Year 4 - Miss Humble
Welcome to Year 4!
Some important reminders:
PE is on a Tuesday and the children can wear their PE kit all day.
Water bottles should be brought into school every day.
Reading books and diaries should be brought into school every day. Please encourage your children to read at least three times a week! Please sign your child’s diary when you have listened to them read.
Spellings will be tested on a Friday and new spellings given out weekly.
Dates:
Spring 1
This half term we will be having fun learning all about life in Ancient Greece. The children will engage in interesting and exciting activities and reading our class book Leo and the Gorgon's curse. We will be studying Greek life, their achievements and their influence on the Western world. The children will even have the opportunity to take part in 'Groovy Greek Day' where we will have a taste of what life would be like living in Ancient Greece.
Computing
In Computing this half term we are creating E books. We will be designing our very own E book all about Ancient Greece! We will be designing a eye catching front cover as well as pages on Greek Gods, food, clothing, number system and famous monuments. This will link in with our English and History lessons this half term.
Science
In Science this term, Year 4 are learning about the different types of human teeth and the special functions they each have. We will also be looking at how to look after our teeth and what happens when we drink fizzy pop! As well as this, we will also be looking at different parts of our digestive system and the process of swallowing food.
Guided Reading
In Guided Reading this term, the children have been exploring dilemmas faced by Leo in our class text Leo and the Gorgons curse. The children took part in a Conscience Alley activity where we considered right vs wrong, courage and responsibility as well as consequences of actions.
PE
This half term the children will be working on their tennis skills. They will be improving their hand-eye coordination and confidence in tennis.
Autumn 2
Design and technology
In Design and Technology this term, the children have been researching the types of food Arctic explorers eat. We have discussed the nutritional value and how their diets may be different to ours. We have designed posters on some popular Arctic foods including Pemmican and Expedition cake, thinking about how and where the ingredients are grown as well as researching the food and nutritional elements. As well as this, we had a go at making our very own Sledging Biscuits which Arctic explorers still eat today, eaten by people who are working away from bases in the Arctic.
Dodgeball 🏐
The children had a brilliant time at Sunderland Tennis Centre competing in a Year 4 dodgeball festival. The children worked really hard as four seperate teams to score points against other schools.
Science - 🧊 Ice cup experiment 🧊
The children have thoroughly enjoyed our science lessons this term! This week we carried out the 'Ice cup experiment'. The experiment taught the children about the process of evaporation and condensation using just a glass, some hot water and a couple of ice cubes. The children saw the warm water evaporate slowly and the water vapour rising to the top of the glass. The ice then cooled the water vapour and it condensed, turning back into a liquid and dripping down into the glass again. This experiment will contribute to our future lessons this term which will be focused on 'The Water Cycle'.
Arctic Day ❄️
This half term the children have taken part in Arctic Day! The children had a brilliant time learning about what life would be like in the Arctic. The children had the chance to try on clothing which would protect them in the cold conditions as well as cooking and tasting some rationed food! The workshop provided the children with a strong understanding of life in the Arctic which will support them in Science, DT, English and Geography this half term!
Autumn 1
In Year 4 this term, the children will be learning all about the Mayan civilization. We will cover this topic in both English and History. The children will be reading the Rain Player book which will provide inspiration and ideas for their writing.
In Science, we will be learning about the different states of matter and the children will learn to group materials into solids, liquids and gases. In RE, we will learn all about baptism and the Holy Trinity and in Art, we will be introduced to the artists Quentin Blake and Petra Palmeri.
Quentin Blake Petra Palmeri
This half term the children will be focusing on Dance during P.E. They will work with partners, in groups and as a class to create dances using movement patterns to structure the dance phrases. They will refine, repeat and remember dance phrases and dances.
Science 🧪
Year 4 have thoroughly enjoyed our Science topic on States of Matter. This half term we are continuing to experiment with solids, liquids and gases and began by experimenting with making our own butter! We experimented with cream in a bottle and made observations based on what happened when we shook it. The children loved watching the cream gradually turn form.
Backhouse Park
A beautiful morning for Y4EH at Backhouse Park! The children enjoyed taking in the outdoors and seasonal scenery as well as collecting leaves for our change in seasons artwork 
Ushaw college
A fantastic day for Y4EH at Ushaw College! The children enjoyed taking in the beautiful architecture of Ushaw's chapels and stained glass windows, before having a go at creating some windows of their own!
RE
St Aidan's Church
Year 4 had a lovely visit to St Aidan's Church where Father David taught us all about Baptism in the Christian Church, this linked in with our recent RE lessons on the topic of Baptism. The children learnt about the importance of the Holy Water and its purpose in the ceremony. The children also had the opportunity to hold the christening shell and candle, as well as witnessing a christening take place... of a minion that is. After watching the ceremony the children were able to take a look around the church and have the opportunity to speak to Father David about any questions they had.
Maths
In Maths, the children will be recognising the place value of each digit in four-digit numbers as well as composing and decomposing four-digit numbers using standard partitioning.
Science
We had a fabulous time experimenting with slime in science! We discussed that slime is neither a solid or a liquid and is in fact a non-Newtonian fluid! ⭐️
During our science lessons, we have discussed the three states of matter and asked 'is it a solid, liquid or gas?'. We have completed research and carried out experiments in order to know which materials are solids, liquids or gases. We have been able to describe the properties of each state and can show the difference between the particles. We recently completed an experiment to see whether or not the size of an ice cube impacts how fast it melts and recorded our findings in our workbooks.
Ice experiment Butter experiment
Art
The children had a lovely craft afternoon creating some Maya masks linked to our topic on the Maya civilisation this term! 🎭🎨 During the lesson, we discussed that Maya Masks played a central role in Maya culture. They were made for a variety of occasions and purposes and were even used to decorate temples. Masks were often inspired by animals and they were vibrant and colourful. The animal masks represented the spirits e.g. they often associated strong kings with jaguars.
