Year 3 will be learning about the Romans for their ‘Roman Britain’ project. They will explore the way they lived, dressed, worked and enjoyed themselves. They will think about the impact their invasion had on the native Britons (the Celts) and how their lifestyles compared. They will learn about their religious beliefs and how this affected their lives. Year 3 will also enjoy taking part in a Roman day at school.
- Have a Roman feast! Try pancakes with honey, dates, olives, wheat bread, grapes, figs, exotic fruit, raw vegetables, porridge and various fish (not fish fingers!) meats or sausages (you probably won’t want to try the Roman favourite; fried mice dipped in honey and sesame seeds!). Instead of wine you could drink some grape juice. Eat your feast lounging on pillows or cushions in your living room and remember to eat with your (clean!) fingers, the only time Romans used cutlery was a spoon if they were having soup.
- Visit Wall near Lichfield in Staffordshire, known in the Roman times at Letocetum, to see some genuine Roman ruins. It is free to look around and a great place for a picnic if the weather is nice. There is a small museum that is open on selected dates. Check out the website for more details: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wall-roman-site/
- Visit Wroxeter Roman City near Shrewsbury in Shropshire. There is a reconstructed Roman town house as well as the Roman ruins and museum in the city that was known as Viriconium and was bigger than Pompeii. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wroxeter-roman-city/
- Experience the sights, sounds and smells of Roman life at the Dewa Roman Experience in Chester. http://www.dewaromanexperience.co.uk/
- Bathe like a Roman in one of the best preserved Roman remains in the world at the Roman Baths in Bath, Somerset. http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/
- Visit the turf and timber Roman fort in Lunt, near Coventry. http://www.luntromanfort.org/
- The National Roman Legion Museum near Cardiff and Bristol is a great day out if you don’t mind travelling a little further. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/roman/
- The Barber Institute, in Edgbaston, Birmingham has a very large collection of Roman coins to be admired. http://barber.org.uk/
- Admire some genuine Roman artefacts on your doorstep for free at the Walsall New Art Gallery. http://www.thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk/
- Visit the Roman Gallery for free at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. http://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/bmag
- Write your own Roman information book, you could either use a computer and type up all your work or you could use a small notebook and decorate the front and back cover with drawings or collages.
- Write a diary for a day in the life of a Roman soldier, you could then write another diary entry for a Roman slave. How would their days differ?
- Write the diary of a Celt at the time of the Roman invasion, how would they have been feeling when the Romans invaded their country?
- Make an advertising poster for the latest Roman invention, persuading people to buy it. How about a poster advertising the latest underfloor heating or the trendiest mosaic design?
- Make fact-files about different Roman emperors, you could include when they were born or died, good and bad things that they did, their beliefs and any other interesting facts.
- Make fact-files about different Roman gods and goddesses. Draw a picture of each, what were they the god or goddess of?
- Write a set of instructions on how to build a Roman road.
- Write a story set in Ancient Rome.
- Make your own holiday brochure for Ancient Rome.
- ‘Chuck Close: Face Book’ by Chuck Close, is a book by the artists himself that is interactive for children answering all the questions that children often ask the artists.
- ‘Chuck Close, Up Close’ by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jane Jordan, is an account of the artist’s life with photos of his art.
- ‘Roman Things to Make and Do’ (Usborne Activities) by Leonie Pratt, is full of fun activities to do at home.
- ‘Rome and Romans ‘(Usborne Time Traveller) by Heather Amery, imagine you’re going back in time with this book.
- ‘What the Romans did for us’ by Alison Hawes, is a great book for early readers.
- ‘Horrible Histories: Rotten Romans’ by Terry Deary, is a book from the popular Horrible Histories series.
- ‘Horrible Histories: Ruthless Romans’ by Terry Deary, is another Horrible Histories book.
- ‘The Roman Mysteries’ (17 Book Series) by Caroline Lawrence, is a series of fiction books set in Ancient Rome.
- ‘The History Detective Investigates: Roman Britain”’by Peter Hepplewhite, will tell you all about the Romans’ time in Britain.
- ‘The Orchard Book of Roman Myths’ by Geraldine McCaughrean, is a collection of Roman myths.
- ‘Look Inside: Roman Town’ by Conrad Mason and Alfredo Belli, lets you take a closer look inside a Roman town.
- ‘Romans Sticker Book’ by Fiona Watt and Paul Nicholls, have fun with this Roman sticker book.
- ‘Make This Roman Villa: Usborne cut-out models’ by Iain Ashman this book has shapes you can cut out to make your own Roman Villa.
- ‘Make This Roman Fort (Usborne Cut-out Models)’ by Iain Ashman, is another cut-out model book that lets you build a Roman fort.
- ‘Cut-out Roman Amphitheatre (Usborne Cut-out Models)’ by Iain Ashman, you can cut out and build your own Roman amphitheatre with this book.
- ‘Sticker Romans (Sticker Dressing)’ by Louie Stowell and Jean-Sebastien Deheeger, use the stickers in this book to dress Romans in various costumes.
- ‘Roman Patterns to Colour’by Sam Lake and David Thelwell, a lovely colouring book full of Roman patterns.
- ‘Light and Shadow (Yellow Umbrella Books: Science – Level B)’, by Susan Ring, is a non-fiction book all about light and shadow.
- ‘Light: Shadows, Mirrors, and Rainbows’ by Natalie M. Rosinsky, is an interesting book about light and shadows.
- ‘Light and Shadows (Science@School)’, by Brian Knapp, is a non-fiction book about light and shadow.
- ‘Oxford Connections: Year 3: Light and Shadow: Science – Pupil Book: Year 3 Science’ by James Driver, is an activity book about light and shadow.
- ‘What are Shadows and Reflections? (Light & Sound Waves Close-Up)’ by Robin Johnson, is an information book for science.
- ‘Read Write Inc. Phonics: Non-fiction Set 3 (Pink): Light and shadow’, by Gill Munton and Ruth Miskin, is a phonics book for early readers on the topic of light and shadow.
Work It Out!
- Write out some maths sums using Roman numerals, challenge your friends to answer them.
- Play lots of different games and quizzes all about Roman numerals on this website: http://www.roman-numerals.org/games.html
- Play this online Roman numerals game: http://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/284/Roman_Numerals_Mine_Mayhem
- This is another online Roman numerals game: http://www.math4children.com/games-k-to-6/1st%20grade/roman%20numerals/index.html
- Try this Roman numerals quiz: http://www.transum.org/software/SW/Starter_of_the_day/Students/Roman_Numerals.asp
- The Roman calendar was different to ours. Investigate this, how was it different and how was it the same? Do any of the month names look familiar? Look here for clues: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/roman-calendar.html
- Do the names of the days of the week have anything to do with the Romans? Find out what the days of the week were called in Ancient Roman, in modern Italian and French, do they have a connection? Check out this website for clues: http://www.pantheon.org/miscellaneous/origin_days.html
- How did the Romans tell the time? Investigate and write a report.
Year 3 will be learning about light and shadow as part of their Science work. They will learn to recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light. They will investigate how light is reflected from surfaces. They will recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes. They will also learn to recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by a solid object and find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change.
- Play this interactive game online at the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/light_shadows.shtml
- Here’s another game you can play on the BBC website, then you can read the information and take the quiz: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/physical_processes/shadows/play/
- This is another interactive game from the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/physical_processes/light_dark/play/
- There is lots of information about light and shadow to read and activities to do here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/physical_processes/light_dark/read/1/
- Play this game about light then read about it and take a quiz: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/physical_processes/light/play/
- Play this game and find out why shadows change throughout the day: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/science/physical_processes/light_shadows/play/
- This is a really fun game where you become a space explorer investigating light and colour: http://www2.bgfl.org/bgfl2/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks1/science/colour_and_light/index.cfm
- This website has a virtual sun where you can conduct an experiment to see how shadows change throughout the day depending on where the sun is: http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond/shadows/
- This fantastic website has no less than 12 links to interactive games, quizzes, challenges and puzzles about light and shadow that you can play at home: http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/science/lightshadows.html
- This video is a really good place to start if you want to know more about this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nwK78F_4eA
- This video explores how we see in the dark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekeMJLgDrrA
- Here’s another great video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkAgPBPlAj0
- This is a fun cartoon video about the sun and shadows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SN1BOpLZAs
- This is another great animation about the sun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FB0rDsR_rc
- Here’s a fun shadow play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty0C8mH4Jy8
- Why do we have shadows? Find out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kYWqkbOxgA
- What causes shadows?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI6k7rLFVfs
- Learn this fun shadow song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ne6J0aXvfs
- Make some simple shadow puppets at home, try the ones created on this video or you could just use your hands and a torch!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJxcQngSi1o
- Go outside early in the morning on a sunny day, find something that you can safely leave outside (such as a pot plant) and put it on a hard surface like a footpath or patio in your back garden. Carefully draw around the shadow on the item. Leave the item where it is and go out several times a day, leaving at least an hour between each visit, and draw around the shadow. At the end of the day how has the shadow changed over time? When was it longest? When was it shortest? Why is that?
- What should people do to be safe in the sun? Make your own sun safety poster; include tips about never looking directly at the sun, wearing sunglasses and sunscreen.
- How does the sun move over your home? Look outside early in the morning, where is the sun? Where is it at midday? What about the evening? Write about what you found out. NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN.
- Try this cool experiment at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBEC9vsaRM8
- Try this experiment and make your very own rainbow!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGvj7Us-yBo
For History children will learn about all aspects of Roman life. They will compare Romans to Celts and compare the way each lived, dressed, the armour they wore and the food they ate. They will learn about what Romans did for entertainment and about the improvements they bought to Great Britain such as roads, baths and central heating.
- Make a model of a Roman villa or a Celtic round house. You could use clay, Lego, Plasticine, Kinex, Fimo or empty cardboard boxes.
- You could challenge yourself to make your building as authentic as possible by using some air-drying clay and make some bricks before building your creation, or have a go a doing some real wattle and daub (using clay rather than dung!) on a mini-Celtic round house (only try this method outside as it can get rather messy!)
- If you like playing Minecraft perhaps you could make a Minecraft Roman villa or Celtic round house.
- Read this pdf file to get some tips on making a model Roman Villa: http://www.startwithabook.org/content/pdfs/RomanVilla.pdf
- Watch this video to see a Roman Villa that has been made by a child for some ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoaksKhC5h4
- Watch this video of a Minecraft Celtic roundhouse being built for ideas on how to make your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYCyrNFuFhI
- This Minecraft video will show you how to build a Roman villa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyr-i1GH6-A
- Watch this short video of the professionals using wattle and daub to reconstruct an old building. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9riQb-waMk
- What sort of clothes did the Romans and Celts wear? Do you think the rich wore the same as the poor? Investigate typical clothing and draw some designs or see what Roman or Celtic inspired costumes you can make with whatever clothes or material you have at home. Perhaps you could have a Roman and Celtic fashion show!
- This video shows you how to make your own toga using a bed sheet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQYloC_QcWY
- If you have long hair here is a simple hairstyle you could attempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E3JL_3jCY0 there are lots of other Roman hair tutorials on YouTube you could try.
- Write a menu for a Roman restaurant and decorate it with drawings of the food.
- What did the Romans do for entertainment? Investigate and talk about your opinions of the different activities which would you enjoy and why? Some of the entertainment that Romans enjoyed wouldn’t be allowed nowadays, why not?
- How did the Romans travel around? They didn’t have cars, trains or aeroplanes so what did they use? Draw some Roman vehicles or make some models using empty cardboard boxes, sticky tape and paint.
- What new inventions did the Romans bring to Great Britain? Talk to your family about how they would have changed the lives of the Celts. Which invention do you think was the best and why, would you choose roads, toilets, heating or maybe something else?
- Build a mini Roman road in your garden or in a shoebox, remember to layer up your rocks and gravel correctly.
- This website has lots of different pages full of information all about the Romans: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/Romans.html
- Check out the BBC Bitesize website for lots of information about the Romans: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zwmpfg8
- There are 48 amazing video clips all about the Romans on the BBC Bitesize website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/topics/zwmpfg8/resources/1
Children will learn about the geography of Italy, Great Britain and Europe at the time of the Roman Empire and how the invaded changed the landscape of the countries it affected.
- Draw a map of the Roman Empire. Label the different areas. What modern countries does the area cover?
- Find out how the Roman Empire changed over time. Which countries did they invade first? Were they defeated during any battles and lose territory?
- How did the Romans keep control over the native people of the countries they invaded such as the Celts? How do you think the Celts reacted to being invaded? How would you feel if it was you?
- What is Italy like now? Make an information book or fact-file about the country, you could draw pictures, write about famous cities, landmarks, people and culture.
- If you have ever visited Italy make a scrap book all about your time there, include photos and drawings.
- What was Britain like during the time of the Celts? Investigate and research to find out. Was there one kingdom led by one ruler or something else? What was the impact on the Celts when the Romans invaded?
Children will become presenters and use video and computer equipment to make their own presentation about the Romans. They will learn how to edit video and use a variety of effects on PowerPoint.
- Make your own video presentation at home about the subject of your choice, film your presentation using whatever equipment you have available such as a tablet or smart phone. Write a script for your presentation and plan it all before you film it, you could even make a storyboard first.
- Make a PowerPoint presentation about something that you are interested in to practice your editing skills.
Children will learn about Roman mosaics and have a go at making their own. They will learn about the artist Chuck Close who uses pixilation to create mosaic style art.
- Make a Roman style bust sculpture of yourself using air-drying clay. Look carefully in the mirror and try to shape the clay so it looks the same as you.
- Romans painted frescos straight onto walls (don’t try this at home!) they often painted food, people or animals. Research Roman paintings and paint your own Roman style picture.
- Make a mosaic; cut out small squares of coloured paper or card (you could use an old magazine or catalogue) and arrange the squares on paper to make a picture.
- Make a Roman shield using a large sheet of card. This is a good instructional video that shows you how you can make your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIbv92T_Nqc
- Learn how to make your own Roman helmet using tin foil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Gx83uH0Kw
- Make an origami Roman helmet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flacx0D3dXs
- Use papier mâché to make a Roman style helmet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5hL3tC8x0
- Research Chuck Close on the internet, make a fact-file about him or copy some of his art work. You won’t believe how realistic some of his paintings are, at first sight you may even think they are photos!
For Design and Technology children will be investigating Roman weaponry and making their own Roman inspired catapult.
- What is a trebuchet? Research Roman weaponry on the internet, draw and explain how a trebuchet worked. Why do you think this would have made a big impact during battles?
- Watch some experts at Warwick Castle build a trebuchet and use it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApwIGvUjZoE
- Make a miniature wooden trebuchet, you may need help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zihWNtdnU
- Try your hand at origami and make this origami catapult: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxwG4WbrT08
- This is a quick catapult to make using a clothes peg and an elastic band: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GffewJVigls
- Try making this easy catapult using lollipop sticks and elastic bands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XchdUB-ZnKc
- This is another easy catapult to make: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuNfdv0yFTg
- Make this catapult out of paper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjEME1HIsQ8
- Try making this paper slingshot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCzBv75KiTA
- Read about the Roman army here: http://www.main-vision.com/richard/army.html
- This BBC Bitesize website has lots of information about the Roman army: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/romans/the_roman_army/
Listen to It!
Year 3 will learn all about music during the time of the Romans. They will look at the different instruments that were played and will then work on composing and performing their own piece of music in the Roman style.
- Listen to these pieces of Roman style music, how do they make you feel? What instruments do you think are being used? What picture do they paint in your mind?
- If you play an instrument perhaps you could have a go at composing your own piece of music inspired by Ancient Rome.
- Research different instruments from Ancient Rome, draw and write about them.
For PE year 3 will play a range of different invasion games for indoor and outdoor PE. They will focus on: Netball, Dodgeball, Benchball, Football, Basketball and Tag Rugby.
- If you have a large ball at home practise some of your skills such as catching, throwing, passing and dribbling. Maybe you have other equipment like mini cones or a goal that you could also use.
- Go the park with your family or friends and try playing different games. There are various pitches you can use at the Arboretum.
- Invite some friends round for a game in your garden.
- Join a local sports club, look on this website for information on different clubs and groups near you: http://www.mywalsall.org/kids/index.php?view=category&cid=15&name=Sport%20&%20Leisure
- Watch the Super Saddlers play at a Walsall FC home game. http://www.saddlers.co.uk/
- Or watch Walsall RFC play a game of Rugby. http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/walsall
Year 3 will learn about Jesus. They will learn stories about his life and how his life was linked to the lives of the Romans. They will learn about how Jesus was tempted, his baptism and the story of Jesus in the Temple.
- Investigate how Jesus’s life was affected by the Romans. Who was Pontius Pilate? Which Emperors were in power during Jesus’s lifetime?
- Make a storyboard of the key events in Jesus’s life.
- What does temptation mean? Have you or your friends ever been tempted to do the wrong thing? What did you do? How did it feel?
- If you have been baptised or christened you could make a scrap book about it. Stick in some photos of the ceremony. Write about what happened, perhaps you have some gifts that people gave to you which you could draw or write about who your godparents are.
Click here for our Roman Britain parent information.