In Year 4 this week, we have been busy planning portal stories, getting to grips with hockey and learning notation to help us create rhythm patterns we can use in drumming.
In Topic, we have been learning about musical notation and how to create a bar of four beats with a particular rhythm. In playful enquiry, we used the djembe drums to practise our beats and rhythms. We are enjoying our playful enquiry where we are practising our Spanish in the café, learning about the geography of South America, creating boats based on research about Polynesian explorers and solving problems using the base ten systems from different Asian countries.
In English, we have been planning portal stories. We started by using pictures to generate ideas and told stories to each other. Inspired by this, we then planned a portal story that we are going to write over the next few weeks. In Year 4, we have delved into character development and thought about who our main character is in our story and what challenges they will face. We wrote character descriptions that we are going to include in our writing. In our writing journal this week, we have been focusing on writing in the third person.
Here are some pictures of the children sharing portal stories with each other:
In Maths, we spent the first two sessions of the week practising and applying the division strategies we have been learning. The children had to crack a division code and played a game where they had to choose the most appropriate strategy to solve different problems. In the last two sessions of the week, the children learnt about perimeter and practised finding the perimeter of 2D shapes. This term we will be focussing on learning the 7 times tables. Please encourage and support your child to practise these and the other times tables at home. We are continuing to encourage the children to use Times Tables Rockstars.
We have been learning about magnetic and non-magnetic materials in Science this week. We started by collecting different types of objects from around the class and guessing whether they were magnetic or not. We then used the magnets to test this. From our discoveries and the discussions we had about magnetic and non-magnetic materials, the children came up with questions that they could test to find out more. The children planned and carried out their tests and some groups swapped their methods over to see if they could follow a different procedure.
In PE, we have been practising hockey skills and using these in games. We have been focusing on open and closed dribbling and have been practising the tricky challenge of both dribbling and looking up so we know where we’re going! In our second PE session, we have been creating parts of a dance connected to our topic of Around the World in Eighty Days.
In PSHE this week, the children discussed and learnt about situations where they should ask permission in friendships and talked about how people can feel if they are not asked for permission.
In Art this week, the children learnt about the Ukrainian folk artist, Maria Prymachenko. Inspired by her paintings of flowers, the children painted poppies. These will be added to a whole school piece of art.
Our week ended with our charity day where the school came together to raise money and think about those suffering due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the related events that have unfolded in the last few weeks. As part of this, we discussed democracy and focused on the importance of our values as a way to make the world a better place. To finish, we looked at ways we can all make ourselves feel better if we are feeling anxious about events in the world.
Other news:
Please return the slips about infant paracetamol and contact details that were sent home in preparation for our residential if you have not already done so.
Next week:
In Guided Reading, we will be reading chapter 11 of A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket.
We will be thinking about and discussing the following questions:
- How do we know that the hook-handed man cares about what Count Olaf thinks?
- Why do you think Violet has remained hopeful?
- How does the author show that Klaus is losing hope throughout this chapter?
PE Timetable:
Monday – Thames
Tuesday – Nile, Amazon
Thursday – Nile, Amazon
Friday – Thames
Please make sure your children have their PE kit in school. If your child has long hair, please ensure they have a hairband to tie it up.