Primary 3 Blog Post (Term 2 Update)

Welcome to our curriculum update for term 2. It is sure to be a busy term as we prepare for all the fun and exciting activities, we will be part of in the run up to advent and Christmas!

 

Literacy

During term 1 our focus in reading was to predict what might happen in our reading texts and to think about sequencing parts of a story. We also began to think about summarising what we had read and to put this information into our own words. During term 2, summarising skills will continue to be a focus alongside our usual spelling and common word activities that help pupils retain and recognise their spelling sounds/phonemes and words in texts.

As part of our topic and to help children find specific information, we will also be working on recognising different parts of texts (pictures, diagrams, charts and headings) and how to scan for and locate key words or topic related facts in texts. Children will also use their knowledge of nouns, verbs and adjectives from term 1 and identify these in texts we are accessing in class.  To build on from this, pupils will be focusing on punctuation and speech in texts and looking at the impact this has on texts for the reader, as well as beginning to use different punctuation in their own writing.

In writing, we have been focused on descriptive writing in term 1 and will now focus on report writing and narrative throughout term 2. We will also partake in some listening and talking games and activities to help children develop the key skills needed when in whole class or group discussions or when sharing information in a show and tell type activity.

Maths

Our focus in maths will be to regularly revisit place value, recognising sequences and patterns in numbers 0-100 and how these patterns continue in larger numbers beyond 100.  In term 1 the focus was addition and subtraction strategies and although this will be revisited in term 2, our focus will move to multiplication, with pupils beginning to make the link to division.  Children will spend time mentally counting on in 2, 5 and 10, then using this repeated addition strategy to apply to the other times tables.

In beyond number, children were focused on 2D and 3D shapes and their properties in term 1.  The focus in term 2 will be time, analogue and digital with children learning to think about what the time will be in half an hour or in an hour’s time. Children will regularly use their ‘Thinking It Through’ jotters as the term progresses to develop problem solving skills, applying knowledge of number to new contexts and develop strategies for any number problems.

Health & Wellbeing

All children will have the opportunity to be pupil of the day for a second time in term 2 and will continue to explore emotions, comfortable and uncomfortable and how we recognise these emotions within ourselves and in others. We will look at strategies for helping us deal with uncomfortable emotions and how we can help our friends if they are experiencing some of these emotions.

In P.E, our sessions will happen on a Monday and a Wednesday and our focus in term 2 will be football, gymnastics, and social dancing.  Children will have the opportunity to partake in some fun activities which support teamwork whilst focusing on developing their listening skills, awareness of space and how to keep ourselves safe whilst using apparatus.

R.E

Our focus during R.E sessions will be on the creation and Mary in October, moving to Saints and Remembrance in November before visiting advent and the nativity throughout December.

Topic

In term 2 the focus of topic will be on social studies and looking at climates and weather around the world.  The children will have the opportunity to measure our own weather, make weather reports and predictions as well as examine how living things survive in areas of extreme cold or heat. Pupils will research the impact of extreme weather such as tornadoes, floods, and drought and how climate change is affecting the planet.

We hope this is the start of another very successful term and that the pupils will continue to enjoy learning new topics across the curriculum.

Take care,

Mrs Travers