Happy and healthy… and busy!
A group of our Year 3 pupils were part of over one thousand children from across Leeds who took part in the Rugby World Cup Big dance Big sing event in Millenium Square.
Singing and dancing to the RWC theme tune ‘World in Union’, the event was to celebrate the upcoming RWC matches in Leeds this weekend.
- ‘I loved it and I tried my best.’
- ‘It was exciting when we did the dance.’
- ‘I enjoyed using the rugby balls for the dance and singing the song too.’
Earlier this week, our three lucky ticket winners to Saturday’s RWC match at Elland Road were announced.
Other upcoming events planned are the children’s Brownlee triathlon and another trip to the RWC fanzone in Millenium Square to take part in rugby activities and meet author Tom Palmer, who is writing a live story during the RWC.
West Yorkshire Playhouse workshop
We had a great time yesterday in our drama workshop. Two thespians from the West Yorkshire Playhouse led us through a series of drama games which focused on our class novel, ‘Fortunately, the Milk.’
In English we’ve been looking at conjunctions and prepositions (follow the links for more practice at home). We’ve used our Big Topic on holidays to inspire sentence writing.
Poetry Week
In English, we’ve been learning at alliteration, similes and onomatopoeia. We’ve also been looking at different types of poetry and approaches to creating poems. Here are two of our class poems:
The Field
Green, colossal, wavy grass,
big, pointy bushes.
Giant trees,
wind howling.
Invisible wind blowing through the grass,
you can see the green, gloomy grass.
Bright, blue sky,
the windy, wild air.
Feel the fresh air,
bright, yellow, sky high sun,
feels peaceful, no noise.
Big, fluffy, floating clouds,
Long, blue sky.
The playground
The sky is as blue as sea water.
The brown wall is like wood.
The wall is a beach.
The sun is shining and gold.
The ground is as hard as a stone fish.
The clouds are as white and fluffy as snow.
The weather is as hot as steaming sand.
The air is like nothing.
Newsletters
This term’s newsletters have been emailed and paper copies will be sent home later this week.
This year, we’ll publish the newsletters on the website, too. Here are the first half-term’s…
- Year 1 and Year 2 newsletter
- Year 3 and Year 4 newsletter
- Year 5 and Year 6 newsletter
- The whole school newsletter
Reception provide their own newsletters and lots of photos, top tips and news on their class news page.
Rugby world cup activities
As the Rugby World Cup approaches, Roundhegians are organising activities for both children and adults at their local facilities.
Welcome to Year 3
We have had a fantastic week getting settled into our new classroom. All the children have shown an impressive attitude to learning which is great as it means we can get on with all the learning I have planned.
It has been great meeting some of you in the playground. Please feel free to pop in anytime after school if you have any questions.
SEAL New beginnings
As we start the new school year, our SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) theme focuses on New Beginnings.
We have three new members of staff making a new beginning at Moortown, Mrs Wells, Mr McKeon and Mr Lawton, alongside new children joining our school and our new Reception class.
‘I make someone feel welcome‘ is the first SEAL statement to launch the theme.
New beginnings allows children the opportunity to discuss and reflect on how they or others may feel in a new situation or setting. This SEAL theme offers children the opportunity to see themselves as valued individuals within a community, and to contribute to shaping a welcoming, safe and fair learning community for all.
During the theme, the key areas of learning are empathy, self-awareness, social skills and motivation.
Through discrete SEAL lessons, circle times and across the curriculum, children will explore feelings of happiness and excitement, sadness, anxiety and fearfulness, while learning (and putting into practice) shared models for calming down and problem-solving.
New Beginnings supports the development of a learning community in each classroom where all members feel that they belong. Class contracts, produced at the start of the year, allow children to contribute to how they feel they can achieve a safe and fair learning community.
Reading
Just as the summer started, the papers were full of articles about ideal holiday reading for adults and children alike. (I think ideal holiday reading is any reading you want to, whether it’s in the holidays or not!)
How many books has your child read this holiday? More importantly, what sort of discussions have you had with your child about what books you’ve been reading, and of course what they’ve been reading. (I’ve already had chats with Mrs Weekes and Miss Valentine about my summer reading. including a great children’s book, ‘Grace‘ by one of my favourite authors, Morris Gleitzman.)
As we approach the end of the holidays, it’s an ideal time to reflect on what we’ve read – and start the new school year off taking a positive, encouraging approach to your child’s reading.
Encourage your child to read anything and everything: a story, leaflet, brochure, comic, flyer, advert… It could be for pure entertainment, or with a different purpose: to use a recipe, make a shopping list, read street signs, or any kind of text! The more varied reading your child does, the less likely they are to be put off reading a text. Don’t be too pushy either – texts which are too difficult can put children off (harder books might be best left to bedtime reading); all children should be able to read their reading book 90-95% accurately and fluently in order to enjoy and gradually progress in their reading.
- Build reading accuracy – as your child reads aloud, point out words they miss and help them sound out and read them correctly.
- Build reading comprehension – talk with your child about what they’re reading, asking about new words and what new information they’ve learned.
- Read together every day – don’t forget reading aloud to your child at bedtime reading can count, too!
- Don’t overlook non-fiction texts – spend time talking about pictures and diagrams.
- Visit the library regularly – did your child take part in the local libraries’ Summer Reading Challenge (see News article on 13 July 2015)?
- Use the Internet – find out more about the books your child has read or would like to read next, and just enjoy surfing the internet for facts and figures about whatever interests your child.
Enjoyable, regular and short practice is the best way for your child to progress and learn through reading. Make sure your child spends 10-15 minutes reading each day and use the guidance below to ensure (s)he is getting the most from every book they read. The questions will need to be varied according to the book and your child. The book may lend will to developing knowledge, phonic, punctuation, writing or comprehension skills.
Don’t attempt to try to cover all the bullet points! It might be a good idea to focus on just one of these areas every few days or so, or just choose a question from two or three sections.
Comprehension
- Did you enjoy the story – why?
- What happened at the start / in the middle / at the end?
- Was there a problem? How was it resolved?
- How would you have resolved the problem? Can you think of another way?
- What would you do if …
- What was the main idea of the story?
- Can you summarise the story in a couple of sentenced?
- Try to predict what will happen before the story ends.
- Write about a memory or experience of your own that is similar to something you’ve read in your book.
- Write a letter to someone telling them about the book and your opinion of the book.
- Construct a time line to fit the story. Include all the main events
Characters
- Who are the characters?
- What do they look like?
- What kind of clothes do they wear?
- How did the character feel when …?
- What kind of mood was the character in?
- What kind of personality do they have? Kind, caring, nasty, bully, liar, friendly, quiet, noisy …?
- What does it say in the text that makes you think this?
- What do other characters think or say about this character? Why do they feel this way?
- How does your character treat other people in the book? How does the character change throughout the story? Explain and give support for your answers.
- Can you re-write the story and include your own character?
- Write a description of the main character – their looks, the way they dress, the way they talk and their personality.
- Draw and label a character or a setting from a description in the book.
Story setting
- Where is the story set?
- Imagine you are in the story …
- What can you see? What can you hear? What can you small? What can you feel?
- Can you write a description of the story setting using adjectives? eg I found myself standing in the middle of …
- What is the weather like?
Non-Fiction
- Research the subject further using the internet or local library.
- Write down in your own sentences some facts you have learnt from the book.
- Can you think of anywhere we might be able to find additional information about this?
- What do the pictures or diagrams in this piece of information add to the text?
- How are these different to the pictures you might find in a story?
- Can you point out: a heading, sub-heading, caption, diagram, introduction, contents page etc?
- Why has the author organised the information in this way? (You could refer to sections and sub-sections, bullet points etc)
- How do you feel about …? Can you explain why?
Farewell, Year 3
Well, it’s the end of our year and what a great one we have had. It has been an absolute pleasure to work in Year 3 and I will miss the children dearly. Throughout the year, I have been so impressed by improved behaviours, mature attitudes and impressive learning. I am incredibly proud of each and every child and have written a poem to give a quick mention to them all. Enjoy…
Well, Year 3, our work is done. Just look how far you’ve all come.
Edward, you make me smile every day, and with anyone you will play.
Fancy a challenge, then ask Nico. He’s never afraid to give it a go.
Always wanting a chat to share something new, Pippa, without this, what will I do?
Zack’s head is bursting with fascinating facts. Ask him a question and he’ll be quite exact.
Happy to always keep things fair, Grace, you should be proud of the amount you care.
Umaimah’s swimming has been great this year. You deserve a great big cheer.
Grinning from ear to ear, Aleena will always be a friend that’s near.
Matteo, you are such a good sport, an eager learner, a pleasure to have taught.
Noah, a happy chap who tries his best, not content to sit back and rest.
A great friend you will have in Stan, a popular boy with lots of fans.
Nishaan always gives his all, and my goodness how you’ve grown so tall.
Oliver is growing into a confident young man, his attitude is “I will if I can!”
Elias, always caring and kind, another like him would be hard to find.
With confidence oozing through her veins, Pavan is thriving and making great gains.
Archie just loves to kick a ball, and if Leeds United are stuck they should give him a call.
Her reading has become an absolute joy, Pohnum, it’s a pleasure that I enjoy.
An amazing year this young man has had, Brandon, you are just a super lad.
A great character in Neive you will find, with super manners – if you don’t mind!
Daanyaal, you have worked hard all year. Your reading is just lovely to hear.
Megan you are a shining star. I have no doubt that you will go far.
Give this boy a ball and he is content. Abdullah, footballer in the making – I think that is meant.
Enthusiasm runs through him like a fire. Owen, keep working hard and never tire.
Determination through gritted teeth, Enya can tackle what lies underneath.
Hibba who works so very hard, has quite a sense of humour – a bit of a card.
Harry is a person who… is always willing to try something new.
You’ve come so far, Isobel. Well done! Just keep working on those tricky sums.
Saleem, a kind, gentle boy with manners to show. Keep up the good work and far you will go.
A chatty young man with lots to say, Sam, you’re progressing along the way.
Matthew can listen with a caring ear, and is willing to help those who are unclear.
And Zeewa, well what can I say? I will miss you each and every day.
Well done, Year 3. I’m proud of you all. And by golly we’ve had a ball!
Enjoy the summer and see you all in September!
Summer Reading Challenge 2015
This year, the Summer Reading Challenge returns with the challenge of breaking records!
It’s really simple to join in and complete the challenge. All you have to do is
- Join any Leeds library (including mobile libraries).
- Borrow three books and read them. (You could write a short book review on them too.)
- You can borrow any book: stories, joke books, information books or even audio books.
- Return these (to any Leeds library) and borrow another three books.
- That means you need only borrow six books altogether – or more, of course!
- Once you’ve returned your second lot of three books, your challenge is complete!
We’re hoping to get lots more children taking on the challenge this year and enjoying their reading over the summer. Try not to borrow thick books that you’re never going to finish and make sure you pick books you’re going to be interested in, or, try something new. For any more information, take a look at the leaflet below.
