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 Elliott, our Teaching Assistant who is with us all day Monday to Thursday. On Mondays and Tuesdays we are taught by Miss Hynam and on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays we are taught by Mrs Warren. We are lucky enough to have high quality PE sessions and lunchtime activities taught by Premier Sports on Fridays. 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 2!
This term we are focusing on our tortoise power, helping us to be self-managers. We will also be focusing on our whole school value of respect.
What will our learning look like this term?
English
This term we are focusing on the book ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes in our English lessons. We will use this book to help us write a narrative. We will also be writing firework poetry, a non-chronological report and a recount of our visit to Bristol Museum.
This term’s class novel is still Stig of the Dump by Clive King. We will be moving on to ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes.
Maths
This term we continue to become experts with addition and subtraction as well as multiplication and division.
History
As historians, in terms 2 we will continue learning about the Stone Age to the Iron Age. We will start this term with a trip to Bristol Museum to handle some real Stone Age tools! We will begin to bring everything we have learnt together to form an opinion on which age was better.
Aerial photo of Stonehenge.
Science
As scientists, we will be learning all about light. We will think about why light is important and how it helps us to see things. We will also be learning about reflections, shadows and what makes something translucent or transparent.
French
This term in Fench we will be learning conversational language.
DT
In DT we are going to be making party hats. We will start by making simple party hats before learning and refining new techniques to improve our original designs.
PE
As sports people we will be building skills of invasion, we will understand the principles of teamwork and attacking and defending. Will look to further develop game-based skills with a focus on hand-eye coordination skills and applying them to different outcomes. Friday is our PE day with the visiting sports coaches. Please make sure that the correct PE kit is worn.
In Thursday’s session, we will be focusing on dance.
Year 4 will also be swimming on Fridays. Please make sure you have your swimming kit. For girls this must be a one piece swim suit and for boys, trunks not surf shorts. Long hair should be tied back, if you have a swimming hat, these can be worn. Goggles make also be worn.
RE
Our RE focus in Term 1 is ‘What do Christians believe about incarnation?’
We will look at how Christians show respect around the world, the trinity and what Christians believe about Jesus being God incarnated. We will also visit the church for our Christingle service and the KS1 nativity.
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
