Year 3 Curriculum outline Autumn 2021
Year 3 Curriculum Outline Autumn 2021 Tropical treasures ~ Let me entertain you
Humanities - Social Understanding Tropic Treasure is a fantastic topic in which pupils will be learning key skills such as mapping, evaluating evidence and sources, researching, comparing and contrasting. They will be learning about The Amazon Rainforest - the plants, the animals and the indigenous people who call it their home. Discussions around sustainability will explore how we can
preserve this tropical treasure and pupils will be encouraged to ask questions such as: Who owns the Rainforest? Let Us Entertain You is an inspiring theme where pupils will be thinking how entertainment has changed over time, for example, the impact of the Internet. Digital skills will be honed as pupils create Stop Motion movies and create codeable mazes. In RS, pupils will be studying the Church and Christian worship, looking at how a church is both a building and a community of people who share worship and faith. A visit to a local church will help them to use religious language to describe and understand the features of a church, as well as viewing a religious and historical building in context in the local community. Pupils will learn the importance to Christians of the main acts of worship, and understand the purpose of rites of passage as marking a time of change. Finally this term, pupils will distinguish between religious and secular observances of Christmas understanding that both are of importance and personal significance to people. In all lessons the pupils are assessed on their quality of questions and contributions to discussion, and encouraged to respond thoughtfully and sensitively to the different worldviews of others around them.
Language and Communication In English, pupils will be developing their reading comprehension and writing composition through grammar, vocabulary development, critical thinking and spoken language. The aim is for pupils to: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Read fluently and with good understanding Acquire a wide vocabulary Use grammar correctly Develop the habit of reading widely for pleasure and information Write clearly, accurately and coherently adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts, purposes and audiences Use discussion in order to learn Gain competence in speaking and listening and debating
In addition, pupils will be following the Read, Write, Inc. ‘Spelling’ programme, which is a robust and fast-paced scheme teaching pupils to spell accurately through an understanding of phonics and spelling rules, underpinned by regular practice. As part of the focus on writing within the Tropical Treasures theme, activities will include writing a poem, composing a setting, and creating an information report. After half term for the 'Let us Entertain You’ theme pupils will study and write an instruction text.
In Modern Languages, developing good oral communication skills remains at the core of
our lessons with the use of written clues to help with pronunciation, comprehension and the consolidation of vocabulary. Linking into the thematic topics, pupils will explore the language, discovering patterns in words and structures, learning about cultural aspects and getting plenty of chances for conversation and working on accents. Songs and rhymes will help pupils recall key phrases and words and embed their knowledge. In French this term, pupils will revise and extend basic questions and answers about themselves. Linking in with the theme of tropical treasures, the pupils will explore the range of french-speaking tropical islands around the world, looking at the geography, understanding why they are French-speaking and learning key words to describe the island features. In Spanish this term we will learn about answering basic questions. Phonics will be introduced and will focus on the vowel sounds and on mastering some of the tricky Spanish consonants. We will also learn about school objects and link this to the work of Salvador Dalí, an important Spanish artist. Towards Christmas, we will talk about Christmas traditions in Spain and Hispanic countries.
Mathematical Understanding The first topic this term is place value. Pupils will look at representing numbers to 1000, number lines, finding 1, 10 or 100 more or less than a given number, comparing and ordering numbers to 1000 and counting in 50s. Pupils will then study properties of shapes including learning about right angles, horizontal and vertical lines, making 3D shapes and explaining 2D shapes. Pupils will then move onto addition and subtraction. This topic includes: adding and subtracting multiples of 100; adding and subtracting 3-digit and 1-digit numbers, both mentally and using written strategies; and estimations and spotting patterns. The final topic is multiplication and division when pupils will need to be able to recall and use multiplication and division facts for the 3, 4 and 8 multiplication tables.
Physical Education and Well-being Throughout PE this term, the pupils will be taking part in fencing, swimming, gymnastics. Rosedale pupils will be participating in yoga, fencing, gymnastics and tennis on rotation throughout the year. For their games session, the girls will be participating in hockey. Please ensure that all girls have mouthguards, shin pads and long socks. The boys at Rosedale House and Dame Bradbury’s will have football and also touch rugby sessions, boots and a mouthguard will be required. In PSHEE, the children will explore how to make the classroom a place where they can learn safely and happily. They will consider ways in which they can build collaborative relationships within the class, how to make new members of the class feel welcome, identify people in their network of support and know how to ask for help when needed. The children will consider rights and responsibilities and consider why rules are needed in school and at home. They will consider physical, social and emotional risks and will begin to understand some of the ways they can reduce the risk of accidents in their own surroundings. They will
also learn more about the dangers of road traffic, fire and water, and learn strategies for keeping safe. They will think about the positive benefits of joining in with different activities and consider the ways in which they can keep safe and have fun. The pupils will also discuss online safety and learn what to do if they are worried about anything online. We will also have a regular, dedicated focus on mental health and wellbeing. Some of these lessons will use the iSpace Wellbeing curriculum. Pupils will join the iSpace characters and ‘travel’ across the Wellbeing Galaxy consisting of 10 wellbeing themed planets. Each lesson teaches them wellbeing tools, techniques and who and how to ask for help.
Creative and Performing Arts Tropical Treasures will provide the perfect theme for pupils to develop and fine tune their sketching and collage skills. Studying Matisse and/or children’s Illustrator, Jacqueline Molnar, will deepen pupils’ understanding of texture, tone and overlapping. Backstitching skills will also be refined as pupils sew their very own luggage label inspired by a famous Chinese proverb. Our Let us Entertain You topic will see the pupils designing and creating their own masks and mazes. Problem solving and precision skills will be sharpened, as accurate measuring and safe cutting practices are developed. In Music this term, we will be ‘setting sail’ and exploring traditional sea shanties in a fun and creative way - engaging with this genre of music through fun instrumental and vocal games, short compositional projects and ensemble performances. Throughout our exploration of the ‘Tropical Treasures’ topic, pupils will have the opportunity to improvise and develop an increasingly broad bank of music terminology. Pupils will continue to build on their understanding of the key musical elements, alongside listening to existing pieces of music in the musical canon. Each week, pupils will continue to expand their recorder repertoire and develop their instrumental technique. Alongside this, they will have the opportunity to use any additional instruments they play in both composition and performance tasks, where appropriate. Throughout the term, the pupils will build their confidence and fluency with reading staff notation, and learn how to musically interpret graphic scores. Pupils will develop their vocal performance skills and ‘sol-fa’ singing technique through the exploration of topic based songs and pieces. They will also prepare for a more formal performance event in their rehearsals for the Carol Service.
Scientific Understanding This term’s Science has a focus on the properties of materials. The first topic deals with the characteristics of materials, and will help the pupils to develop key scientific skills, such as observation and classification. Pupils will investigate the various properties of materials and how these relate to their uses through our ‘tropical explorer’ and what they need for their expedition.
Pupils will then move on to learning about the forces involved in magnets and springs by carrying out precise observations and measurements, and look at how the properties of magnets and springs can be put to use in a range of practical applications. Digital
The Inner Wheel With the Google apps at the heart of digital curation our pupils use Google Classroom to complete work digitally and hand in work that is produced in a variety of ways. We have identified 7 main apps, our EverGreen apps, that help to showcase our pupils’ learning. An animation, movie or annotated piece of work provides richer feedback for the teacher and ultimately helps to make greater progress. Explain Everything www.explaineverything.com Green Screen www.doink.com Stop Motion www.cateater.com Strip Design www.vividapps.com/Strip_Designer/ Notability www.gingerlabs.com Book Creator www.bookcreator.com Puppet Pals www.polishedplay.com The Outer Wheel We have a number of apps that we use consistently throughout our curriculum that lend themselves to our creative approach. We avoid apps that are specific to a particular outcome, preferring content free apps that can help to enhance our pupils work and understanding. Some examples are: Minecraft, iMovie, KeyNote, Pages and Padlet.
Coding Another aspect of our digital curriculum is the coding/programming skills that are embedded in all subjects or taught discretely in Years 5 and 6. We have identified a progression of apps that help to develop our pupils’ ability to code. The apps provide variety and challenge and help to develop the computation skills that are crucial learning in our digital work. We combine the coding experiences with physical output. Using Spheros, BBC Micro:Bits and Ozobots provides visual outcomes that bring our code to life. As our pupils develop further they transition on to written code.
Thinking Toolkit Alongside and underpinning our curriculum we ensure that our pupils are developing as active learners and active thinkers. Throughout each subject area pupils are encouraged to use their range of thinking tools and reflect on when and how they are using them. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how their thinking tools underpin all aspects of their learning and not just in the more obvious ways. How are they creative in maths? How do they enquire in English? How are they critical in Music? How do they think computationally in PE?
Inclusion This curriculum map outlines the core curriculum for each year group each term but at the heart of our wheel is the individual learner. Each subject area has a progression of skills which enables staff to stretch or support individuals as and when they need a little help, a bit of a push or a just a different way in. Within our classrooms through planning, teacher knowledge and interactions work is differentiated to suit the needs of each individual.