CBBC Newsround

Take a look at the top of the links on the right and you will see the latest addition to LOY3! Regular news updates from the BBC. Perfect for keeping on top of your summer reading!

FOR PARENTS Summer Reading List

A couple of you asked me to recommend some books for year 3. A quick search led me to the Joydens Wood Junior School Website and their recommended book list for year 3.

Just to let you know though that next year we will be reading "Fantastic Mr. Fox" by Roald Dahl and "The Iron Man" by Ted Hughes. So you may wish to avoid those titles.

My personal choice would be Colin Dann's "Animals of Farthing Wood". This book is perfect for any child who loves animals, I can still remember reading it when I was 7 or 8 and was probably the longest book I read at that age. 

Tom

Online Crossword

Have a go at some crosswords from ReadWriteThink here. Or why not have a go at making your own one?

If you finish one print it off and bring it in to show me!

Improve your Pronunciation

A few parents have asked me for ideas of how to improve your child’s pronunciation, so here goes:

1)      Copy! Copy any native speaker you meet, try and imitate what they sound like.

2)      Watch! Watch films and TV shows in their first language. If you find the English too difficult put the subtitles on (even better if you can put English subtitles on).

3)      Read! Reading out loud with a native speaker or someone with a good level of English will help you to improve.

4)      Record! Make a film or a tape of you speaking then play it back. Suddenly you will hear yourself as others hear you; you´ll be amazed at what you notice!

Remember: Pronunciation in English is not as important as, for example, pronunciation in French. English speakers are used to hearing different dialects and accents. The most important thing is being understood.

British Council Website

A website for children who are learning to speak English. It has loads of games, songs and videos. It is also good for your reading. Let me know if you play with it. 

Easter Holiday Activities

Try this online colouring activity. You could also do something similar using your computer's paint programme.

Or you could try this spring themed wordsearch. 

Online Shape Poems

This is a fantastic site from the Woodland Trust (an organisation which helps to look after forests) where you can draw and write your own shape poems online. The site has some ideas to inspire you to start or you can draw your own shape. What's even better is that the site includes LOADS of vocabulary to use in your poems. Please give it a go.

The Woodland Trust has more spring time activities here. They need to be downloaded so please ASK MUM OR DAD FIRST!

Compound Words

This game tests your knowledge of compound words. Just in case you have forgotten a compound word is a word made up of two words which both mean something different:

e.g. tea + pot = teapot

The link also gives you access to 20 (yes 20) other cool games which are both fun to play and help your English. Enjoy and don't forget to write a comment if you have anything to tell me about the games (good or bad).

Tom

An Amazing Alliteration Activity with Aliens

This game is extremely simple; just repeat the sentence you see and hear on the screen. To make it more difficult you could try copying the Jamaican accent of the lady saying the sentences or by doing silly accents (an alien, a cat, a very Spanish accent or a very English accent etc.)

Roald Dahl

Our latest literacy topic is following a famous children's author. Whether you know it or not you will have heard, seen or read one of his stories or poems. You may also recognise the famous illustrations of Quentin Blake. 

More information is available on his fantastic official website here. 

Carrot Cake

As requested here is the recipe for that lovely Carrot cake.

Ingredients for 12 slices.

For the cake:
2 medium carrots
2 large eggs
175ml sunflower oil
200g sugar
100g chopped nuts and/or fruit
200g plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the topping:
50g icing sugar
200g full fat cream cheese
Lemon juice
Vanilla Essence
Walnuts and/or fruit to decorate

1. Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a rectangular tin with a bit of oil.

2. Wash the carrots and grate them.

3. Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them with a fork.

4. Put sunflower oil and sugar into a bowl and beat them with a wooden spoon

5. Add the beaten eggs to the sugar and oil, a little bit at a time and beat the mixture well each time.

6. Stir in the grated carrots and the chopped nuts or fruit.

7. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt over the mixture. Gently fold everything together with a spoon.

8. Pour the mixture into the tray and bake for 45 minutes.

9. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and mix with the cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat well.

10. Take the cake out, leave it to cool for 10 minutes. Spread the topping over the cake and decorate however you like.

Hope you enjoy. I have taken the original recipe from the Usborne Cookbook for Children which also explain s in detail what all the cooking words mean. Mum or Dad could buy it here if you are a keen cook. Tell them that Amazon offer free delivery to Spain on orders over £25.  

Did somebody mention POETRY???

The tremendous Michael Rosen performs another poem. What do you think of it?

Improve Your English Listening

Please check out the BBC World News for Children feed which you can find on the right-hand side of this website. 

This is a news programme aimed at children ages 7-14. The podcast is free and you can download it so you can listen again.

It will tell you about all the important things going on around the world plus football stories, music stories and a daily quiz question.