Week Ending 22/02/17

Even though it has only been three days, we in Year 3 have been busier than ever on our Topic!

We have been learning this week about the Roman invasion of Britain. When Claudius came to power after the assassination of Caligula he was seen as a weak Emperor due to his limp and slight deafness. He wanted to show his people that he could be strong.  He decided that conquering the land of Britannia (now known as Britain) would be his route to adoration.

In AD43 he sent Aulus Plautius with forty-five thousand Roman soldiers to conquer Britain. Julius Caesar had attempted this one hundred years earlier and had failed. The Ancient Romans believed that Britain was a strange and mythical place surrounded by sea monsters.

When that turned out not to be true, the Romans found something much more strange and deadly: the tribes of Britain!

These tribes included the Silures, the Atrebates and the Catuvellauni. The chieftain of the Catuvellauni's was a man known as Caratacus. Caratacus was a warrior who would not be trampled by the Romans. He led battles and was known for his bravery. He was also, according to the historian Tacitus an eloquent speaker who after his capture and captivity in Rome delivered an eloquent speech to Claudius where he managed to secure his and his families' freedom. Here is his speech:

"If the degree of my nobility and fortune had been matched by moderation in success, I would have come to this City as a friend rather than a captive, nor would you have disdained to receive with a treaty of peace one sprung from brilliant ancestors and commanding a great many nations. But my present lot, disfiguring as it is for me, is magnificent for you. I had horses, men, arms, and wealth: what wonder if I was unwilling to lose them? If you wish to command everyone, does it really follow that everyone should accept your slavery? If I were now being handed over as one who had surrendered immediately, neither my fortune nor your glory would have achieved brilliance. It is also true that in my case any reprisal will be followed by oblivion. On the other hand, if you preserve me safe and sound, I shall be an eternal example of your clemency."

For a full list of tribes, please follow this LINK.

If you would like to play some interactive games about the Welsh Celtic tribes, please follow this LINK.

And if you would like to see a learn more about the invasion of Britain by the Ancient Romans, please see the documentary below:

Mr Ieuan and Mr Chris would like to wish you all a happy holiday and a happy Defenders Day for tomorrow.

Week Ending 17/02/17

The penultimate week of the Winter term and we have been busier than ever!

In Topic this week we have been learning extensively about the Colosseum.

The Colosseum was built by Emperor Vespasian before being finished by his son, the Emperor Titus. The Colosseum was designed to host blood sports and the most popular of these were gladiatorial fights. The Colosseum was built from funds generated by the spoils of war. Slaves taken from far off lands would come to Rome to work on the fields, or the dreaded quarries known colloquially as "The Pit" or as gladiators. But, we were surprised to learn that there were freemen of Rome who would sell their freedom to fight as gladiators (possible reasons for this were to settle gambling debts or for fame).

We have been learning that the floor on which the gladiators fought on was made of wood and covered with sand. Underneath this floor was the hypogeum where animals would come out to be used as sport or to be used against criminals and slaves.

Please see below for a fascinating documentary which shows architects, mathematicians and historians coming together to place into the hypogeum of the Colosseum today a device for lifting up animals to the stage!

In English this week we have been analysing poetry via the work of Kenn Nesbitt (former American children's Poet Laureate). We have been looking extensively at his poem, The Dragon on The Playground. 

There’s a dragon on the playground

who descended from the skies.

He swooped down on the schoolyard

where he took us by surprise.

He leapt across the blacktop

in a single bounding stride,

erupting flames and lava

to incinerate the slide.

He reared his huge and scaly head

and flapped his leathery wings,

then set the soccer field ablaze

and blackened all the swings.

He cauterised the asphalt

with a sudden, fiery flash.

Then reeled upon the seesaw

and converted it to ash.

He melted all the monkey bars.

The sand was molten glass.

With nothing left to liquefy

he headed for our class.

I doubt we’ll soon be rid of him

despite the fires he’s set.

You see, our teacher likes him,

so he’s now the teacher’s pet.

Through looking at this poem we have been seeing all the ways Mr Nesbitt has tried to paint a picture of an interesting story and how he has achieved this by his writing and craft. We noticed that Mr Nesbitt wrote his poem on an ABAB alternate rhyming scheme. A rhyming scheme is a form of poetry where patterns are formed through the rhyming of key words. If we look at the second stanza of the above poem we can see where Mr Nesbitt used the ABAB rhyming scheme:

He leapt across the blacktop

in a single bounding stride,

erupting flames and lava

to incinerate the slide.

We have discovered one of the reasons that poets choose this way of writing their poems is to make their poems more memorable with a smooth end with words which through their rhyming repetition make the poem catchy. We have also been looking at what makes the poem interesting with Mr Nesbitt's word choices and deciphering their meaning: descended; cauterised; molten are just some words that we have been using our dictionary to understand. If you are looking for a good dictionary online, please follow this LINK for the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary (there are audio files for each and every word so you can hear exactly how they are supposed to sound). This LINK will take you to dictionary.com which has a word of the day...every day! And if you are looking to buy one in print, Mr Chris would highly recommend purchasing the Oxford English Dictionary.

This week in Maths we have stepped up our knowledge and use of angles by finding and accurately measuring angles of a 2D floor plan of a building. We have been taking our time and have tried hard to understand and measure precisely angles which we find constantly in our everyday life.

If you would like to measure some angles for yourself, please see these floor plans below:

Week Ending 10/02/17

This week we have been learning a diversity of skills and knowledge in our three main areas.

In Topic we have begun to learn about Ancient Roman religion. We have been comparing the differences between most modern day religions and the religious beliefs of the Ancient Roman people. Today, the most common religions are monotheistic which means that people believe in one god. The Ancient Romans were polytheistic which means that they believed in many gods. Their gods were also unlike the god of monotheism. Their gods were more like a family friend who (depending on what was needed or wanted) were given gifts and offerings for the desire of the person's prayer. These gods were designated by what they could give people. Some examples are: Neptune the god of the sea and the protector of ships. Minerva the goddess of wisdom and the arts. Vulcan the god of fire and volcanoes.

We have also learnt that like other areas of life, the Ancient Romans took from the Ancient Greeks as you can see from this table below:

If you would like to understand more about the Ancient Roman religion, please see this video:

In Maths we have been learning about angles. An angle is the space between two planes which is measured in the number of degrees it rotates around a central point. We have not only been learning how to measure angles by using a protractor but we have been drawing angles too! We have learnt about the four common types of angle:

A Right angle is an angle which is equal to 90 degrees:

An Acute angle is one that is one that is less than 90 degrees:

An Obtuse angle is one that is bigger than 90 degrees but smaller than 180 degrees:

Reflex angles are angles measuring greater than 180 degrees and less than 360 degrees:

In our quest to discover more about angles and to learn how to find and measure angles of varying degrees we have been designing floor plans for our very own hotels!

In English this week we have been practising our handwriting by copying out the work of the poet Kenn Nesbitt. In particular we have enjoyed his poem Mr. Brown The Circus Clown...

Mr. Brown, the circus clown
puts his clothes on upside down.
He wears his hat upon his toes
and socks and shoes upon his nose.

He ties his ties around his thighs
and wraps his belt around his eyes.
He hangs his earrings from his hips
and stockings from his fingertips.

He puts his glasses on his feet
and shirt and coat around his seat.
And when he's dressed, at last he stands
and walks around upon his hands.

If you would like to hear Kenn Nesbitt read his own poem, please follow this LINK. And if you are looking for some more poems as funny and well written then please have a look at Kenn Nesbitt's wonderful website. There are also some fun games such as MY WORD and TYPING ASTEROIDS II.

Week Ending 03/02/17

This week has been one of change in Year Three but we are working as hard as ever!

This week has been Arts Week. On Monday we were divided into groups amongst Years Two, Three and Four.

With Ms Catrin and Ms Lana we made our own masks.

With Mr Daniel we were given a segmented picture of a teacher's face and from there we had to draw in the other half of our teacher's face.

With Mr Chris we learnt how to make a friendship bracelet. If you too would like to make your own friendship bracelet, please ask us. We've had a lot of practise!

Art week has inspired our classes this week.

In English we have been learning about instructional writing. We have learnt that when we write instructions we are not to presume that our reader knows what we are intending for them to learn. We must assume that our reader has no knowledge of what they are about to do (which in the case of our instructions is that we are informing the reader on how to make a friendship bracelet). We start by telling our reader what they need (the materials they will need to make their own friendship bracelets). We then tell our reader in specific and direct language the measurable steps they need to take to make their project real. We know what the aim is and so we have written down all the steps clearly so the reader can accomplish making a friendship bracelet of their own.

In Maths we have also been learning about estimation by using our mosaic (see below) which we have been making in our Topic classes. We have understood that while we may not know the answer we are taking an educated guess by estimating. So, we saw the size of one tile for our mosaic against the circular wooden board that was to be made on and then estimated how many tiles will be used in total to make our mosaic. When the mosaic is hanging on the wall we will count and see who was right! If you would like to have some go's with estimating, please follow this link:

ESTIMATION GAMES

In Topic we have been making our very own Roman inspired mosaic. We first started by researching mosaics...

We then drew our own mosaic inspired by what we had learnt...

We then worked together as a republic to filter through the best elements of our designs...

We then collectively started to design our class mosaic...

With our design in place we began to make it a reality...

We are very proud of our mosaic and are looking forward to it being hung on the wall! If you would like to see some mosaics for yourself, Mr Chris would highly recommend the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum which has a wonderful collection of Greek and Roman artefacts and art...

This week we have also been practising our team building skills. We did this with two very important sessions. Firstly, we found something to compliment each other and ensured that everyone had a turn...

We then went to the sports hall where we had to move from one island to another using only small items as rafts. Once on our new island we had to make sure that our rafts came to the island with us. No one was allowed to touch the gym floor (the dreaded sea!) and everyone had to get to the island (which we all did!)...

Finally, twice a week on Tuesday and Friday morning we have been learning about art with Mr Chris. We started in the week by looking at different artists and types of art before drawing the same item (a toy rabbit) in different styles of famous artists (from Da Vinci to Warhol). We then looked at the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and have attempted some drawings of our own inspired by this artist who worked in the genre of abstract art.

If you would like to see some art by Kandinsky, the Pushkin Fine Art Museum has some of his work on display until 12th February.

Week Ending 27/01/17

Another week and another load of work accomplished! We have been busy looking at time and space and everything in between!

In Maths we started looking at time: how to tell it and the different ways it can be told. We looked at the differences between analogue and digital time. In analogue time we learnt the difference between a.m (ante meridiem which is Latin for before midday) and p.m. (post meridiem which is Latin for after midday). Each period in analogue time consists of one period from 1 - 12. In the morning we have to have put a.m. at the end of our numerical representation of time. So, one o'clock in the morning becomes 1:00 a.m. If we are talking about any time on noon or after it up until midnight then we must write p.m. So, one o'clock in the afternoon becomes 1:00 p.m.

In digital time we have been introduced to the concept of the twenty-four hour clock. In digital time a twenty four hour day is divided up into twenty-four parts. There are two differences in this way of telling time compared to that of the analogue way of telling time. Midnight is represented as 00:00. The hours that run from this move incrementally one at a time to midday. So, in digital time one o'clock in the morning is represented as 01:00. After midday in digital time we do not have a.m. or p.m. but time still moves forward! As the hours pass by after midday so does our digital clock...so, one o'clock in digital time becomes 13:00. We have not been scared by this new adventure into telling the time and if you feel brave enough to tell the time with an analogue clock, try this game:

BANG ON TIME!

In English this week we have been learning about speech marks and the punctuation we use in speech marks. We have learnt that whenever anyone speaks we need to show this by using not only speech marks but the correct speech mark. When a character or person starts to speak we use opening speech marks: “ .  When the character has finished speaking we use closing speech marks: ”. We also learnt that before we use our closing speech marks we must always use punctuation to denote either the way the words have been spoken or punctuation that signals if we are telling the reader who is speaking. The punctuation we use is either a question mark ? or an exclamation mark ! or a comma , which we always use before we close them to tell our reader who has been speaking and finally we have a full stop . which we use whenever we are finishing a line of dialogue with no need to write who has spoken.

In our Topic lessons we have been finishing up the reasons why Rome was geographically situated where it was (which we have told the whole school about in our assembly today!). We started this week to look at the differences between an Empire and a Republic. We learnt that in a Republic people had been given the chance to vote (although in Roman times it was only men who could vote for men) where an empire was a vast area of land ruled by one person called an Emperor. We focused mostly this week on the Republic which involved the male citizens of Rome and who worked to pass decrees in either the capacity of assemblies or the Senate. To get an idea of the nature of how these committees worked we looked both at a painting (Cicero Denounces Catiline, by Cesare Maccari) representing the Senate...

And Prime Minister's Questions from Britain to get a sense of what Ancient Roman politics would have sounded like:

At the height of the Roman Empire it looked like this:

If you are interested in learning more about the differences between a Republic and an Empire please click this link.

Week Ending 20/01/17

This week in Year Three we have been storming into our work! Running forward and learning new things and challenging ourselves. If we were Romans we would say: Carpe Diem (Seize the day) and our teachers would say Docendo discimus (By teaching we learn).

And so it is with the Romans that we begin this report of the week. We finished our studying of Romulus and Remus: the myth creation of how Rome was founded. From here we started to learn about the real founding of Rome. Looking at a map of Italy we discussed why it was that Rome was built where it was. We learned about the Tiber river and how this provided sustenance (fish) and clean drinking water as well as being used for transporting goods. We also saw that Rome is geographically situated in the middle of the peninsula making it an ideal spot for trade and for what the Romans later loved to do - conquer! In this, being by the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Romans were able to venture forth into what is now Africa, Monaco and Spain. We discussed why the Romans built their city on seven hills, giving them strategical dominance over any one who would be invading them.

We also discussed Greco-Roman architecture. This is architecture of the Roman world which followed the principles and disciplines of the Greeks. We looked at aqueducts and columns which can be found in different areas of the world (something we will look at later).

If you would like to look at a brief history of the founding of Rome, please see this video (the commentator is trying to be funny - ignore that):

As part of our Topic work we have made a display showing the evolution of Rome while incorporating the story of Romulus and Remus in our own words:

This week during morning stretch we have been focusing on teamwork. We have been assigned to move just one person from our team to get from one island to another but with the caveat that we must only use our hands! Through this we have been discussing many different ideas and trying to solve, together, the big task that we've been set. While we haven't been able to (as yet) crack this we are determined to do so!

In English we have been learning about apostrophes. We have been writing down examples of apostrophes that we have found in our guided reading books and have then explained why the apostrophe has been used. We discovered that there are two common ways that apostrophes are used: contractions and possessives. Contraction apostrophes are when two words are joined together, such as: can not becomes can't; it is becomes it's and will not becomes won't (a tricky one). Possessive apostrophes are used most commonly when we are talking of someone's possession where we add an apostrophe and an s. These are some examples: a rugby ball belonging to Mr Ieuan becomes Mr Ieuan's ball, a purple doll belonging to Sara becomes Sara's purple doll. One exception to this rule is when someone's name ends in a s which means if Mr Chris has a book it becomes Mr Chris' book.

In Maths we have been extending our learning and application of the stand up multiplication method. Again we would be happy to show what we have learned in Maths.

Week Ending 13/01/17

Happy New Year! We hope that you've had a good break and you managed to relax and discover some new things during your time away.

In Year Three we have been hitting the ground running (this is an idiom) with a new topic: the Romans. The Romans were a society of people founded in the modern Italian city of Rome who through military tactical excellence was able to become one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. Over the coming weeks we are going to be learning about law, military techniques, slavery and the Freedman system, art, taxation, economy, city and country life, religion, arts and literature.

In our topic this week we have been learning about the creation myth of Rome through the story of Romulus and Remus. We learnt that Romulus and Remus were the sons of Sylvia and Mars: the God of War in the temple of Mars which Sylvia had been banished to. Their uncle Amulius sent servants to kill the newborns. The servants took the twins to the Tiber river and left them to drown. But, they did not and instead floated downriver into reeds where they were rescued by a she-wolf who raised and nurtured the boys. The boys were raised as wolves until they were older and started to explore the world where they were then taken in by Faustulus a shepherd who with his wife raised the boys as their own. When they grew up they helped the local villagers from attacks from bandits, stopping them and then returning the stolen goods. When they heard from their grandfather the truth of their origins and their evil uncle, the boys rounded up the villagers who had helped them through the years and as an army they stormed the temple of Mars to rescue their mother. Having done so they then settled on building a city in the place where they had been placed in the river as babies. Remus designed the temples and baths. Romulus designed the streets and houses. But, they could not decide on a name for this new city. Romulus wanted to call the city Rome, while Remus wanted to name it Rem. The twins, never having lost their wolf-like nature, fought each other and in the fight Remus was murdered. So, the myth creation of the story of Rome goes. And there are several versions of this story. Here is the one that we have been learning:

And, while you are reading information about the Romans here is Gustav Holst's Mars from his The Planets:

In English we have been reporting back about what we have been doing on our holidays. We have been learning once more about The Five Ws and how answering these five points we can give a really good account. We have learnt that it is not simply filling in the answers but that we must weave our information into a story regardless of whether it is fiction or non-fiction. We know that a simple sentence can really lead into rediscovering more about what we did. This is the power of revision to re-see what we have so we can create more. Next week we will be doing another draft of our story and we our confident that we will remember more of what we did during our holidays. Here is a song describing the Five W's (plus a bonus word that doesn't start with a "w"):

In Maths we have been learning about stand up multiplication method. With this method, as opposed to the box method, we are challenged to do similar calculations as the box method but in a more challenging way which is making us think more about our times tables. If you would like to know how to do the stand up multiplication method yourselves...just ask us! We'd be happy to show you.

It's been a fun first week back and we're looking forward to learning more about our topic, describing more about our holidays and creating a better draft and learning more about multiplication. We ask this week if you could help us with our times tables this would be greatly appreciated.