Spring Term 2019

W.C. 25.3.19

This week, we have continued to work on our skills in English. We began by exploring the difference between 1st and 3rd person pronouns and understood that we would use this for clarity and to avoid repetition in our sentences. After this, we looked at the present perfect tense which is where we have to use has or have and the past participle. For example, I have read my book this morning. To end the week, we have been looking at and researching the Water Cycle as this is what our explanation text will be on! We have researched the four key stages: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection.

In Maths, we have continued to explore fractions and decimals. We have moved on to exploring hundredths and how we can write these as a decimal by looking at the extra column after the tenths. We had to remember that hundredths are smaller than tenths - this was confusing for some of us as we have spent so long remembering that hundreds are bigger than tens! We continued this work by looking at how we can divide by 100 by moving each digit two columns to the right. On Friday, we used all of our decimal knowledge and began comparing them by thinking carefully about the columns each digit was in and what they represented.

In Science, we got to find out the results of our experiment! We discovered that the squash, vinegar and cola all changed the colour of the egg and also made some of it dissolve! As we predicted, the water and milk was the best for our teeth because of the lack of sugar and also because milk has calcium which is good for our teeth and bones!

In Topic, we have been continuing to explore rivers. For this week's lesson, we did some research on an important river in our area - the River Trent. We were able to locate its source, mouth, length and the towns and cities that it runs through.  We also found out some quite interesting facts... Did you know that there are 35 different types of fish in the River Trent?

W.C. 18.3.19

Phew, another crazy week! We are speeding through this term!

For English this week we have been finishing off our diary entries ready to write up. We have made sure that we are using the key features we have looked at to make them informative but interesting too. Lots of us have been working on our tone of voice, making sure it isn't too formal! After this, we began our new topic of explanation texts. We first looked at the features that are seen in most examples and then tried to find them ourselves. We were set different texts which made it even trickier. To end the week, we explored what causal conjunctions were including what the cause and the effect is too. We then wrote our own sentences trying to use these effectively!

In Maths, we have started to explore the connection between decimals and fractions. We now know that 0.1 is equivalent to 1/10. We also discovered that 1/10 is the same as doing one divided into ten equal pieces! We have also been using our division and multiplication skills to find fractions of amounts. We can find unit and non-unit fractions of amounts. We have a trick! It is called DDUM (down divide, up multiply) and if you do it to the tune of Pink Panther you won't forget it! Try this: What is 2/3 of 36?

In Science we started an experiment. We have started to look at what happens to our teeth if we drink or eat different types of food. For our experiment, we had 6 boiled eggs (because the shell is like our enamel!). We put an egg into 6 different liquids (water, milk, cola, squash, orange juice and vinegar). We made our predictions of what we think will do the most damage and which will do the least. We will find out our results on Tuesday!

For Geography, we explored the different features of a river from its source to its mouth (where it meets the sea). We discovered that the river has 3 parts to it: the upper course, the middle course and the lower course. We found out that in the upper course, the river is much quicker but in the lower course it is deeper and wider.

W.C. 11.3.19

It's been a super busy week in Year Four! We have been busy doing some quite tricky tests for our Reading, Maths and SPaG! It was hard work but I have been really impressed with the determination of the children to give each question a good go.

In English, we have been writing our diary entries. We have been imagining that we are Mole and are recounting our first day out in the wild. We had to make sure to think about how Mole was feeling and to use chronological order to discuss what had happened. The children did some great work using different clauses, vocabulary and sentence types! We will be editing these and using our assessment skills to evaluate our work next week!

In Maths, we have been continuing to look at fractions. We have focused our attention on subtraction this week. We managed to do some really tough subtractions from whole numbers and mixed fractions. We used our skills of converting from mixed to improper to make this easier for us to do. We will be using our work on fractions to find different amounts of numbers next week!

In Science, we looked at a key part of our digestive system: the teeth! We looked at what the different types of teeth we have in our mouth are called and the function of each type. We found out that as an adult we have 32 teeth! Did you know the five different types are: incisors, canines, pre-molars, molars and wisdom teeth?

W.C. 4.3.19

This week in English, we have been trying to use our creative imaginations to do lots of describing. To begin, we checked our comprehension of chapter one by making a storyboard of what had happened. We made sure to use adverbs of time to sequence this! Next, we created a recount of Ratty's mysterious trip to the Wild Woods. We didn't know much about this place only that is was mysterious!  I was really impressed with what the children could picture might have happened. On Wednesday, we did a recap of how to use direct speech (as a lot of the children had been trying to use it!). From this, we started to create a plan for our diary entry!

In Maths, we have continued tackling fractions with full force. This week we have explored how to find the simplest form of a fraction by using division. We understood that once the numerator and denominator are not in the same times tables, they cannot be simplified any further.  We have also spent a lot of time converting between improper and mixed fractions using our multiplication and division skills! To end the week, we have been focusing hard on adding fractions together - even those that go beyond a whole!

In Science, we have started our next topic of the digestive system. We looked at all the different parts that are used in our bodies to digest food from the start (our mouths) until it leaves the body! Did you know that our small intestine isn't very small at all?! In an adult, it is about 6m long!

Our Topic this term is Mountains and Rivers. To start, we used atlases to locate the seas and rivers that are within the UK. We discussed that all rivers have a source and that they flow to the sea. We found that around the UK we have 4 different seas: The English Channel, the North Sea, the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean!

W.C. 25.2.19

Wow, we are already back! This has been a fab week for us in Year Four!

In English, we have started to explore our new novel, The Wind in the Willows. We made some predictions about the story and started to discover the characters. We also started to look at diary entries and what key features we may find in them! From this, we have been able to recount Mole's adventure. We had to think about how we could describe a river and a riverbank to him as he has never seen one!

In Maths, we have begun our new topic of Fractions. To begin the week, we did a pre-test to see what we knew and then started off by looking at exactly what a fraction is! From this, we did some work to discover different equivalent fractions to one another. We found that a fraction can have lots of equivalents but to find one we must multiply the numerator and denominator by the same!

This week, we celebrated World Book Day by taking part in an animal launch competition (it's not as cruel as it sounds!). Each class was given a cuddly toy to try to launch as far across the hall as possible. We did lots of brainstorming to think of ways we could get our pig from one end to the other. We created a zipline and looked at how forces such as gravity would impact it. We had to be very selective with the materials we used so we didn't get friction!

We also did some Topic and English work on the story of the Three Little Pigs. We watched a clip where the wolf was actually framed! From this, we had to decide our own version of the story including what happened at each of the three houses. Great work Year Four!

Reminder:

We have P.E. on a Monday and swimming on a Wednesday.

W.C. 4.2.19

Two more weeks to go and then we are half way through Year Four!

In English this week we have been busy planning, writing, editing and neatly presenting our new opening! Our new start to the story was all about the planted city. We had to think about how it was different from the mean, hard and ugly city that we first saw and used our weeks of work considering how it might be different for the people that lived there. We made sure to use a variety of sentence structures, different openings, conjunctions and language features to keep it interesting - just like Nicola Davies did!

In Maths, we have been looking at division. We started by thinking about how we can divide numbers equally to get a definite multiple e.g. 39 would be divided equally into 3 groups so it is divisible by 3! We began with 2 digit number with no exchanging, then moved onto looking at how we could exchange if we had some hundreds or tens left! After this, we explored remainders. Remainders are when we have a dividend that isn't exactly divisible by the divisor. Some of us found this a tricky concept to grasp but I was really impressed with how they showed resilience in trying to learn it. To end the week, we looked at 3 digit numbers divided by 1 digit. 

In Topic, we were given the task to create an interesting PowerPoint about one of Henry's children. We were given the choice of: Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. In pairs, we researched a numebr of things: 

1) When and how they came to the throne

2) What their childhood was like

3) What their reign was like

4) Who ruled after them.

The children were then given the chance to experiment with different fonts, colours, animations and transitions to relay this information to the rest of the class in an interesting way. All of the children presented these excellently on Friday with confidence. I am super proud!

In D&T, we have been continuing to design and construct a theatre that was inspired by 'The Globe'. We had to think about ways that we could make sure our structure was strong and how to join and cut the materials so that our design was precise. We have been working in groups which has meant that we have had to communicate with one another and agree on our designs. These are really starting to take shape - I can't wait to see the final results!

W.C. 28.1.19

Wow, I can't believe that we are already at the end of January, that has flown by! 

This week we have continued to read The Promise, we have actually finished the story and found out the changes that have happened as a result of the planting of the acorns. We used this to compare with how the city was at the start of the story and discussed which one we would rather live in. We also were able to sequence sentences from the story to show we understand it correctly! On Thursday, we used our knowledge of word types to find different types in the story including alliteration, similes, adjectives etc!

In Maths, we have started to look at formal written methods for multiplication. We have seen how we can partition the large number into hundreds, tens and ones and then multiply each. We have also used equipment to physically show the exchanges and regrouping which is involved each time we multiply a different digit. We have also explored how to use short and expanded multiplication for timesing 2 digits by 1 digit. We will continue this on Monday and then begin division!

In Topic, we used our research of Henry's six wives to imagine what Henry wanted in a wife. We were then given a 'Lonely Hearts' column from Henry which detailed the qualities he wanted including someone who loved to eat, joust and listen to him play music! In return, we each wrote a letter to Henry imagining that we would be his 7th wife! We use hyperbole to explain that we were the best candidates and that we hoped we wouldn't suffer the same fate as some of his wives!!!!

In Science, we have explored what happens to living things when their environment changes. We discovered that there are natural changes and man made changes that can affect living things including animals and other wildlife. These things include: floods, droughts and deforestation to name a few. Our task was to create a poster that would deter people from cutting down the forests to protect the living things in the environment. We had to make sure that they were extremely eye-catching and had good points to convince people.

W.C. 21.1.19

In English this week we have started to look more at what The Promise actually is. We found out that it is about a thief who steals a bag from an old lady only to find there are acorns in the bag - not money! The young girl then decides to plant them creating new life in city. Our work this week has seen us explore why we think the girl should or shouldn't plant the seeds and giving reasons for this. We have also been able to give a recount about the girl stealing the bag from the old lady - we made sure to use detailed language to help the police catch her! We also were able to think about the thoughts and feelings of the characters when the robbery happened. To end the week, we saw how the planting changed the city; instead of a drab place, it was now injected with colour and life!

In Maths, we have continued to learn our tables up to 12 x 12. We have been thinking of lots of ways to remember them including tricks. Keep on practicing these to make it easier for yourself! We have looked at two different mathematical laws too, distributive and associative. Distributive law helps us to split a tricky multiplication e.g. 12 X 7 into a smaller ones such as (10 X 7) + (2 X 7) which is much easier for us to do! Associative law did the opposite - so if we are multiplying 3 numbers together e.g. 3 X 2 X 4 we can group two together to make it so that we are only timesing two numbers! Next week, we will be beginning to look at formal written methods.

In Science, we have looked at classification keys. We understand that there are different ways to group living things and that it is important to ask questions so that we can work out what a living things is. We asked a series of questions to determine what the creature was that we were describing. We started with 'Does it have four legs?' and were then able to answer yes or no. We continued to do this until we were left with just one option!

In History, we have continued to look at the life of Henry VIII. We discovered the 6 different wives that Henry had and were able to find out how their marriages ended! We did our own research on each of the 6 wives to find out when they were married, whether they had children and if they survived being married to the cruel king! Next week, we will be writing a letter to Henry pretending to be a suitor for his next marriage!

W.C. 14.1.19

Some more great work from Year Four this week.

In English, we have continued to explore The Promise. From this, we looked at creating expanded noun phrases to describe how derelict the city was. After, we turned these descriptions into a list poem which also incorporated similes and prepositions too. We worked in paired to edit and peer assess these. After writing them neatly, we presented them to the class.

In Maths, we have been focusing on learning our 6 and 9 times tables. We are getting more confident in noticing relationships between times tables and thinking of how we can use easier methods to solve calculations e.g. instead of doing 6 X 12, we can do 6 X 6 and 6 X 6 and add them together! We also found that unlike multiplication, division must be done with the largest number first and isn't commutative (can't be done in any way).

In Topic, we have continued to look at the Tudors! This week we focused on Henry VIII and what he was like as a king. Instead of learning about him, we used evidence from his portraits to work out what we thought he was like first before we knew for sure. Lots of us had great ideas were shared about how we thought Henry changed from when he was younger to when he was an adult . In Art, we have continued to link to our Tudor topic and have started to focus on portraits. We were very lucky to have Fiona to come and help us - she reminded us how we can proportion the face correctly! We had to sit patiently for our artists - just like the Tudors did for Hans Holbein!

On Friday, we were transported back to 1918! We were visited by a soldier from the First World War who told us all about what life was like in the trenches! He told us that solders had to dig trenches to live in which meant sleeping, eating and even going to the toilet in (eww!). After our session, we were able to look through some of the equipment and uniform that soldiers would have worn in the war - lots of this was very heavy!

W.C. 7.1.19

Welcome back! I hope you've all had a great Christmas - the children have been telling me all about the fun they've had! This week we have been back at it, working hard from the get-go!

In English, we have been looking at our new novel 'The Promise'. We first looked at the front cover and made some prediction on what we thought the story was about. Lots of us had great ideas! We then looked in detail at our character (still without having read any of the text) - we decided that she looked lost in a very dull and dark city. After this, we finally got to read some of the text! We discovered that our character was unhappy in the city that she lived in. We also did some more discovering of the nouns, adjectives and prepositions that are used!

In Maths, we have started our new topic of Multiplication and Division. To start with we did our pre-test to see what we knew to begin with. This week, we have focused on looking at multiplying and dividing by 10 and 100. We have been able to explain that when we divide we DON'T lose the zeros but instead each of the digits move down columns to the right and the opposite happens when we multiply! Keep practicing this at home!

In Science, we have started to explore classification of animals. We have learnt that there are 5 main kingdoms: mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and birds. We looked carefully at what makes an animal a part of each of these groups and were then about to group animals into each of them. The toughest part was to find the difference between amphibians and reptiles! We discovered that reptiles have dry skin whereas amphibians have moist skin. 

In Topic, we are now learning about The Tudors. To start this, we looked at what point The Tudors began - the Battle of Bosworth. We learnt that England was in the middle of a civil war between the Yorkist and the Lancastrians. Each of the groups had a person who thought they should be king which led to a very bloody battle on 22nd August 1485. Henry VII became king after he killed Richard III on the battlefield! We have also started a new unit in R.E. this term where we will be looking at Hinduism. We recapped the different Hindu gods that we learnt about in Year 3 and looked at how they were similar and different. We then used this information to create our own Hindu inspired gods. We had to think carefully about what they looked after and whether they were good or evil!

A great first week back!

Reminder: 

P.E. is now on a Monday and Tuesday - don't forget your kit.

Homework is given out on a Monday and expected in by Friday

You must read at least 3 times to get Golden Time on Friday afternoon!