Autumn 1 - Native Narratives

Autumn 2 Week 4

This week in English, we have moved onto our non fiction unit about information reports. We have focused on the technical vocabulary this week ensuring that we understand what it means and also using it in sentences. We also channelled our inner David Attenborough and wrote a commentary for a video about polar bear cubs walking for the first time. In Maths, we have continued to build our knowledge and recall of different multiplication tables. We have focused on 9x and 7x this week and have completed lots of questions about them and have used our knowledge to solve some quite challenging problems. For Science, we looked at clasification keys. We discussed what they are used for and how they work. We then used some to sort out some made up animals, which we really enjoyed doing. In History, we looked at how the Celts tried to fight back against the Romans and explored the events of Boudicca's life. We then created a top trumps card all about her. In Gymnastics this week, we worked together in groups to create a sequence using all of the skills we have learnt from Mrs Winward in rolls, balances, postions and jumps. Additionally, we had to work together as a team, listening to and supporting each other. In R.E. with Mrs Sullivan, we learnt all about Christingles and what each part of them represents. We then all got the opportunity to make our own Christingle. In Music, we continued to listen to sea shantys as a style of folk music and identify their structures and textures. We listened to a call and response song this week and practised singing both the call and response parts of it. We became biscuit desginers in D.T. We used what we have learnt about biscuits so far this half term to find ways to adapt a basic biscuit recipe to improve it and designed our own biscuit with added ingredients and decorations. 

Autumn 2 Week 3

We started the week with some outdoor learning with Louise from Wild One Adventures. We began with an evolution game, where we had to win a round of rock, paper, scissors to be able to evolve to the next position in Roman society. We then solved some puzzles that were written in Roman Numerals that Louise had hidden around the woods. It was a very crisp Autumn morning, so we enjoyed sitting round the fire with a hot drink and smores to warm us up. We finished the session with a walk through our local surroundings to take Leaf the polar bear home. Everyone had a great time, thank you Louise! In English this week, we have been writing our story The Bear Who Didn't Belong. We have taken inspiration from the story we read called Leaf to write about a polar bear who is lost from home in a forest. We had to use lots of grammar features such as fronted adverbials, expanded noun phrases, preposition phrases and exciting vocabulary. We have written some fantastic stories. In Maths, we have been focusing on multiplication and learning our 6 and 9 times tables as well as the related division facts. We have been saying them, singing them and answering a range of different questions about them as well as using them to solve problems. For Science, we thought about the classification of animals. We recapped how they can be split into vertebrates and invertebrates depending on whether they have a backbone or not. After that, we focused on vertebrates and the 5 different groups; mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. We then sorted some pictures of aniamls into the correct categories. For our History this week, we looked at the Roman army and why they were so successful and able to invade and conquer so many coutnries including Britain. We looked at the armour, weapons and some of the formations that they used during battles. We then created posters to persuade people to join up. With Mrs Winward in gymnastics, we did some fitness and balancing activities to get us warmed up and then we focused on vaulting. We used the trampette to help us jump and we used it with and without a run up. At the end of the session, we had some time to build our strength on the ropes. In Music, we listened to a sea shanty and discussed how it is a type of folk song. We discussed the structure and texture of the song. In PSHE we looked at the people we share the world with and what our similarities and difference are. We thought about how we can have relationships with all people even if we have differences. On Tuesday afternoon, we had a wheelchair sports workshop. We spent some time learning how to move and steer the wheelchairs and then we played some games. In French with Madame Wardle, we started to build up our confidence in writing down sentences in French. We started off by copying them from the board and then built up to memorising them and then writing them down. In DT we looked at a basic biscuit recipe and what ingredients are in it. We then thought about what things we could add to the mixture and after the biscuits have been baked to improve the flavour and texture.  

Autumn 2 Week 2

This week in Maths, we have been using the addition and subtractions skills that we have learnt over the unit to solve some problems. We also looked at the skill of estimating and how we could use this to help us solve the problems more quickly and efficiently. We then started our new unit about multiplication and division by identifying multiples of 3. In English, we focused on the main character of the text; the polar bear. We thought about how he felt at different points in the story and then wrote a description of him. After that, we began to gather ideas to use in our own version of the story that we are going to write next week. We identified some effective words and phrases as well as fronted adverbials and prepositions that we could use.  In Science, we looked at different ways that we could group living things by their characteristics. We began by thinking about ways we could group ourselves such as gender, hair colour and height. Then we looked at some living things and worked in pairs to group them in as many different ways as we could such as can fly and can't fly, has fur and doesn't have fur. This week was antibullying week and on Monday we came to school in odd socks to recognise and celebrate that we are all different. In our PSHE lesson on Monday we talked about the role of the bystander in bullying and what we could do to help instead of being a bystander. We also designed our own sock to celebrate all the things that make us unique. In our other PSHE lesson with Miss Sullivan we discussed aggressive behaviour and what it is. We also talked about how it makes us feel and shared some strategies for when people show us aggressive behaviour. In Music, we listened to the piece of music called Voices Shouting Out which was composed by Nkeiru Okoyo. We talked about how the music made us feel and what it made us think of. We then listened to the song 'Building' by Richard Stilgoe and discussed its structure and how this gives the song texture. We also talked about how when different melodies are sung in unison it gives us a harmony. We were very excited on Thursday afternoon for our DT lesson. Our topic is all about biscuits so we explored some existing products by tasting lots of different biscuits. We spent some time thinking about their appearance, texture and of course the taste. We can now use our knowledge to help us in our own designs. In RE we talked about the Christian belief that Jesus is the light of the world and what this means. We discussed the ways that Jesus brings joy into our lives and then designed a piece of artwork to show this.  In gymnastics we continued to develop our vaulting skills as well as keeping our other skills such as balance and sequences sharp. In French, we spent the lesson learning all about the Channel Tunnel; why, when and how it was built and what it is like today. Madame Wardle did a multiple choice quiz with the class and was very impressed at how they worked out lots of the answers correctly. 

Autumn 2 Week 1

What a wonderful start to the half term our first week back has been. We have made a super start to our new curriculum connector ‘Factual Footprints’. In English, we began our new unit by looking at some of the illustrations from the text and trying to predict what the story was about. We then thought about how the author had used different types of language to show us how the character feels and to describe the setting. We wrote our own setting descriptions about one of the illustrations from the text. In Maths, we extended our understanding of written methods of subtraction to include, exchanges. We started with just one exchange within the calculation and then moved onto more complex ones that needed us to do more than one exchange. We used our addition and subtraction skills to help us solve some one and two step problems. In Science, we looked at what all living things have or do, in order for them to be alive. We call these the 7 life processes. We started our History learning by thinking about where the Romans came from and we used a written historical source to help us identify some of the reasons why the Romans wanted to invade Britain. In gymnastics with Mrs Winward, we recapped some of the sequences that we learnt before half term and also how to do the splits. We then moved onto vaulting and began by reminding ourselves of some of the skills we have learnt previously so we are able to build on them next week. As it is remembrance next week, we created a class poppy to take to the cenotaph using lots of small poppies with some words that we think of when it is remembrance. In French, we looked at the new question comment vas-tu en France to ask how we travel to France. We thought about different ways that we are able to get to France from Great Britain and how to say them in French. In RE we started our new unit about Christmas. We thought about how light makes us feel and then we related that to the Christians belief that Jesus is the light of the world. In PSHE we were thinking about negotiation and compromise and how we can use these skills to resolve problems or arguments with our friends and families. 

Autumn 1 Week 8

It may have been a slightly shorter week in school, but we have managed to pack a lot of learning and fun into it. We started the week on Monday morning with our outdoor learning session. It was the first day of Diwali, so we began by listening to the story of Rama and Sita and finding out how Hindus celebrate Diwali. We then looked at some different Rangoli patterns and discussed the shapes, symmetry and symbolism of them before going off to create our own Rangoli patterns from the natural materials we could find. The next challenge was based on our Geography learning. We worked in groups to create a river system using tarpaulins and the materials around us. We had to try and include as many of the features of a river system such as tributaries, meanders, waterfalls, lakes and an estuary. In English, we finished writing our innovated story The Girl and the Lion using fronted adverbials for when and where and punctuating the speech correctly. This week in Maths we continued to practice subtracting mentally using the counting on method and then we moved onto using column methods of subtraction for more complex calculations. In Art with Miss Sullivan we used a range of recycling materials to create the sculptures that we designed last week. We used techniques such as weaving and threading to join the materials. In RE, we thought about David as a King and whether or not he was a good King. We discussed the qualities that we thought make a good King and if David demonstrated them or not. In PSHE we thought about the difference between being unkind, teasing and bullying. We discussed what we could do if we were being bullied and who could help us. We also talked about the pressures that we can be under to behave in ways that we know are not good or healthy and where it comes from. In Science, we looked at the processes of evaporation and condensation and what happens to the states of matter during them. We then looked at the roles evaporation and condensation play in the water cycle. In Gymnastics with Mrs Winward, we completed some team races using some of the gymnastics skills and positions that we have been learning. 

Autumn 1 Week 7

In Maths this week, we have been looking at using written methods of addition (column method) where there are exchanges. We had to use our place value knowledge to help us know what we needed to exchange. At the end of the week, we moved onto mental methods of subtraction. We looked at the shopkeepers counting on method using a number line. In English, we have been writing our innovated story; The Girl and the Lion. We used the structure of the original text to help us, but we made it even better by adding fronted adverbials for when and where as well as some description. In Science, we conducted our investigation about which type of liquids freeze the fastest. We put some different liquids into the freezer and looked at them every hour to see how quickly they froze. We were surprised to find out that some of the liquids didn't freeze at all; honey, hand sanitiser and cooking oil.  We learnt that this is due to them having a high viscosity. In Geography, we thought about why humans build settlements near to rivers. We found out that it is because they use the river as a water source. We thought about all the different ways that humans use rivers to help them to live and made posters. In Art, we continued to look at sculptures that use recycled materials and thought about designing our own and what materials would be good to use. We are going to create our designs next week. On Thursday, we performed the gymnastics routine that we have been working on with Mrs Winward for our families at the showcase performance. Although some of us were a bit nervous, we did an amazing job and all the families who came to watch said it was fabulous. On Monday afternoon, we had a visitor who came to talk to us about road safety. She reminded us of the rules for crossing the road safely and spoke to us about different types of crossings and how to use them. She also spoke to us about the importance of being bright and being seen especially when it is dark. From this we have a competition to design a bright and reflective jacket for children to wear to keep them safe. We also had a visit from Andrew who is from the library in Darwen this week. He talked to us about the different services the library provides and how easy it is to get a library card and use them all. He then read us some funny stories which we really enjoyed. In French, we recapped the French names of the countries that we looked at last week. We then played a matching game in teams where we had to match the name of the country to the correct flag. In Computing, we thought about if everything on the Internet is true/real. We looked at some 'fake news' and also some fake pictures of animals. We then enjoyed creating our own fake animals on Keynote. 

Autumn 1 Week 6

This week in English, we have been planning and gathering content for our innovated version of The Boy and the Tiger. We are changing the setting to Africa and this also means we need to change the characters to plants and animals that are found in Africa. We did some research about some African plants and animals and the ways that humans use them. We then thought about what things they would say in our story using the structure of the original text. In Maths, we finished our place value unit by looking at rounding numbers to the nearest 1,000. After that we started our addition and subtraction unit by looking at adding multiples of 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 onto numbers and using written methods of addition when there are no exchanges. On Thursday afternoon, we had a workshop with Cody from the Ribble Rivers Trust. He talked to us about the Species Survival Project that they are running to conserve the wildlife that is found in our rivers. We looked at what lives within our rivers and also at fish life cycles. We then made a pinwheel to show some of the wildlife that is found in our river systems. We all enjoyed the session and learnt a lot from Cody. Following that session, we looked at the different geographical features of a river system and what the different features do within it. We continued to think about David in this week's RE lesson. We looked in the Bible and found verses that foretold us that he would be King. In PSHE this week, we thought about the words rude, aggressive and assertive and what they meant. We also discussed how there are times when we don't want to do exactly the same things as our friends, and that it is ok to say no to them as long as we are respectful. We also thought about the compromise and looked at some examples of compromise in some scenarios. In Gymnastics, we put the finishing touches to our routine for the showcase next week and performed it for Mrs Bullen, who was blown away. In Art, we talked about the sculptor El Anatsui and how they use recycled materials to raise awareness of protecting the environment. We spent some time talking about the affects of plastic pollution particulary in the seas and oceans. In Computing, we learned about who owns content on the internet. We talked about the difference between websites and web pages, and when it’s okay to share or download things online. We then created our own digital content, learning that if we uploaded it to a website, it would belong to us!

Autumn 1 Week 5

We started the week with an inclusive dance workshop with Dance Syndrome. During the session we explored different ways to move our bodies and ways of working together to create the shape of animals. In Maths, we looked at putting sets of numbers up to 10,000 into ascending and descending order. We then had a lesson on reading and writing Roman Numerals up to 100 and completed some different calculations in Roman Numerals. In English, we finished the information posters about tigers that we started last week. We made sure that they were bright and attractive so people would want to read them. We then used our skills to create information posters about Martin Luther King as part of our Black History Month learning. We talked about the life of Martin Luther King and the things he acheived as part of the civil rights movement. In Music, we talked about dynamics being how quiet or loud the music is. We listened to Echolocation by Pamela Z and discussed how the dynamics changed. We continued our study of Bhangra music by listening to a different piece of Bhangra music and comparing it to the other one we had listened to. We also recapped the musical notation for crochets, quavers and rests and then looked at what time signatures are. Our RE learning about David and his life continued by looking at his friendship with Jonathon and what qualities they showed which we then related to our own friendships. We also looked at how later in his life, David showed mercy and spared Saul's life.  In Gymnastics we continued to work on our routine to perform at the showcase in a coupe of weeks, we are keeping all the details secret so that we don't spoil the performance. It was Spirituality Afternoon on Thursday, where we were looking at the school vision of 'As God's family, together we achieve'.  We looked at the Bible verse where it can be found in the book of Romans and explored what it means meaning. We also thought about St. Paul and the letters he wrote to the Romans about the church being one body with many parts. After that we thought about the talents that God has given us and how we could use them to help everyone in our school flourish. We made banners to show our talents in action. In French, we continued to think about Francophone countries (countries where the official language is French) and identified which countries were French speaking. We were quite surprised by how many there are and where a lot of them are located. In Science, we recapped what the process of freezing is and how the states of matter change during it. We then planned an investigation to find out which liquid will freeze the quickest. We looked at the resources available to us in school and how we could use them in a fair way to find the answer to our question. We are looking forward to doing the investigation next week.

Autumn 1 Week 4

We started our Maths learning this week by representing numbers up to 10,000 on number lines. To begin with we had the increments marked on the number lines, but then we moved onto estimating their position where there were no increments marked. We also did some comparing using greater than, less than and equal to signs and some ordering of numbers up to 10,000. In English, we spent the first half of the week gathering content to use in our information poster, we thought about what things we already know about tigers and what things we needed to find out. We then had time to complete our research and find the information. We thought about the layout of our posters and what would make them the most appealing to read and then we created them. On Tuesday in Art, we looked at the African artist Sokari Douglas Camp and some of her work that uses shadows. We took inspiration from this and created our own shadow art with our bodies and some words that we felt described us as a class. In PSHE we talked about friendship; what we like about our friends and what we enjoy doing with them. We then looked at a scenario where some messages had been sent to a friend about a bike ride and decided if they were ok messages to send and how they would have made the person feel. Additionally, we used the NSPCC acronym PANTS and the rules that each letter represent to remind ourselves of what to do if we feel uncomfortable with other people's behaviour and actions towards us. We also thought about different types of touch for example; caring touch, accidental touch, hurtful touch and inappropriate touch. We discussed examples of each one and what to do in different situations. For Gymnastics we started work on the routine that we are going to perform for parents at the showcase in a few weeks, we are not going to give you anymore details so we don't spoil the show! In Music, we recapped our understanding of Bhangra music and some of the types of traditional Indian instruments that are used. We looked at the musical notation that represent crotchets, quavers and rests and 'read' some to clap out some different rhythms. After that we worked in pairs to create our own rhythms using the notes. In Geography, we built on our knowledge of rivers in the UK and looked at some of the longest rivers around the world. We identified the longest river on each continent, how long it is, how deep it is and some of the countries that it flows through. On Friday in French, we continued to familiarise ourselves with the question 'Ou habites-tu?' to ask us where we live. We completed a challenge to see if we could all respond with J'habite a........ in 3 minutes!  

Autumn 1 Week 3

This week in English, we worked in pairs to create a story map of the text The Boy and the Tiger to help us recall all of the events. Then we focused on non fiction and in particular information texts. We looked at some different information texts and identified their features. We created our own glossary for a text about big cats and we used different reading strategies to complete an information hunt on the playground. In Maths, we looked at 4 digit numbers again and investigated different ways that we could partition them. Additionally, we looked at putting 4 digit numbers in the correct places on number lines. We also looked at adding and subtracting 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 from numbers. We looked at which columns changed, but found we had to think about exchanging on some occasions. In Science, we investigated melting and if all materials melt at the same temperature. We tested ice, butter, candle wax and chocolate by putting them onto a hot water bath and observing them. We took their temperatures every 2 minutes until they melted. On Monday in our Geography learning, we looked at some of the rivers in the UK. We identified the longest river in the UK is the River Severn. We used an atlas to help us label some of the different rivers in the UK on a map. We had a very interesting Art lesson with Miss Sullivan where we used modelling wire to create 3D sculptures. It was very fiddly and a bit frustrating at times, but we created some fantastic sculptures. We looked at the story of David and Goliath in RE and thought about the qualities that David showed such as courage and faith in God. In our PSHE lesson, we all became human machines. We talked about the word collaboration and what it means and also what makes a good team. We then applied this to our team challenge which was to create a human machine to do different jobs that we were given such as make a cup of tea or make a pizza with two toppings. In Gymnastics with Mrs Winward, we did some fitness and stamina activities and then recapped some of the positions that we know. We also had a go at some rolls and cartwheels. In French, we continued to look at the map of France and some of the largest cities there. We labelled them on the map and also recapped our phonics learning from last week to help us to spell them correctly. As we are looking at Bhangra music in our music lessons, we looked at some of the traditional Indian instruments that are used; what they are called and how they are played. We also started to look at and clap to some traditional chaal rhythms that are used in Bhangra music. 

Autumn 1 Week 2

We have had a wonderful second week in school. On Wednesday, our swimming lessons started again and everyone did brilliantly on the coach and in the swimming pool. In English, we started the week by predicting what we thought would happen next in our story The Boy and the Tiger and we came up with some brilliant ideas. Then Mrs Bullen read the rest of the story and we were shocked by the twist at the end. Next we wrote descriptions of the different settings from the text using adjectives and subordinate clauses. In Maths, we have been continuing to build our understanding of numbers up to thousands. We have been reading and writing 4 digit numbers and partitioning them to show their values. On Tuesday with Mrs Bradley we started to look at what areas is and we used post it notes to measure the area of different shapes.  In Science we started the lesson by going outside and using our bodies to be the particles in solids, liquids and gases to recap our learning from last week. After that, looked at the processes of melting and freezing thinking about how the materials change their state during these processes. We thought of examples of materials freezing and melting. In Art, we looked at some of the ceramic pots and vases that Magdalena Odundo has created and their style and shapes. We then learnt about one of the techniques that she uses, where she sketches the shape on the walls or floor on a large scale before creating it out of clay. We went out onto the playground and used chalk to sketch our own versions of her pots. Our PSHE lesson was a bit different this week as Steven from Life Education Centres came into school. he did a session with us called 'it's great to be me'. We thought about all the different ways that we are unique and celebrated them. We watched a video about Harold and his friends going to the theme park and how they all wanted to do different activities. When they did them by themselves they were not as much fun so they decided to take turns doing the different activities so they could be together. We started our Geography topic by thinking about where the water that falls from the sky goes. We then looked at the water cycle and the different processes that occur during it. We listened to a very catchy (and annoying) song to help us remember it. In RE we thought about the qualities that God looks for in people and we identified that he looks for qualities such as kindness, love and forgiveness that are in our heart rather than physical qualities such as strength and beauty. Mrs Bradley came to help us with our Computing this week and we were thinking about networks and how they work. We used some string to send questions from the computers to the routers and then onto the server. The server then answered the questions and then sent them back through the routers and to the computers. In French, we recapped our learning from last week about places in France. We then looked at how we pronounce some of the places, by thinking about other French words we know with the same spelling patterns. In gymnastics we spend the lesson reminding ourselves of the different positions and rolls we have previously learnt and put them into a sequence. 

Autumn 1 Week 1

It has been wonderful to welcome the children back into school and into Year 4 this week. They have made an amazing start to the year and their learning and we are looking forward to seeing all the fantastic things they achieve throughout the year. We began the week by agreeing on a class contract to enable us to create a learning environment where everyone can be the best version of themselves possible. After that we thought about some words that could inspire us over the year and chose one each to focus on. We then used chalk pastels to create some light bulb art work to go with them. In Maths, we began our place value unit by recapping our understanding of numbers up to 1,000 thinking about what each digit in the number represents and partitioning them. In English, we started our text The Boy and the Tiger about a tiger who was stuck in a hole. We thought about how the tiger would feel at different parts of the story and used the best vocabulary that we could to show this. For Science, we looked at the three states of matter; solids, liquids and gases and the different properties that they display. We then sorted some different things according to if they are solids, liquids and gases. We looked at some online safety for our PSHE and Computing learning this week. We thought about all the devices we have that go on the Internet and how much time we spend online. We recapped our SMART rules and shared any other things that would help to keep us safe. We looked at the sculptor Magdelana Odundo in Art and at some of the ceramics work she has created. We also found out about her life and what things inspire her work. We created an information poster all about her. As swimming and gymnastics don't start until next week, we had a PE session where we played some games that needed team work and good throwing and catching skills. In French with Madame Wardle we recapped our learning from Year 3 and amazed Mrs Bullen with how much we could remember. We then made a start on our new topic On y va, which means let's go! We identified where Great Britain and France were on a world map and also on a map of Europe. We then looked at a map of France and discussed some of the towns or cities we had heard of before such as Paris and Nice. What a start to the year, well done Year 4 we are extremely proud of you.