We have had a wonderful week talking to everyone during learning conversations, alongside exciting activities such as STEM day, speech writing and forest school.
This week in English, we have been continuing to write our speeches about the journey of refugees, the difficulties they face and why we should support and help them. We have been blown away by the quality of work that has been produced across Year 4 and cannot wait for the children to share these with you. It is clear that the children are really passionate about this topic and we are seeing great levels of empathy displayed by all children. We will continue to polish and practice these in the coming weeks, ready to perform in the Spring term.
The theme of refugees was continued in our Topic lesson this week, where the children considered the different ways they could help refugees and then designed a card that would show support and hope to a refugee child. As usual, the children then had huge fun on the learning street exploring a range of playful enquiry activities from map making to creating an animal that has adapted for a particular environment.
In Maths this week we have continued to look at decimals; focusing on how tenths and 0.1 are equal to each other and the different ways we can compose a decimal number. For example, 2.4 can be broken down into 2 wholes and 0.4 or 24 tenths. We finished off the week with a problem solving lesson where the children worked in pairs to solve a challenging maths question and reason their answers. The focus this week was considering how we can use the most efficient methods to solve a calculation. This is a great way for the children to develop their teamwork, oracy and maths reasoning skills and is a big hit across the year. The maths sheets for this week are linked here: Maths Worksheets W4
The highlight of this week was of course our STEM day. The children worked in teams to create, explore and improve string telephones. Children formed teams of three and were given points across the day for scientific skills, teamwork and demonstrating the school values. We also focused our learning on how sound travels through vibrations which are then detected inside our ears. To finish they created a page in their art books all about their day and what they have learnt, this ranged from journaling to creating an advert to persuade others to buy their ‘ultimate’ string phone. It was a wonderful way for children to investigate sound and build on the skills and knowledge that they have already gained this term and was clearly enjoyed by all.
Despite the cold, the children continue to enjoy forest school. This week was our second week of using saws and creating forest art. We are all looking forward to seeing what we get up to in the forest for the rest of the term.
Other messages:
Please make sure your child has their PE kit and forest school clothes in school.
This week in guided reading we will be reading Chapter 6 of ‘Race to the Frozen North’.
Next week in English we are starting some work based around the book Kensuke’s Kingdom. If you have chance over the weekend it would be great for children to listen or read the first four chapters. There is a link to a video for this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcEa-beSa0o&list=PLSSt7BGE5I0iB3YnKYZK4ibusnaeWsb4u