a game, what happens is that your score goes up, the reason why this happened is because you completed a mission." 

Maths

In Maths this week we have looked at angles in shapes and also different aspects of geometry such as 2-D shapes and directions.

The children discovered 3 types of angles this week with the help of their new Right-Angle Buddy!

We also learnt how if an angle is smaller than a right angle we call them an acute angle. Also if the angle is larger than a right angle we refer to it as an obtuse angle.

Week 18

This week in English we have read the 1st chapter of The Iron Woman and it's safe to say we are all hooked and can't wait to find out what's going to happen.

We also looked at plastic pollution in the worlds oceans this week which ties in with the theme of our book. We've had some fantastic discussions about this and the children were incredible with their understanding and concern for what is happening to our environment and the creatures that live in it. The children then had to research the topic and some described what they found as "disgusting" and "horrible". While some asked questions such as "How has it got this bad?" and "Can we stop this?".

They were also shocked to hear that the pollution in the water is even affecting Fred the Polar Bears home, even though he lives on the ice, the children found out that due to the plastic affecting the fish it would have adverse effects on the whole food chain. It was great to see the children with so much passion for a subject and their curiosity has led even me to research things to answer some of their questions. I can't wait to see the work they produce when they write up an explanation of plastic pollution next week.

In Maths we have continued looking at money and how we can subtract amounts and give change when needed. The children have had to use lots of skills and methods with money but they have rose to the challenge with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude. Next time you're out shopping with the children see if they can add some of the prices together with items you buy or you could even have them help you check if you've been given the correct change. 

Week 17

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Year 3 Octopus have written another newspaper report this week, the last one we did was about a mysterious metal menace, but now it seems the village of Rickford is once again in a state of chaos as "brave, young Lucy Smith" has seen something strange moving in "the dark, murky water" by Otterfeast Bridge. It was great to see the children using their 2A sentences to describe things in their writing and I was very impressed with how hard they worked on it. We also taught the children all about time adverbials and how these could be used in our work.

In Maths news we have learnt all about money.We used real coins in our pretend shop to buy items from Mrs Burns and see if the children could identify what coins they would need to make the correct required amount. We also looked at how when we buy more than 1 item we have to add those prices together using our addition skills. Next week we will be carrying on with money by subtracting amounts and also giving the correct change when we pay to much. 

Week 16

Welcome back to a whole new term of Octopus class! It was great to see so many smiling faces returning to school and I've enjoyed listening to what you've all been up to over the holidays.

But despite it being the first week back that didn't stop the class being ready to dive back into work. We have been amazed at how quickly you've settled back into learning and we are super proud of you! We can already tell this term is going to be even more fun than last term. 

As we have now finished the Iron Man we are now looking at the sequel, the Iron Woman, before we even started reading the book we looked at the front cover and blurb to see if there were any clues we could use to predict what was going to happen. We then looked at page one of our new book and did another prediction about what we thought would happen in the first chapter. All this is in preparation for when we once again don our reporter hats and write up another newspaper report next week. Considering how good the last ones were I can't wait to see what happens this time. 

In Maths we've looked at different units of measurement for; length, mass/weight and volume/capacity. We also looked at how to find the perimeter of a shape by adding together the length of each side. The class looked at how we can convert our measurements and how many each is worth, for example: 1kg is equal to 1000g therefore 8kg is equal to 8000g. As a little challenge, ask your children if they can tell you what kg and g stand for. I've also added a small matching table below so if you want the children can show you what they know.

Week 15

The end of the term has finally arrived but that doesn't mean we've slowed down in Octopus class. The children have been bristling with excitement as the day grew closer that they got to perform their Winter Production, and what a production it was! As I'm sure all who saw it would agree the children were absolutely amazing and we could not have been prouder of them! The time and effort they put in was clearly visible and they enjoyed themselves immensely. We also have a new member of the class joining us soon and the children can't wait to meet him.

As they have been such an amazing class and have really made our year, myself, Mrs Mason and Mrs Burns decided we would adopt an animal in Year 3's name for them to look after. With so many to choose from the only fair thing to do was put all the animals in a hat and do a draw..... And that's how we ended up with Fred the Polar Bear! (Great name choice Octopus) Now since we can't fit a real polar bear in the class, despite the children insisting he could sleep under the table, we are being sent a smaller cuddlier version of Fred. At the end of each week it will be one persons job to take Fred home for the weekend and keep an eye on him. When he returns they can tell us all about what they got up to and write a passage in Fred's travel book, which will stay at school waiting for them to return and document their adventure.

For English this week the children have had a look at writing their own limerick, this was lots of fun and the children enjoyed coming up with their own fun, winter limericks.

In Maths we did some more work on fractions. This time we looked at finding fractions of a whole number using some pictorial resources to help us picture the number and share it into equal groups. The children also looked at how we could use a fraction of a number to find the original number.

Week 14

Another busy week of learning for Octopus this week, the children are doing fantastic and we are all very proud of their determination and attitude towards their learning. Keep it up superstars!

English

In English this week we have published an alternate setting for the Iron Man in which the children described a new setting that the Iron Man had wandered into using their 5 senses. See if your children can tell you what they are! We were amazed by what they were able to describe. 

Maths

This week in Maths we have been using number lines and fractions to make a whole. We have been able to label number lines with the correct fraction and also find fractions of objects, such as a quarter of a packet of biscuits. We did this practically so the children could physically experience finding fractions in real life objects and not just from a question in a book. 

Week 13

Hello again! We've had another fantastic week here in Y3 Octopus. First of all a massive congratulations to all our Octopi on a fantastic assembly performance that focused on our afternoon topic of settlements. The children worked extremely hard and we couldn't be prouder of you.

In Math's this week we have been looking at fractions, the children have learnt about different equivalent fractions and also how to add and subtract fractions that have the same denominator, the children really shone in this and learnt a lot. Next week we will be continuing our fraction work and learning even more about them!

In English we've worked very hard on creating setting descriptions to tie in with our book "The Iron Man". In order to do this we have spent time looking at how to use adjectives to create a better image in our readers mind of what we are describing. We've also looked at using pronouns to avoid using the same nouns repeatedly. Reading through the work this week I was very impressed and almost felt like I had been travelling through "the beautiful, frozen forest" and also through "the scorching desert that burned his feet as they sunk into the sand."  Great work everyone, well done!

Week 11

Hello everyone! For those who don't already know me I'm Mr Grocott and I'm the new Year 3 Octopus teacher. I have worked with Octopus class since starting at Waterside in September, originally as a Teaching Assistant. I love working with the children in my class and always enjoy seeing what each new day will bring. Our Teaching Assistant now is Mrs Mason and we all feel very lucky to have her working alongside us. If you ever have any questions please get in touch.

As for the learning side of the class, we have published our very own newspaper report based on our new text 'The Iron Man' the children did a great job creating these newspapers and we are proud of the work produced.

In Maths we looked at missing number problems and also explored the concept of scaling with positive integers in a very delicious lesson involving biscuits.

Stay tuned for more weekly updates which will include photos of our brilliant learning as we progress through another half term of adventure and discovery.

Kind Regards 

Mr Grocott and Mrs Mason

WEEK 7

What a great week it has been! I cannot believe how close we are to the end of term - we have been so busy. 

We are so excited as we are nearly at the end of our class story - The Sheep-pig.

The amount of learning that has taken place over the last 6 weeks is incredible and I am so proud. 

We have published a piece of writing on Friday where we re-told a chapter of the story. 

MATHS 

This week we have started our learning about TIME. 

This is ideal home learning and would be something we fully appreciate your support with. We have begun to recap our Year 2 learning and building on prior knowledge. 

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WEEK 6

I cannot believe where these weeks are going! What a busy and exciting week -  ending with our fabulous Harvest Assembly. We were so proud of the Octopus class - they wrote their poem themselves. It was sensational! The singing was also super!

WEEK 5

English

This week we have been learning to persuade. 

I am so proud of the children as we had some misunderstandings of what it meant to persuade - but with lots of hard work and perseverance we all now know what we were writing and why!

Super Babe the piglet wanted to enter the sheep dog trials (ask us all about what the trials are - because we are becoming experts!)

We are publishing our writing on Monday - so keep checking for some fabulous examples of work.

Maths 

We have continued with addition and subtraction this week. It been tricky - but we got there in the end. We will continue adding and subtracting numbers in arithmetic this half term - and then continue our learning in Autumn 2.

But for now, I am super proud of how we have used practical maths equipment and pictures to help us understand. 

WEEK 3

This week we have continued with Place Value in maths.

We have been comparing numbers and thinking about the value of each digit.

Some of us have used the apparatus and some of us have even used number machines!

In English we published our writing - and made sure we included all of the word types we have learnt about this week. 

Look below for lots of prompts to help with learning. 

WEEK 2

What a fantastic week of learning!

We have begun our writing focused around The Sheep-Pig and we are really trying hard to use a variety of adjectives, adverbs and verbs. 

In maths we have been learning about Place Value - the difference in Miss Gaskell's questions between "What is the value of the Tens column?" and "How many tens?" 

Miss Gaskell will be putting some learning prompts on this week to help with learning at home.

Make sure you come back and have a look!

WEEK 1

What a fantastic first week back to school after the summer holidays!

Mr Grocott and myself have been so amazed with your attitudes to learning and we are really proud that you have made such a positive transition upstairs into Year 3. 

This week we have focused on showing Miss Gaskell what we already know and where we are going to take our learning next. 

We have enjoyed reading stories about Stan the Starfish and how he had to show friendship - something we have focused on as a class.

The children also completed their own Octopus, ready for our class display. 

We cannot wait to find out what the next 39 weeks hold!

It is certainly going to be an exciting year!