12 days of Christmas maths problem

In Willow maths set we gave the children the highly challenging task of working out how many presents a person would receive if they received all of the presents from the Christmas carol '12 Days of Christmas'.

They needed to use their logical reasoning skills and systematically add each day at a time.

Sadly no one managed to complete the mammoth task within the lesson, but Aimiee was not going to give up that easily!

She continued to challenge herself at home and found the right answer! Amazing resilience Aimee!

In case you were wondering, the answer was 364!

Design & technology Moving toys.

Our project has been to design a moving toy for a younger child. We had to decided which type of lever we would be using either a first or second class and work to a specific brief. As we created our toys it was necessary to be able to modify our designs and reflect upon our own work and that of others.

Here are the pictures of our work.

A Christmas Carol by the fire

After our Christmas parties, Year 3 headed to the fire pit to listen to one of the best known Christmas stories - A Christmas Carol.

Intently, the children listened to the story of Scrooge and how is night with 3 Christmas ghosts changed him...

Christmas jumper day!

It's Christmas jumper day at Broadford and the children are looking spectacular!

Twins in matching tops!

Santas and their helpers.

We even have a walking Christmas tree!

Merry Christmas from everyone in Willow class!

Project Superstar

Olivia has been working incredibly hard at home this week writing out her own set of instructions on how to capture a dragon. She remembered to use all of the features we have discussed in class and produced a great piece of writing!

As if that wasn't enough, she also made a model cinema from scratch!

Keep up the amazing work at home Olivia!

Project Superstars in Willow

Well done to Daniel and Ramone in Willow class who have been working incredibly hard on furthering their learning at home.

Ramone drafted his Big Write last night on writing instructions to capture a dragon. I am so excited to see what he produces today! 

Daniel has been working very hard on his times tables. He went all the way to the 20 x table! We will have to get Mr Drakes in to race against you very soon during rock stars!

Keep up the amazing work at home boys!

Practical maths

This week we have been learning about the properties of 3D shapes, today we had a go at making some.

We then had to look carefully at our shape and answer the following questions.

Willow maths set hunt for some 3D shapes

Today Willow maths set have been learning all about 3D shapes and their technical names. 

We conducted a mathematical investigation by exploring outside to see how many 3D shapes we could find.

Eriya, Finley and Deniz found a cylinder almost immediately!

David then managed to find a cuboid on the bench.

Deniz even managed to find a hemisphere. "I didn't need to look very hard for a hemisphere, because we were standing on one!" Deniz

Leo then found a cone, which he was very excited about!

In the end we all found an octagonal prism in the form of a hut. "Say octagonal prism children!"

All of Willow maths set have now been tasked with seeing how many 3D shapes they can find at home. I look forward to their results!

Willow's Star Writer

The Star Writer in Willow class this week is Ramone. He wrote an exciting set of instructions on how to capture a dragon. 

I loved the different adjectives he used to describe the dragon and the equipment he would need to capture it. I particularly loved the way he thought of using a sword made out of obsidian to defeat the fire-breathing dragon! Great thinking Ramone!

Language of the Term

Wow! Emily has produced a fantastic sculpture of a Polish church at home. We are very pleased to see that you are researching at home to support you work at school.

Emily's model

The original church

Willow class learn all about Germination

Today, Willow class conducted some practical science experiments to help with their understanding of germination. 

First, the children dissected a bean and identified where the shoot and the root were.

Then, they planted Mung beans ensuring that they all had the right amount of warmth, water and oxygen so that all the seeds could germinate.

"I knew I mustn't water the plant too much just in case it drowned" Sacha.

I really forward to seeing the results of germination after Christmas!

Measuring the playground in Willow maths set

Today the children of year 3 had the mammoth task of measuring the entire playground!

Equipped with their trundle wheels, they were ready to begin!

They knew that they had to listen very carefully to the click on their trundle wheel which indicated every time they had passed one metre. The children took the task incredibly seriously and exhibited some super concentration and clear reciprocity skills. 

In the end, the children concluded that the length of the playground was roughly 60m!

Great job Willow maths set!

Instructional writing in Burch Class

Today in Birch Class the children began exploring the key features of instructional text. The children had a chance to carry out a set of instructions but these instructions had many errors, which made the task incredibly difficult to complete. 

Following this the children had the chance to reflect on why the instructions where so difficult to follow. 

Once given a correctly structured set of instructions the children were enthusiastically able to complete the task. This gave them an opportunity to justify why the key features of instructional text are so important.

Willow class advising Gertrude in Literacy

This week in Willow class, we have been working on writing instructional texts. Today, the children had the task to advise Gertrude on how she could improve the instructions she had written.

The children provided some insightful comments on how to improve Gertrude's writing by applying all they had learnt on instructional texts. 

Some children advised Gertrude to be specific with her instructions whilst others advised her to up-level her sentences by using adverbs of manner.

I'm now so excited to see the amazing instructions Willow class are going to produce in their Big Write on Friday. Great job Willow class!