Ancient Civilisation

In our History lesson today,  children were exploring different parts of Ancient Egypt in groups. Each group focused on one of:

• Water

• Cities

• Art

• Architecture

• Writing

• Inventions

The children then presented their findings to the class as experts and taught the other children the key information needed.

PSHE - Changing Me

Today we explored how changes happen and how we need to consider the 'circle of change' for them to be successful. We discussed the stages being:

1. The changes we are going to make.

2. What will it look like when the change is happening? 

3. How will I feel when the change has happened?

We thought of a change we would like to make in school during the next academic year and thought this through using the Circle of Change model. 

Electrical Circuits

As part of our Science lessons, we have been working Scientifically and exploring how to make full circuits. We looked at making switches. The children followed the instructions to make their own switches, they then came together as a class to test each group’s switches and ensure that they worked. For the groups that did not work, the class were able to identify the issues such as the metal not meeting as the switch closed and there not being enough metal for the crocodile clips to hold allowing the current to pass through.

Statues, Figurines and Statuettes 

To show what we have learnt during our Art project this half term, we have used clay to create our own statuettes. We looked at range of examples and used these to create our own. We used clay techniques such as pulling, pinching, and rolling to add the key features needed. 

PSHE - Relationships

Within our Jigsaw 5 piece, Relationships, we have taken part in lots of sensible, respectful conversations around love and loss, memories and building strong relationships. We were respectful whilst others were sharing their thoughts and experiences of how to deal with losing a loved one and what we can do to keep their memories alive. The adults in Year 4 were so proud of the maturity shown during these sessiosns.

Electrical circuits and conductors 

Within our Science lessons this half term we have been creating simple circuits and exploring the components needed to make a circuit work. We looked at adding more cells, bulbs and different made predictions about what might happen when we changed elements. 

English - Pugs of the Frozen North

This term we have been exploring the text 'Pugs of the Frozen North.' This week we created postcards that one of the main characters 'Sika' could send home to her grandpa to inform him about the adventure so far. We loved creating our postcards and adding pictures that matched our information included. 

Music lessons

In Year 4 we love taking part in our music lessons. This half term we have been learning a range of new songs from the musical 'Hairspray.' We have also been exploring 'Gamelan.' Gamelan refers to the traditional Indonesian percussion orchestra and to the set of musical instruments used.

Design Technology: Functional and fancy fabrics 

As part of our DT project, Functional and fancy fabrics, we began by learning and range of different natural and man-made materials that we knew. We then looked at a range of clothes such as our coats, hats, uniform and sportswear and explored the fabrics they were made of and their properties such as stretchiness, feel, strength and whether it was water resistant. 

PE: Dance

In PE we have been focusing on the unit of Dance. Within this, we have been learning a dance to 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' as a link to our project Misty Mountains, Winding River. We had to use the beat of the music to keep in time and worked with partners to create our own sections within the song. We loved being creative and our dancing was fantastic! 

Science - States of Matter: Melting

Today we explored the different states of matter and looked at what happens to a chocolate button when we hold it in our hand. We discussed the change is temperature causes the chocolate to melt and looked at how it melted differently in different hands as some people were warmer than others. We then noticed that the solid was then changed into an liquid when the temperature heated. 

Art and Design - Warp and Weft 

As part of our 'Warp and Weft' project, we worked together to describe and explore different pieces of yarn. We discussed the colour, appearance, shape, texture, elasticity and shape. We then learnt how to weave on a mini loom using warp and weft and created our own pieces of material. 

PE - Gymnastics

In year 4, the children are learning different skills this half term such as shapes, rolls and combining movements and balances collaboratively. The explore ways to safely perform the movements required and work together to create routines using a range of shapes, rolls and balances. 

Science-  Investigation into the effectiveness of toothpaste in preventing tooth decay.

In year 4 the children are learning about food and the digestive system in Science which includes looking at teeth and how to keep teeth. This investigation used eggs to represent teeth as their shells are made from a similar material.  The vinegar we soaked them in model the effect of acid on tooth enamel.  We put toothpaste on one egg and nothing on the other and left them for 24 hours to see the results….

Art and Design - Warm and Cool Colours 

In art we have been continuing our exploration of colour theory by looking at warm and cool colours. We used the watercolours to mix and create our own warm and cool colours.  We then thought of some names for the different colours we created.  We came up with names such as 'Sailor blue', 'cherry red', 'sunlight orange' and 'bottle green'.  

Design Technology - Fresh Food, Good Food

As part of our project of “Fresh Food, Good Food,” we explored ways to keep food fresh and the different packaging that is used. We then planned, prepared and tasted a range of healthy snacks.  Within this session we had to consider the snack texture, taste, what makes it healthy and would we take this snack to school? We made our own hummus and tasted this using cucumber, celery and carrots. We then looked at a range of fruits including pineapple, kiwi, strawberries, grapes and blueberries. We used these fruits to design, make and evaluate our own fruit kebabs and then created packaging that would keep it fresh.

Invasion - What happened in the 600 years after the Roman withdrawal? 

Today we explored what happened in the 600 years after the Roman withdrawal. We used the timeline that shows the periods of invasion and settlement in England by different groups in the early Middle Ages to match the question to the relevant answer.  We then fed back as a whole class to see if our findings were correct.

Mathematics - Place Value 

Today the children worked together to explore how to to flexibly partition a 4-digit number using base 10 to see how many ways they could flexibly partition. We discussed how we can partition the same number in many different ways and proved this using a range of different resources such as base 10 and arrow cards.