November and December
Numeracy
Primary 3 have been super mathematicians and have explored a range of skills! We have been working on our multiplication and division a lot the past few months. All children can successfully answer questions on their two times table, whether it be verbal, vertical, horizontal or within a real life context! This can come in very handy when they need to share equally.
Some children have also been exploring their 3,4 and 5 times table. I did sneak in some 6, 7 and 8 to challenge them! Primary 3 can use a range of methods to calculate word problems which is lovely to see.
We are all professionals now at vertical calculations and we even tried numbers with 8 digits! This was a tricky skill at the start but with lots of practice and concrete materials we are all confident with addition and subtraction with carrying.
Several children told me "this is too hard, I can't do this." However, they absolutely could do it! Have more confidence in yourself primary 3 :)
Children have also been exploring time, both digital and analogue. We can successfully tell the time to o'clock, quarter past, half past and quarter to the hour! Quarter to was very tricky as sometimes we forgot the minute hand had not reached 12 so it cannot be an hour later. We practice time everyday as they always want to know how long it is until lunch (they make me hungry asking about it!).
Money has been a huge part of our classroom the past few months. Children have been calculating change and discovering what different coins can make totals, this is good to practice as we don't always carry several of each coin. We did find it tricky when the coins were in black and white, remember to look at the size and shape of the coin!
Literacy
Recently, we have been exploring predicting. Charlotte told us "this is when we guess what the book is about using the clues. "
To predict Shaun told us "we use the blurb, title and the pictures to help us."
Children successfully used features of the book to predict what their reading book was about. They were then able to engage in a meaningful discussion and we all decided it looked like a very exciting book to read!
Remember we do not open the book when we are predicting what the story is going to be about!
Within literacy, we also explored different punctuation, particularly speech marks. We looked at how this is what we actually say and that 'said Mummy' does not go into the speech marks.
We have also looked at the difference between fact and opinion and are able to sort different texts and information into these categories.
We worked very hard on our writing this term! We were exploring our senses to describe the setting. Children were given a stimulus of a haunted house picture and had to use their imagination! I loved the range of exciting adjectives we all used to really get our readers attention. Jaasritha and Finn did very well!
PE
Within PE we have been focussing on Gymnastics and Fitness. We have a lot of gymnasts in the class so the demonstrations were fabulous. We have been working alongside primary 5 in PE to expand our skills. First we focused on balances and jumps before getting out the big equipment to work on movement and rolls! We then worked on our fitness by running and counting our laps with a partner. It was very tricky to keep track of our partners as we were all so fast! We then attempted sit ups, this was hard so we got our friends to hold down our feet.
Art and Design
Wow, within Primary 3 we have definetely have artists in the making! I cannot believe how good our sketching is, I have been practicing too!
We have been working hard on our step by step drawing, we didn't get told what we were drawing so we used our predicting skills. Some of our predictions were very wrong but that is the fun thing about it!
At the start of each art lesson, we all have a deep discussion and say our positive affirmation about what we are not going to do! We all know art and design is fun and that we should not get stressed out. We know not to get upset if our drawing does not go to plan and know to be polite when asking for a rubber from our friends. I have traded my drawing many times - I don't know why as their art work is one hundred times better than mine!
We also used clay to make a house. This was very tricky as the clay kept sticking to the table. They also cracked throughout the drying process, so we need to problem solve and try again in the new year!
Environment
Primary 3 have been using their researching skills to look into ways we can help the environment. We worked in groups to create an eye catching poster.
Diwali
Primary 3 celebrated Diwali together by creating our very own lanterns and working in groups to answer quiz questions. W ereally enjoyed using different cutting and folding techniques to create our models. It was very tricky when the glue did not stick the paper together!
