Introducing the Year 3 mascot

The votes were cast and counted, the numbers crunched and the local press informed. With 58 per cent of the vote, her name is ...

Our 'mini iceburg' melting experiment!

We did a science experiment testing whether our hands, the heater or some warm water melted ice the quickest. Which melted quickest and why do you think this is?

Warm water

Heater

Hands

Money matters ...

This week we have been learning all about money! We did an investigation where we were given a budget and we needed to decide which items we were able to afford. 

What items did you buy and how much did they cost? Did you have any money left over?

What happens next?

Late last night, I spotted two young children shivering underneath a large oak tree. They looked lost and my tummy was rumbling!

Can you write the next paragraph in this story? Remember to write in role.

How will you convince the children to come with you?
(Remember your gingerbread house!)

What do you plan to do with them?

You choose!

If you would like to write a post on the blog about something that could help our learning let us know. It could be about a recent school trip, or something we have been learning at school. Maybe you have a maths challenge for Year 3 to try!

Dora the Storer

Today Year 3 took the number 35 bus all the way to London Bridge. After a short walk along Tooley Street, we reached the Unicorn Theatre. Here we saw the play Dora based on the original story by Helen East.

Dora is a storer. You could even call her a hoarder. Birdcages and books, bicycles and balls, boxes and biscuit tins, Dora finds and keeps everything. But, trapped in her bed by the rising sea of clutter, Dora realised something had to go!

Dora bundles up her belongings and donates them to a jumble sale. After this exhausting process she is left with just a bed and chair, but finally looks happy and free! Year 3 were lucky enough to visit the jumble sale and picked up some of her old belongings.

What did you think of the play?

Is there something that you would like to donate to charity?

Can you think of an object that you would never give away because it is too precious?

Something to crow about ...

Brain buster!

The witch used 20 biscuits to decorate the roof of her house.

She lined them up and put icing on every second biscuit.

Then, she put a cherry of every third biscuit.

Then, she put a chocolate button on every fourth biscuit.

How many biscuits had no decorations on top?

Did any biscuits have all three decorations on top?

Maths games

Check out these maths websites now and over half term. They all have plenty of games linked to our learning:

Crick Web

Maths Zone

Times Tables

BBC Bitesize Maths

Hansel and Gretel

Spitalfields the movie

Coming to blog near you ...

Name our mascot

We would like to introduce our Year 3 mascot! At present our striped friend has no name. Can you think of one? 

Look closely and think of imaginative words and phrases to describe the mascot. What kind of animal is it? Is it a boy or girl? Will the mascot have a nickname, like the 'caped crusader'? 

Once we have picked the top five names, there will be an online poll to decide the winner. 

Book talk

A number of you have asked who my favourite author is. The answer is Roald Dahl. He had an amazing imagination and his books were like modern fairy tales. Like the Brothers Grimm, Dahl's books are sometimes dark and grotesque. However, they are also well-written, humorous and very entertaining. The heroes (children) break free from their cruel oppressors (adults) and go on to have the most amazing adventures. Good triumphs in the end!

Roald Dahl was born in Cardiff in 1916 and died in Oxford in 1990. In World War 2, Dahl joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and learned to fly warplanes. He wrote 21 books for children, including picture books, novels and poetry collections. He also wrote the screenplays for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. In the UK alone, the total number of Roald Dahl books sold is more than 50 million.

Who is your favourite author and why? Do you have a favourite book?

A Grimm search ...

One student requested a word search on our blog and here it is! 

Are there any other suggestions for our blog?

Recorders

"How could I bring myself to leave my children alone in the forest?"

There are a number of different authors who have written versions of Hansel and Gretel. Each author represents or shows characters in slightly different ways. Here are four images of Hansel and Gretel's dad, taken from four different books. Have a look at them ...

Image 1: The dad as portrayed by Anthony Browne

Image 2: The dad as portrayed in the Ladybird book.

Image 3: The dad as portrayed by Michael Morpurgo
and Emma Chichester Clark

Image 4: The dad as portrayed by the Brothers Grimm

Think about the following questions and post your thoughts!

1) What do you think of the different versions?

2) If you were an author, what approach would you use to represent the dad?

3) What conclusions can you draw from the images of dad?

4) How would you adapt or change the images of dad? 

5) Compare these images. What is similar? What differs?

6) Have you found any alternative images of dad in different books?

We have copies of all 4 of these books in Year 3. Maybe you could have a little look at how the other characters are represented during your time in the book corner! Why don't you share your ideas with your friends in the playground?

"It's all right now, little sister. Go back to sleep."

This picture shows Hansel and Gretel's stepmother hovering over the children's bed just before they awoke to be taken into the deepest part of the forest.

1) How do you think the stepmother felt in this picture? Why do you think this?

2) If you could interview her here, what would you want to ask her?

The sleepless night

Year 3 used roleplay to explore the conversation Hansel and Gretel had the night before they were taken into the forest. Watch our video to see our ideas.

The breadcrumb trail ...

Hansel used breadcrumbs to help remember his route through the forest. You could use landmarks or memorable objects to help guide you. These could then be used to create your own map of Syndenham Hill Wood.

Here are some landmarks from the wood, can you remember any more?

Snooping around Dulwich

No sleep for the hungry

One night, when too hungry to sleep, Hansel and Gretel heard their stepmother convincing their father to leave them in the forest the next morning. "They will never find their way home, and we'll be rid of them," she said.

Why do you think the stepmother said this? How do you think the children felt?

What would be your advice to Hansel and Gretel?

How would the children have felt on that long, cold night?

A Road to Dulwich

Finally, we got to see the painting by Nicolaes Berchem called the A Road Through a Wood, at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Would the picture have looked any different 450 years ago when it was originally painted? 
How did you feel when you saw the painting in real life?

Sydenham Hill Wood

Sydenham Hill Wood, a set on Flickr.

Check out our flickr page for photos of our trip to Sydenham Hill Wood.