Focus Week - Year 4
This half term, the children have really enjoyed reading the book, How to be a Viking, as part of our English topic. We started by predicting what would happen in the story based on a few words and pictures. After reading the first few pages, the children discussed what might happen next in the story, its main theme and moral of the story. The children learned that it’s ok to be fearful and that facing your fears can help you overcome them. We looked at key vocabulary in the story and reasons as to why the author may have used these words. After summarising the story, the children then planned and created their own wonderful stories based on How to be a Viking, using fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases.
In Maths we have been learning about Multiplication and Division. During this unit, we learnt and worked on the 3, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 times tables. Our learning included fact families and inverse operations, using key information from number sentences to create our fact families and understanding the links between multiplication and division. The children thoroughly enjoyed practising their times tables by playing Hit the Button and TTRockstars.
In Science, we have been learning about sound and exploring how sound is created by vibrations. We investigated how different instruments, used in different ways, create vibrations which produce sound. We also identified the parts of the instruments which vibrate. We then experimented with sound waves using telephones made out of paper cups and string. Children learnt that sound travels faster through mediums with more compact matter, such as solids. The children had great fun using the oscilloscope app and seeing that the louder we are, the higher the sound waves will be.
In Computing, we have been working on Scratch, creating our own games using variables. We have been applying our coding knowledge to allow our sprites to ask the player questions and give them the ability to respond to the questions in their game, making it more interactive. The children even challenged themselves by creating a maths quiz. Their finished games were very impressive!
In History, we have started our new and exciting topic, the Vikings. We began the unit by discussing whether the Vikings were raiders, traders or settlers and talked about any preconceived misconceptions of Vikings and who they may have been. The children all enjoyed learning about the features of a Viking boat as well as how Vikings trade. During our trading activity, we were very impressed with the children’s trading techniques.
In PSHE, the focus has been on Family and Relationships. We have discussed respect and manners and what it means to us, what a healthy relationship is and our own personal boundaries, and bullying.
We also went on a very exciting trip to the cinema, and the children all loved watching Despicable Me 4 with their friends while enjoying some delicious snacks and drinks.
We are so proud of how well the children have adapted to Year 4 this term. Participation during class discussions has been amazing and the children have been so excited to share their ideas and thoughts, as they know that everyone’s opinion and ideas matter.
