A Year 3 relief day: speech marks, telling the time and living things

Students will learn to

• Identify the words a character says in a sentence.
• Place speech marks around spoken words.
• Use a comma and a capital letter to start a line of speech.
• Write a short story with two characters talking.

Syllabus outcomes

• EN2-CWT-01 plans, creates and revises written texts for imaginative purposes, using text features, sentence-level grammar, punctuation and word-level language for a target audience

How the lesson runs

1. Warm-up and hook5 min
2. Teaching: spoken words and speech marks10 min
3. Worked examples and misconception9 min
4. Guided practice, quiz and discussion9 min
5. Worksheet: Speech Marks in Our Stories35 min
6. Close and exit question2 min

The slides

1. Slide 11 min

   Speech Marks in Our Stories

   Year 3 English

2. Slide 24 min

   How do we know who is talking?

   Story characters talk all the time!

   • In stories, characters often talk out loud to each other, just like people do at home and at school.
   • Read this: Mia said, "I found a frog!" Which words did Mia say out loud?
   • Writers use two tiny marks to show the exact words a character says.
   • Today we will learn how to use these marks, called speech marks.

3. Slide 33 min

   What we will learn

   Our goals today

   • I can find the words a character says in a sentence.
   • I can put speech marks around the spoken words.
   • I can use a comma and a capital letter to start speech.
   • I can write a short story where two characters talk.

4. Slide 44 min

   Spoken words

   Find the words a character says

   • Spoken words are the exact words a character says out loud, like "Come and play!"
   • Some words tell us who is talking, like said Tom or asked Mum. These are not spoken.
   • To find spoken words, ask: what could I hear the character say out loud?
   • Example: Dad said, "Dinner is ready." The spoken words are Dinner is ready.

5. Slide 55 min

   Speech marks go around spoken words

   They hug the words that are said

   • Speech marks look like tiny hooks: one set goes before the spoken words and one set goes after.
   • They sit up high near the top of the letters, not on the line.
   • Only the exact spoken words go inside. Words like said Tom stay outside.
   • Example: Tom said, "I love swimming." The speech marks hug I love swimming.

6. Slide 64 min

   Comma and capital letter

   How to start a line of speech

   • When the speaker comes first, put a comma after the speaker words: Mum said, "Time for bed."
   • The first spoken word starts with a capital letter, even in the middle of the sentence.
   • The sentence ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark inside the speech marks.
   • Pattern: Speaker said, "Capital letter words."

7. Slide 74 min

   Worked example

   Add speech marks, a comma and a capital letter: sam said we can play outside.

   • Step 1 — Find the speaker: sam said. Sam is talking.
   • Step 2 — Find the spoken words: we can play outside.
   • Step 3 — Add a comma after said: sam said, we can play outside.
   • Step 4 — Put speech marks around the spoken words: sam said, "we can play outside."

8. Slide 83 min

   Common mistake

   Only the spoken words go inside

   • Wrong: "Sam said, we can play outside." The words Sam said should not be inside the speech marks.
   • Right: Sam said, "We can play outside." Only the talking words are inside.
   • Check by asking: did the character say these words out loud?
   • If a word is only telling us who talked, keep it outside the speech marks.

9. Slide 94 min

   Quick check

   Which sentence has the speech marks in the right place?

   • Ben "said," Let's build a fort.
   • "Ben said, Let's build a fort."
   • Ben said, Let's "build a fort."
   • Ben said, "Let's build a fort."

10. Slide 103 min

    Think deeper

    Why do speech marks help the reader of a story?

    • They show the reader exactly which words a character says out loud.
    • They help us tell the narrator's words from the characters' words.
    • They make it clear who is talking when two characters speak.
    • They make a story easier and more fun to read aloud with different voices.

11. Slide 1135 min

    Worksheet: Speech Marks in Our Stories

    Show what you know on your own

    • Section 1: Spotting spoken words. Read each sentence and underline the exact words the character says.
    • Section 2: Adding speech marks, commas and capitals. Fix the two sentences using the pattern: Speaker said, "Capital words."
    • Finished early? Challenge: write a short scene where two characters talk. Use speech marks every time someone speaks.
    • Check your work: Did I use speech marks around only spoken words? A comma? A capital letter?

Students will learn to

• Read an analog clock to the nearest five minutes.
• Count by fives to find the minutes past the hour.
• Write the same time in digital form.
• Match analog and digital times.

Syllabus outcomes

• MA2-NSM-02 represents and interprets analog and digital time in hours, minutes and seconds

How the lesson runs

1. Warm-up and hook5 min
2. Teaching: hands, fives and special times8 min
3. Worked examples and guided practice12 min
4. Common mistake and quick check6 min
5. Worksheet: Telling the Time to Five Minutes35 min
6. Close: exit question4 min

The slides

1. Slide 11 min

   Telling the Time to Five Minutes

   Year 3 Mathematics

2. Slide 25 min

   Can you read this clock?

   The short hand is just past 3 and the long hand points to 8. What time is it?

   • The long hand points to a number, but the number is not always the minutes. We will find out what it means.
   • We are learning to read a clock to the nearest five minutes and to count by fives.
   • We are learning to write the same time in digital form, like 3:40, and to match clocks with digital times.
   • I can say the time on a clock, write it in digital form and match clocks to digital times.

3. Slide 35 min

   Counting by fives around the clock

   The hour hand and the minute hand

   • The short hand is the hour hand. It tells us which hour it is, like 3 or 7.
   • The long hand is the minute hand. It tells us how many minutes past the hour.
   • Each number on the clock is five minutes. The 1 is 5 minutes, the 2 is 10 and the 3 is 15.
   • Count by fives from the 12: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60.

4. Slide 45 min

   Special times on the clock

   Four times that we use every day

   • O'clock: The minute hand points to 12. We say the hour, like 4 o'clock, and write it 4:00.
   • Quarter past: The minute hand points to 3. That is 15 minutes past the hour, written like 4:15.
   • Half past: The minute hand points to 6. That is 30 minutes past the hour, written like 4:30.
   • Quarter to: The minute hand points to 9. That is 45 minutes past, written like 4:45. It is quarter to 5.

5. Slide 52 min

   Finding minutes from the clock number (the 5)

   Multiply the number by 5

   • The 5 is five fives, so 5 × 5 = 25 minutes.
   • The first 5 is the number the minute hand points to on the clock face. It tells us how many fives to count.
   • The second 5 is how many minutes each clock number is worth. The × sign means 'groups of'.
   • The answer is in minutes. Use this whenever the minute hand points to a number from 1 to 12.

6. Slide 64 min

   Worked example 1

   The hour hand is just past 2 and the minute hand points to 5. What time is it? Write it in digital form.

   • Step 1 — Look at the short hour hand. It is just past 2, so the hour is 2.
   • Step 2 — The minute hand points to the 5. Count by fives: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25.
   • Step 3 — Multiply: 5 × 5 = 25 minutes.
   • Step 4 — Check by adding: 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 25 minutes.

7. Slide 72 min

   Finding minutes from the clock number (the 9)

   The same rule works for every number

   • The 9 is nine fives, so 9 × 5 = 45 minutes.
   • The 9 is the number the minute hand points to. It tells us to count nine fives.
   • The 5 is the minutes in each step, and × means 'groups of'. The answer is in minutes.
   • Use this for any number on the clock, then check by counting by fives out loud.

8. Slide 84 min

   Worked example 2

   The hour hand is between 7 and 8, close to the 8. The minute hand points to 9. Which digital time matches: 7:09, 7:45 or 9:07?

   • Step 1 — The hour hand is between 7 and 8. It has passed 7 but not reached 8, so the hour is 7.
   • Step 2 — The minute hand points to the 9. Count by fives: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45.
   • Step 3 — Multiply: 9 × 5 = 45 minutes.
   • Step 4 — Check with special times: 30 + 15 = 45, which is half past plus a quarter.

9. Slide 93 min

   Quick check

   The hour hand is just past 3. The minute hand points to the 8. What time is it?

   • 3:08
   • 3:40
   • 8:15
   • 4:40

10. Slide 1035 min

    Worksheet: Telling the Time to Five Minutes

    Work on your own. Count by fives every time.

    • Reading the clock by counting in fives: 4 questions. Count by fives and write the digital time under each clock.
    • Quick minutes past the hour: 8 questions. Write digital times, draw the hands on the blank clocks and match clocks to digital times.
    • Finished early? Challenge: 3 questions. Try these when you have finished the other questions.
    • Check each time: look at the hour hand first, then count by fives for the minutes.

11. Slide 114 min

    Exit question

    The minute hand points to the 10. How many minutes past the hour is that? How do you know?

    • The short hand is the hour hand and the long hand is the minute hand.
    • Each number on the clock is five minutes, so we count by fives.
    • A digital time has the hour, two dots, then the minutes, like 3:40.

Students will learn to

• Name the features of living things, such as growing, needing food and water, and reproducing.
• Sort objects into living and non-living groups.
• Give a reason for why something is living or non-living.

How the lesson runs

1. Hook and warm-up6 min
2. Teaching the features of living things10 min
3. Worked example and guided practice10 min
4. Check and discuss6 min
5. Worksheet: Living and Non-Living Things35 min
6. Close3 min

The slides

1. Slide 11 min

   Living and Non-Living Things

   Year 3 Science and Technology

2. Slide 24 min

   Is It Alive?

   How can we tell if something is living or non-living?

   • A dog, a tree and a worm are all living things, and they are very different from each other.
   • A rock, a chair and a ball are not alive, even though we can see them every day.
   • Scientists look for special clues to decide if something is living or non-living.
   • Today we will learn the clues and use them to sort things.

3. Slide 32 min

   Our Learning Today

   What we will learn and how we will know

   • I can name the features of living things, such as growing, needing food and water, and reproducing.
   • I can sort objects into living and non-living groups.
   • I can give a reason for why something is living or non-living.
   • Success: I can finish the sentence 'It is living because…' or 'It is non-living because…'.

4. Slide 43 min

   Warm-up

   What do you already know? Name something that is alive and say how you know.

   • Many answers are right, such as a dog, a plant, a bird, a fish or a person.
   • Good reasons include 'It grows', 'It eats', 'It drinks water' or 'It has babies'.
   • Things that are not alive, such as a table or a stone, do not do any of these things.

5. Slide 55 min

   Features of Living Things

   Living things share these clues

   • Living things grow. A puppy grows into a dog and a seed grows into a plant.
   • Living things need food and water. A plant drinks water through its roots and a cat eats food.
   • Living things reproduce. This means they make babies, such as eggs, seeds or young animals.
   • Living things move and sense. Plants turn towards light and animals run, swim or fly.

6. Slide 65 min

   Non-Living Things

   Things that are not alive

   • Non-living things do not grow by themselves. A rock stays the same size and a toy car never gets bigger.
   • Non-living things do not need food or water. A chair never gets hungry or thirsty.
   • Non-living things cannot make babies. A pencil does not make more pencils.
   • Some non-living things were once alive, such as a wooden table made from a tree.

7. Slide 75 min

   Worked Example

   Sort a dog, a bike and a tomato plant into living or non-living. Give a reason for each.

   • Step 1 — Look at the dog. Ask: does it grow, eat and drink, and have babies? Yes, so it is living.
   • Step 2 — Say the reason: 'It is living because it grows, eats and drinks, and has puppies.'
   • Step 3 — Look at the bike. It does not grow, eat or have babies, so it is non-living.
   • Step 4 — Say the reason: 'It is non-living because it does not grow, need food or make babies.'

8. Slide 84 min

   Let's Sort Together

   Show living or non-living with your arms, then say the reason

   • Cat: arms up for living. Say 'It is living because it eats and grows.'
   • Candle flame: think carefully before you choose.
   • A flame moves and seems to need air, but it does not grow, eat or reproduce.
   • Say your reason to a partner: 'It is non-living because…'

9. Slide 93 min

   Quick Check

   Which is the best reason that a mushroom is a living thing?

   • It is soft and feels wet.
   • It does not move around like an animal.
   • It is found outside in the garden.
   • It grows and makes spores to reproduce.

10. Slide 1035 min

    Worksheet: Living and Non-Living Things

    Work on your own and use your reasons

    • Spotting living things (Questions 1 to 4): Look at each picture. Sort it into living or non-living.
    • Write a reason for some of your choices. Start with 'It is living because…' or 'It is non-living because…'.
    • Finished early? Challenge (Questions 5 to 7): Try the challenge questions and think about tricky things.
    • Check that each reason names a feature: grows, needs food and water, or reproduces.

11. Slide 113 min

    Exit Question

    Is a pencil living or non-living? Tell your partner a reason using 'because'.

    • Remember the features: grow, need food and water, reproduce.
    • Say your reason with 'because'.