Year 4 Blog
19th March
We have had a very exciting return to the Summer Term! We have started new topics and areas of learning.
On Friday 19th April we went to the British Museum to launch our Ancient Egypt topic. The children took part in a presentation all about Egyptian Mummies, learning all about how kings and queens of Egypt were mummified. We also enjoyed looking at the many artefacts that the museum had on show. The children were very well-behaved and were a credit to the school.
In Maths we have started looking at the link between fractions and decimals, writing and drawing these using bar models to support our understanding. Next week we will continue to look at decimals.
In Literacy were amazed to discover fairy doors in our discovery garden. We spent some time creating our own fairy doors for other children in the school to discover. This activity is a hook into our new text "The Night Fairy."
In Art we have started to learn all about Egyptian Burial Masks, we will be designing our own masks using paper mache. Thank you to all of those who have sent in cardboard and newspaper for our project - please continue to send this in.
Reminders:
- PE days: Monday pm and Tuesday pm (Cricket)
- Water bottles - please make sure your child has a water bottle in school each day
- Art resources - newspaper, cardboard boxes, toilet roll tubes
- Uniform - please ensure that the children are wearing their ties to school each day - we have noticed a number of ties are missing.
The Year 4 Team
27th March
We have made it to the end of the Spring Term. What a busy term we have had in Year 4; from Book Week to Science Week, Easter Egg Hunts and William Morris inspired printing.
We have been very proud of all the hard work that the children have put in this term, they have worked hard in all their lessons and have embraced the new challenges that they have encountered throughout the term.
We only have one more term left of Year 4! We start off the term with our trip to The British Museum (Friday 19th April). This is to link in with our topic on the Ancient Egyptians. We are going to be linking our Geography, Art and our Design Technology to our History topic looking at building bridges over the River Nile, Making Egyptian Masks and learning about both ancient and modern Egypt.
We hope that you have a lovely Easter break and enjoy the time with your families.
We return on Tuesday 16th April.
The Year 4 Team
20th March
We have had another busy week in Year 4 this week. We have started the week with Pedestrian Training which involved learning road safety skills and being able to cross the roads correctly. The children were very sensible and were able to answer questions about keeping themselves safe.
In Maths, we have continued our work on fractions. We were converting improper to mixed fractions. We reiterated that knowledge of times tables would be beneficial when working with fractions as they are very closely linked. Over the Easter break we would like all the children to spend time practising their times tables using either Times Table Rockstars or URBrainy.
In Literacy, we have completed our unit on writing diary entries - focusing this week on writing as either Buzz or Woody from Toy Story about their adventures in Sid's room. The children were able to demonstrate a confident use of past tense verbs in their diary entries and enjoyed writing as these characters.
Next week, we have the Easter Egg Hunt and Litter Picking. We will be sending PE kits home on Tuesday with the children for the end of term.
Please remember that we finish school for the Easter Break at 1:15pm on Thursday.
Have a lovely Easter Break and enjoy some family time together
The Year 4 Team
15th March
Wow! What an exciting week we have had. The children have loved Science Week this week and have embraced all of the practical investigations with enthusiasm and passion. We particularly enjoyed moving around to other teachers and experiencing working in different classrooms.
In Literacy we have thoroughly enjoyed writing our diary entries from the perspective of the character of Jack - a cheeky boy who enjoys getting into danger and likes taking risks. The children were able to use informal language to portray the character effectively.
In Maths, we have continued with our work on fractions. We have been comparing and ordering fractions, as well as looking at learning about the difference between improper and mixed fractions. We are continuing this next week where we will be looking at equivalent fractions.
Thank you to all those parents who came to Parents Evening this week - it was lovely to see you all.
8th March
This week has been assessment week for the whole school. The children have worked incredibly hard to showcase their learning in all their tests and have demonstrated how much they have learnt this year. Well done for showing great resilience during this week, we are very proud of you all.
In Science this week, the children investigated if gas had a mass by testing out a variety of fizzy drinks. They used their working scientifically skills to carry out their investigations and really enjoyed the activity. We even finished off the lesson by having a small test of the fizzy drinks!
In DT we have started looking at William Morris and his work on patterns and arts and crafts. We created a fact file about his work and how he has inspired other artists. We will continue to use ideas and patterns in our own design making prints. Thank you for the donations of white material for this purpose.
Next week is a very busy week. We have our whole school Science Week where the children will be taking part in a number of exciting hands-on practical investigations. We start the week with a whole school assembly from Mad Science - this will be full of whizzes and bangs! Each afternoon the children will be moving to another teacher in Year 3 or 4 to carry out fun investigations. We have a Science Fair on Friday afternoon where you can come and see the amazing work the children have carried out.
Friday 15th March is also Comic Relief Day - the children can come in something red for a small donation.
We forward to seeing you all at our Parents Evenings on Tuesday and Thursday next week.
The Year 4 Team
1st March
Welcome back to the new half term. We were very pleased to see the children back and enjoyed listening to all their stories and activities that they did over the half term break.
We started this week with some of our children having the opportunity to take part in Bikeability. They have been learning all about riding safely on their bikes and have really enjoyed the sessions each day.
In Maths this week we have begun to look at Fractions. We have been counting in fraction steps and learning all about mixed fractions. Our partitioning skills came in useful when we were partitioning fractions into wholes and parts.
In Literacy we have started to look at our new text - a diary entry this half term. We used the text to help us build up character profiles using our inference skills to describe their traits. We will be learning more about writing using the past tense verbs to write recall events which we find in diary entries.
Next week is our assessment week, where we will be carrying out some reading, maths and grammar assessments.
The Year 4 Team
16th February 2024
What a fun and exciting end to the half term! We have really enjoyed our Book Week activities this week. We started the week by baking and decorating biscuits ready to sell at our Bedtime Stories, this was great fun. We have been looking at the book Journey by Aaron Becker, which is about a girl who goes on an enchanted adventure using her magic red crayon to draw her way out of difficulties. Throughout the week we have enjoyed a number of book linked activities: storyboarding the next adventure, creating fantasy birds, making 3D hot air balloons and designing magical doors that take us to new worlds. The week has ended with the children dressing up in their fantastic book character costumes - well done everyone for all your effort, you looked amazing!
After half term we will be starting a new Science theme on States of Matter, learning all about solids, liquids and gases. We are looking forward to Science Week as well.
In Geography we are going to be learning all about rivers, how they are formed and all about rivers of the UK and around the world.
Thank you for all your support during this half term. We hope you have a great break with your families and look forward to seeing you after the break.
The Year 4 Team
9th February 2024
The children have been extremely busy this week!
In Literacy, they have planned their invented setting description. They had a choice of 4 settings to choose from and they spent a lot of time generating vocabulary to use in their writing. Their vocabulary had to include features from our toolkit. They have begun to write their independent piece of writing and these will be completed next week.
In Maths, the children have looked at how to flexibly partition numbers and how this will support them when completing division questions. Next week, we will be continuing our work on division.
In Science, the children looked at insulators and conductors. They first predicted whether they thought it was an insulator or conductor and then they tested them. The children were very clear when using the new vocabulary and were able to test the materials successfully.
This week, we celebrated Safer Internet Day. The children looked at technology through time and how, as the technology developed, the protection needed was also developed. They discussed how technology supports us in our everyday lives and then designed how they thought it would look in 20 years.
This is a gentle reminder that next week we have pyjama day on Wednesday, which will be followed by our Bedtime Story event. We also have World Book Day on Friday where the children are invited to dress as their favourite book character. To also support World Book Week the Book Fair will be arriving today and will be with us in the lodge.
Thank you for your support!
Year 4 team
2nd February 2024
Year 4 have ended the week with a fantastic NSPCC Number Day! It was wonderful to see them in their number costumes and we thank you for all of your support and effort in this!
In Literacy this week, the children have written their innovated setting descriptions based on a misty woods. It was wonderful to see them challenging themselves to apply our toolkit of: personification, short sentences, alliteration and rhetorical questions so well. Next week, the children will be applying this in their independent application. This is where they will have a choice of settings and create their own setting description.
In Maths this week, we tackled multiplying 3 digit numbers by 1 digit number and the children showed fantastic perseverance in this challenging concept. They did find our work on division a challenge towards the end of the week so we will be carrying this over to next week.
In Science, the children have continued to engage well with our electricity unit and were able to predict whether the circuit was complete or not and then tested their predictions. We were impressed with how well they applied their knowledge of circuits to their predictions to justify and most of them were correct!
Thank you for your continued support.
Year 4 team
26th January 2024
This week the children have worked extremely hard with some challenging concepts this week.
In Maths, they have tackled multiplying 2 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers. They started by learning the informal written methods. They accomplished this quickly and enjoyed multiplying large numbers. They then progressed on to multiplying using the formal method. This method was particularly challenging for the children but they demonstrated fantastic resilience and we were so proud of them for understanding this by the end of the week. Next week, we will continue our learning of the formal written methods but looking at how to multiply 3 digit numbers by 1 digit.
In Literacy, the children have generated a toolkit for an effective setting description. They have used this to plan their own setting description based on a video and photograph. Today, they generated vocabulary to enhance their writing and use next week whilst writing.
The children were very excited by this week's Science! They worked well to create their own circuits with a lightbulb! They were able to explain what made a complete circuit and drew diagrams of their learning. Next week, the children will develop this further.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
19th January 2024
What a busy week the children have had this week!
The children have astounded us this week with their writing. We have focused on personification and alliteration. The children worked extremely hard to apply these grammar features in their writing and their vocabulary was amazing! Next week, we are going to be looking at how we can vary our sentence openers and then we will be boxing up our innovated version of our text.
In Maths, the children have worked hard on multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100. The children were able to explain that they are moving the digits and then adding/removing the place value holder. Next week, we will be looking at how to multiply 2 and 3 digit numbers by 1 digit.
In Science, the children have looked into electrical safety. They had to identify the hazards within a house and then use this information to generate a safety poster. Next week, the children will be investigating how to build a simple circuit.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
12th January 2024
Happy new year to you all! We really hope that you all had a wonderful break!
The children have returned with fantastic learning attitudes this week and ready to start 2024's learning with a bang! They have been particularly excited about their swimming this week and they should be so proud of themselves. The children showcased their swimming knowledge well and some showed fantastic resilience when tackling something that was a bit daunting for them. The children's behaviour whilst outside of school was very good and it was lovely to see their smiling faces throughout - they should be proud of themselves!
In Literacy, we have started a new text based around the book The Tunnel. The children have immersed themselves in learning the text using the story maps and actions. They have worked extremely hard on setting descriptions and this will continue into next week as they learn some more complex figurative language devices.
In Maths this week the children have demonstrated their understanding of factors by creating factor bugs. The children then played a variety of games to deepen their understanding. Next week the children will be multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100 with whole number answers.
In Geography, we have begun our unit Misty Mountains, Winding Rivers. The children thought carefully about what they would need if they went on a mountain expedition. The children have very creative ideas about what would be important when scaling a mountain. Next week, we are looking at the features of a mountain in more detail.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
15th December 2023
What a busy week it has been in Year 4! As we approach the end of the term, we have been taking part in a number of exciting learning opportunities.
In Maths this week, the children showed great resilience and perseverance during an area and perimeter investigation. The children were able to create rectilinear shapes to fit given criteria and were able to adjust their attempts if they did not meet the set criteria. We were very proud of their determination throughout this task.
In Literacy this week, we enjoyed creating a spine poem all about a Christmas scene. The children used their grammar knowledge to create verses using correct word classes.
We would like to thank you for your support this week during the Music Concert that our children took part in. They have worked hard to learn the cornet with Mr Eceles and performed amazingly. Well done everyone.
Next week is extremely busy. We hope you are able to join us for our final events of the year:
Monday 18th Dec: Christmas Fair from 2:30
Tuesday 19th Dec: Christmas jumper/lunch.
Join us on the MUGA for Christmas Carols from 2:30
Just a reminder that we finish at 1:15 on Wednesday.
From all the Year 4 team, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
8th December
Year 4 have begun their Christmas activities this week. They have researched Christmas traditions in Singapore and Austria as part of their Literacy. They then created a non-chronological report based on the information that they had found. We were impressed with the writing produced and this will be on display on our Christmas themed doors. Next week, the children will be creating Christmas themed poetry.
In Maths, the children have recapped their learning on area and perimeter as this is something that they had expressed was a challenge. This learning will be developed further next week.
In Science, we learnt all about food chains. The children learnt the correct vocabulary (producer, predator and prey) and applied this when creating their own food chains based on a variety of habitats.
In Geography, we deepened our understanding of the physical and human features of countries in North and South America. The children used this information to create a poster.
A gentle reminder that next week we have our Humanities Open Afternoon on Friday. Please join us from 3.15pm and come and take a look at the wonderful your work your child has been doing.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
1st December
The children have worked extremely hard on this shorter week.
In Literacy, the children have written their own invented version of the newspaper article. They based their article around a fairy tale that interested them. This gave them the opportunity to showcase all of the skills that they have learnt over the half term. Next week, the children will be writing a non-choronological report in preparation for decorating their door.
In Maths, the children have been looking at mental subtraction and addition. They used resources to support them with this and found the bead strings and 100 squares helpful. Next week, we are going to be recapping area and perimeter as this is something the children have expressed as difficult. This learning will continue in more depth in the coming weeks.
In Geography, the children researched countries in North and South America.
Thank you for your continued support and enjoy the long weekend. We are excited to have Mrs Saunders from a dentist coming to visit on Monday.
Year 4 team.
24th November
What a busy week it has been in Year 4 this week!
The children have been working extremely hard in Literacy when planning and writing their innovated version of our newspaper article. We have been impressed with the creativity and imagination when generating their ideas. Also, the children have challenged themselves well to add relative clauses and direct speech to their newspaper articles. They should be so proud of what they have achieved! Next week, this will be extended when they write their invented version based on a fairy tale of their choice. This will enable them to demonstrate independent application of the skills we have learnt this half term and we cannot wait to read them.
In Maths, the children have continued to practice their times tables. We have focused on multiplying by 11 and 12. The children have grasped these times tables quickly. We also looked at the impact of multiplying and dividing by 1 and 0. Next week, we will be looking at mental addition and subtraction and how we can use these in worded problems.
We have continued our learning around the digestive system in Science this week and the children practically created the digestive system. It enabled them to fully understand the functions of the organs in the digestive system and use the correct vocabulary – as well as being lots of fun! In Geography, we looked at the equator and the tropics. The children used atlases to identify countries that lie in the tropics and we discussed why those areas of the planet were hotter than others.
This is a reminder that next Thursday the children are able to come into school dressed as a rockstar for our relaunch of Times Table Rock Stars. Additionally, school is closed on Friday for an occasional day.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
17th November
The children have amazed us with their resilience and perseverance throughout our assessment week this week. It was an opportunity for them to showcase their knowledge.
In Geography, we had great fun locating items and places on maps using their grid references. The children used 4 figure grid references and some children challenged themselves with 6 figure grid references. Next week we are going to develop our knowldge of the world by looking at the tropics and hemispheres.
In Science, the children learnt the body parts of their digestive system. They worked in groups to draw around a child and place the organs in the correct place. The children also learnt the functions of these organs.
Next week, in Maths we are going to be continuing our learning around times tables with a specific focus on learning our 7 and 11 times tables. We will also be looking at the impact of multiplying and dividing by 0 and 1.
In Literacy next week we will be writing our innovated newspaper article based around our text - Local Woodcutter Awarded Medal.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
10th November
We wanted to start by saying a huge well done to Woodpeckers for their wonderful and creative assembly. The children really enjoyeed showcasing their talents with you. Thank you to all of the grown ups who attended.
The children's week started quite dramatically with both classes rooms being blocked off by the police as there had been an intruder! The children interviewed Mr Murray about what the police had found and were told that there was a grey wig, cooking apron and a basket of fruit found in the rooms. The children worked out that the intruder had obviously tried to disguise themselves.
In Literacy, the children have challenged themselves to secure their understanding of relative clauses and used these to describe different characters. The children were then introduced to our new text which is a newspaper recount about Jim Stevenson. Jim Stevenson was the timber merchant who rescued Little Red Riding Hood from the clutches of the terrifying wolf. Next week, the children will be planning their own innovated version of this newspaper recount.
In Maths, the children have continued to practice their times tables - focusing on 6s and 9s. We have been impressed with how their knowledge has improved in such a short space of time. Next week, we will be moving on to 11 and 7 times tables.
In Science, the children wrote their conclusions for their investigations. The children were clear which liquids had the most impact on their teeth and were suprised that orange juice had such a negative impact. We discussed the importance of dental hygiene and health. We moved on to discuss the different types of teeth and what each type was used for.
In PE, the children have been looking at different types of balances in gymnastics. They learnt the difference between a point balance and a patch balance. They then worked in partners to create a short sequence of 5 balances.
3rd November
What a busy week it has been in Year 4 this week! The children showcased their creative side when decorating their pumpkins and well done to our class winners. The week ended with some brightly coloured clothing and thank you for your support in this.
In Literacy, the children have been developing their SPAG knowledge by fine tuning their use of dialogue punctuation. They were also introduced to relative clauses which was a challenging concept for the children to grasp and they showed fantastic resilience.
In Maths, the focus has been times tables. The children spent time recapping their 3 times tables before moving on to their 6s. The children learnt songs, played games and created arrays to show their knowledge. Please try and practice these at home.
In Science, we have begun our new topic - Animals including humans. The children have planned their own investigation on teeth. They have placed eggs in a variety of different liquidss and will be spending the next few days observing the effects these liquids have on the egg.
A gentle reminder that it is Woodpeckers class assembly on Monday 6th November. The children have worked extremely hard this week and cannot wait to amaze you with their work!
Thank you for continued support,
Year 4 team
20th October
We had an exciting start to our week with our Anglo Saxon Day. The children enthusiastically emersed themselves in acting and theatre! The ended the day by holding a real anglo-saxon sword and axe!
In Literacy, the children planned and wrote their cold write - a newspaper article about the story of the gingerbread man. Their headlines caught our eyes and they were clearly able to order the events. The first week back after half term, the children will be completing som short burst writing to support them in their new unit based around newspaper articles.
In Maths, the children started looking at area. This is new to them in Year 4 and we were impressed with how well they approached this challenging content. After half term, the children will be looking more at the rules for different times tables so any practice the children could do at home would be beneficial.
In PE, the children finished their learning on rugby and we will be moving on to gymnastics after half term. Can we remind you that children need to take out their earrings for PE. If they are unable to do this themselves then they need to come in to school not wearing them.
In Science, the children completed a research project on endangered animals and created fact files about these animals.
We want to thank you for your continued support this half term and hope that you have a happy and safe half term.
Year 4 team
13th October
It was wonderful to meet you all this week for Parents Evening. Working alongisde yourselves for the benefit of the children is so important and we thank you for attending. The week started with an important assembly about staying safe on the road - Be Bright, Be Seen.
This week the children have worked extremely hard on their invented versions of Wild Girl From mermaids and pirates to orcas and monkeys - we have seen it all this week! The children especially tried hard to use our toolkits surrounding developing a character and dialogue.
In Maths, the children looked at column subtraction with exchange. The children found this challenging but they have made us proud by showing huge resilience. Next week, we are going to be looking at area.
In Spanish, the children have been looking at naming and identifying fruits and this will continue into next week.
This is a reminder that we have our Anglo-Saxon workshop on Monday. We are asking that the children are in their school uniform for the whole day. This is also a reminder that it is the Halloween Disco on Monday as well so, if you haven't already, you can book your tickets through Parent Pay.
6th October
We wanted to start by saying a huge well done to Kingfishers for their wonderful and informative assembly. Thank you to all of the grown ups who attended.
The children have impressed us with their creativity in Literacy when writing their innovated stories based on Wild Girl. They used the toolkit for developing a character to challenge, extend and improve their writing. We ended the week with the children planning their own invented version. We are excited to see what they write next week!
In Maths, the children have worked extremely hard on using the column method to add. They have challenged themselves with exchanging and met that challenge. Next week, they will be focusing on subtraction.
In Science, the children took part in an invertebrate hunt around the school. The children then created a small fact file on their invertebrate.
This is a gentle reminder that we have our Anglo Saxon theme day coming up and, if you have not already, this is on Parent Pay.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
29th September
The children have yet again impressed us with their fantastic learning attitude!
In Literacy, the children have planned and begun writing their innovated narrative - Arctic Boy. We have been impressed with the children for their vocabulary when developing a character.
In Maths, the children have focused on rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000. They have persevered well as this was something that they initially found challenging. Next week we will start looking at adding - one of our 4 operations.
The children have really enjoyed making their healthy snack - fruit skewers in Design and Technology. They will continue with healthy snacks next week by designing their own snack in groups.
Spelling rules for this week were the 'ai' sounds and contractions (didn't, couldn't, won't etc). Please can you ensure you are practicing your times tables daily on Times Table Rockstars or an alternative game. It is essential that the children become fluent in their tables this year.
Mrs Gaze looks forward to welcoming you to her class assembly on Monday morning.
Thank you for your continued support,
Year 4 team
22nd September
The week started with the Year 4s finding a mysterious tent on the field! They were very interested about who could be living in it and showed some fantastic inferrence. This led us in to our new text in Literacy 'Wild Girl'. They have spent the week internalising the text with actions - please ask them to share it with you at home! Next week, the children will be creating their class innovated version of this story.
In Maths the children have been looking at their knowledge of number. We have been ordering and comparing numbers and have moved on to the tricky skill of rounding. The children found practical number lines and bead strings helpful when rounding to the nearest 10. Next week we will be developing this further by rounding to the nearest 100.
In Computing, we have been continuing to look at computer networks, roouters and the world wide web. The children were shocked to hear that older mobile phones did not have access to the internet and that you couldn't connect to friends on older consoles. We know a lot of them came home to ask you questions as they fed back their knowledge in school.
In Design and Technology, the children have created their own piece of food packaging. They used a net to contruct it. Although challenging, the children's final designs look wonderful.
As a school we have reflected on how we deliver spellings. The children will now be having 3 spelling lessons a week in school instead of spellings sent home and spelling tests. You are more than welcome to practice each rule at home to secure their understanding. This week we have been looking at the suffixes: '-s', '-es', ‘-er’, ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’ and the prefixes 'dis-', 'mis-' and 'un-'. We have explored these rules and how the root word does not change when adding them.
This is just a gentle reminder that Kingfishers class assembly is on Monday 2nd October.
15th September
What a fantastic week in Year 4! It was lovely to see so many of you at our 'Meet the Teacher' event after school this week. It is so important that we all work together to support the children.
The children have shown such resilience in Literacy this week as we tackled the challenge of dialogue. This is a specifically challenging topic as there are so many rules and so much punctuation to include! Next week, we will be starting oour first Talk for Writing fiction unit. By the end of the week they should be able to orally retell the whole story - make sure you test them at home!
In Maths, we have been looking at place value - up to 10,000! The children have worked extremely hard to build numbers with place value counters and base 1 equipment. They then partitioned and then flexibly partitioned the numbers. We were impressed with how well they represented their learning through drawing pictures and writing the number sentences. Next week, they will be looking at rounding numbers.
Thank you to all of the parents who supported us in Design and Technology this week and donated their empty food packaging. The children had lots of fun exploring what they all meant. Next week, they will be looking at how to construct nets and designing their own packaging.
This is just a reminder to make sure your child brings in their reading book and record every day. Homework is daily reading as well as practicing tehir timestables on Times Table Rockstars. Your child should know their log in but if they are unsure then don't hesitate to ask us.
Have a fantastic weekend
Year 4 team
8th September
Welcome back! It has been wonderful to be reunited with the children after the 6 weeks holiday. The children have come back in to school ready and eager to learn.
The week started with Year 4 being invaded by Year 5. The children spent a long time processing their emotions following this ordeal and they then used this to write a diary entry about the event. The children impressed us with their emotive entries.
Some gentle reminders:
- children need to bring in water bottles every day
- children need to bring in their reading books and records every day
- PE is on a Monday and a Thursday
As a school, we are exploring different avenues with regards to spelling and therefore we will not be setting weekly spellings at the moment.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Wednesday 13th September at 3 o clock for 'Meet the teacher'. We are also looking forward to working with you this year.
Year 4 Team
19th May
What a busy week in Year 4!
This week in Maths we have begun to explore time, we have looked at being able to tell the time, as well as converting time from digital to analogue. We will continue to explore time in more detail next week.
In Literacy we have been looking at a warning tale story, we have explored the key features and are building up to writing our own version next week!
In Science we carried out an experiment, How to Muffle Sound?
We made predictions and investigated the best material to protect our ears from loud sounds.
Next week, we will be making our final art sculptures in the theme of Ancient Civilisation. We will continue to work on our programming skills in computing.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Week beginning 24.04.23
Wow, what a busy first two weeks back. We have started our new topic of Ancient Civilisation. This new History topic will focus on all aspects of the lives of Ancient Sumers and Ancient Egyptians. We are going to be busy researching how lives were during Ancient Civilisation and look forward to welcoming you to our very own Museum in Summer 2.
In Maths, we have continued to look at decimals. We have been exploring different ways to partition decimals and how to round decimals to the closest integer number.
In Literacy, we have started looking at a new instruction text, 'How to Mummify a Pharaoh'. We have explored the features of instructions and we will be writing our own in the coming weeks.
Next week, in Maths we will be moving onto money and solving money calculations. In Science we look forward to continuing to explore Sound.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Week beginning 6.3.23
Year 4 have worked extremely hard on their assessments this week and have used this as an opportunity to showcase all of the learning this term.
In Literacy, the children have written their innovated portal story. We have been extremely impressed with the variety of sentence openers they have demonstrated as this has really improved the quality of their work.
In Maths, we have continued our learning on fractions. The children have shown perseverance in this challenging subject and have secured their understanding of equivalent fractions.
In Design and Technology, we have begun our learning around fabrics. The children were very clear in the differences between fabrics and were able to identify why specific fabrics were chosen for certain items and why others would not be appropriate.
Next week, the children will finish their final assessments. They will also look at adding and subtracting fractions as well as planning and writing an invented portal story.
Week beginning 27.2.23
Well done Year 4 for an extremely exciting World Book Week! You continue to amaze us with your enthusiasm.
In Year 4, we spent the week looking at Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. The children enjoyed creating their own chocolate rooms which they labelled beautifully. They were extremely creative with their ideas and created some very detailed sketches.
The children also considered their favourite chocolate bars and used this to design their own chocolate bar. When creating their chocolate bar, they also had to name it and create some packaging – well done Year 4!
The week ended with some fantastic costumes and thank you parents for your support in this. The children engaged superbly with our debate on Friday. We considered who was the worst behaved child in the story. The children had to consider the evidence and present it to the class as a debate. The children generated lots of wonderful ideas and we were impressed with their justifications and vocabulary!
Week beginning 20.2.23
Welcome back after half term – we hope that you all had a restful break.
As always, we have been impressed with the hard work that Year 4 have shown this week.
In Literacy, the children have started a new unit on Portal Stories. They have learnt what a portal story is and looked at some of the features of our portal story Elf Road. The children started their imitation after boxing up their story and these will be completed next week.
In Maths, the children have begun their work on fractions and have looked at partitioning mixed number and improper fractions.
In Geography, the children have started looking at rivers. The children have learnt about the different features of a river and have drawn diagrams to show their understanding. We were extremely impressed with how well they coped with the technical vocabulary in this lesson.
Well done to Year 4 for a fantastic start to the half term and we know you will keep it up!
Week beginning 6.2.23
This week has been very busy for Year 4. They celebrated Safer Internet Day by looking at how to stay safe online. They also looked at mental health for Children's mental health week. We were also lucky enough to be visited by The Dogs Trust who explained to the children how to care for their dogs and how to stay safe around dogs.
In Literacy, the children finished their final piece of persuasive writing and then spent some time focusing on SPAG.
In Maths, the children looked at what regular and irregular polygons were and then calculated the perimeter of those shapes.
In Geography, this week the children used Atlases to research the mountain ranges of the world.
Well done to Year 4 for all of their hard work this half term and we wish you a fantastic half term holiday.
Week beginning 30.1.23
This week the children have worked hard in Literacy and have begun writing their persuasive letters about walking to school. It has been lovely to see how much their persuasive writing has improved over this topic. They have also eagerly handed their letters in to Mrs Armstrong and are awaiting a reply about whether Jupiter should ban school uniform.
In Maths, they have been looking at converting units of measure. The children also took part NSPCCs Number Day. Thank you parents for your support in this event. The children created bar charts looking at their favourite flavour of jelly bean. They also solved and wrote some riddles about coloured jelly beans in a jar. Their afternoon involved a STEM activity where they built towers out of jelly beans and cocktail sticks. They also created their own Kandinsky style piece of artwork.
In Geography, the children looked at mountains within the UK and used atlases to identify them. Next week they will look at mountains around the world.
Next week, Year 4 will be completing their final piece of work in their persuasion unit . In Maths, they will be looking at perimeter of shapes.
Week beginning 23.1.23
This week the children have worked hard in Literacy, completing the final drafts of their letters to Mrs Armstrong, to persuade her that children should not have to wear school uniform!
In Guided Reading, we have been reading Bill's New Frock and the class have been working on predictions.
With the coach in PE this term, the children are doing dance and have been getting creative, choreographing their own dance routines.
In RE we have been learning about the traditions within the Sikh religion.
The children have been exploring wool in Art and will move onto learning how to weave.
Next week, Year 4 will be focusing on writing a persuasive speech and will move onto writing their own persuasive text on a subject of their choice. In Maths, they will be learning about length and perimeter.
* Please remember to encourage your children to read frequently at home. This could be their reading book, library book or a book from home. It could also include a magazine or comic of their choice.
* The websites below are all great at supporting children to develop and practise their Maths and Literacy skills.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
https://grammarsaurus.co.uk/portal/free-materials/
https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
Week beginning 16.1.23
This week in Literacy, we have been basing our learning on saving the Amazon rainforest. We have identified features like modal verbs, rhetorical questions and emphasising conjunctions. We are working towards writing a persuasive letter next week.
In Maths, we have been working on division and multiplication and the link between multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000. Next week, we will be moving on to solving word problems using multiplication.
In Science, we have been learning about tooth decay. We carried out an investigation using boiled eggs that were placed into 5 different liquids. We observed what happened to the shells after one week. We discovered that the liquids that made the biggest change to the shell were orange juice and coke. The shells represented what happens to our teeth. Orange juice and coke are not good for our teeth! We must all remember to clean our teeth twice a day. Next week, we will move onto learning about different types of teeth and their function.
We have started a new topic called Misty Mountains, Winding Rivers. We have looked at what we would need if we were to go on a trip up a mountain and we have also identifed the features of a mountain. We will be moving on to look at different types of mountains next week.
Enjoy your weekend,
Year 4 Team
Week beginning 28/11/2022
This week in Literacy we have focused on a new text, Catch it. They children have described the characters and the setting. We then wrote our own version of the story, using relative clauses, expanded noun phrases and conjunctions to make our writing more interesting.
In Maths we have been looking at division and how this can help us solve multiplication. The children have worked really hard and it has really showed when sitting their timetables tests in class.
In PSHE we have discussed the importance of having a happy mind and activities we can do to help us achieve this. The children came up with some fantastic ideas, yoga, colouring, spending time with friends and family and many more.
Next week in Literacy we are becoming spies! We have a new text to focus on ‘Mission Possible’, we will be looking at how to create suspense in our writing.
In maths we will be looking at how to calculate the perimeter of a shape.
In History we will be moving on from Anglo-Saxons to Vikings. We will explore where they came from, who they were and when they invaded.
Have a fantastic weekend.
The Year 4 Team.
Week beginning 14.11.22
This week in Literacy we have looked at the story Little Red Riding Hood. We have been focusing on recounts in the form of a newspaper. See if your child can retell you the story using our actions.
In Maths this week we have continued to look at multiplication and division particularly focusing our 11 and 12 timetables.
In Design and Technology we have looked at different food packaging and created our own. We had to look at the features such as barcodes, nutritional information and brands.
Next week we will continue to look at recounts in the form of a newspaper. We will be working on our skills building up to our hot write.
Thank you for your continued support.
Have a lovely weekend.
The Year 4 Team
