Times Tables Rock Stars/NumBots
As you all know, Times Tables Rock Stars is an app and website that we use in school to quicken the recall of tables facts.
Here in Y3, we have been using this app on a regular basis and there has been progress in our recalling speed of our table facts.
This post is simply a reminder that it’s something that you can use at home, too. If you have any questions, send me an email and I am more than happy to help.
Each game is short so you don’t need lots of time – ten minutes each day would be ideal.
Regular practise has shown great progress with children’s times tables.
We also know that our times tables open up the door to many other areas of maths.
We’ve just signed up to Numbots, too. Perhaps more suited to younger children or children who need a bit of extra support with the basics, this is a great app and website for practising addition and subtraction facts. Your child can use it at home too – they login using the same details they use for Times Tables Rock Stars. There are 15 different games, each with a different focus. Topics covered include doubles and number bonds to 10, 20 and 100.
Thanks for all your support so far this year and as always, if you have any questions, comments or concerns, send me an email: oliwain@spherefederation.org
Children in Need
Don’t forget!
Tomorrow, Friday 13 November, is Children in Need.
It will be a non-uniform day for a donation towards the charity.
Living and Learning
Our Living and Learning statement this week is:
In Y3, we have been reflecting on this statement all week.
For our homework, we talked about and wrote down some of the things that make us special.
We also enjoyed an assembly about how we are all the same and different. The children in Y3 had lots to share about this statement – it was great!
I’m looking forward to our L&L session on Friday where we will revisit working cooperatively and remind ourselves to do this all the time!
If you haven’t done so already, ask your child what makes them the same and different!
Children in Need
Tomorrow, Friday 13 November, is Children in Need.
It will be a non-uniform day for a donation towards the charity.
Reading as Historians!
Continuing our Ancient Greece learning, we have been looking at the Golden Age – this was between c. 500-300 BC.
Here are some pictures of us ordering key events from Ancient Greece’s history chronologically.
Ask your child what chronology means!
For us to be able to do this, we had to carefully read the different events throughout Greece’s history and match them up with the correct dates.
Keep up the hard work, Y3!
Isolating at home?
Here is some home learning for when you can’t be with us at school.
Remember to send pictures of your child’s home learning to moortowneyfs@spherefederation.org
Phonics
We have been learning e, u, r this week.
Sing along to these Jolly Phonics songs.
(This is a YouTube link. Top tip for watching YouTube with your child: go to the settings cog along the play bar and turn off autoplay – this avoids an inappropriate clip coming up automatically, and helps to discourage your child from passively watching clip after clip.
https://youtu.be/4VknD1I0Zc4
Literacy
We are reading the story ‘Owl Babies’.
Listen to the story here.
Draw some of the events from the story and label your pictures using your phonic knowledge.
Maths
We are continuing to learn about the number 3.
Count out 1,2, or 3 objects and then use a cloth to hide them. Can your child show how many are hidden using their fingers? Add one more object to the hidden group. How many are there now? What happens if you take one out?
Please send photos of your learning.
Zooming to the fire station
Today, the children had a Zoom call with the local fire station. This was a great opportunity to ask questions about the role of a firefighter. 
What’s it like being a fire fighter? Keira
What do you do to stop a fire spreading? Ibrahim
How many seats are there inside the fire engine? Rohan
Do you do lots of different rescues? Nate
Have you heard of The Great Fire of London? Haleema
How much water can the fire engine hold? Tyreece
How do you stay safe? Matin
Thank you, Moortown Fire Station!
We Will Remember Them
Today, after we observed a two minute silence, we read about Remembrance Day.
- Eeshan said, “It’s also known as Armistice Day.”
- “The first two minutes silence was held in 1919,” said Noah.
- “King George V ordered the first one so that everyone remembers the glorious dead,” Safiya-Mishal commented.
- “Poppies are worn by millions!” stated Will.
- Phoebe remembered a picture we’d seen: “Soldiers in Afghanistan bowed their heads in 2006 to pay their respects.”
- “Everybody does it worldwide to remember the dead who sacrificed their lives,” noted Alishbah.
- Ethan explained, “It’s held on the 11th day of the 11th month at 11am.”
- “The queen puts a poppy wreath at the Cenotaph in London,” said Pollyanna.
- Jasraj said, “We wear poppies because they grew in the field after WW1.”
Things are different this year – services might not be able to go ahead as normal.
“This year, you could digitally download a poppy instead,” suggested Musa.
“People could put these poppies in their window,” added Sami.
Spelling Games
Hi everyone!
Are you wanting to hone your spelling skills? Are you wanting to improve your weekly score? Are you a keen gamer? Then check out the following websites!
(Hopefully these work on mobile as well as on PC – let me know!)
History: learning about the Minoans using historical sources
This afternoon, we’ve used historical sources to learn about the first great Greek civilisation: the Minoans.
We learnt about Arthur Evans, a British archaeologist who discovered an early Minoan written language which has never been deciphered.
We’ve also learnt about Arthur Evans’ greatest discovery: the Palace of Knossos. We then used pictures of the palace and artefacts found there to tell us more about life during this time.
