Summer 2 Week 5

In English this week, we have started to look at A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. We began by sharing facts we knew about Shakespeare including that his job was a playwright. We then created job advertisements for a royal playwright to Queen Elizabeth 1^st and also for actors to be in the plays. We read the story of A Midsummer Night’s dream, which is quite complicated to begin with, but we showed a good understanding of it. We also had a drama workshop with West End in Schools based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was lots of fun. In Maths, we finished our unit on time by converting between units of measures for time such as seconds and minutes and days and weeks. We then began our new topic about statistics and used Venn diagrams to sort numbers as well as interpreting data given to us in bar charts. In Science, we looked at our results from our investigation into the loudest and quietest places round school. We found that Year 2 was the nosiest at 1:30 in the afternoon, but this was due to them having a music lesson with instruments. We identified that our data logger was not as accurate as it could be as it didn’t give a proper reading if it was below 50dB, it just said less than 50. This meant we were unable to identify the quietest places. In Geography, we looked at the variety of different landscapes that can be found in North and South America and we were amazed at how much they vary. We looked at the position of the two continents and which of the climate zones they were in to help understand why they varied so much. In P.E. we used Ordinance Survey Maps of the school to complete an orienteering course. We looked for the points on the map to locate the markers with different letters on. In Art, we looked at Willow Pattern plates and the story behind them. We created a design for our own Willow pattern plate to represent the story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream ready to paint next week.  In Computing, we continued to use Scratch and this week we wrote the code to enable the letters of our names to move and change colour as well as changing the backgrounds. In French, we did some role play of going to the toy shop where we had to apply all the vocabulary and phrases we had learnt over the last term. We even got to dress up. In Music, we put together the rhythms that we had been practising in our small groups to create a polyrhythm, it worked really well.

Summer 2 Week 4

We have had another busy week in Year 4. In English, we have become television presenters, creating our own ‘One Show’ segment about the crimes of Macavity. We have been writing the script this week for the presenters in the studio, the roving reporters on location and the victims of his crimes who will be interviewed. We will be filming next week, so keep an eye out on the school website as we will put them on there when they are done. In Maths, we have moved onto time. We have been reading the time on analogue clocks to the minute as well as understanding and using am and pm correctly to show what time of day it is. We have also looked at the 24 hour clock, which is another way of showing the difference between the time of day it is. We had our Wild Ones outdoor adventure sessions this week and despite a bit of a down pour we had a wonderful time. We had a go on a woodland assault course, everyone loved trying to go across the ropes without falling off. We applied the skills from the previous sessions in the year, to different challenges. At the first station we had to make a stable and waterproof shelter for a fairy, at the second station we had to use flint and steal to create a spark to light a fire. Finally, we revamped our performances of Macavity to incorporate our surroundings and the natural resources. In P.S.H.E on Thursday we celebrated relationships day and the theme ‘everyone can sparkle’ by thinking about what makes us all unique and how our differences and uniqueness make the world an exciting and interesting place to be. We created flags to show all the things that make us unique.  In Science, we have been investigating which parts of school are the moistest and what times of the day are the noisiest. We have used the data loggers to record the sound levels in different locations around school at different points in the day. We will analyse the results next week. In Geography, we did some research about selected cities from North and South America. We looked at the population, the features of the landscape and how the land is used. In Art, we used the artist Giorgio Morandi to inspire us to create some still life drawings. We worked in groups to arrange some objects thinking about symmetry, size and space between the objects. We then used different grades of pencil to sketch the outline and then shade them in. In P.E. we created maps of a specific area of the playground with a range of objects. We placed some cubes in different locations and then marked them on the map. Different teams then used the map to locate the cubes.  In Music, we continued to work on and build on our South American samba rhythms from last week. We joined up with another group to pool our ideas and add to them in order to make more complex rhythms. In French, we revisited our numbers from 20-50 and expressed them as prices in Euros to get us ready for going shopping in the toy shop next week. We also looked at expressing our opinions about toys with expression in order to persuade someone to buy them.  

Summer 2 Week 3

What a super week we have had in Year 4! In English, we read another T.S.Eliot poem from his book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats called Skimbleshanks. We compared the characters of Skimbleshanks and Macavity using evidence from the poem. Then we took inspiration from the poet Michael Rosen and prepared a section of the Macavity poem to perform. We thought about how we could use our voices and bodies effectively in the performance. On Friday, we performed them for the class and we gave each other feedback on our performances.  In Maths, we completed our unit on money. We used our understanding of money and different strategies of adding and subtracting them to solve a range of problems such as how much the staff spent at the sweetshop. We then started to look at time and recapped how to tell the time on an analogue clock. In P.E. we looked at some OS map symbols to help us interpret maps when we are orienteering. We also did some more games that needed teamwork such as getting as many people as we could in to a hoop. In P.S.H.E. we thought about our feelings and identified both positive and negative feelings that we can have. We also discussed how some of our feelings might change as we grow older and how this can lead to conflicts with family and friends. We talked about the word compromise, what it meant and how it can help resolve conflicts. We looked at some scenarios and thought of ways we could compromise to resolve them. In Art, we looked at some of the work of Paul Cezanne and where his inspiration came from. We looked at his painting style of short angular brushstrokes and had a go at replicating it in our own work. In Science, we carried out our investigation to prove our theory that the further away you get from a sound source, the quieter it will be. We used the data loggers to give us an accurate reading of the noise level as we moved away from the sound source. In Geography, we looked at South America, the countries that it is made up of and some of the major cities. We used an atlas to find them and then label them on our own map. In Computing, we looked at the infinite loop when programming to make the sprite do the action written in the code continually. In French, we recapped how to give our opinion about toys in the toy shop. Then Madame Wardle showed us some sentences for a short time and we had to write them from memory. In Music, we worked together to create our own rhythms in a samba style using different instruments. We then performed them for the class and they repeated them back with their own instruments.

Summer 2 week 2

We started the week with a mystery in Year 4  when we found a crime scene in our classroom. We used the clues and our detective skills to infer what had happened. We decide it must have been a cat. Following on from this in English we read the poem Macavity the Mystery Cat by T.S.Elliott and enjoyed hearing about his crimes. We explored some of the unfamiliar vocabulary in the text as well as the structure. In Maths, we have been working hard to ensure we all know our multiplication tables and that we can recall them. We have also continued to calculate and solve problems involving money. In Science, we thought about what happens to a sound as you get further away from it. We all thought that it would get quieter, so then we came up with a plan of how we could prove it using the data loggers we used in Computing last half term. In P.S.H.E we looked at some changes that could happen in our lives and identified which were positive changes and which were more challenging. We used a learning line and how it can be helpful in supporting us through more challenging changes. In P.E. we started our Outdoor and Adventurous unit, by completing a teamwork challenge rescuing items from a ‘river’. We then created some simple maps through a formation of cones for other teams to follow.   In Geography, we focused on the continent of North America and where it was in the world. We then used an atlas to identify some of the major cities within it. In Art, we used a lenticular technique to create some optical illusions. We measured and scored a piece of paper and then stuck strips from different pictures alternatively. The effect was that when you look at the paper one way, you see one of the pictures and then when you look the other way you see the second one. In French we recapped the names of toys you could buy in the toy shop and also how to express our opinions about them. We learnt some new vocabulary to say how good things were. In Music, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took the instruments outside. We started to learn some of the rhythms and music patterns the originated in South America. On Friday, we had a wonderful session with a volunteer from Pheniks where we used our teddy bears to learn about CPR.

Summer 2 Week 1

Our first week of the half term has been fabulous. To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we have had a week dedicated to learning about Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family. As well as Year 4 have learnt about what life was like in the 1970s, one of the decades of the Queen’s reign. We began by sharing facts we already knew about Queen Elizabeth II and found out some new ones. We looked at a timeline of her life and some of the significant events in it. We also looked at a family tree of our Royal Family and identified the Queen’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We also looked at who the heirs to the throne are and how the line of succession works. We looked further back in the family tree to see that King George VI (the Queen’s father) was not the eldest male and should not have been the King. We then learnt about the abdication of King Edward VIII to marry Wallis Simpson and how this changed the life of Queen Elizabeth.

We have enjoyed looking at what life was like in the 19070s. we learnt about decimalisation and what the money system was like before it and then how it changed. We tried to do some shopping using the old money and it was very tricky. We then looked at some films that were released in the 1970s such as Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory. We wrote some reviews about them. We also looked at what fashion was like in the 1970s, thinking about the styles of clothes, accessories and shoes that were popular at the time. We became fashion designers and designed our own 1970s inspired outfits. We also looked at some of the most popular toys from the 1970s and were quite surprised to learn that video games were first created in the 1970s with Pong and Space Invaders. In Computing we created PowerPoint presentations to show the development of video games over the decade. We also found out about the 3 day week due to the energy crisis in 1974 and used Mrs Blackwell as a primary source to ask her what it was like to be a child during this time. We found out about the types of foods eaten in the 1970s and created our own menus. We learnt about the music of the decade and enjoyed learning to sig Mamma Mia by Abba and learning the dance for YMCA by the Village People. We also looked at what televisions were like in the 1970s and compared them to the televisions we have today. In French we thought about why the French don’t have a Royal Family and found out about the revolution.  

Summer 1 Week 6

What a fantastic end to our half term! It was wonderful to have our sports day on Tuesday and to be able to welcome our families back to school to watch and cheer the children on. All of the children enjoyed taking part in the events and they demonstrated the St. Paul’s sporting values throughout the morning. In English this week, we looked at newspaper reports and the features that they have. We then became journalists to write a newspaper report based on the events of our novel Secrets of a Sun King. We had lots of fun interviewing the characters and trying to create headlines. In Maths, we continued to apply our understanding of decimals to money. We started to add amounts of money together using mental strategies and also to round amounts of money to the nearest pound. In DT we finished making the chassis for our chariots and then we created the slingshot mechanism to make them go using a paper clip and elastic band. In Science, we thought about pitch. We listened to sounds with different pitches and identified whether they were a high or low pitch. We also investigated how the amount of water in a bottle, affects the pitch it makes when you blow across the top of it and why this happens. In History, we thought about how there are more artefacts from the Ancient Egyptian period in the UK than in Egypt and was it right for people to take the artefacts from Egypt. We also thought about how some of the artefacts including mummies were taken from burial tombs and was this disrespectful. We thought about both sides of the argument before making out own personal decisions. In French, we began to ask the question how much does the toy cost and also give a response to say how much the different toys cost. We continued to build our confidence with numbers beyond 20 to help us give the prices. In Music we had an exciting music day with Mr Richards focusing on the composer Hans Zimmer. We learnt a little bit about who he is and some of his achievements. We then looked at the song Circle of Life from the film The Lion King, that was written by Elton John, but was rearranged for the film by Hans Zimmer. We learnt to sing part of it and played a range of instruments to accompany it.

Summer 1 Week 5

This week, Year 4 have been learning all about the search for and discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. In English, we looked at some of the journals that Howard Carter wrote as they uncovered different parts of the tomb. We then wrote our own journal as Howard Carter for when he entered the burial chamber and found the sarcophagus. In History, we were really lucky to have George, the Historian and archaeologist, come back to work with us again.  He showed us in more detail some of the artefacts that they found in Tutankhamun’s tomb, what they were and what they told Historians about Ancient Egyptian life. He also talked to us about the different gods and goddesses the Ancient Egyptians worshipped and some of the reasons why they worshipped them. Then we looked at the mummification process, which was a bit disgusting, but fun to learn about. On Monday, we had a drama workshop with John where we created some different freeze frames to show some aspects of Ancient Egyptian life. In Maths, we started a new unit all about money. We have needed apply our understanding of decimal numbers from our previous learning to help us understand the new concepts. Over the week, we have converted between pounds and pence, ordered different amounts and rounded numbers to the nearest pound. In D.T. we created our final design for our slingshot chariot and drew it using different views; front view, side view and birds eye view. We then started to build our chassis and axels ready to add the slingshot mechanism next week. In Science, we worked in groups to explore the different sounds we could create with the musical instruments that we made last week. We then experimented with how we could make those sounds work together and created a musical accompaniment to one of the songs we had been singing in our music lessons. We then performed them for the class and we did a fantastic job. In French, we recapped our numbers from 1-39 and then learnt how to extend this knowledge to numbers up to 59. We also learnt how to ask how much something costs in a shop and then interpreted the prices of some toys that were given to us.

Summer 2 Week 4

What a fantastic week we have had in Year 4. On Wednesday we braved the bad weather and went out into the woods to do our outdoor learning session. We were lucky as the rain stopped once we got outside. To start off with, we spent sometimes listening to all the sounds we could hear and discussing which of them were from nature and which were from people. We then worked in groups to explore what sounds we could make using the natural resources around us (without damaging anything) and used them to compose some 30 second pieces of music.  After that we made our own slingshots and tried to fire them at targets. It was much harder than we thought it would be. In English this week, we read some more of our novel and then came up with some ideas of what would happen in the ending of the story. We then planned and wrote our own ending to the novel making sure to include expanded noun phrases. In Maths, we completed our second unit about decimals. We learnt how to round decimals to the nearest whole one using number lines to help us to see which it was nearest to. We also learnt some decimal and fractions equivalences. In P.E we continued to look at techniques for jumping, but this tie for jumping over hurdles and obstacles, thinking about the positioning of both of our legs as we jump. In Music, we sang and rapped to Oh Happy Day. The children all enjoyed this, especially the rap section! In Computing, we looked at a data logger and how it uses sensors to gather the data. We then investigated the noise and light levels and temperatures in different locations around school that the children thought would be the most interesting (including the toilets!). In History, we thought about how we can know so much about the Ancient Egyptians when it was such a long time ago. We discussed the different types of sources of evidence we have and how the conditions in Egypt have helped to preserve them so well. We also discussed how the Rosetta Stone helped historians to crack the code of hieroglyphics. We then had a go at translating some hieroglyphics and writing out own names in them.   In R.E. we investigated some of the different items you would find in different churches and what they were used for or symbolised. In Science, we analysed percussion instruments, how you play them, what parts vibrate and how you make them quieter or louder. We then used these as inspiration to make our own instruments from materials we brought in from home. In French, we continued to build our confidence with saying and writing vocabulary to do with the toy shop. We thought of actions to help us remember how to say some of the toys. We then extended our knowledge of numbers to beyond 20 and we spotted it was a really easy pattern after 20.

Summer 2 Week 3

It has been another busy and exciting week I Year 4. In English, we have read more of our novel, secrets and of Sun King and have been intrigued by the mystery of the jar. In Maths, we have been using our knowledge of decimals to help us compare and order decimal numbers. In DT we investigated how we could make our chariots slingshot powered rather than pulled by an animal and what adaptations we would have to make to the chassis and axles. In History, we learnt about the River Nile, how it was used and how it was vital to the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. In R.E. we thought about similarities and differences between different church buildings from around the world. We also looked at the ages of some different churches and created a timeline. In Science, we used birdseed and some drums to show the vibrations that happen when a sound is made. We also thought about the relationship between the strength of the vibration and the volume. In French, we learnt some new vocabulary for some toys ready for when we go shopping in the toy shop.  

Summer 1 Week 2

In English, we have continued to read our novel Secrets of a Sun King and we have met some new characters. We have been thinking about letter writing and why people might write and receive letters. We have written some letters in role as the characters from the story. In Maths, we recapped our number bonds to 10 and then used them to help us work out our number bonds to 100. We used hundred squares and number lines to help us. We then built on this understanding by using what we knew to help us identify decimal numbers that could be added to make a whole one. On Tuesday, we had a Pre Historic workshop in school to learn all about the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age. We started off by using clay to make some Stone Age pots using a coiling technique. After that we thought about Stone Age burial mounds and what historians had found out about them. We could see evidence of different patterns that had been carved into the walls of them. We created our own ‘carvings’ and then recreated a tomb shape in the classroom adding them to it. In the afternoon, we worked with Liz who showed us lots of different artefacts from the different ages such as tools, stones and clothing. We finished the day by working in groups to create some cave paintings from the different parts of the stone age. In P.E. we started our athletics topic by looking at the long jump and techniques for the flight section to help us travel further. In Music, we learnt to sing a new song that was a gospel style and we used the glockenspiels and ukuleles to accompany it.  In DT we thought about cars and how they have changed and developed over time. We thought back to the earliest forms of cars, which were chariots. We made a chassis for a chariot with wheels and an axel. In RE we thought about the church and how it is the people that make the church not the building. We also thought about Jesus saying that Peter was the rock on which he would build the church and what this meant. In Science, we explored how many different ways we could use our bodies to make a sound, which was lots of fun and we found lots of interesting ways.  We also continued to explore how sounds are made by a vibration and we thought about which parts were vibrating on a range of items.  In French we built our confidence at recalling the numbers from 1-20 and played some games that included looking at them out of sequence.  

Summer 1 Week 1

What a fantastic start to a new half term. It might have been a shorter week, but we have achieved a lot of learning. In Maths, we continued to build our understanding of decimal numbers up to 2 decimal places, what they represent and their place value. We also recapped the effect of dividing numbers by 10 and extended this to dividing numbers by 100. In English, we were very excited to start our new Novel, Secrets of a Sun King. From looking at the front cover, we made some predictions of what the text might be about. We read the first few pages and found out about the different characters and what they are like. We also used our detective skills to use the information we had about Grandad to try and work out what the mysterious parcel sent to him could be. In History, we started our topic about the ancient Egyptians, by using a timeline to show different ancient civilisations and compare them to each other. We also looked at some artefacts from four different ancient civilisations and thought about what they were used for, what they were made from and which civilisation they belonged to. In Science, we started to think about sounds and how they are made. We identified that something has to vibrate and sound waves carry the sound to our ears.  As we didn’t have swimming this week, we had a PE session with Mrs Harrison practising our throwing and catching skills to use in rounders.  In French, we recapped how to say some of the numbers in French using some actions to help us.  

Spring 1 Week 6

What an exciting week to end our term! On Wednesday, we had a visit from George, who is a Historian and an archaeologist, to help us with our History learning. He showed us some examples of the Vindolanda tablets that were used by the Romans to communicate. We analysed some of the messages and what they told us about life in Roman Britain. We then wrote our own Vindolanda tablet messages. After that, we became soldiers in the Roman army and had a re-enactment. We practised our marching (keeping in time with each other was quite tricky!) and then used our shields to create the Testudo formation. This formation is often called the tortoise formation as the soldiers use their shields to create a ‘shell’ to protect themselves. The shields that were made as part as this half term’s home learning were spectacular and looked fantastic when the children were doing the re-enactment, thank you to all the families that helped the children with making them.  In Design Technology, we created our drone charging pavilions from the designs we created last week. We soon realised that when you are creating something from a design, it doesn’t always work as you thought and you have to make some adaptations, which the children did brilliantly. We then used rubbish as cladding for our pavilions to fit in with the setting of the story we had read in English, City of Rust. In English, we looked at hybrid information booklets that incorporated non-chronological reports and instructions. We thought about how we can use different layout features to make them easier to read and look more appealing to the reader. We then created our own information booklets about the Romans using all the knowledge we had learnt over the half term. In maths, we continued to develop our understanding of decimals and extended our understanding to include hundredths. In Science, we carried out our investigation into which materials were electrical conductors and insulators. We added a range of items into our circuits to see which ones would allow the electricity to flow through and light the bulb up. We found out that metals make the best electrical conductors.

Spring 2 Week 5

We have had yet another busy and exciting week in school, made even better by the sun shining. In English, we have started to look at some non-fiction hybrid texts all about the Romans and electricity. We looked at the layout features of the texts and also how to skim read them to find important information. We created our own quizzes about the texts for our partners to complete. In Maths, we continued to look at decimals. We showed them on number lines as well as in place value charts and writing them. We also learnt about what happens when you divide numbers by 10. In Science, we found out how a switch works in a circuit and then used some paper clips to create our own switches. We planned an investigation into which materials are electrical conductors and which are electrical insulators, which we are looking forward to doing carrying out next week. In DT we worked in pairs to design a drone charging pavilion for Railey (from our novel City of Rust) to use to charge her drone up. We had to decide which of the available materials we would use and how we were going to make our joins. We also had to think about how we could strengthen our structures to ensure they were stable.  On Wednesday, we had our Wild Ones outdoor adventure. We began by playing some trust games in the woods, where we had to lead our partner to a tree whilst they were blindfolded. Then we walked down to the reservoir, where we worked together using ropes to ‘rescue’ our team mates who were stuck at the bottom of the slope. Everyone worked brilliantly in their teams and had lots of fun. In Computing, we programmed the screen turtle to draw specific shapes when given a command. We then used these commands to design a repeating pattern that could be used as wallpaper or wrapping paper. In Music, we had a special session with Mr Richards where we looked at the composer Prokofiev and his very famous piece Troika. We watched a recording of an orchestra playing it and discussed the instruments and how it was being played. We then had a go at playing a section of it using glockenspiels, ukuleles, djembe drums and untuned percussion instruments. We moved around so we had the chance to experience each instrument. In French, we used all the vocabulary we have learnt this half term to write sentences to say some of the different activities that we do and also to give our opinions about different sports and activities.

Spring 2 week 4

We have had a very exciting week in Year 4. On Tuesday we went to Ribchester Roman Museum to support our history learning about the Romans. We had a fantastic time looking around the museum and the ruins in the grounds. We had a workshop where we were able to look at and explore some Roman artefacts and then we were able to dress up in some of the Roman armour. In English, we have been working in groups to create puppet shows to show the legend of Railey based on the events from the novel City of Rust. We had to write the legend telling the story of what happened and then act it out through the puppets. Because we couldn’t use our faces or bodies, we had to think about how to tell the story with only our voices. In Maths, we have started a new unit on decimals. We started by understanding that tenths are created when you divide a whole one into ten equal parts and hundredths are created when you split a whole on into a hundred equal parts. We then looked at how we can express these as fractions and as decimals. In gymnastics this week, our key focus was balancing. We created wonderful routines, exploring different body parts to create balances and focused on our core and posture. We added various methods of transport into our routines to make them even more exciting! In Science, we got the electrical components that we had looked at last week and used them to create a circuit that made a bulb light up. We found out that we had to have a complete circuit with no gaps in it to make the bulb light up. In R.E. we thought about the Easter Story and in particular Peter’s denial of Jesus. We used role play to create some freeze frames of Peter’s denial and thought about how we could show what he was thinking and feeling at various points in the story. In Music, we continued to learn the song Frere Jacques taking on the different parts of the song and then played the glockenspiels and ukuleles to accompany it. In French, we looked at the verbs to do and play and practised using them in sentences with some different sports and activities.

Spring 2 Week 3

We had a very exciting start to the week, with the West End in Schools Where the Wild Things Are Workshop. After reading the story together, we warmed up by acting like wild things and then as Kings. We worked together to create freeze frames of different parts of the story and then brought them to life with movement, connecting them with some choreography.   To follow up, we thought about the mischief that Max had made that resulted in him being sent to bed. We explored what the word mischief meant and then thought of some mischievous things Max could have done. We then created list poems to show Max’s mischief. In Maths, we applied our understanding of fractions to finding fractions of objects and amounts. We used the denominator to tell us how many groups to split them up into and the numerator to see how many groups we needed to put together. In DT, we started to create the pavilions that we designed last week. We used coffee stirrers and masking tape to make the frame structure and then applied different techniques such as cross bracing to strengthen them. In Science, we looked at the components that we can use to make an electrical circuit. We learnt their names and what they do. In History, we interpreted some written accounts from Romans to find out about some of the battles that took place when the Romans were invading Britain. We found out about Boudicca and the revolt that she led. In Computing, we began to use the repeat command to draw the shapes with the screen turtle rather than typing them all out individually. We then explored different shapes we could create, some of them were very creative. In Music, we learnt to sing the song Frere Jacques in different parts and added some musical accompaniment with the glockenspiels and ukuleles.  

Spring 2 Week 2

This week in English, we have continued to read our novel City of Rust. We made predictions about what Railey’s secret could be and some of us used the clues in the text really well to work out it was that her gecko was flying her drone.  We have also looked at the characters in the text. We made top trumps cards for some of the racers and also looked at how Gran changed in different parts of the story. In Maths, we have been looking at adding fractions that have got the same denominators. We also thought about what improper fractions and mixed numbers are as some of the answers to the additions were improper fractions. Then we looked at subtracting fractions with the same denominator from other fractions and from whole ones. In P.E. we were thinking about making different shapes with our bodies and how we could make the movements ‘explode’. We worked in groups to make sequences that were in unison and with good transitions between shapes. We also had a go at the daily mile, we ran for 4 minutes to see how far we could go. We will do this each week and will hopefully see an improvement in how far we can run.  In Science, we looked at the dangers of electricity and how to use it safely. We watched a safety video from P.I. Plug to help us. We then created posters and electrical dangers posters in groups. In D.T. we used the pavilions that we looked at last week and some new ones to help us design our own pavilion to shelter Roman soldiers on guard duty. In History, we thought about why the Romans were able to defeat the Celts. We used some pictures and a written account from a Roman solider to help us find out. We were very impressed at how organised and well trained the roman army was. In Computing, we started to write our own repeated instructions to make a screen turtle draw different things. We had a go at numbers, letters of our names and shapes. We had to use different algorithms to programme the turtle and we also had to debug when we made mistakes. In Music, we played the glockenspiels and ukuleles to accompany the song ‘Let your Spirit Fly’. We started to learn to play some simple chords on the ukuleles rather than strumming the open strings like we did last week. In French, we practised some common classroom instructions in French such as stand up, sit down, listen, look and put your hand up. Madame Wardle said them and we had to do them or an action to represent them. We also began to learn how to say some movements such as walk, run, jump and dance.  

Spring 2 Week 1

What a super start we have made to the new half term! In English, we have explored a new text called City of Rust. We started by being detectives and trying to work out what the genre of the text was and what we thought would happen in the text from the front cover and a short extract. We read the first chapter and have been finding out about the main characters. We have thought about how they would feel in response to some of the events that have happened so far. On Wednesday, we had a visit from the poet Andy Tooze. He did a workshop with us in class where he performed some of his poems and then we wrote some poems of our own with him. In Maths, we have continued to investigate ways of identifying equivalent fractions. We have used a range of ways including using fraction walls, diagrams, multiplying and dividing. We have also started to think about improper fractions and mixed numbers.  In R.E. we thought about what trust and betrayal meant. We discussed what trust looks like and how it feels to be betrayed. In History, we started our unit about the Romans, we thought about when the Romans fitted into the chronology and looked at this on a timeline. We used a written account by a Roman Geographer called Strabo to find out why the Romans wanted to come and settle in Britain. In Science, we were thinking about electricity and what life would be like if there were no electricity. We created some free verse poems to show what it would be like. In D.T. we learnt what pavilions are and looked at some examples of them from around the world. Then we had lots of fun working in groups to make our own pavilion out of sweets and cocktail sticks. We made some fantastic pavilions and really impressed all the Year 4 staff. In Computing, we looked at giving a screen turtle repeated instructions to draw shapes. We had to follow some instructions and see what shapes they created. In Music, we learnt to sing a new song called Let Your Spirit Fly. After we had practised it, we then used the glockenspiels and ukuleles to play an accompaniment to it. It was the first time we had used the ukuleles and we did a great job. In French, we continued our topic about healthy living, but started to think about how we can exercise to keep us healthy. We learnt the days of the week ready for when we say which activities we do and which days we do them on. We gave each day of the week an action to help us remember them.  

Spring 1 Week 6

It has been a very busy end to the half term finishing off all of our Amazing Asia learning. In English, we planned and then wrote and an alternative ending to The Jungle Book, that involved Shere Khan’s son coming for revenge! We used verbs and adverbs really well to make the climax of the story exciting to read. In Maths, we have continued our unit on Fractions. We looked at counting forward and back in tenths and then moved onto using diagrams and a fraction wall to help us identify equivalent fractions.  In Science, we continued to find out about processes that change the states of matter including evaporation and condensation. Once we understood what evaporation and condensation were, we looked at the water cycle and the parts they play. We listened to a very catchy song to help us remember how the water cycle works. In Geography, we thought about people who live in the Pacific Ring of Fire and how they can protect their buildings from earthquakes. We became architects and found out about some of the ways the buildings are protected such as cross bracing and placing shock absorbers in the foundations. We then had a go at designing our own earthquake proof building to go in Tokyo. This week was Safer Internet day, with the theme ‘It’s all fun and games’ focused on online gaming. We talked about the different games we play online and identified the good and bad things about them. We looked at some scenarios of problems that could happen during online gaming and discussed what we could do in those situations. In Music, we looked at a new piece of music that was a traditional waltz and looked at how it was a three four time rather than the four four time we had looked at previously. We improvised our own rhythms on the glockenspiels to accompany it. Mr Richards also brought in his clarinet and played it for us so we could hear what a woodwind instruments can sound like. In French, Madame Wardle really challenged us! We had to write some of the French sentences that we have been learning from memory after seeing them for only 10 seconds!

Spring 1 Week 5

In Year 4 this week, we have continued to enjoy our Amazing Asia topic. In English, we have reached the end of our focus text The Jungle Book and have been considering whether or not Mowgli should leave the jungle to join the man village or stay in the jungle with the animals. We also thought about some of the themes in the story such as loyalty, family and celebrating our differences. We compared these themes with a text we read earlier in the year called the Boy and the Tiger.  In Maths, we have started our unit on fractions. We have looked at what fractions are and what the numerators and denominators tell us. We have identified unit and non-unit fractions and started to look at tenths. In Science, we looked at the process of freezing to turn a liquid into a solid. We investigated if all liquids will freeze by putting a variety of different liquids in the freezer and checking them every half an hour. It was interesting to see that some of the liquids such as oil, honey and hand sanitiser didn’t freeze at all and the others froze at different rates. In Geography, we were looking at countries where earthquakes had occurred and the damage they can do. We learnt about how earthquakes are measured using the Richter scale and identified some earthquakes around the world of different magnitudes. We then learnt about some of the ways people who live in earthquake zones try to protect themselves from earthquakes and practised an earthquake drill. In P.S.H.E, we discussed drinking alcohol and smoking and some of the health issues and dangers it can cause. In Computing, we identified how images used in the media and on social media are not always real and some of the Photoshop effects that are used on them. We also explored how creating a false idea of how we should look can have an effect on our mental health and identified some brands who were starting to use a wider range of models in their advertising. In Music, we played some call and response rhythms with the glockenspiels and then used them to improvise our own parts in the instrumental of the song we have been learning called Old Joe Clark. In French, we learnt some connecting words, et, mais, parce que to enable us to join up the sentences we have been building up. We can now say sentences like J’aime les fritz mais c’est mauvais pour la sante, which means I like fries, but they are bad for my health. In worship we talked about Chinese New year. We watched videos of how it is celebrated and some of the traditions that are followed.

Spring 1 Week 4

It has been a fantastic week in Year 4. In Maths, we have finished our multiplication and division unit and we are now experts at dividing 3 digits by 1 digit using the chunking method. We also looked at some correspondence problems, where we have to find all the combinations of ice cream flavours, 3 course meals and t-shirts and shorts. We had to be really logical to make sure we found all the possible combinations. In English, we have continued to look at poetry. We identified which words and phrases we liked the most in the poem and explained why. We then had lots of fun reading some different jungle limericks. We looked at the structure and patterns in a limerick and then used this to write our own jungle limericks, which were super! In Science, we looked at how heat can make solids turn into liquids through the melting process. We investigated how chocolate melts and which type of chocolate melts the fastest. We created line graphs to show our results. In Art, we looked at the work of the abstract artist Fiona Rae. We discussed what abstract art was and how it can make us feel emotions or evoke memories just using line, colour and texture. We then used oil pastels to create our own abstract pieces of art in the style of Fiona Rae. On Wednesday, we have a very exciting outdoor adventure morning with Wild One Adventures. After some tricky team building activities, we travelled through the magic tunnel to a ‘jungle’. Our challenge was to work in teams to build dens/shelters for some of the jungle animals we found, using only materials we could find in the ‘jungle’ and ensuring that our animal would fit in and be protected (a tricky challenge for Team Giraffe). All of the teams worked brilliantly together and they blew me away with the amazing dens/shelters they created. In Geography, we learnt about some of the reasons why people choose to live near volcanoes or in earthquake zones and some of the advantages and disadvantages of this. We also started to think about some of the ways that they try to make it safer to live there. In P.E. we practiced our throwing and catching skills to help us when we are fielding in games. On Friday in Music, we used the glockenspiels to copy some rhythms and then to improvise our own. We also looked at the different sections of the orchestra and some of the instruments in them. We also started to learn a blues/jazz song called Old Joe Brown. In French we continued to say whether or not we like different foods and rinks, but we added some extra information to our sentence to say because they are good or bad for our health.

Spring 1 Week 3 

It has been another busy week in Year 4. In Maths, we have been looking at dividing with and without remainders. We used some mental methods such as using our times tables and partitioning to divide. Then we began to look at the chunking written method where we need to recognise that division is repeated subtraction. It can be quite challenging to understand this method at first, but the children blew me away with how hard they worked and how quickly they picked it up. In English, we have continued to read The Jungle Book and think about how some of the different characters feel. We looked at when Mowgli went back to the man village and why he didn’t like it. We also started to look at a poem all about the jungle and looked at some of the tier 3 vocabulary in it and what it means. In Science, we had lots of fun exploring some ice hands. We used thermometers to see how the temperature changed as the ice began to melt. We discussed how states of matter can change through the melting and freezing processes for example ice is a solid, but when it melts it becomes a liquid. In Art, we continued to look at the story behind the picture and explored the painting The Dance by Paula Rego. We thought about what could have been happening in the picture, what the people in it might be able to hear, see and how they would be feeling. In our Geography learning this week we used maps to identify which parts of the world have the most earthquake and volcano activity. We marked them in smaller maps of the continents and then out them together to make a bigger world map. We identified the Pacific Ring of Fire as the most active area in the world for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In PSHE, we thought about dares, what they are and whether or not we should carry them out. We enjoyed doing some role play of some scenarios involving dates.  In P.E. we continued to improve our hockey skills, we are getting better at controlling the ball with our hockey stick and we played some intercepting games. In Music, we improvised some rhythms by clapping and using the glockenspiels. We listened to a piece of music from West Side Story and discussed the tempo, the syncopated rhythms and how it was in 4/4 time. In French we expanded our vocabulary of different foods and expressed whether we liked them or not. 

Spring 1 Week 2

This week in English, we have continued to read The Jungle Book text. We have thought about how the leader of the wolf pack feels about Mowgli joining their pack and the concerns he has about it. We made predictions about how Bagheera, Kaa and Baloo would rescue Mowgli when the monkeys captured him and created story boards. We also thought about how Mowgli would have felt when the wolf pack betrayed him. In our Maths learning, we have been exploring different strategies that we can use to multiply and how efficient they are. We looked at using partitioning for mental calculations and then the grid method for more complex written calculations. We have needed to apply our multiplying by 10 and 100 skills to our calculating. In Science, we sorted some everyday items into solids, liquids and gases using the properties that we looked at last week to help us. We explored some tricky ones such as sand, sugar and clouds. In Art, we looked at the painting My Parents by David Hockney and discussed what we thought was happening in the picture and what it reminded us of. We looked at the techniques Hockney used to create the painting as well as the tone and colours. We then worked in pairs to recreate the painting setting up the scene to match the original as best that we could. We became photographers in Computing this week! We discussed what we mean by digital photos and how photos were taken and developed differently in the past. We then enjoyed going outside to take some photos on the Ipads. We then started to explore how digital photos can be altered. The children were given some photos that had been altered and they had to see of they could spot how they had been changed. In Geography this week, we looked at volcanoes and how they are formed. The highlight of the lesson was when Miss Survery created a mini volcanic eruption with vinegar and baking soda. In Music we used the glockenspiels. We played some call and response games to begin with and then we learnt the notes to play along with a song that we had learnt.

Spring 1 Week 1

It has been wonderful to be back in school with the children this week. We have made an enthusiastic start to our Amazing Asia topic and we are looking forward to all the exciting learning that we have planned for the coming weeks. In English, we have started to look at our focus the The Jungle Book. We have discussed how there are lots of different versions of the story and why we have them. We compared the opening of the 1967 film to the opening of our text and we were surprised by how different it was. We also wrote a persuasive speech in role as Mother Wolf to persuade Akela and the wolf pack to let Mowgli join them. In Maths, we have been looking at multiplying. we learnt how to multiply 3 numbers together and investigated to see if they were commutative or not. On Friday, we learnt about what factors were and created factor monsters to help us identify the factors of different numbers. we are going to be doing Geography this half term and we started our new topic by learning about earthquakes and what causes them, we worked in pairs to create a model to show how the tectonic plates move.  In Science, we thought about the 3 states of matter; solids, liquids and gases and what the properties of each ones are. In Music, our learning was supported by Mr Richards, we enjoyed listening to and learning a disco song. We started to learn the rhythm of an instrument accompaniment ready to play it with the song next week. we really enjoyed playing the game 'pass the beat around the room' at the end of the lesson. We also started a new topic in French all about healthy living. We learnt some new vocabulary for some different foods and drinks in French. 

Autumn 2 Week 7

We have had a super busy end to the term and we are definitely all ready for a good rest over the Christmas break. We have worked extremely hard on our Elf Enterprise product, hand sewing the sequins on and then stuffing and stitching the two pieces together. It was worth all the hard work as the end products were fabulous and will look wonderful hanging on our Christmas trees. We have also made Christmas cards to send to our friends and family, using strips of coloured paper to create Christmas trees. On Thursday afternoon, we had lots of fun at our Christmas party, we played some games and enjoyed dancing to some Christmas music; there were some fabulous dance moves on display! The highlight of the week was exchanging our secret Santa gifts on Friday morning and trying to guess who our Secret Santa was. It was clear to see that a lot of thought and effort had gone into the gifts, which was really appreciated by the children. The Key Stage 2 Christmas video has been put together (and after a couple of technical issues) it is available to watch on the video resource centre https://stpaulshoddlesden.primarysite.media/media/ks2-christmas-performances

Year 4 would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas with their families. We are looking forward to the new year and all the wonderful learning that we are going to do. 

Autumn 2 Week 6

it has been another hectic and festive fun packed week in Year 4! We have started our Elf Enterprise project which is using sewing skills to create a hanging Christmas tree decoration. We began by looking at and evaluating existing fabric Christmas tree decorations, thinking about what they were made from, how they were stitched, how things were attached to them and the different colours that were used. We then used this knowledge to help us come up with a design of our own. Some of our designs were very ambitious and we had to adapt them considering the practicalities of making them by hand with the resources we have got available to us. We looked at what pattern pieces are and how they are used by dressmakers and then created our own pattern pieces for our decorations. We had to measure very accurately to ensure they were the same size. We also learnt about seams and seam allowance and why we need to have a seam allowance on a design. We have drawn around our pattern pieces on felt and have cut them out ready to be stitched next week. We have practised running stich and over stitch during our lessons this week, so we will be ready to use them on our own designs. In Maths, we have recapped rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. We have been looking at approximating and how this is a useful skill to help us calculate quickly. In English, we started reading a Just William story. As it was written quite a while ago, there was a lot of old language and traditional words that we had to find out the meanings of using. We also began to build up a picture of the character of William through some of his actions, this is something we are going to explore further next week. On Friday in French, we really enjoyed learning some of the French words for Christmas items such as Father Christmas, reindeer and snowman as well as finding out some of the Christmas traditions that French people follow. 

Autumn 2 Week 5

It has certainly been a ‘wild’ week in Year 4, that has included some wild weather, Wild One Adventures and Bikeability. In English, we have been finishing writing our hybrid magazine pages about the Industrial Revolution and then we have spent some time publishing them, considering the layout and structure. We have tried to make them look bright, attractive and interesting to read. On Friday, we applied the explanation writing skills we have learnt throughout the unit to writing an explanation of how Wallace and Gromit’s Snoozatron works. In Maths we have been looking at a range of different methods of addition and subtraction and deciding which ones are the most efficient for certain calculations. We also started to look at estimating, what it is and how it can help us to calculate. We became party planners on Friday, calculating how much different birthday parties would cost and how much change there would be from a given budget. Despite the cold and wet weather, on Tuesday afternoon the children had a wonderful time doing Bikeability level 1. They started off learning how to carry out safety checks on their bikes before moving onto riding and stopping safely. We started to learn how to look behind us in preparation for signalling to make a turn and then how to make the signal. Then on Wednesday, we have our Wild One Adventures session, which was great fun (as well as very muddy). We learnt how to use a compass to find North, East, South and West and we used them in a treasure hunt. We also used saws to cut some pieces of wood that we have taken home to decorate. It was fabulous to see the children working together and showing excellent team work skills. In History this week, we found out some more (gruesome) details about what it was like for children working in factories and mills during the Industrial Revolution. We looked at some personal accounts written at the time as well as reports from doctors who treated the injuries. We then wrote speeches to persuade the government to put an end to child labour. In Science, we went out into the woods and collected lots of different types of leaves. We then thought about their similarities and differences that we could use to start creating a classification key to identify them. For our French, we recapped all the vocabulary from our topic and completed crosswords and wordsearches using them. To end a very busy week, we thought about what things we could do to be a light in the world and bring happiness to people like Jesus did. 

Autumn 2 Week 1

It has been a very busy, but enjoyable week in Year 4. In English, we began the week doing some research for our hybrid magazine pages about the Industrial Revolution. Our magazine page will have a non-chronological report, a biography and an explanation. We already knew lots of information from our History and English learning, that we were able to use. Later in the week, we started writing our non-chronological report. In Maths, we have been looking at using written methods of subtraction. We started off with calculations that had no exchanges, before moving onto making exchanges. We have written some super explanations of why we need to exchange and what happens when we make exchanges. By the end of the week, we were doing calculations with multiple exchanges and where there are zeros in the columns. We have been very impressed by how hard the children have worked to understand this. In History, we found out about when Ghandi came to visit the mills in Darwen and watched a news clip showing some of the visit. We imagined that we were the owner of India Mill and we wrote him a letter asking him to come. We also looked in more detail about what it was like to work in the mills and factories during the Industrial Revolution. We read some diary accounts from mill workers and were horrified to learn how badly they were treated, especially the children. In Science, we applied our knowledge of classification keys and created our own classification key to identify different vertebrates thinking about their different characteristics. We really enjoyed our R.E. lesson all about Christingles. We found out what they were and what all the different parts symbolised for Christians. Then we made our own Christingles to take home. In Computing, we continued to look at databases and we created our own records to add to an existing database about different countries. We had to find out some of the information to complete the different fields such as the population and the area in square kilometres. 

Autumn 2 Week 3

We have had a super week in Year 4! In English we started to explore some of the different non-fiction text types in more detail. We began by looking at biographies and we had lots of fun looking for clues in the text to tell us whose biography it was. We linked our English and History and found about about Samuel Crompton before writing a section of biography about him inventing the spinning mule. We also looked at non-chronological reports and created a quiz all about the Industrial Revolution from the text we read. In Maths, we have been looking at using written methods of addition where you need to exchange. We have explored why we need to exchange and what you exchange for. We also looked at adding more than two numbers and how we can exchange more than one into the next column. In History, we started to think about Darwen as an important town during the Industrial Revolution and how it changed. We compared some old maps of Darwen and identified how the town changed throughout this time. We also looked at India Mill and its significance. For our Science learning, we started to look at branching classification keys and how they can help us to identify and classify living things. We started out using a classification key to help us sort some mice and then we created our own classification keys to identify some aliens. In R.E. we thought about the incarnation of Jesus and we used chalk pastels to create nativity scenes that showed that Jesus was the light of the world. In French, we started to write some sentences to say ‘I am going on holiday to’ using the French names for different places around the world and the different modes of transport we have been learning.  On Friday, it was Children In Need and it was lovely to see all the spots, Pudsey ears and brightly coloured outfits. 

Autumn 2 Week 2

It has been a fantastic week in Year 4! We have started our new unit in English for Non-fiction November about hybrid texts in magazine articles. The children have enjoyed exploring a range of different magazine articles and identifying the different text types we could see. In Maths, we have taken part in Maths Week England and have thought about how we can find Maths all around us, not just in the classroom. We looked at a range of images from everyday places and situations and thought about what Maths we could find in them. Following on from that, we took one of the children’s ideas about creating a graph to show how many of each chocolate there was in a tub of Celebrations and carried it out. In History, we looked at photograph of a historical artefact and thought about what we could deduce from it. We then found out that it was a spinning mule that was invented during the Industrial Revolution and then explored some of the ways England changed during that period. In Science, we looked at the 5 different groups we can classify vertebrates into; fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. We made posters to show the different characteristics of each group. In R.E. we discussed the idea that Jesus was the light of the world and what that meant to us. We then created postcards with metaphors to show Jesus is the light of the world. We started to look at databases in Computing, we thought about what they were and their purpose. We used Purple Mash to explore a database about aliens and search through it to answer questions. In P.E. we continued to look at how to mark each other in a game situation and how important our footwork is. As it was Remembrance Day on Thursday, we wrote prayers to remember and thank soldiers for the sacrifices that they made. 

Autumn 2 Week 1

What a fantastic start to the new half term we have had! We have made a start with our new topic Factual Footprints, which the children have approached with their usual enthusiasm and hard working attitude. We did just need to finish our writing from the previous half term in English. We wrote our innovated version of the text The Boy and the Tiger changing the characters and the reasons why the animals thought that humans were wicked. We practiced applying our grammar focus, which was using fronted adverbials for when and where. In Maths, we started our addition and subtraction unit by thinking about adding and subtracting 1s, 10s, 100s and 1000s thinking about which columns change. We also started looking at some written methods of addition where there were no exchanges. In Science, we thought about classification and what that meant. We investigated ways that we could classify ourselves before looking at how animals are classified into vertebrates and invertebrates. We enjoyed looking at some X-rays of different animals to see their backbones. In History, we looked at the chronology of some of the periods and events from History that we have studied previously in school and created a timeline. We were interested to see which periods of time overlapped with each other. On Friday, we also explored a picture of an artefact and tried to work out what is was. We thought about what it might have been used for and what period it was from. The children were very excited to learn it was a lantern that belonged to Guy Fawkes that he was carrying the night he was arrested while carrying out the Gunpowder Plot. In R.E. we thought about dark and light and how they made us feel. We thought about the imagery around them and created some poems. In P.E. we started to look at invasion games by thinking about our footwork and how we can move around when we are being marked. On Friday, in our French lesson we began to think about modes of transport so we could say how we got to a country. We learnt the vocabulary for train, car, boat and airplane and put them in a sentence to answer the question ‘how did you get to France?’. 

Autumn 1 Week 8

It has been a very long and tiring half term, but the children in Year 4 have been amazing and have impressed us all consistently, day in day out. This week in English, we have been innovating the story of The Boy and the Tiger and researching new African characters that we can use when we write our own version. We have also been practising creating fronted adverbials for when and where so that we can use them in our own writing. We completed our Place Value unit in Maths this week and have been applying our knowledge of numbers (including negative numbers) to lots of different problems. We have had to use a range of different problem solving strategies over the week. In Geography, we have put the the information we learnt about Johannesburg over the half term into creating a travel guide for people who would like to go there. We thought about all the different human and physical features people would be interested in visiting. At the end of the week, we completed our final pieces of artwork, that show endangered African animals, that were inspired by the work of Sonny. We are extremely proud of how we drew the animals, used different techniques to create fur and skin textures and the tribal patterns we added. In P.S.H.E this week we thought back to the story of The Boy and the Tiger and how the animals in it said that humans were wicked because of the way they use and eat animals. We had an interesting discussion about whether he we agreed with this or not and had a range of different opinions in the class. We thought about some alternatives to eating meat as well as eating animal products that have been treated in a humane way. We thought about how we could make informed choices about our diets. Wednesday was a very exciting day, as we had our behaviour treat. All the children loved the assault course and had lots of well earned fun. Have a fantastic break Year 4 ready for more exciting learning next half term! On Wednesday we also created our very own poetry anthology based on our comparison poem, The Bengal Tiger. To watch our poems, follow the link! https://stpaulshoddlesden.primarysite.media/media/year-4-poetry-anthology-autumn-2021