Year 3/4 - Dolphin class

Welcome to Dolphin Class!

Miss Randall teaches Dolphin class and is supported by Mrs Lack.

Watch this space for some regular updates to find out about our amazing learning!

This half term our topic is...

Tribal Tales.

WC 18/11/19: 

This week we have been learning about the Bronze Age in topic lessons. Well done to Sienna and Noah for completing extra work at home  We built our own models of Stonehenge using paper and then using natural materials. We linked this to Science and used torches to see how the shadow changes when the light source is moved. In English, we have been reading more of Gangsta Granny and focused on pronouns, conjunctions and rich vocabulary in our writing. In Maths, we have been looking at times tables. In year 3, we focused on the 3 times table and in year 4 looked at the 6 and 9 times table. You can continue to practise at home using TTRockstars https://play.ttrockstars.com/

In RE, we looked at the Grace prayer and had a go at creating our own. There were lots of thoughtful and reflective ideas, so much so that everyone received a starfish! Some examples are below:

Spellings: Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 29th November.

The spelling focus this week is homophones (the first 5 spellings) and then the last 5 are taken from the year 3/4 spelling list:

1) there

2) their

3) they're

4) whether

5) weather

6) naughty

7) promise

8) favourite

9) heart

10) busy

Spellings: Week: 1.  Friday 8^th November         

                                                       Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Each week the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the following Friday.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 15th November.

The spelling pattern (for the last 5 words on the list below) this week is the prefix re-.

1 Strength

2 Weight

3 Imagine

4 Interest

5 Exercise

6 Reappear

7 Remove

8 Rebuild

9 Rearrange

10 Rewrite

W/C Monday 4^th November 2019.

We hope that you all had a lovely half term. Welcome back - what an exciting first week back it has been!

Our topic this half term is ‘Tribal Tales.’ The children will be learning about life in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. They have created some fantastic fact files about the Stone Age this week.

The children have been enjoying hearing about the adventures that Ben has been having in Gangsta Granny by David Walliams. In their English lessons they have been learning to: draw inferences about characters, write in paragraphs, use time conjunctions and adverbials, as well as editing and to improving pieces of writing using purple pens.

In science lessons the children have started learning about ‘Light and Dark’. They have talked about different sources of light. Maybe they can tell you about five different sources of light that you have in your home?

We have 10 spellings that will be sent home for the children to learn for their spelling test on Friday 15^th November.

On Monday 11^th November it is Remembrance Day. We will have a Remembrance worship in school in the morning followed by a 2 minute silence at 11am.

Remember it is Children in Need Day on Friday 15^th November.

Week: 6.  Monday 21^st October

                                      Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Every Monday the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the Friday of that week.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Thursday 24^th October.

The spelling pattern (for the last 6 words on the list below) this week is the suffix –tion.

1 Naughty

2 Ordinary

3 Peculiar

4 Possible

5 Question

6 Adoration

7 Admiration

8 Celebration

9 Conversation

10 Imagination

WC: 14/10/19

These are our highlights from the week: 

Isla: "I have enjoyed writing about the True Story of the 3 Little Pigs."

Dominik: "I have liked maths when we did the missing numbers."

Lily: "I have enjoyed adding and subtracting 1000s."

Jocee-Jo: "I enjoyed when we painted our ultimate predator."

Romani: "I liked doing handwriting."

Evie: "I enjoyed doing my handwriting because it was really fun."

This week we have been reading 'The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs'. We used role-play to act as the Wolf and a Police Officer to discuss whether the Wolf was guilty or not guilty. We have looked at features of a newspaper report ready to write a report on the Wolf next week. In topic, we have been designing and drawing the ultimate predator. We have thought about the features of animals that make them the most effective predators and tried to include them on our design. In maths, we have started learning about addition and subtraction. The year 3 children have been focusing on adding and subtracting 1s, 10s and 100s and noticing patterns. The year 4 children have been adding and subtracting 1s, 10s, 100s, and 1000s and noticing patterns. Here is some of our work: 

Week: 5.  Monday 14th October

                                      Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Every Monday the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the Friday of that week.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 18^th October.

The spelling pattern (for the last 5 words on the list below) this week is the suffix –tion.

1 business,

2 certain,

3 decide,

4 consider,

5 important,

6 invention,

7 investigation,

8 injection,

9 creation,

 10 direction.

W/C 07/10/19:

This week we have been retelling the story of Akimbo and the elephants in literacy. We also enjoyed researching about different aquatic predators and then presenting our information to the rest of the class. In Maths, we have focused on place value in year 3 and rounding in year 4. We also learnt about Roman numerals. 

These are our highlights of the week:

"I have enjoyed writing the story about Akimbo." Callum

"I liked rounding in maths to the nearest 1000." Alannah

"I have enjoyed Project Touchline when we played 'Catch the flag'." Elizabeth

"I enjoyed writing what happened to Adam and Eve when they ate the apple in RE." Emily

"I enjoyed doing handwriting this week especially when we practised the spellings." Annie-Maye

"I liked reading and acting out Danny the Champion of the World in Teaching of Reading." Sienna

"I have enjoyed Science and learning about orcas." Seb 

Week: 4.  Monday 7th October

                                      Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Every Monday the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the Friday of that week.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 11^th October.

The spelling pattern for the first 7 words this week is the suffix – able

1 comfortable

2 changeable

3 affordable

4 adorable

5 capable

6 believable

7 breathable

8 breath

9 breathe

10 believe

W/C 30/09/19

It has been another busy week at St Andrew's this week! The children have been learning all about animal skeletons and muscles. In English lessons the children have been listening to The Akimbo Adventures and following the events in the story which has taken them into the heart of Africa, onto a nature reserve with the wild animals, and introduced them to range of different characters. 

The children have been learning about expanded noun phrases,  fronted adverbials and how to correctly punctuate speech in English lessons. In maths lessons they have been learning more about place value and ordering numbers. Please can all pupils keep learning their time tables! The quicker and more confident their recall of their multiplication facts - the easier other areas of maths will become over the following weeks.

The children are still enjoying their tag rugby workshops led by Project Touchline and they have been thinking about ways in which they can demonstrate our school values both on and off of the pitch. It has been wonderful to see their enthusiasm and eagerness to get out there in all weather conditions and work together as a team. The children have been working on various pieces of art work linked to their work with Project Touchline. We will be selecting pieces to go on display next Thursday - there is still time to do more at home! The children are working towards their awards: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. 

Remember: Next Thursday 10th October is #HelloYellow Day. Letters have been sent home and the letter is also posted on the 'Latest News' section of our website which can be located under the 'Parents' drop down tab. Children can wear something yellow with their uniform (or all yellow) that day! We will be talking about ways to try and stay positive and talk about the importance of being/staying mentally fit and well as well as being/staying physically fit and well. 

Week: 3.  Monday 30th September

                                      Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Every Monday the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the Friday of that week.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 4th October.

The spelling pattern this week is the suffix: -ous.

1 dangerous

2 enormous

3 fabulous

4  hazardous 

5 famous 

6 various

7  address 

8  answer 

9 busy

10  believe 

WC 23/09/19:

This week the children have been working hard on their research skills to record information and fun facts about various predators that they have been interesting in finding out about. In English, they planned their own reports on these animals and included the key features of non-chronological reports. Finally, the children have gone onto write their reports out in neat and have published these in their Cornerstones Books. The children have also been learning about fossils and predatory plants. They were shocked to see videos of Venus fly traps and Pitcher plants in action.  

In Maths, the Y3 children have been learning how to + and - 1, 10, 100 from any number and the Y4 children have been learning how to + and - 1000 from any number. They have also been placing numbers on number lines and reasoning why numbers go where they do.

Please can children keep learning their times tables so that they can quickly and confidently recall these facts. Children should know all of their times tables by the end of year 4.

Week: 2.  Monday 23^rd September

                                      Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Every Monday the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the Friday of that week.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 27^th September

The spelling pattern this week is the suffix: -ly.

1 actual

2 actually

3 accidentally

4 occasionally

5 probably

6 simply

7 finally

8 completely

9 horribly

10 gently

W/C 16/09/19

We have had a busy week in Dolphin class and the week all kicked off with our amazing animal visitors. We loved learning about them and getting the chance to handle some of them including a royal python, gecko, hognose snake, praying mantis. In literacy, we have started looking at non-fiction features and researching predators ready to write our own fact files next week. In maths, we have been look at place value and using manipulatives to represent numbers in different ways. Here are some photos of our animal visit:   

Week: 1.  Monday 16^th September

                                      Year 3/4 Spelling Homework.

Every Monday the children in Year 3/4 will be given 10 spellings to learn. They will be tested on the Friday of that week.

Please learn the following ten spellings for a test on: Friday 20^th September

1) various

2) group

3) favourite

4) experience

5) different

6) bravely

7) nervously

8) happily

9) enjoyment

10) excitement

W/C 09/09/19

We have had a busy week of getting to know each other even better and building relationships as a class. In maths, we have spent time establishing basic expectations and explored how we handle the maths manipulatives that help us learn (such as dienes, cuisenaire and numicon). The resources were explored whilst demonstrating our place value knowledge. In Literacy, we spent time exploring our vision and what #makeadifference means to us.  We carried out our first assessed independent writing task using a video clip that was shared across the school. Some children had some very imaginative ideas to create their own stories. We also retold an exciting adventure story about Spy Fox. 

W/C 08/07/19

We've had an extremely exciting week, with the children meeting their new Year 5 teachers. They all enjoyed spending time with their new teachers and their new class. Dolphin class have also been working hard this week by writing their own Myth and Legend story, including a Legend which they designed. In maths, we have been developing our problem solving skills by completing a range of problems from Nrich. The class have worked extremely well with a different partner each day to solve the problems using perseverance and reasoning.

This week the children have been learning about the spelling rule/pattern: adding the prefix ir- and il-

Please learn to spell the following words for the Speed Spell test on Monday.

1. Irrelevant
2. Irresponsible
3. Irregular
4. Irresistible
5. Illegible
6. Illogical 

W/C 24/06/19

It has been another busy week in Dolphin class with Mathletics and end of year assessments. I am very pleased to say that our class made it onto the leaderboard for the top 50 classes in the UK, at number 23!

This week the children have been learning about the spelling rule/pattern: zhun sound spelt -sion

Please learn to spell the following words for the Speed Spell test on Monday.
1.    Invasion
2.    Explosion
3.    Division
4.    Collision
5.    Confusion
6.    Decision

W/C 17/06/19

We have been practising our sketching and shading and we created this Iroquois artwork:

We also had our amazing trip to WOEC (Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre) where we used lots of perseverance to do climbing, tunnelling, orienteering and team challenges.

'I like the tunnelling because we got to go in the ball pit and follow lots of footprints.' Sophie

'I liked the tunnelling because we got to wear headtorches and it was like exploring a real cave.' Thomas

'I liked the cave in the middle of the wolf tunnelling.' Charlotte

'The indoor climbing was my favourite because I liked the game shark attack.' James

'I liked the orienteering because it was fun finding different animals and using the map.' Indie

Here are some photos of us in action: 

W/C 10/06/19: 

This week we started our topic 'Road Trip USA!'. In Literacy, we began reading 'The Indian in the cupboard' and enjoyed describing the Indian using expanded noun phrases. In Maths, we have been learning about different measures and converting between different units e.g. litres to millilitres. In topic, we had a hunt around the school to find 14 states of America and collect tickets. We also learnt about the Iroquois including what they looked like, how they lived and what their houses looked like. We then designed our own longhouses and made them using natural materials. See below: 

WC 03/06/19:

We have kicked off Summer 2 with a 'Vision week.' Our vision is that we work to be; making a difference for good, with each other, everyone, in our community. The children have also been focused on our 3 core values which underpin our vision: love, trust and perseverance. We started by exploring the bible story Cain and Abel and thought about the importance of including everyone. The children have been very creative and have created wonderful art pieces inspired by our Values and Vision. Here are some of the pieces of work that we created: 

W/C 13/05/19

This week the children have been learning about the spelling rule/pattern: adding the prefix mis-

Please learn to spell the following words for the Speed Spell test on Monday.

1. Misbehave
2. Misplace
3. Mislead
4. Misspell
5. Misprint
6. Misunderstand

The children have been extremely excited to become news reporters in English this week. They have begun to create a newspaper article warning people about the DEMON DENTIST! In maths, we have been learning all about money. We began by converting pounds into pence, rounding and comparing money and then finished with money problems. We have had an amazing amount of junk modeling items to help make our digestive system models. We hope you are available to come to our showcase on Friday 24th May at 2pm, to have a look at them. 

W/C Monday 6th May

This week we have been continuing to read Demon Dentist and made predictions of what will happen to Alfie when he is trying to catch the infamous 'tooth snatcher.' We acted out our predictions in groups and then planned and wrote the next chapter. In maths, we have been learning about fractions which included fractions of numbers, equivalent fractions and amounts of money. In cornerstones, we have learnt body parts in French and created a poster about the importance of personal hygiene. 

W/C Monday 29th April

We had an exciting week of learning. We kicked off the week with a look at a pig's organs and we were surprised at how squishy they felt and how they were connected. We then found out about our digestive system and the function of each organ. In literacy, we drafted and published our letters to PC Plank to persuade him to arrest the wicked dentist, Miss Root. In maths, we continued our learning about telling the time which included comparing and ordering times.

We also found some shocking results to our science investigation. Orange juice had the biggest effect on the egg shell making it turn soft and decay. Below are the photos of our results: 1 - Orange juice, 2 - Fanta, 3 - Zero sugar Coca Cola, 4 - water and 5 - Milk. 

W/C Monday 22nd April:

In English, we have started reading the fantastic book by David Walliams, Demon Dentist. The children have described Miss Root using expanded noun phrases. We have looked at features of a persuasive letter and will be writing one to PC Plank to persuade him to arrest the cruel, wicked dentist. In topic, we had a look at our teeth and learnt their different names; incisors, molars, canines, premolars and wisdom. We have also started an investigation to find out how different drinks can affect your teeth. In maths this week, we have been learning about time including converting between analogue and digital time with both 12 hour and 24 hour clocks. 

Science Investigation: In each cup, we poured a different drink and placed part of an eggshell (to act as the enamel on our teeth). We are watching closely over the next week to see what happens. 

W/C Monday 1st April 2019

What a wonderful week we have had!

Talent Show.

Well done to Seal Class and to Dolphin Class who won the Talent Show last week!

All of the classes performed brilliantly. Every single pupil in Seal, Penguin, Dolphin and Whale classes were a credit to themselves, their class and to their teachers. We all enjoyed watching you share your singing and dancing skills. 

Easter Egg Hunt. 

Today, Friday, the children have been on an Easter Egg Hunt and have won various goodies after finding ten hidden eggs around the school building.  We hope that they enjoy their treats. 

Playlist Topic Showcase Afternoon. 

Thank you to all of the families who came along and supported our Playlist Topic Showcase afternoon. 

The children all sang their talent show song entries and shared their Playlist Topic books that were filled with all their learning from this term. Some of their learning has included:

- Music-inspired artwork that they created after studying work by Kandinksy and Klee. 

- Science work on 'Sound' and the science behind how we hear things. 

- Leaflets about their favourite singers and pop stars.

- English work on 'The Bear and the Piano' as well as many more lessons...

We would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter Holiday. 

From the Year 3/4 Pod 

W/C Monday 25th March 2019

On Monday Year 3 & 4 started thinking about their favourite popstars or pop groups. Then they did some further research in their IT lessons and made notes so that they could spend the rest of the week planning and drafting their own information leaflets on their favourite musicians.

On Wednesday afternoon we all had a wonderful time throughout the school. We all mixed classes to decorate crosses for an RE project being run by local churches. The children were kind and caring to one another and helped each other and shared resources. It was a lovely afternoon filled with creativity and friendship between the classes.

Finally, on Friday the Year 3 & 4 Pod are looking forward to the eagerly anticipated Talent Show that is taking place at 10am! The children have been creating their own class songs with their own individual lyrics to perform to the lucky Orca Class! The children have all worked hard on this and we’ll have to wait and see which class will become the lucky winners of this competition.

After school the children will be having a fantastic disco kindly arranged by our school’s PTA. We are all very grateful to the volunteers who put so much time and effort into providing wonderful opportunities for the children in our school.

Enjoy your weekend!

Next Week:

• Friday 2pm – Topic Showcase - a chance for you to come in and see what your child has been learning about this half term.

Times tables - remember to practise using Times Tables Rockstars: https://ttrockstars.com/

Spelling: 

The National Curriculum outlines the spelling rules that children will learn in Year 3 and Year 4:

• Use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them (such as dis– and –sure)
• Spell further homophones (such as except/accept)
• Spell words that are often misspelt
• Use the possessive apostrophe accurately (plurals)
• Use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary

See: https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/at-school/subject-guides/spelling-at-primary-school/