Year 3/4 Acorns
Welcome to Acorns' Class Page
Welcome to the Acorn's class page. Here you will find lots of information about what we are doing in school and the different topics that we are learning.
We hope that you had a fantastic Easter and enjoyed all your chocolatey treats.
This term we will be looking at Space. We will investigate the planets, the stars and doing lots of fantastic experiments using a 'SpaceCase' from the East Midlands STEM hub.
Our swimming sessions restart the second Monday of term.
Children will still be having PE on Fridays, however, they will now be bringing in their PE kits and getting changed in school. Please make sure that they have a white t-shirt, black shorts, leggings or joggers and a plain black or red hoodie.
English
In English this term we will be writing poems based on imagery. We will also be looking at the book Hidden Figures and how important people in history who have been maligned or had their roles ignored are now having the opportunity to be celebrated.
In our reading sessions, we will be focusing on a wide variety of texts about Space. To do this we will be using our VIPERS skills (vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval, sequencing and summarising) to look at challenging texts with more depth of understanding.
Not only that, we will also be building up our reading, writing and SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) skills which will build to help us become the best writers!
Maths
In Maths Acorns will spend the term investigating decimals, money and shape. We will be developing different methods to find answers and look at the patterns and links that we learnt during our fractions sessions.
As a school, we are also partaking in a Maths Mastery programme which will give all the children the opportunity to investigate patterns and recognise the important links in maths. This means that we will have one day a week where we solve puzzles and answer open ended questions which will make maths even more fun!
Year 4s have their Multiplication Tables Check this year, so there will be a strong focus on learning their times tables up to 12 x 12 and we will be sending home cards to help them build fluency. There will also be TTRockstars club, which is open to Year 3s and 4s on Tuesdays after school.
Forest Schools
We are really excited to be starting Forest Schools. Mrs O'Hara and Mrs Hinde are both qualified Forest School Leaders and are very excited to take the children to Metapic Woods.
Forest School is an educational approach that focuses on outdoor, nature-based learning. It originated in Scandinavia and has become popular in many countries, including the UK, the US, and parts of Europe. Forest Schools typically take place in natural environments such as woodlands, parks, or forests, where children have the opportunity to learn through direct experience in the outdoors.
Key Features of Forest School:
Outdoor Learning: The main concept is that children spend a significant amount of time outdoors in natural settings, learning through hands-on experiences.
Child-Led Exploration: Activities are often child-led, with the children encouraged to explore their environment, ask questions, and make decisions. They might engage in things like building shelters, creating art with natural materials, or exploring the local flora and fauna.
Connection with Nature: Forest Schools emphasise developing a deep connection with nature. Children learn about ecosystems, animals, plants, and the seasons through direct observation and interaction.
Topic
In Topic this term Space will be our main focus. Working with the East Midlands STEM hub, we have been given access to a SpaceCase. This toolkit provides lots of experiments using metals, UV reflective beads and different materials which will help us to design the best possible space craft.
We will investigate eleven materials, looking at mass, magnetic attraction, impact tests, electrical and thermal conductivity. We will also plan tests, record our findings and make conclusions.
I can't wait to see what we come up with.