In class this fortnight, we have been using iMovie to create our very own 'David Attenborough' style nature documentaries about a minibeast of our choice. We began by researching our chosen minibeast using information books and websites. We skimmed and scanned these texts before jotting down key facts about the minibeasts we researched such as facts about their body parts, their habitat, their diet, their life cycle and their predators. We gathered so much information about the minibeasts; information that we would need to help us write a voice over for our factual nature documentaries. In our class we researched a range of minibeasts including ants, butterflies, woodlice, spiders, bees and ladybirds.  

Our next step was to write a voice-over narrative for our nature documentaries. We viewed examples of nature documentaries including clips from David Attenborough's natural history TV programmes. We 'magpied' sentence patterns that we could use in our own writing such as:
​Something interesting about _____________ is that.....     
​Here, __________________, we see the ______________.
​​We also thought carefully about subject specific vocabulary that we would need to use as 'expert' narrators e.g. predator, habitat, omnivore, carnivore, prey. ​Soon we were ready to write our own factual voice-overs for the minibeasts we had researched.

Having written our voice-overs, we then used iMovie to create our very own David Attenborough style nature documentaries. We used the Internet to search for images of our minibeast that would complement the content of our voice-overs. We then imported them into iMovie and sequenced them on our editing timelines.   

Soon it was time to record our voice overs, reading aloud the factual narratives we had written. We aimed to use the 6 Ps when recording our voice-overs - Pace, Passion, Pitch, Power, Pause and Punctuation. We understood that our voice-over needed to have an impact upon the viewer, bringing the information about our chosen minibeast to life for them. Finally we inserted titles and transitions as well as overlaying a music soundtrack to give our nature documentaries a professional quality.   

In our RE / Philosophy for  Children (P4C)activities, we thought about the creation of the world and our responsibility as global citizens to look after creatures such as minibeasts. In our groups, we were each given a question to consider:
Is it wrong for humans to kill minibeasts?
​Should we keep minibeasts in containers away from their natural habitats?
Do minibeasts have feelings?
​Is it our job to look after creatures? 

These were thought-provoking questions that we had some strong opinions about. In our groups, we jotted down our thoughts and opinions on large pieces of paper. After a suitable period of time, we rotated our groups and moved on to consider a different question. By the end of the lesson we had all had an opportunity to discuss and express our ideas about the four questions. We all showed respect for other people's opinions and understood that we didn't have to agree with each other.

Next we sat in a large circle and considered what we had all written about the four questions. This provoked much debate and discussion. We were all encouraged to share our opinions and to justify them - to explain 'why' we thought certain things. If we wanted to speak or respond to what was being said, we had to put a 'thumbs up' into the circle. If we wanted to move the discussion on to talk about something else, we had to put two 'thumbs up' into the circle.   

Many of us agreed with each other and shared similar views. Sometimes people disagreed with each other and explained why in a polite and courteous manner. Mr. Evans was really pleased with the thought we had given to each of the questions. We came up with some ideas that he hadn't thought about. Our P4C activity encouraged us to think about issues in different ways and to consider other people's points of view.     ​

 Today, as a Super Start to our new Minibeasts topic 'Ugly Bug Ball', we went on a Great Bug Hunt in the school's woodland area to see what minibeasts we could find. Bathed in spring sunshine, we began exploring in our groups, looking closely and respectfully at the micro-habitats to be found there including under logs, in trees, in long grass, in short grass and even in cracks in pathways. We were careful not to disturb any wildlife and to return any stones/logs etc. to their original position after we had lifted them. We used tally marks to record how many different minibeasts we found. 

In the warm weather, so many minibeasts were out and about munching on plants, leaves or other insects. Throughout the afternoon, we were lucky enough to see butterflies, bees, ladybirds, woodlice, beetles, ants and spiders to name but a few. We looked closely at any minibeasts we found, thinking carefully about what they were like. Did they have legs? How many? Did they have antennae? Did they have wings? How many? Did their bodies have section such as a head, thorax and abdomen? What were they doing? Were they eating anything?

We collected some minibeasts in specimen jars for a short time so that we could look closely at them without them crawling, scurrying or flying away. We also used magnifying glasses to look at them closely, paying attention to the details of their bodies and behaviours. It was important that we only did this for a short time before returning the minibeasts to the habitats in which we'd found them. We thought carefully about 'where' we'd found the different minibeasts to gain an understanding of the living conditions they liked and needed to survive e.g. Did they like dark or light conditions? Did they prefer damp or dry conditions? What offered them protection from predators? Where did they find their food?   

We all thoroughly enjoyed our Great Bug Hunt and are looking forward to our 'Ugly Bug Ball' topic. We now need to start thinking about which minibeasts we would like to research in  more detail so that we can create our nature documentaries about them. We hope you enjoying looking at the photographs of our Great Bug Hunt - Minibeast Mayhem!     

Happy Easter J3. Pasg hapus dosbarth J3. Have a lovely holiday. I hope the Easter Bunny visits. Don't eat too many Easter eggs!
Best wishes,
Mr. Evans

This week our 'Let's Get Fit and Funky' topic culminated with our 'Fabulous Fitness Finish' in which our parents, family and friends joined us in a health and fitness session with Nuffield Health. It was lovely to welcome so many parents to school to share with them some aspects of the topic work we have been doing throughout this term. Indeed, they had no time to sit down - they were up on their feet and actively joining in our activities as Vicky, James, Shauna and Patrick put us all through our paces. There was a bit of huffing and puffing but mostly smiles, laughter and fun as we all enjoyed the session which focused on the importance of sleep.

This term, as part of our 'Let's Get Fit and Funky!' topic, we have been enjoying health and fitness sessions led by Nuffield Health. Each week Vicky, James, Shauna, Patrick and Christian have been visiting us at school to lead our PE/Games lessons where the emphasis has been on keeping fit whilst having fun. We are the first school to take part in Nuffield Health's Education Programme and have enjoyed learning all about:
- Food and Diet.
-Exercise and the Human Body.
-Our feelings and wellbeing.

During our 'Fantastic Fitness Finish', we focused on our wellbeing and learnt all about how important sleep is to help our bodies rest, recover and grow. We learnt all about how important sleep is to us and that, at our age when our bodies are growing, we should aim to have nine or ten hours' sleep. A good night's sleep can lead to improved concentration, better memory and recall, and a stronger immune system. Sleep can also aid our creativity, help us to make better decisions and to focus on positive as opposed to negative things.  We also found out about the importance of reducing our screen time and allowing our minds to rest two hours before our bedtime.   

During our Fabulous Fitness Finish, we played lots of games and had quizzes about the fun sleep facts we  learnt. We also had to compete against our Mums, Dads and grandparents in some of the games. We were always up on our feet, moving around and getting our hearts pumping. Towards the end of the session, we talked about how meditation can help us to relax, feel better and overcome stress. We sat with our legs crossed, eyes closed and did some breathing exercises which made us all feel totally chilled!   Thank you to James, Vicky, Shauna, Patrick and Christian from Nuffield Health for teaching us so much about keeping fit and healthy. We have had such fun whilst keeping fit and funky. Thank you also to all the mums, dads, grandparents and family friends who came to school this week to join in our Fabulous Fitness Finish. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

In numeracy across the curriculum lessons focusing on healthy eating and the need to eat a healthy, balanced diet , we worked with a partner to design an ‘Eat Well’ pizza for Marks and Spencer. Applying our numeracy knowledge of fractions, we created pizzas that satisfy the ‘Eat Well’ guidelines. 
 

The Director of M and S Food approached us with a challenge – to design an ‘Eat Well’ pizza that they can sell in their stores as a healthier alternative to their other pizza brands. It must reflect the balance of food groups in the ‘Eat Well’ guidelines and, as a family pizza, would need to have 8 or more slices. We thought about how this could be achieved and understood that our 'Eat Well’ pizzas would need to:

• have a large fraction (over a third) of fruit and/or vegetables e.g. pineapple, tomato-based sauce, onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, broccoli, ……
• have a large fraction (over a third) of starchy carbohydrates e.g. the pizza base itself, potatoes…
• have a smaller fraction of proteins e.g. egg, bacon, ham, chicken, meatballs, sausage, anchovies, prawns, pepperoni, beans, lentils……
• have a smaller fraction of dairy products e.g. cheese.
• have a very small fraction of oil.
  
  

Working with a partner, we were each  given a pizza box and a paper cut-out pizza base with a tomato-based sauce (i.e.yellow and red paper circles). Together first had to use a ruler to divide/mark our pizza into 8 or more equal parts. We had a selection of pictures of pizza toppings e.g. ham, pineapple, cheese, tomato, prawns, egg, spinach, pepperoni, anchovies…….  We discussed and ‘designed’ our pizza with our partner, placing the pizza toppings onto the base so that it satisfies the balance of food groups in the ‘Eat Well’ guidelines. We placed our pizzas in the bottom half of our pizza box.

We then had to devise a key to be placed in the top half/lid of our pizza box. The key for our pizzas showed its fractional parts e.g. 3/8 = red onion, 5/8 = tomato. We all tried to include some equivalent fractions in our keys e.g. 5/10 or 50/100 = red onion, 3/12 or 9/36 = tomato.                      

We enjoyed making our 'Eat Well' pizzas and later had to present them to another pair, persuading them that we had created a pizza that adheres to the ‘Eat Well’ guidelines. We used our key to support us when describing our pizza in terms of its fractions e.g. ‘As you can see, 3/8 of the pizza has broccoli (vegetables) whilst 2/8 or ¼ has protein (ham)…….’          
 We hope you enjoy looking at the photographs of our pizzas. When looking at them, consider:  
Do the pizzas reflect the balance of food groups in the ‘Eat Well’ guidelines? 
Do they have 8 or more equal slices?

This term, as part of our 'Let's Get Fit and Funky!' topic,  we have been enjoying health and fitness sessions led by James, Vicky, Shauna, Patrick and Christian from Nuffield Health. Each week they have been visiting us at school to lead our PE/Games lessons where the emphasis has been on keeping fit whilst having fun. We are the first school to take part in Nuffield Health's Education Programme and have enjoyed learning all about:
- Food and Diet.
-Exercise and the Human Body.
-Our feelings and wellbeing.

During our first two sessions, we learnt all about the Eat Well Guide and how we should all try to eat a healthy, balanced diet, choosing a variety of foods from the different food groups - fruit and vegetables with vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates, proteins, dairy and fats. In the next two sessions, we found out all about how important it is to keep active by exercising regularly. We learnt, for example, that exercise boosts our energy levels, keeps us fit and healthy, and helps us to think and sleep better. Our next two sessions will focus on our feelings and wellbeing.  

During our sessions with Nuffield Health, we play lots of games and have quizzes about the fun facts we have learnt. In one workshop, we worked in small groups to build a skeleton and label its different bones. We have been finding out about how we can keep our bones strong and healthy. We were even lucky enough to visit Nuffield Health to have a health and fitness session in one of their state of the art fitness studios. After looking at our reflections in the mirrored walls, it was soon time to get down to business. Thank you James, Vicky, Shauna, Patrick and Christian from Nuffield Health for teaching us so much about keeping fit and healthy. We have had such fun whilst keeping fit and funky.

This week, we have been working in small groups to compose music about a calm sea at Mousehole. Our musical composition will accompany the playscript scene that we have written for our class’s part of our 'The Mousehole Cat’ Fabulous Finish where Tom and Mowzer return to the safety of Mousehole harbour as the seastorm fades.

We know that people who write music are known as ‘composers’. Where writers use words to build up pictures in readers’ imaginations, composers compose music to build up images in listeners’ imaginations. As we have been doing a lot of writing work/artwork linked to the sea which is an integral part of ‘The Mousehole Cat’ story, today we listened to a classical piece of music which is about the sea – ‘The Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave)’ by Felix Mendelssohn. He composed the piece of music after a boat trip to the Hebrides’ islands where he was impressed by the sight of a sea cave known as Fingal’s cave.  

We listened to Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture performed by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. We wrote ‘Calm Sea’, ‘Rough Sea’, ‘Stormy Sea’ and ‘Cave’ on our mini-whiteboards. When we thought the music suggested one of these, we circled the appropriate words and held up our boards.
 
Whilst listening to the music, we jotted down words to describe the music. Some of the words we came up with were calm, soothing, loud, aggressive, violent……We noticed that the mood of the music changed. We also drew what we imagined whilst listening to the music.
 

After listening to the music, we discussed it with our friends. Did we like it? Why? Why not? What did we imagine in our heads as we listened to it? Did it conjur up images of the sea/cave or did we imagine something completely different? Our teacher then played us four short excerpts from the overture that we had to match to the appropriate descriptions -  building up to a rough sea, a calm sea, a storm at sea, and the appearance of Fingal’s Cave.

In small groups, we composed music inspired by the sea to accompany the playscript scene that we have written for J3's part of ‘The Mousehole Cat’ story. We looked at an illustration from this part of the story and discussed the different aspects we could see - the Storm Kitten, a calmer sea, Tom and Mowzer’s boat returning through the mousehole, villagers with their lights. We thought about what the mood of the picture is - gentle, calm, relaxed...

We worked well in our small groups to compose music to be played at the point of our playscript depicted in the picture. We discussed ways to create the mood of the picture/this point of the playscript with music e.g. the music might be quiet overall to suggest the calmness of the sea. There might be a steady beat to represent the lapping waves. Each group had to compose music to represent a different layer of the picture - the Storm Kitten, calmer sea, Tom and Mowzer’s boat, villagers with their lights.

Each group was given time to practise their layer of music in different areas of the classroom and our  Year 3 learning area. One member of the group was chosen to be the ‘conductor’ who clapped a steady beat of 4 over and over (8 times). This would be the duration of the piece of music. The conductor had to signal to the instrumentalists when to begin/when to stop. They could also devise their own hand signals e.g. for getting louder/getting softer.    

Our final task was to create a graphic score to notate our music where drawings or symbols are used to represent the parts played by each instrument on a grid marked out to show a steady beat of 4.Our teacher modelled how to  graphically notate a simple piece of music, using our ideas to complete a line on the grid for each instrument. We suggested different ways in which sounds could be represented e.g. a continuous soft sound may be a thin wavy line, whereas a continuous louder sound may be a thicker wavy line.

We sat in our  composing groups and worked together  on a blank grid to devise a graphic score for our piece of music. We discussed one instrumental part at a time and devised a notation for this part to represent the music it plays. We hope you enjoy looking at some of our graphic scores. Do you think you would be able to play our compositions using the graphic scores to help you? 

This week, in our expressive arts topic, we have been learning painting techniques as we build up to painting our own calm or stormy Mousehole seascapes. These will be used as the scenery backdrop for our 'Mousehole Cat' Fabulous Finish performance. 
   

Firstly, we learnt that the primary colours are red, blue and yellow. This is because these colours can’t be made. If you mix two primary colours, you’ll create a secondary colour. We found out that:
yellow + blue = green
yellow + red = orange
red + blue = purple

We used the primary colours to mix secondary colours in the form of three Venn diagrams which we labelled in Welsh. During our paint mixing lessons, we aimed to:

•  carefully mix the paints.
• start with the lighter colour and add the darker.
• use the brush with control .
• use our tools with care.
  

Next we experimented with tone and shade. We discussed what tone is and looked at some paint tone cards from B&Q/Homebase. We also looked for different tones of the same colour around the classroom. We learnt that tones are different shades of a colour.
 

We learnt that tones are lighter and darker. To create lighter tones add white.To create darker tones add black. To create different shades we would add another primary colour. We investigated tones and shades of blue. We were each given a ready-mixed colour blue which we painted in the middle of a strip of card/paper divided into equal sections. We then mixed different tones of the blue – painting tones getting progressively lighter in one direction and tones getting progressively darker in the other direction. We added black (not too much at first) to create the progressively darker tones. We  added white (not too much at first) to create the lighter tones.

The next day we investigated artists’ painting techniques by experimenting with creating textures.  
We looked at examples of paintings that depict water e.g. Van Gogh, Monet and examples by a Welsh artist Raymond Thomas. We also looked closely at some of Nicola Bayley’s illustrations of the sea from ‘The Mousehole Cat’. When discussing the paintings, we thought about:
What kind of water is depicted? What is the water doing? Does the painting suggest that the water is still or moving? How is it moving? Is it reflecting light? Is it painted as one solid block of colour or are different tones used? What colours/tones could we see?  Do we like the paintings? Why? Why not?
 
 

We looked more closely at the way the artists had applied the paint.
Does it look flat? Have they used a paint brush? What kind of brush strokes have they used? Long? Short? Dots?
We noticed that some of the paintings look textured – where the paint almost stands off the canvas. We thought about what might have been added to the paint to make it look textured on paper / canvas. We came up with ideas such as sand, flour, glue, tissue, cotton wool…. 

We looked at a seascape by the Welsh artist,  Raymond Thomas. Using a simple viewfinder, we  selected a part/ section of the painting and recreated it using what we have learnt about colour, tone and texture so far. We aimed to:

• mix different tones / shades of a colour.
• use the brush in different ways to suggest movement e.g. short, sharp strokes or longer strokes, dotted/stippled effect, swirling/circular motion etc.
• add texture to the paint e.g. by adding a material of our choice –sand, flour, glue, cotton wool…..
  

We discussed the important role played by the sea in ‘The Mousehole Cat’- how it is almost a character in its own right. Then we watched some Youtube clips showing a calm sea at Mousehole harbour and a stormy sea at Mousehole. We came up with words to describe the two contrasting seas. We thought about what colours we could see in the sea and how it moved. We also looked at two of Antonia Barber’s contrasting illustrations of a calm sea and a rough sea.  What different tones / shades of  colour could we see? How has movement been suggested? What strokes of the pen/paintbrush have been used e.g. short, sharp strokes or longer strokes, dotted/stippled effect, swirling/circular motion ?   
 

Using the skills and knowledge we gained this week, we painted either a calm seascape or a rough/stormy seascape. We tried to apply what we have learnt about colour, tone and texture so far. During our painting lessons, we played calm, soothing sea sounds and music in the background and also  stormy sea sounds/ music e.g sections of Mendelssohn’s ‘The Hebrides Overture’.