Sycamore Class – Years 3 & 4
We are Sycamore Class! We are Year 3 and 4 children and here on our page you can have a little peek at the brilliant things we get up to. We strive to be inspiring, exemplary learners and caring members of our school and local community. Happy browsing and we hope that you feel as proud in our learning as we do.
About us!
This is the web page for Sycamore Class and we are a mixed age class of years 3 and 4. We are part of a wonderful class family that includes Mrs Chaplin, our Teaching Assistant who is with us all day Monday to Wednesday, and Miss Patch, our Teaching Assistant who is with us Thursday morning and all day Friday. Our class teacher is Miss Hynam and Mrs Maggs teaches on a Thursday morning to cover PPA. The adults in Sycamore work very closely together to ensure that all learning and transitions are seamless. We try our very best in all aspects of our learning, show care and compassion for each other and take pride in our class family.
Term 1!
This term we are recapping all our learning powers. We will also be focusing on our whole school value of trust.
What will our learning look like this term?
English
We will start this term focuing on the Literacy Shed clip ‘The Present’. We will then be focusing on the book ‘Stone Age Boy’ by Satoshi Kitamura in our English lessons. We will use this book to help us write a narrative. We will also be writing a letter from the perspective of a stone age child linking to our History topic ‘Stone Age to Iron Age’.
This term’s class novel is ‘The Stolen Spear’ by Saviour Pirotta.
Maths
This term we continue to become experts with place value, as well as addition and subtraction.
History
In history, in terms 1 and 2 we will be learning about the Stone Age to the Iron Age. We will look at the main events in Stone Age t Iron Age history, as well as daily life, conflicts and the legacies of each time period.
Science
As scientists, we will be learning all about rocks. We will be exploring different rocks, comparing properties and learning about how fossils are made as well as making some interesting editable rocks and soil!
French
This term in French we will be learning conversational language, as well as numbers and colours.
Music
In music, we will be learning to sing and play ‘Lean on me’ on the glockenspieles.
Art
In art we are going to be learning about the artist William Morris. We will start by learning about Morris before we experiment with shading and printing.
PE
Wednesday and Friday are our PE days. Please make sure that the correct PE kit is worn. This term we will be doing handball on Wednesday. On Friday, year 4s will be swimming so need to make sure they have brought a swimming kit with them. This needs to include a swimsuit, towels and goggles if they have any. Year 3s will be doing PE on Friday, where we will be playing invasion games.
RE
Our RE focus in Term 1 is ‘What kind of world did Jesus want?’
We will look at different stories in the bible, focusing on how Jesus asks his disciples to be the ‘fishers of men’.
Helping your child with reading
Reading isn’t really just one skill- it’s a whole collection of skills- that children must learn to become fluent and independent readers. When hearing your child read at home it is important that you share books together and talk about what they might be about, by looking at the front cover and illustrations. As well as asking their opinion of the story. These conversations help to give them a sense of what is inside the book before they start to read it and preparing them for some of the vocabulary they come across. This means you are setting your child up for success right from the start.
Identifying vocabulary your child does not know is essential to help them become fluent readers. If there are more than five words on a page, or in a passage, that your child is unable to identify they will not be able to comprehend the text. This means that the text is too difficult for them. Therefore, it is important to consider the vocabulary in a book and have discussions around this. Encourage your child to be independent by looking up the word in a dictionary, discuss what specific words mean, and relate them to real-life to build an understanding for your child. Thus, helping them to comprehend the text.
Model reading with your child or taking turns to read is great to build up confidence. For example, modelling a sentence that they may have misread is a good way to support this, and then ask your child to reread the passage ensuring they address what they have learnt.
Additionally, it is important that they read the punctuation, pausing where appropriate and adding expression. If your child has enjoyed a book, encourage them to recall what has happened so far, can they remember the key events. This helps showcase their understanding of what has been read.
Lastly, praise is crucial to foster a love of reading. Notice what your child has done well and tell them, often.
Please see below for a helpful video which shows Mrs. Warren reading with a child.
Please see our Sycamore welcome letter to find a more information about our expectations for the year.
Useful Links
These are recommended, high quality learning resources which we will use in school, but will also be very useful at home.
- The Department for Education’s Oak Academy Website
- Youtube for Live Lessons with Jane Considine
- STEM.org.uk
- BBC Bitesize
- DoodleMaths
