Year 3 and 4Parent Workshop

28.10.19

Meet the teamMr Norman – Phase Leader; Year 4 morning group

Miss Stephens – Class Teacher; Year 4 morning group

Miss Lantsbery – Class Teacher; Year 3 morning group

Mrs Groves – Class Teacher; Year 3 morning group

Mrs Scott – Year 4 Teaching Assistant

Mrs Adams – Year 3 Teaching Assistant

Mrs Murphy – Intervention teacher

Mrs Tidmarsh – Year 4 Lunchtime Supervisor

Mrs Clarkson – Year 3 Lunchtime Supervisor

Reading in LKS2We teach whole class guided reading for a minimum of three 30 minute sessions each weekin single year groups.

We pre-teach new vocabulary before reading each chapter.

First we model good reading, then the children read aloud in pairs or groups, and finally they read independently. We have class sets of our guided reading books.

We check for understanding by targeting questions, and at least once a week the children complete a written comprehension task.

Reading in LKS2Children have 15 minutes of quiet reading every afternoon; teachers aim to listen toas many readers as possible in this time.

Target children read with an adult 5 times per week.

We always welcome parent volunteers to listen to readers!

We currently have two but would love to have more ☺

Reading at homeIt is our hope that children read a minimum of 5 times per week at home.

Being a fluent and confident reader helps children in all areas of the curriculum.

Encourage your child to break the word down if they’re stuck. Use the pictures for clues too!

Reading at homeDiscuss the meaning of new words with your child – encourage them to use a dictionarywhen needed!

Ask your child to make predictions or work out a character’s motives and feelings.

Encourage your child to summarise their story and sequence events to support their understanding.

A list of high-quality, recommended reads peryear group has been sent home and is availableon the school website.

Phonics

We follow the Read Write Inc scheme for phonics in MHCEA.

In Key Stage Two most children will have completed the phonics program,however a small group take part in a phonics intervention program once a week.

We still encourage all children to 'use their phonics' when breaking down tricky wordsin reading and writing.

Some words or phrases your child may mention:

Phoneme – a single sound

'Special friends' (digraph or trigraph) - two or more letters that make a single sound, such as ea or igh .Split digraphs have one or more letters in between the two letters that make a sound, such as a-e, cake

Grapheme – the letter(s) that make up a single sound when written down.

Sound button – dots and dashes written underneath words to support sounding out.Dots represent a single letter sound and dashes represent 'special friends.'

Ditty – a little phrase that helps children to remember the sound (oa - goat in a boat.)

Fred talk – to break a word down into sounds (segment) and then put them back together to say the whole word (blend)

Spelling in LKS2We teach spelling in year groups.

We teach a new spelling rule each week and practise writing the 10 spelling wordsthree times per week. We then play games with their spelling words to support their learning.

Children are expected to learn the spelling rules as well as the Year 3 and 4 common exception words.

The LKS2 spelling lists often make up the majority of the spelling test in Year 6 SATs!

Spelling at homeWe encourage the children to continue practising their spellings at home.

Can they think of any new words that fit their spelling rule?

Try writing them in different colours, rolling a dice to see how many times they need to write them, making a spelling scribble, playing hangman, creating a word search or a cross word. You could create silly sentences or poems too.

For more active learners, children could write their words in chalk outside and jump on to them, or write letters and jump to each letter as you call out a word.

There are lots of brilliant ideas on Pinterest! ☺

English We teach English 5 times per week in year groups.

English planning has 3 main objectives – writing to entertain, writing to inform or writing to persuade.

Units are based around a high-quality stimulus; such as a book, image, video or poem.

Children learn how to write descriptions, narratives, biographies, letters, diaries, recounts, information texts, adverts and we also teach performance poetry.

GaPS is taught within each unit, it is delivered in a combination of discrete sessions and as required within other lesson objectives.

Some key phrases you might hear and be boggled by…(!)

Fronted Adverbial - words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence, used to describe the action that follows

Expanded noun phrase – a group of words that take the place of a single noun or pronoun (he/she/they/name). Often considered a describing word before a noun.

Main clause and subordinate clause

Prefix, suffix, root word – a root word is the base of the word. Prefix come before the root word, suffix come after the root word.

Homophone – two words that sound the same but have different meaning and spelling.

Homonym – two words are spelt the same but have different meaning.

HandwritingOur whole school uses the Letter-join scheme for handwriting.

Most children in LKS2 are expected to be using joined up, cursive writing.

Some children are still perfecting their letter formation and for those we still like them to be printing, using pre-

Children that are not yet joining are part of a weekly handwriting intervention group.

Maths We teach maths five times per week in year groups.

Lessons include a mixture of fluency, reasoning and problem solving questions.

We follow the small steps of the White Rose scheme for maths and take elements from other high-quality sources.

We focus on making connections, finding patterns,generalising and using variation in our questioning in order tobuild deep conceptual understanding.

Continuous formative assessment helps ensure children keep up.

Maths Children encounter concrete, pictorial and abstract representations in maths. We often start new units using physical objects to introduce concepts.

Pictorial representations help children to solve problems such as part-whole and bar models.

Maths We challenge children to think mathematically and often ask:

What do you notice?

What’s the same? What’s different?

What’s your conjecture?

Convince me…

We encourage children to reason both verbally and in books using full sentences.

Methods we use

Carry the 10

Column addition

We use the word ‘exchange’ not borrow for subtraction!

Column subtraction

Methods we use

Short multiplication and division

Times Tables

This year, the government has introduced a times table assessment for all children in Year 4. The test is completed on a computer and there is a set time limit per question.

Times TablesBy the end of KS1 it is our aim that all children know their 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Many children are also confident with their 3 times table.

In year 3 we work on their 3, 4 and 8 times tables. For those that are confident we introduce the 6 times table.

In year 4 we consolidate these and introduce the 6, 9, 12, 7 and 11 times tables.

PEPE is taught in mixed year groups with our sports coach Mr Douglas.

Autumn – Netball and Tag Rugby

Spring - Football and Hockey

Summer – Cricket, Athletics and Rounders

In the Spring term we will also have a dance unit delivered by Mrs Hughes.

PEChildren are encouraged to participate in the many sports clubs we have at MHCEA, including:

Monday – Cross Country and Dance

Tuesday - Track and Field

Wednesday – Basketball

Thursday - Football

Tuesday lunchtime – Football

ThemeEach half-term we introduce a new theme topic to the children.

We have 3 afternoon sessions dedicated to theme each week. Theme is taught in 3 mixed 3/4 classes.

We aim to increase the children’s skills and knowledge across all areas, and the school curriculum map builds on each skill year on year.

ThemeWe have two history topics, three science topics and one geography topic each year. We will have one experience day or trip per topic.

We also have 4 stand-alone creative weeks each year, dedicated to Spanish and Art & Design. These weeks are off-timetable for all other subjects.

We have one music session per week delivered by Mrs Farmer.

Later in the year, Years 3 and 4 will be taking part in ukulele and recorder lessons.

Year 4 will also have the exciting opportunity to go on our two-night residential in April.

Term: Autumn Spring Summer

1st half British History: Invaders and Settlers

Experience: Saxon Day

Geography: Mountains, Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Experience: Virtual Reality day

Local History: Now and Then

Experience: English HeritageVisitor

2nd half Science: What do I look like on the inside?

Experience: Dentist visitor

Science: How do plants get what they need to grow?

Experience: Botanical Gardens visit

Science: Are all rocks the same?

Experience: National Stone Centre visit

HomeworkEach year group sets their own homework.

Children are given homework on a Friday and the task is modelled and explained.

Homework is due back into school by the following Thursday.

Please ensure your child has their book is in school on a Friday to stick in their new homework.

• We expect all children to complete their homework task.

• We alternate English and Maths tasks each week.

• Each task is intended to be open-endedand accessible to all.

Your child is encouraged to try their bestto demonstrate their understanding.

Snack TimeSnacks are not provided by the school in KS2.

Children are expected to bring in a healthy snack such as fruit and vegetables, crackers or cereal bars.

Sweets, crisps and chocolate are not allowed.

Toast is available for sale in the hall for 20p per slice, except on Thursdays.

Children should put their rubbish in the litter bins provided.

We encourage children to use this time to have a large drink too, please ensure your child has a water bottle in school. Weak squash is permitted if your child does not like water. Cups are available in all LKS2 classroom sink areas.

Years 3 and 4 don’t eat in the hall until around 12.30 at lunch time, so it is vital that they are provided witha snack for the mid-morning break.

Recommended books and sites How to be Good at Maths, Carol Vorderman

Usborne Junior illustrated Grammar and Punctuation

Oxford Primary Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Dictionary

www.theschoolrun.com