Topic Summary
Why is light important in religion?
Our diverse and changing community is explored as our pupils build upon their experiences of beliefs, celebrations and festivals. The children learn to embrace differences and together we celebrate the uniqueness of each child. During this topic the children learn how Hindus and Christians celebrate different festivals using special objects and artefacts. The children are immersed in the story of Rama and Sita and they begin to make links to the Hindu beliefs and practises. Children can reflect on their first-hand experiences of a visit to a Hindu Temple and they are able to make links and comparisons to their own thoughts and beliefs. This topic provides lots of opportunities to work creatively and become wonderful story writers.
In the topic we will be teaching the children the following key concepts:
- Belief - What do Hindus believe about light and dark?
- Celebrations - How do other religions celebrate light and darkness?
- Creativity - How is creativity a part of religious celebrations?
- Comparison - Where in Europe would you like to live?
Trips/Experiences
- Friday 15th November - Children in Need Children
- Wednesday November 20th - Visit from Author Vashti Hardy
- Wednesday 4th December - Visit to Hindu Temple
- Friday 13th December - Year 3 carols at 2:45pm
- Tuesday 17th December - Christmas Jumper Day and Decorations Day
Subject Information
English
Using our topic as inspiration, we will be improving our writing skills by focusing on the use of descriptive phrases to lengthen our sentences. We will also learn to add commas after fronted adverbials and will be developing our use of paragraphs around a theme.
The children will be taught skills to proof read their work looking for common errors and think about how it could be improve. They will learn to make suggestions about their own work and other peoples. We will then use these writing skills to write a narrative, focusing on the story of Rama and Sita. Our narrative will focus on creating setting, characters and plots.
During Guided Reading we will focus on the text ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’, further developing our love for reading through shared storytelling and comprehension questions.
In the run up to Christmas we will be completing some work around our whole school text, The Christmas Pine. Although fictional, the story is based on the true journey of a tree and how it makes its way to Trafalgar Square in London every year.
Key Texts
- Rama and Sita, The story of Diwali.
- The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson
- The Christmas Pine
Maths
This half term we will be building upon our knowledge of place value and will learn how to:
- Add and subtract numbers mentally, including three digit numbers.
- Add and subtract numbers with up to three digits, using formal written methods of column addition and subtraction
- Estimate the answer to a calculation and use inverse operations to check answers.
- Solve problems, including missing number problems, using number facts, place value, and more complex addition and subtraction.
- We will also be recognising the values of different coins and converting between pounds and pence. We will use our addition and subtraction knowledge to work out how much we spend, and how much change we should get.
Science
In Science, we will be studying the topic of light. We will:
- Recognise that we need light to see things, and that dark is the absence of light.
- Notice that light is reflected from surfaces.
- Recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect our eyes.
- Recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object.
- Find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change.
Geography
In Geography, we will be comparing Greece with the UK. We will be exploring the impact of location on vegetation, food, culture and tourism. We will look at the relationship between physical and human Geography through a case study on Kefalonia, whilst practising our map skills and investigate the changes in tourism.
PSHE and RE
In PSHE this half term we will be exploring the enquiry question ‘What keeps us safe?’
We will discuss the impact of bullying, including offline and online, and the consequences of hurtful behaviour for the people involved. We will talk about privacy and personal boundaries. We will also be reading the No Outsiders book ‘Introducing Teddy’ by Jessica Walton and Dougal Macpherson.
In RE we will learn about Hindism, beliefs and practices. We will visit a Hindu temple to learn about Hinduism, beliefs and practises. After listening to the Rama and Sita story, the children will discuss the different messages in it, which ones they agree with and why. The children will explore the enquiry question ‘What are the most important similarities and differences between Christmas and Diwali?’
Art
We will be focusing on the art by Mark Hearld, an English artist whose work is inspired by the Flora and Fauna of the British Countryside. We will be focusing on collage, developing techniques such as coiling, over-lapping and tessellation. We will learn how to mix contrasting textures and layer materials with different media.
We will then apply these techniques to create an effective collage.
Computing
In Computing we will be learning about the concepts of networks and learn how devices communicate. We will be identifying components, understand how information is shared and explore examples in the real world.
If you would like any further details about this half term's curriculum in Year 3, please speak to your child's teacher.
Credits:
Created with images by • undefined - Beautiful Multicolored floating lanterns in the water in Chinese or Japanese style • undefined - Colorful clay diya lamps with flowers on purple background • undefined - White architecture of Oia village on Santorini island, Greece • undefined - Creative Atmosphere art mood board collage sheet in color idea blue ,green, aqua and turquoise made of teared magazines and printed matter paper with colors and textures • undefined - Tennis, Tennis Ball, Backgrounds. • undefined - Hand writing on a blackboard in a language class with the word "Spanish" written on it. Some books and school materials. • Sergey Nivens - Music background