Year 3 English
Choose the block you wish to teach
We’ve been busy spring cleaning our poetry blocks.
Our revised summer poetry blocks should be on the site in May, the autumn ones in July, and the spring ones in September.
Autumn Blocks
Read I'll Take You to Mrs Cole and other stories by Michael Foreman. Write a new version. Study dialogue, verbs, and conjunctions for time, place, cause.
Stories by the Same Author: Stories by Michael Foreman
Read Escape to Pompeii by Christina Balit & The Roman Record by Paul Dowswell. Research, take notes & write newspaper recounts. Study the perfect form & adverbs for time & place.
Recounts: Newspaper Recounts
Explore myths using Marcia Williams’ The Romans: Gods, Emperors & Dormice and Group Reader Romulus and Remus. Study dialogue punctuation, conjunctions and word classes.
Myths and Legends: Roman Myths
Using game shows and quizzes children identify the differences between instructions and explanations. Add information about time, place and cause to write clear instructions.
Instructions and Explanations: Game Shows and Quizzes
Read traditional Indian tales in Madhur Jaffrey’s Seasons of Splendour. Analyse, compare and write own versions. Grammar covers conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs.
Traditional Tales and Fables: Tales from India
Spark curiosities with DK Children’s Book of Sport. Explore, read and write about a huge range of sports. Revise word classes and extend sentences with conjunctions.
Reports: Non-chronological Reports: Sports
Using The Promise and Secret Sky Garden, match colours to feelings to create a growth mindset. Plant seeds, create drama, characters and art based on the Blue Horse of Franz Marc.
Wellbeing: Feeling and Growing
Spring Blocks
Through Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox, children explore plot, character and tension. They learn about direct speech and tense, and write their own exciting stories.
Classic Fiction: Fantastic Mr Fox
Read reports about Harry Potter studio tours. Understand features of reports; study conjunctions, prepositions and adverbs. Look at Hogwarts students’ school reports.
Reports: Harry Potter and Hogwarts
Explore Arthurian legends through Marcia Williams’s King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Study nouns and pronouns for clarity and cohesion and direct speech.
Myths and Legends: Arthurian Legends
Through The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish and The Diary of a Killer Cat, explore and write recounts. Study adverbs for time and place and direct speech.
Recounts: Diaries and Recounts
Explore, read and write myths with The Orchard Book of Greek Myths (Geraldine McCaughrean) and Greek Myths (Marcia Williams). Practise dialogue punctuation and use conjunctions.
Myths and Legends: Greek Myths
Inspire writing in this hands-on block with the beautiful Ink Garden of Brother Theophane, learn about illuminated manuscripts and making dyes. Study conjunctions and prepositions.
Instructions and Explanations: The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane
This wonderful collection loses nothing of its power to excite, enthuse and inspire. Immerse your class in these classic, timeless poems. Study verbs/tense and extend sentences.
Classic Poems: A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson
Summer Blocks
Read Michael Morpurgo’s sea stories Dolphin Boy and The Sandman and the Turtles to explore his use of characterisation, dilemmas, dialogue, word classes and the perfect tense.
Stories on a Theme: Sea Stories
Explore non-chronological reports about video games. Revise word classes and study dialogue punctuation. Read/write informal and formal reports. Design and present a new game.
Reports: Video Games
Enjoy Dick King-Smith’s The Hodgeheg. Explore plot, character and dialogue. Study speech punctuation and adverbs for time, place and manner. Write a new animal adventure.
Modern Fiction: The Hodgeheg
Explore the power of persuasion in advertising. Children play with language, create adverts and promote healthy habits. Grammar includes conjunctions and expanded noun phrases.
Persuasive Writing: Advertising
Outstanding texts – King of the Sky and Perfect – enable a particularly creative and stimulating Block, taking in dialogue punctuation and using paragraphs. Explore complex emotional issues and express feelings through writing.
Stories on a Theme: Emotions
Read, research and write information texts about amazing world records, both real (Guinness) and funny (Quentin Blake). Grammar includes conjunctions and present perfect form. Be inspired to create your own records and blog about them.
Information Texts: Amazing Records
Using two inspirational texts, The Great Realisation and Captain Sir Tom’s book, children create watercolour paintings in the style of Nomoco, paper craft, charcoal and pencil drawing and planting seeds.
Wellbeing: Great Realisation and 100 Steps
Two weeks’ work, focussed on key skills, NO printing required – all do-able by children at home with just a screen. Starts with a fun day; all you need if your class is self-isolating.
