Welcome to Year 4, the children are now becoming more independent in their learning, are encouraged to develop a growth mindset and are aware that we are always there to help, support and guide them as they learn.

 

 

 

In Autumn Term our topic is 'All Around the World'  - a geography based topic, discovering new facts about the world, northern and southern hemispheres, lines of latitude and longitude and locating areas of similar environmental regions.  We use atlases, globes and digital mapping to locate countries, continents and oceans.  Even learning a catchy song!

 

In Literacy, we write the narrative to a picture book which gives enormous scope to look at improving sentence structure and language. This includes drama techniques which help the children to immerse themselves in the story and the use of ipads to write part of the story as a comic strip. We also cover instructional writing, and poetry. 

 

Our whole class reading book is 'The Legend of Spud Murphy'  by Eion Colfer, looking at retrieval, inference and sequencing skills .We all enjoy reading for pleasure,  Paddington by Michael Bond, Bill's New Frock by Anne Fine and Charlotte's Webb by E B White.

 

In Numeracy, we continue to develop our knowledge of place value, (moving to 4 digit numbers), the four number operations and measurement - using these skills to problem solve and carry out investigations. We spend time learning our times tables in a variety of ways.

 

In Science, we look at Living things and their Habitats, grouping living things and exploring the similarities and differences.

 

 

 

During Spring Term, our topic changes to a history focus - The Ancient Greeks, who they were,  where and how they lived, the Olympics and Greek Gods.

Making links with art using different media.

 

In Literacy we look at Myths - linking this to the Ancient Greeks, diary entries, newspaper articles and poetry.  Our whole class reading book is the non fiction - 'How to be an Ancient Greek in 25 Easy Stages' - focusing on features of non fiction texts as well as retrieval and vocabulary skills. Our reading for pleasure includes The Firemaker's Daughter by Philip Pullman and Perry Angels Suitcase by Glenda Millard. 

 

In Numeracy, we continue to deepen our knowledge of multiplication and division, using formal methods of calculation. We also concentrate on  fractions and decimals - talking about sharing pizza's and chocolate bars seems to help.  The unit on measurement centres around area.

 

In Science, we look at Animals and Humans, identifying the major organs of the body and understanding the basic parts of the digestive system which leads to a rather interesting and fun experiment. We also learn about electricity, learning about electrical circuits.

 

 

 

Our topic returns to a geographical theme- 'Somewhere to Settle' - discovering the different types of settlements and how they differ, why people choose to settle in a particular area and learn about major towns,cities and counties in the United Kingdom.

 

In Literacy, we focus on discussion texts - whether we can bring a pet walrus to school? Fairy tales and poetry. This increases the range of genres for the children to become more confident with. Our whole class reading is Street Child by Berlie Doherty and our reading for pleasure includes Why the Whales Came by Michael Morpurgo. 

 

In Numeracy, we continue with decimals and then move onto money, time, statistics, properties of shapes and position and direction.  Each of these areas include the children taking part in problem solving, reasoning and investigation activities.

 

In Science, the children learn about States of Matter and Sound, making string telephones always blows their minds.

 

To complete the year, the children have the opportunity to go on a three day residential.  This is a fantastic opportunity for the children to grow as individuals, become more independent and work collaboratively.  They take part in some adventurous activities and it is a privilege to watch them as they continue to challenge themselves.