Year 4

 

WELCOME TO YEAR 4

Adults in Year 4: Mrs Naylor, Mrs Noble and Miss Richardson

Information for the start of the year.

Homework: Literacy homework - Monday (to be returned the following Monday)

                      Maths homework - Friday, this will usually be MyMaths (occasionally a written activity) 

and should be completed by the following Friday

   Children are required to read 3 times a week. Please sign and date your child's reading             record book each time they read. Reading records will be checked every Friday.

   Occasional topic homework may also be set.

PE: Swimming is on Wednesday morning. If your child has long hair then they must use a swimming cap. Boys swim shorts must not be longer than knee length.

This half term our PE lesson is taught by Mr Wynne and will be on a Friday. All children need an outdoor and indoor PE kit as detailed in the school prospectus. 

 

Information for class and school events will be sent out via our class page, the school website and the School Jotter app. Please ensure school has your up to date email and telephone number.

 

Summer: Island Life

The Big Idea:
Geographers and explorers estimate that there are over one million islands on earth. They range hugely in size, location, habitat and climate, but all are surrounded by water. As one in six people live on an island, let’s explore what some islands are like across the globe!

 

In Geography, we’ll be finding out:
About different islands we know about
Learning about new islands and comparing with existing knowledge
About where different islands are located in the world and finding them on maps
About the geographical features on different islands
About the features of a river
How to use a compass and map
How to use 4 figure grid references
About how different islands are formed
About an island in detail

In Art, we’ll be finding out:
About fabrics from different islands
How to create an island inspired stamp
About artists and architects who have been inspired by islands
How to create an island sunset artwork

In International, we’ll be finding out:
About the unique cultural aspects of place
How island culture is under threat


In Music, we’ll be finding out:
About different musical genres from islands around the world
How to create, perform and evaluate a piece of music

 

LINEHAM FARM 2019

Everyone has had an amazing time at Lineham. The staff at Lineham were very complimentary of the children, their listening skills and manners. Here are just some of the highlights.

Summer :Nature of Life

The Big Idea

From frogspawn to frogs, from caterpillars to butterflies and from seeds to plants, all living things grow and change, feed and reproduce. But how does life begin for living things and what effect does the environment have?

Explaining the Theme

In Science, we’ll be finding out:

  • About animal, plant and human life cycles
  • About local food chains and webs
  • How living things grow and change
  • How living things are grouped
  • About animal and plant adaptations
  • About the differences between living and non-living things

In Technology, we’ll be finding out:

  • How to make a bird nesting box

In International, we’ll be finding out:

  • Which animals and plants need protection
  • Why we need to look after all living species

Vocabualry

Food chain

Moving

Growing

Reproducing

Producer

Consumer

Prey

Predator

Breathing

Cycle

Cells

Oxygen

Animals

Plants

Habitats

Adaptation

Endangered species

Amphibian

Arthropod

Invertebrate

Bird

 

We really enjoyed making our "Books In A Box" for world book day.

Huge congratulations to all of year 4, you were awesome in the skipping competition.  Lots of certificates and the skip dance was amazing. As usual behaviour was fantastic. WELL DONE. 

On Monday morning we have a Strings lesson.  We are enjoying learning to play a Cello or Viola, it's a lovely way to start the day and week.

LI and Han are studying at Leeds University, they are part of a Global learning study. They came to ask us what we knew about China which is where they are from.

Watch this space for news of our IPC topics and class life in general!

We have a visitor in class on Tuesday 27th November 2018.  Roop Singh is coming to talk to us about Sikhism.

Roop brought to life our work on Sikhism with his interesting stories and anecdotes about the origins of Sikhism, Guru Nanak and the 5 K's.  The children listened intently, asking sensible questions.  It was a lovely start to a Tuesday.

Our new topic coming in Spring 2019 is .........  TURN IT UP!

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES ON OUR NEW TOPIC ..........

The Big Idea.

Sound and light is all around us – from the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning in a storm, to a mobile phone ringing and flashing when someone calls us, to the billions of different sounds and lights leaping into life on the TV when we switch it on. In this unit, we are going to explore the many sounds and lights that are part of our everyday lives.

In Science, we’ll be finding out:
How sounds are made
How to change sounds
How sounds travel to the ear
About the volume of sounds
About sound and noise
Where light comes from
How shadows are formed


In Technology, we’ll be finding out:
How to make panpipes


In Music, we’ll be finding out:
How to play a simple tune on the recorder


In International, we’ll be finding out:
About music in different cultures and countries
About the harmful effects of light pollution

 

Sound vocabulary
Amplitude – the farthest point of the wave (measured to the peak or trough) from zero
Decibels – a unit to measure the volume of sounds
Echo – a sound that repeats itself because the sound waves have reflected (bounced) back from a surface
Frequency – the speed at which sound waves move, i.e. the number of wave cycles per second, measured
in hertz
Hertz (Hz) – a unit used to measure the frequency of sound vibrations and waves, equal to one cycle per
second
Loudness – is the amount of energy in a sound wave, i.e. more energy produces a louder sound.
Pitch – a sound can be high- or low-pitched; the faster the vibration the higher the pitch
Noise – an unpleasant sound made by an irregular pattern of sound waves
Resonance – the amplification of a sound (made by a voice or musical instrument) caused by vibration
inside a chamber
Sound wave – an invisible wave of energy produced by movement
Wavelength – the distance between two equivalent points on adjoining sound waves

Vibration – a backwards and forwards movement
Volume (amplitude) – how loud or quiet a sound is

Our Entry Point for Turn It Up.  We made lots of noise in the playground with a variety of different percussion instruments.

We have been conducting various Scientific investigations into how sound travels. In this investigation we were investigating,What happens to the sound when I change the amount of water in the bottle?

We carried out an investigation into "What Happens When Light Is Blocked By An Object?"  Can you tell what time of day it is just by looking at the shadows?

 

 

  BRAINWAVE

This is our 1st IPC topic in Year 4. 

 We will be teaching each other new skills and thinking about what we need to do to teach a new skill, including communication, encouragement, clear steps, demonstrations and patience!

 The Big Idea

Every day we are learning lots of new and different things – gaining the knowledge, skills and understanding that we will need to become successful adults. By finding out more about how we learn, and how we can improve our learning, we will be better equipped for meeting the many challenges ahead of us.

In this unit, we’ll be finding out:

How different people learn About the importance of practice when learning a skill

How the brain works

How to make connections between our learning

How we can share our learning with others.

Why it is important to learn from other children and cultures around the world

How positive thinking can help us to succeed How to look after our brain How to design a school for learning


When they learn children will be:
Investigating Thinking Reflecting Researching Teaching Observing Assessing Presenting

 

The children have all come back to school ready to learn- long may it continue! We are very proud of you all - Well Done! We are looking forward to a lovely year!

We are teaching our parents a new skill! (or perhaps an old one they haven't tried in a while!)

Thank you to all the parents who could make the Brainwaves afternoon.  

They Made A Difference..........

The Big Picture

Some people have made such a big difference in the world that their influence on our lives can still be
felt today. From scientists to sports people, from politicians to musicians, from all backgrounds, countries, races and religions there are people whose ideas or achievements have singled them out from others.

In History, we’ll be finding out:
About world leaders from the past
How to make a timeline
How leaders in the past compare to leaders today
About significant scientists from the past
About primary and secondary sources of information


In Society, we’ll be finding out:
About people who fought for the rights of others


In Art, we’ll be finding out:
How artists can influence the way we look at the world
About the work of an important sculptor
How to paint a portrait of someone significant to us


In Music, we’ll be finding out:
About well-known musicians from the host and home countries
How we can compose our own music in a similar style
Why some music/musicians are significant

 

 

All parents are invited into school on Wednesday 24th October, at 2:50pm to share work from our second topic, They Made A Difference!

Thank you to all the parents who could make it to our They Made A Difference work.

Our new topic starts on Monday 26th November 2018

BRIGHT SPARKS!

The Big Idea

Electricity is an energy that flows along wires in our homes, schools, offices, towns and cities to power lights, televisions, computers, cars and trains, and hundreds of other things that we use every day. Let's find out what we can do with electricity.

In Science, we’ll be finding out:

  • Which common appliances run on electricity
  • How to make an electrical circuit
  • Which materials allow electricity to pass through them
  • What happens when we change a circuit
  • How to build bigger circuits
  • About magnetism and electricity
  • About using electricity as heat
  • How to keep safe around electricity

In Technology, we’ll be finding out:

  • How to make a house with lighting and a door buzzer

In History, we’ll be finding out:

  • About the history of the electric light bulb

In International, we’ll be finding out:

  • How we produce electricity in our country
  • Why saving electricity is good for the planet

Here is some of the vocabulary and terms we expect to find out during this topic.

Glossary of terms

Amber – a resin from a fossilized tree

Battery – a container that stores electrical energy

Charge – to increase the power in something

Component – a part of an electrical circuit

Conductor – a material that allows electricity to flow through it

Contact – the metal part that can be connected to a circuit

Current – a flow of electricity in a circuit

Current electricity – electricity that flows through wires

Diode – a component that allows the current to pass in one direction only

Electron – a negatively-charged particle in an atom

Energy – the power to make things move and work

Generator – a machine that makes electricity from wind, water, steam, gas or nuclear power

Insulator – a material that does not allow electricity to flow through it

LED – a light emitting diode

Leyden jar – early scientists used them to store electrical energy

Motor – a motor can turn electricity into movement

Socket – a device through which an appliance can connect to an electricity supply

Static electricity – electricity that builds up in one place

Switch – a gap that can be closed to allow electricity to flow or opened to stop the flow

Terminal – the metal part of a battery that can be connected to a circuit

Turbine – a machine that can make electricity though wind, water or steam power

Voltage (symbol V) – a measure of stored electrical potential, named after Allessandro Volta

Watt (symbol W) – a unit of electrical power named after the inventor, James Watt

Our Entry point task was to talk about light, how things are lit up and how we get electricity.  We also came up with a list of items that we think use electricity.  During our topic we hope to add to this list as well as increasing the vocabulary associated with electricity.

Today in IPC we have been investigating which materials conduct electricity and which materials are insulators. These are the circuits we made to test out our predictions.

Today in RE we each made a Christingle.  We have learnt all about the significance of the different parts and talked about how it fits into our work all about "What is the most significant part of the Nativity story to Christians."

The children will be able to explain to you all about the different parts of the Christingle and what they represent to Christians.

Coming to our Year 4 class in January 2019...................

Our new IPC topic "Scavengers and Settlers."

Our class book will be "Stig Of The Dump."

In History, we’ll be finding out:

 How fossils are made and what we can learn from them

 That our earliest ancestors might have looked like

 How our ancestors were able to survive

 How to use archaeological evidence to find out about a prehistoric hunter

 Where our ancestors settled and how they lived

 How we can learn about the past by investigating a Stone Age village

 What life was like during the Bronze Age and Iron Age

In Art, we’ll be finding out:

 How to create our own prehistoric cave paintings

 How to make and decorate pottery, based on one of the periods we have explored

In Technology we’ll be finding out:

 About the types of foods that the first farmers would have grown

 How we can update the dishes that the early settlers may have eaten

In International, we’ll be finding out:

How we can work together to learn new skills and achieve our goals

 

 

Happy New Year!

Yesterday we began our Scavengers and Settlers topic.  Our entry task involved making a shelter and a pretend fire, with materials we found in the wildlife area.

Topic Vocabulary                                                            

Prehistory

Prehistoric

Bronze Age

Early Iron Ages.

Stone Age

Ancestors

Fossil

Species

Adaptation

The Stone Age

BCE (Before Christian Era)

Hunters and gatherers

Cave paintings

Settled

Scavengers

Settlements

Copper

Weapons

 

A basic chronology

What follows is a basic timeline overview of events related to the learning in this Unit:

Stone Age

  1. 3000000 BCE (3 million years ago) Lucy, our first ancestor, was alive
  2. 35000 – 15000 BCE Cave paintings created by Stone Age people
  3. 11000 BCE Ice Age ends, climate gets warmer
  4. 10000 BCE First farmers settle in the Fertile Crescent
  5. 6000 BCE Farming spreads through Europe
  6. 5000 BCE Farming in China along the Huang He river
  7. 4500 BCE Varna culture in Bulgaria (and the creation of the Varna Necropolis)
  8. 4000 BCE People settle in the Indus Valley in India

Bronze Age (and late Stone Age Europe *)

  1. 3300 BCE The Bronze Age begins in the Middle East
  2. 3200 BCE Otzi the Iceman was alive
  3. 3100 BCE Skara Brae is built in the Orkney islands
  4. 3000 BCE Building of megaliths such as Stonehenge in England
  5. 2000 BCE Bronze Age begins in Europe
  6. 1600 BCE The Shang Dynasty begins in China
  7. 1500 BCE The Vedic Period begins in India

Iron Age

  1. 1200BCE Introduction of iron
  2. 1000 BCE The Zhou Dynasty begins in China
  3. 750 BCE The Celtic culture begins in Europe