1. Colvestone Primary School
Soaring Skies Federation
Spring term
Animal Kingdom
Year 3
Plains and grasslands

2. Colvestone Primary School
Soaring Skies Federation
Habitats
Early Years : Under the Sea
Year 1: The Polar Regions
Year 2: Jungle
Year 3: Plains and grasslands
Year 4 : Urban Environments
Year 5: Rainforest
Year 6: British Countryside

3. Colvestone Primary School
Week 1
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Key question:
Where in the world is our habitat?
Special events this week:
Writing baseline assessment
Class newsletters to go to SLT for checking by
Change Star Writer and Star Mathematician
Door displays up by
Writing
Baseline assessment – writing to recount
Introduce all of the different habitats that our classes will be learning about this term through pictures, videos and texts
Create a mind map of things your class know already about each habitat
Ask children to write a text which recounts what they know already about each habitat, for example: In Spring term, we are learning about habitats. Year 1 are learning about the polar regions. The things I know about this habitat are..
Allow this writing to be independent so it can be used as a baseline assessment for the term.
Geography
Use atlases and globes to locate the areas of the world where each of our curriculum focus habitats can be found. Find the names of countries that contain each habitat.
Science
Explore how we differentiate between living and non-living things. What do living things all do? (7 life processes)
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘ charity’
Music
Listen to with detail and appreciate music which links to your habitat. Represent your understanding of the music in a drawing. PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term.
Art and Design
Use drawing and sketching to create an impression of your habitat – develop techniques of colour, line, shape and form
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
The Torah and stories of the Jewish people

4. Colvestone Primary School
Week 2
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Key question:
What animals can we find in our habitat?
Special events this week:
Communal displays up by
Writing
Writing to inform – non-chronological report about plains and grasslands (2 weeks)
Read a variety of information texts and reports about different habitats
Think about their audience and purpose
Explore their layout features – title, subheadings, sections of writing, pictures
Plan SPaG lessons linked to language features – writing in the present tense, joining sentences with conjunctions ‘and’ and ‘because’, expanded noun phrases, using adjectives for precision
Geography
Use atlases and globes to find the continents and countries which contain plains and grasslands. Learn the capital cities of these countries and look at their flags.
Science
Name and identify different animals that live in plains and grasslands. Group them by their classification – mammals, reptiles, birds etc.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘ openness’
Art and Design
Use painting to create an impression of your habitat – develop techniques of colour, line, shape and form
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
The Torah and stories of the Jewish people

5. Colvestone Primary School
Week 3
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Key question:
What plants can we find in our habitat?
Special events this week:
School support plans in by
Change Star Writer and Star Mathematician
Writing
Writing to inform – non-chronological report about plains and grasslands
As a class, plan the content and layout of your report. Think about what each section of writing will be about.
Think of some ideas for the heading and subheadings
Provide the class with a teacher model report to redraft and improve
Children to independently write their own reports about plains and grasslands
Provide writing frames and sentence starters for children who need support
Geography
Explore the physical features of a grassland. What are the defining features of this habitat?
Science
Identify and name a variety of plants that can be found in plains and grasslands. How can we group these by classification? Trees, flowers etc.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘ life-long learning’
Art and Design
Use collage with varied materials to create an impression of your habitat
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
The Torah and stories of the Jewish people

6. Colvestone Primary School
Week 4
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Key question:
How are living things adapted to life in our habitat?
Special events this week:
Writing
Writing to describe – children are going to imagine that they are a scientist who has discovered a new species in a grassland. They are going to write a detailed description of their discovery. (2 weeks)
Read examples of descriptions and explore their features.
Explore the language features of description – adjectives, noun phrases, descriptive verbs. Look at exclamation sentences.
Use drama activities to re-create ‘discovering’ the species
Ask children to plan their species by drawing it and labelling its features
Geography
Introduce the concept of climate. Look at world maps to find hot and cold areas of the world. Think about how climates change around the globe.
Science
Explore how animals in the grassland are specially suited to living in their habitat. Choose some focus animals to study.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘ vote’
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
Art and Design
Over the next two weeks, use sculpture using varied materials to create an impression of your habitat
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
The Torah and stories of the Jewish people

7. Colvestone Primary School
Week 5
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Key question:
What does our habitat look like in different seasons?
Special events this week:
Change Star Writer and Star Mathematician
Writing
Writing to describe – children are going to imagine that they are a scientist who has discovered a new species in the grassland. They are going to write a detailed description of their discovery.
Provide children with a teacher model description of a new species that isn’t very descriptive. Re-draft it as a class.
Ask children to draft their descriptions independently.
Publish the writing into a classroom book or display showing Year 3’s ‘discoveries’
Geography
Explore the weather and climate patterns of your habitat in different seasons. How is wildlife affected by the season?
Science
Look at a type of plant living in grassland. Identify and describe the functions of each of its parts – roots, trunk, flower etc.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘ enrichment’
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
Art and Design
Use sculpture using varied materials to create an impression of your habitat
RE - to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
The Torah and stories of the Jewish people

8. Colvestone Primary School
Week 6
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Key question:
What happens in our habitat in the night time?
Special events this week:
Writing
Writing to recount – diary entry of an explorer arriving in the grassland for the first time (1 week)
Give the children some examples of diary entries. Explore the language features – 1st person, past tense, thoughts and feelings
Plan some SPaG lessons around these language features
Use drama activities like hot seating to explore writing in role – the children are writing as an explorer arriving in the jungle for the first time. What do they see/hear/smell/feel?
Children write diary entries written in the 1st person
Re-draft and edit
Geography
Choose 1 grassland habitat that you have been learning about. Use atlases to find physical geography features of your habitat – rivers, mountains, volcanoes, lakes
Science
Identify and name nocturnal animals that live in the grasslands. Explore how your habitat looks different in the day and night.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘safety’
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
Art and Design
Learn about art from grassland areas. Research the lives and works of different artists.
RE - to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
Explore the significance of animals in Judaism

9. Colvestone Primary School
Week 7
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Key question:
What are the changes that happen to living things in our habitat as they grow?
Special events this week:
Change Star Writer and Star Mathematician
Writing
Writing to explain – explanation of the life-cycle of a living thing from your habitat. (2 weeks)
Read some age-appropriate explanations about the life cycle of animals (butterfly, frog, chicken etc)
Think about the language and layout features of explanations and plan some SPaG lessons around these
Choose a living thing from the plains or grasslands to write your life-cycle explanation about. Research the different stages of their life
Summarise each stage in notes
Geography
Explore the weather patterns in a grassland habitat. How do these change depending on season?
Science
Explore the life cycle of flowering plants, including pollination, seed formation and seed dispersal.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘tolerance’
Art and Design
Choose one artist from a grassland area. Explore and research their work.
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
Explore the significance of animals in Islam.

10. Colvestone Primary School
Week 8
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Key question:
How is our habitat different to a contrasting habitat in the UK?
Special events this week:
Writing
Writing to explain – explanation of the life-cycle of a living thing from your habitat. (2 weeks)
Plan the content of each paragraph of your explanation – include an introduction and conclusion
Draft the explanation
Re-draft and edit
Publish the explanations onto nice paper and use as a classroom display
Geography
Compare the physical and human geography of your habitat to our home habitat of London.
Science
Identify producers, prey and predators in a grassland environment. Make simple food chains.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘origins’
Art and Design
Use the skills practised in Spring 1 to create artwork inspired by great artists linked to your habitat.
Music
Compose a soundscape for your habitat using tuned and untuned percussion and voices for a performance at the end of term PE
Build up flexibility and control in dance. Create a habitat themed class dance for a performance at the end of term
RE - to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
How do features of a mosque help Muslims to pray?

11. Colvestone Primary School
Week 9
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Key question:
What issues are affecting our habitat today?
Special events this week:
Change Star Writer and Star Mathematician
Writing
Writing to persuade – write a speech to perform to rest of the class about an issue affecting the grassland habitats. (Eg. I think hunting should be banned because…) (2 weeks)
Read examples of persuasive writing. Look at the language features – 2nd person pronouns, rhetorical questions, modal verbs
Plan SPaG lessons around these features
In Geography lessons, explore some of the issues affecting grassland habitats. What can we do to help?
Show a teacher model speech that needs redrafting. Edit it to make it better.
Geography
Explore conservation issues affecting your habitat (eg. hunting). What can we do in school to help?
Science
Look at the skeletons of animals from the grassland habitats. Label the main bones.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘neighbourly’
Art and Design
Use the skills practised in Spring 1 to create artwork inspired by great artists linked to your habitat.
Music
Evaluate your performance and make any changes. PE
Evaluate your performances and make any changes.
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
How do features of a mosque help Muslims to pray?

12. Colvestone Primary School
Week 10
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Key question:
How can we sustain life in our habitat?
Special events this week:
Writing
Writing to persuade – write a speech to perform to rest of the class about an issue affecting the grassland habitats. (Eg. I think hunting should be banned because…) (2 weeks)
Plan the content and structure of your speeches
Draft the texts
Re-draft and edit
Read your letters aloud to the class. Explore how to use spoken language to present persuasively.
Geography
Explore changes that humans are making which are affecting your habitat.
Science
Look at an animal from the grasslands. Identify which muscles are used to help the animal move.
PSHCE
Explore how we reflect our core school values – ‘ equality’
Art and Design
Use the skills practised in Spring 1 to create artwork inspired by great artists linked to your habitat.
Music
Perform your soundscape with control and expression to an audience. PE
Perform your dance with control and expression to an audience.
RE – to be read alongside the Hackney Agreed Syllabus
How do features of a mosque help Muslims to pray?