Welcome to Year 4
Summer 2
English - In English this half term, our class book is, 'The Last Bear', by Hannah Gold.
There on the horizon, silhouetted against the sun, something moved.
It was in the blink of an eye. So rapid she almost missed it. Something big and loping and mist unexpected. It couldn't be? April blinked again. Whatever it was had gone.
But she could have sworn she'd just seen a polar bear.
In the book, April finds that Bear has become injured due to the plastic pollution washed up on Bear Island. We wrote poems based on this and performed them for you are audience.
Computing - In computing this half term, we have been completing our second unit on programming called, ‘Computational Thinking’.
Art - In Art, our unit this half term is called, 'Sculptures, Structure, Inventiveness and Determination'. Within this unit, the children explored formal drawing and sculpture skills and studied an artist called Marcus Coates.
Maths - In Maths, one of our units this half term is 'Time'. The children have been revised how to tell the time to the nearest minute as well as learning how to tell the time in both analogue and digital and use the 24-hour clock.
Science - In Science, we have just completed our unit, 'Animals and humans'. Our final experiment was to see which liquids affected teeth the most. Since eggs shells are similar to teeth enamel we used these in our test. We left the hard boiled eggs in the different liquids which including an energy drink, vinegar, water and coke and then took pictures of the results.
Geography - In Geography this half term, we have been learning all about the United Kingdom. This has included river, mountains, counties, towns, cities and using the eight points of a compass to work out directions from one city to another.
Summer 1
Lineham Farm
We had the best time at Lineham Farm last week. What an experience! Here are just some of the many photographs taken.
Just a few more!
Science - In Science, we have just started our new topic, 'Humans including animals'.
We started off by looking at the digestive system. Have a look at our work.
History - In History, our new topic is, 'Tudors'. We started off by looking at who the Tudors were and the Battle of Bosworth before moving on to a chronology lesson and creating a timeline of the Tudor reign.
Music - In music, we have started our topic, 'Samba and carnival sounds and instruments'. We have been getting the feel of the music and culture of South America, and introducing the children to the sights and sounds of the carnival.
DT: In DT this half term, we have made book sleeves with a fastening. We showed great reliance as it was very tricky! Here are our designs.
Computing - Computing this half term is skills showcase: HTML. We will be editing the HTML and CSS of a web page to change the layout of a website and the text and images. Here are some photographs from our first lesson.
Spring 2
English - Our book this half term is, 'The Firemaker's Daughter' by Philip Pullman.
"You want to be a Firework-Maker? Walk into my flames!"
More than anything else in the world, Lila wants to be a Firework-maker. But every Firework-Maker must make a perilous journey to face the terrifying Fire-Fiend!
Can Lila possibly survive? Especially when she doesn't know she needs special protection to survive his flames...
Here is some of fabulous writing from 'The Firemaker's Daughter'.
Science - In Science this half term, our top is 'ELECTRICITY'.
Our lesson today was 'How can I make a simple circuit?'
These our our photographs to show you how!
Geography - In Geography this half term, our topic is Mountains. Volcanos and Earthquakes.
We have learnt about what a mountain is and how they are formed.
R.E In R.E this half term we have been finishing off our unit all about The Five Pillars of Islam.
The third pillar is Zakat - compulsory giving. We researched different Islamic charities and then presented our findings to the class.
Spring 1
English - Our book this half term is Egyptian Cinderella by Climo Shirley
The story of Rhodopis. She has nothing - no mother or father, and no friends. She is a slave, from the far-off country of Greece. Only the beautiful rose-red slippers her master gives her can make Rhodopis smile. So when a falcon swoops down and swathes one of her slippers away, she is heartbroken. For how is she to know that the slipper will land in the lap of the great Pharaoh himself? And who would ever guess that the Pharaoh has promised to find the slippers owner and make her the Queen of all Egypt?
Science - In Science this half term, our topic is 'SOUND'.
We have been identifying how sounds are made and one of our investigations was to see if the larger the pinnae the louder the sound.
Earmuffs: We set up an experiment to investigate which material is the best for muffling sounds.
We made string telephones as part of our end of unit assessment. We worked scientifically and recognised that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear.
D.T - In D.T this half term, we have been designing our own mechanical sling shot cars.
We built a chassis before attaching our designs. To test if they worked we raced them in groups of four to see whose was the quickest and whose went the furthest.
Art - Our topic in art this half term is 'Exploring still life'.
We started our lessons by looking at different fruits and discussed how we could create shows. We used black paint and then added water to it if this gave the effect we wanted. Have a look at our work in our sketch books.
PE - In PE this half term, we are learning more about gymnastics and using the tension in our bodies to help when balancing and controlling our movements. Here are a sample of our balances so far.
Autumn 2
English - Our first book this half term is Flotsam by David Wiesner.
The story of a boy finding a vintage camera washed up on a beach unspools like a silent film. The camera and its secrets take the boy on an extraordinary journey into an undersea otherworld where he makes unexpected connections across continents and through time.
Flotsam Experience Day - Before opening our new book, ‘Flotsam’, we studied six trays containing flotsam which has been collected from a beach. From this, we were able to make judgements about characters using inference.
English - Our class book this half term is, 'Oliver and the Seawigs' by Philip Reeve.
Along with his new friends, a grumpy old albatross, a short-sighted mermaid and a friendly island called Cliff, Oliver goes off to search for his missing parents.
Science - We are continuing this half term with our science topic, ‘States of Matter’. In our first lesson back after half term, we researched the melting point of different metals and then observe overtime how different substances have different melting points.
Science and Geography In both Science and Geography, we have been learning about the importance of the water cycle and how it works. We made our very own mini water worlds by using a plastic cup with compost, cress seeds, a small amount of water and cling film to form a lid. We observed our water worlds over the course of a week and took photographs. We were able to see the water cycle in action!
R.E. - Our R.E. unit this term has been 'How are important events remembered in ceremonies?' We can now:
- describe different festivals and make links between the
- explain and give reason for the celebration of each festival
- express ideas and opinions about what light represents
We have continued these ideas this week in our Christmas unit 'Jesus is the light of the world' and have explored the importance of light at Christmas.
Music - In music this half term, our topic is 'Body and tuned percussion (theme rainforests).' We enjoyed using our bodies to create percussion.
D.T- In DT this half term, our task was to investigate and model frame structures to improve their stability, then apply this research to design and create a stable decorated pavilion.
Autumn 1
ENGLISH - Our first book this half term has been, 'How to wash a Woolly Mammoth', by Michelle Robinson.
We have learnt how to wash our own toys and then write our own set of instructions using time connectives, imperative verbs, prepositions and adverbs.
ENGLISH - Our second book this half term is called, 'Stone Age Boy', by Satoshi Kitamura. By reading about the boy's experiences of finding himself back in time, we are learning more about what it was like to live in the Stone Age. In the book, he learns how to make fire, make tools, hunt, cook and prepare animal skins - all with implements made of wood, stone and bone.
Maths - Place Value. We have been learning all about place value this half term and numbers up to 10,000. Part of this learning including Roman numerals up to 100. We enjoyed working in pairs to match these Roman numerals to the correct numbers and then using this knowledge to work out calculations.
PSHE - As part of our first lesson in PSHE, we discussed what we thought a great classroom looked like. Here are our ideas.
In RE this half term, we have been looking at how important events are remembered in ceremonies. Whilst doing this, we have retold the story of Hanukkah (Judaism), explored the story of the Guru Hargobind (Sikhism) and this week we recreated the story of Rama and Sita (Hinduism) using puppets.
ART - Our art topic this half term is 'Storytelling through drawing'. We have been exploring how artists create sequenced drawings to share a story and tell stories. Today, we read and discussed the book 'King of the Sky' which was illustrated by Laura Carlin. In our sketch books, we re-created some of her drawings using pencil sketches, pastels and watercolours.
As part of our Art topic, we set a scene using children’s toys and created illustrated narratives using charcoal.
Science - In Science this term we are learning about ‘States of Matter’. Last week, we identified solids, liquids and gases and grouped them together by looking at their characteristics and today we investigated gases and explained their uses and properties. We did this by conducting a comparative and fair test to decide whether or not gas had a weight and then investigating which fizzy drink had the most carbon dioxide.
Science:Week beginning 10.10.22
This week, we made predictions and investigated temperatures. We were able to take accurate measurements using thermometers and explain why we measured different temperatures.
Science: Week beginning 17.10.22
This week, our Science lesson involved chocolate! We were told that Willy Wonka wanted to create a river made from chocolate and he needed to know the best way to change his solid chocolate into liquid. We were able to observe some materials change state when the heating process took place.
In PE this half term, we have been learning to keep possession of the ball using attacking skills. We have thought about how to use skills, strategies and tactics to outwit the opposition. After each lesson we then evaluated our own and others’ performances and suggested improvements.
Music - In music, our topic is ‘Body and Tuned Percussion’. We will be exploring the rainforest through music and be introduced to new musical terms such as structure, layers and texture. Here are some of our videos which show us recreating ‘Rain sound by clapping’.
Please read the information sheet below for all important information about routines in Year 4
In Mrs Lancaster's assembly, 'International Day of Democracy', we learnt all about the importance of democracy and how everyone can vote when old enough. In our class, we listened to everyone's manifesto and then voted for who we wanted to represent Year 4 in the school council and here they are! We are all sure they will do an amazing job.
Sports Week
We have loved taking part in lots of different sports events this week including hockey, football, lacrosse and dodgeball.
Rock Steady
Wow! What an amazing assembly and workshop brought to us by Rock Steady. We enjoyed taking part and creating a KS2 band.
What an amazing sports day! The children were fantastic and they all demonstrated such teamwork, resilience, determination and had fun at the same time.
Visitor
As part of our science topic, ‘Animals, including humans’, we have been looking at how many teeth we have and why we have different teeth. A local dentist visited Year 4 to talk about this and explained how we should look after our teeth. We enjoyed the session and asked lots of questions!
Science Week
Connections
Our whole school connection this week was worm charming. WE had an amazing and muddy time investigating how to raise worms to the surface of the grass, then analysing. In Year 4, we collected out data on a tally chart before completing a bar chart of the results and researched worms and their role in our ecosystem.
World Book Day
In Year 4, we have enjoyed celebrating World Book Day. We began our day by taking part in a dance workshop centred around ‘Matilda’. The children were amazing and through great listening skills picked up the routine extremely quickly and with great enthusiasm.
The characters the children made were stunning. We all enjoyed listening to our friends explaining their characters. Here they are for you to see.
D-Side
Dave from D-Side came into Year 4 to seek to the children about keeping safe online. He spoke about the ages of social media sites/apps, about how posting an image is forever and to make sure that they have child settings on their devices and games.
Part of our RE Christmas unit was to learn about ‘light’ and what it means at this special time of year. We learnt all about advent and the candles which are lit the four Sunday’s before Christmas. Here are our own Advent wreaths.
What a fabulous day we had dressed in our Christmas jumpers. We loved auditioning to be Father Christmas’s reindeers and running after him and his elf!
Children In Need Day
Homework - Week beginning 27.02.23
Reading x3
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed games x15 due 3.03.23
Mountains Geography worksheet due 7.03.23
Homework - Week beginning 20.02.23
Reading x3
TTRockstars andSpelling Shed x 15 games due 24.02.23
Spelling/Vocabulary worksheet due 28.02.23
Homework- Week beginning 16.01.23
Reading x 3 due 23.01.23
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed x 15 games due 20.01.23
No other homework set this week. Please keep practising your Timetables.
Homework - Week beginning 12.12.22
Reading x 6 due 3.01.23
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due 16.12.22
There is no other homework this week.
Homework - Week beginning 5.12.22
Reading x 3 due 12.12.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due 9.12.22
Maths 8 times table worksheet due 13.12.22
Homework - Week beginning 28.11.22
Reading x 3 due 5.12.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due 2.12.22
English pronouns worksheet due 6.12.22
Homework - Week beginning 21.11.22
Reading x 3 due 28.11.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due 24.11.22
There is no other homework this week - enjoy your three day weekend Year 4!
Homework - Week beginning 14.11.22
Reading x 3 due 21.11.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due 18.11.22
Homework - Week beginning 7.11.22
Reading x 3 due 14.11.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due 11.11.22
English Comprehension work 'The Water Cycle' due 15.11.22
Homework - Week beginning 31.10.22
Reading x 3 due 7.11.22
TTrockstars and Spelling shed games due 4.11.22
Maths times tables work sheet x2, x5 and x10 due 8.11.22
Homework half term week - read x3 and complete your spelling worksheets for 1.11.22.
No TTRockstars or Spelling Shed for over half half term.
Homework - Week beginning 17.10.22
Reading x 6 (two weeks due to half term) due on 31.10.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed due on 21.10.22
Spellings worksheets due 1.11.22
Homework - Week beginning 10.10.22
Reading x 3 due 17.10.22
TtRockstars and Spelling Shed games due 14.10.22
Maths times tables worksheet due 18.10.22
Homework - Week beginning 3.10.22
Reading x3 due 10.10.22
TTRockstars and Spelling Shed games due 7.10.22
English worksheet due 11.10.22
Homework - Week beginning 26.09.22
Reading x 3 due 3.10.22
TTRockstar and Spelling shed games due 30.09.22
Maths worksheet due 4.10.22