Willow Tree Class Blog
Willow Tree Class Blog
Weekly Update 5.11.21
K Simms (k.simms) on: Willow Tree Class Blog
Good afternoon everyone!
I hope you are adjusting well to the clocks moving back and these darker evenings!
Our first week back in Willow Tree Class has been brilliant! The children have returned back to school with a spring in their step and ready to take on their next challenge. We have looked at column subtraction this week (including crossing the 10s and 100s) and, I have to say, I have been particularly impressed with how quickly they have picked this up. We have done lots of practical maths to help us visualise what happens when we "borrow" a 10 or a 100 and the children have been very engaged with these activities.
We have also got some Times Table Superstars to congratulate on achieving their Bronze Awards (2s, 5s, and 10s) so a huge well done to:
Rumina, Finn, Corey, Isabel, Jakub, Callum, Viraaj, Amelia and Lillie!
In Science, we have started our new topic of Animals including Humans and we have looked at what each different food group does for our body, for example, giving us energy, repairing our body, making is strong - perhaps you could ask your child at dinner what the food they are eating does for their body?
In English, we have been looking at WAGOLL newspaper reports, using speech marks and synonyms for 'said' to prepare us for writing our own report about the Viking attack on Lindisfarne - our headline is "VICIOUS VIKING ATTACK ON LINDISFARNE" thanks to Henry for making it snappy and exciting!
Over the next few weeks we will begin to look at our Christmas Production "The Snow Queen" and lots of the children have shown an interest in joining the drama club to develop their acting skills ready for this showstopper! All our children will be involved in the production in some way and we will be doing lots of music sessions in class to make it a truly magical performance.
Homework will be sent home tonight and is due in on Wednesday of next week. Please encourage your child to read everyday for 15 minutes and practice their Times Tables. We are entering ENGLAND ROCKS 2021 next week which is a nationwide competition run by TT Rockstars - every correct answer scores our class and school points and we all know that "points mean........PRIZES!"
Please let me know if you have any questions,
Have a fantastic and safe weekend,
Miss Simms
Weekly Update 22.10.21
K Simms (k.simms) on: Willow Tree Class Blog
Hello everyone!
Well, we made it to half term and what a cracking seven weeks it has been! The children have made so much progress since September and I can't wait to see what happens in the next stage of our journey as Year 3 Willow!
This week has been very busy with children getting ready to end Autumn 1 with their heads held high!
In science, we have looked at how practice can help our reaction times and looked at how fair testing can make our experiments even more accurate.
In maths, we have recapped our numberline skills and used them to help us with subtraction. After October half term, we will be starting to use column subtraction and, based on their efforts with column addition, I have a suspicion the children will be fantastic at it!
In English, we have put all the skills we have learnt over the past couple of months to good use by writing a recount all about our weekend. The children have included fronted adverbials, conjunctions, adjectives, adverbs and even some subordinating clauses to add extra information to out sentences.
In history, we have been writing our name with Viking runes and we will be finishing these ready to decorate our classroom with after the half term holiday!
Yesterday, your child was sent home with a raisin box from FORP association for the "Raisin' Funds" initiative. We have already had some children return theirs today so please try and remember to bring them back on the first Monday. The raisin box can be filled with any loose change you might find lying around the house or any change the children might have earnt!
Please make sure you all have a good rest over half term but please don't forget to try and ready every day and practice your times tables. I will be setting up the 2s, 5s and 10s on TT Rockstars so see if you can beat the Class High Score of 1 answer every 3.45 seconds! There will also be a prize for children who return to school with 7 signatures in their reading record.
Thank you for all your hard work this half term.
Have a lovely and restful week,
Miss Simms
Weekly Update 15.10.21
K Simms (k.simms) on: Willow Tree Class Blog
Hello everyone,
It was lovely to "meet" you all and have a chat with you during this week's parents' evening. I know I am incredibly proud of the children with how well they have settled into Year 3 and the progress they have made already!
If you were unable to book an appointment but would still like to catch up about your child, please get in touch with me either via the Office or through the class email.
Many parents asked how to support their child's learning at home. For the biggest impact I'd recommend...
- reading with them at least 5 times a week.
- asking comprehension questions to check your child understands what they have read.
- regular times tables practice using TT Rockstars or Hit the Button.
- regular practice of common spellings on the school Spelling App.
On Wednesday, the children shared their fantastic posters for School Council and gave a number of excellent speeches which focused on the qualities needed for our Class Representative. There was stiff competition, but the eventual winner was... Rumina!
On Thursday, many of the children took part in a cross-country running event against several local schools - well done for representing Rufford Park with pride! For those of us in school, we had a go at creating our own website with some interesting Viking facts and then began getting ready for Christmas by completing our Christmas Card Competition designs!
Have a lovely weekend!
Miss Simms