The Year 4 class value is Be Respectful

Friday 23rd May

This week we’ve been as busy as ever.

We’ve been writing if,if,if, then sentences this week in English linked to our letter writing unit on VE Day. We’ve worked really hard on our letters and we can’t wait to get them published soon!

In maths, we’ve begun our unit on money. We’ve found this weeks maths quite tricky. We’ve been recognising coins, comparing amounts of money, finding the cost of items etc. This is all alongside our constant work on timestales ensuring we are prepared for our upcoming times tables assessments.

In Guided reading, we’ve been reading a text all about mythical creatures. We’ve been reading about the Loch Ness Monster, pixies, The Welsh Dragon and Leprechauns. We’ve bee practising reading at pace as well as finding answers to our questions directly from the text.

In Geography, we’ve been learning about the different climate zones. WE’ve been looking at graphs measuring precipitation and temperature levels in the climate zones temperate, tropical, Mediterranean, arid and polar. We all decided we like the idea of living in a Mediterranean climate – very hot summers, mild winters but still rainfall so the land is still green and fresh.

In PE, we’ve been doing lots of running this week – sprinting specifically. We’ve got our starting positions correct and now know we need to drive into the ground to gain pace.

Dates for the diary –

Monday 14th July – We’ve got our final drumming assembly. It is approximately 10.45 for half an hour.

Sports Day is Tuesday the 24th June at approximately 1.15/1.30 start – Y4 won’t be going swimming that week.

Swimming to recommence straight after the half term, Tuesday 3rd June.

Homework

30 minutes of TT rockstars is being set due Friday of each week.

Please practise your childs spellings with them they have their test on Fridays

Please read with your child at home 3 x per week

Thank you

Mrs Fillingham and team

Friday 8th May

We’ve been so busy I am not sure where to begin!

In our maths, we’ve been working on our unit of decimals. We’ve been adding decimals, ordering decimals, partitioning decimals and multiplying them by 10 and 100. Needless to say that the children have been absolutely fantastic with this and have made lots of progress.

We’ve also been heavily focussing on timestables as I am sure you’ve seen on class dojo. TTrock stars homework will be set each week to support your child in preparation for their upcoming times tables assessment.

In English, we’ve been preparing for writing an informal letter around the theme VE Day. We’ve been using the British War Museum website to read actual letters written in that era and megpied some vocabulary that we will use in our own work.

In an afternoon, we’ve been really enjoying our Geography unit focusing on climate. We’ve been looking at atlas’ to locate countries in the different climate zones. We’ve also been learning why we have seasons and the difference between weather and climate.

In our computing, we’ve been creating animations thinking about onion skinning ( yes – that is a thing!) adding sound, action and backgrounds to our animations.

In science we’re starting our electrical topic. We’ve been learning about different appliances around the house and deciding if they’re battery or mains powered.

In our RE, we’re learning about the Islamic faith and we began this topic with the 5 pillars of Islam. We’ve also been very lucky to have Imran come to visit us to discuss his faith and the practises Muslim people follow.

We’ve also been really enjoying our swimming sessions on a Tuesday!

As you can see – It’s go go go ! !

Thank you all for your ongoing support.

Mrs Fillingham and team

Friday 20th September 2024

This week we have been extremely busy and I hope your child has had lots of fun learning lots of new things!

In maths, we have been representing numbers upto 10,000 using lots of various pieces of equipment such as denes, place value counters and blocks. We’ve also been using the part – whole model to show the value of our numbers and using number lines to solve problems. We are also still working very hard on our times tables as per usual!

In English, we have written a fact file on gorillas using modified nouns, presentational devices, fronted adverbials and we’ve really focused on ensuring our facts are presented formally. I cant wait to show you some of the work we’ve come up with once we finish this writing off Monday. The children are working really hard to try and earn their pen licences. Maybe one or two children will gain that certificate in assembly Monday …..

In history, we’ve been learning about why the Romans left Britain in 410AD in preparation for our work on the Anglo-Saxon invasion!

In Science, we are continuing to observe our science experiment on how various drinks can impact our oral health. Some of the children are getting very good now at predicting what the results of our experiment may be. Tom inparticular is very keen to ensure that our test is fair ! ! He is watching us like hawks!

In PSHE, we’ve been learning about healthy friendships and thinking about how we can solve an issue with care rather than upsetting our friends.

In art, we’ve been using charcoal to create mood and atmosphere. We are getting very good at thinking about shape and lines to create notes which will definitely help us when it comes to creating much more detailed pieces later on in the year.

Remember – next week we will be voting for who we want to be:

• Sports council representatives
• Eco council representatives
• School council representatives

Thank you for all your support with reading and spelling practise at home.

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Fillingham and team

Friday 6th September 2024

Happy Friday everyone!

Welcome back everybody and welcome to Year 4. I hope all the children have enjoyed their first week back after a lovely summer break. I know some of the children were a tad nervous about moving up into a new year group but everyone has been incredibly resilient and taken to their new class and new expectations like a duck to water!

This week in our English we have been reading the novel Gorilla written by Anthony Browne.

So far, we have met Hannah who is a lonely character. We have been looking for clues using images and vocabulary to try and decipher why she is lonely. The children were all great detectives spotting the clues Browne gave us to learn more about her as a character.

Next week, we will be using this vocabulary to create a setting scene. I will post on dojo some of our fabulous writing!

In Maths, we have been using equipment to represent numbers. We’ve been using counters, denes and other such equipment to solve problems and represent numbers all the way to 1,000. In addition, we’ve already been doing lots of timestables practise in preparation for the timestables test at the end of Y4. Any support at home preparing the children for this test will be greatly appreciated. Timestables are vital in ensuring the children are competent mathematicians so we will be putting a big emphasis on this area this academic year.

In Science, we are learning about the human body and particularly digestion this half term. On Thursday, we have begun learning about the first stage of digestion, which is our teeth, and how they chew the food we need to gain the nutrients from it. We have been leanring about the fuel we put inside our bodies and how the foods/drinks we chose to consume may have a negative impact upon our oral health. Therefore, to investigate what we should be eating our drinking, we created an investigation testing various beverages and the affect these drinks have upon an egg we’ve submerged in that drink. We’ve learned that we are going to liken the shell of the egg to the enamel of our teeth to see if some of these so called healthy drinks really do keep our teeth safe.

Here are a few things you may need to know about life in Y4…

• PE – double slot Fridays. Please can all children come into school in full PE kit on Friday.
• Spelling test also on Fridays. Children will get new spellings each week to be tested. Please can you practise these with the children.
• Timestables awards will be given out weekly so please practise these with your child at home.
• Dojos are awarded to children for reading at home. Please can you read with your child at least 3 times per week and record so in their diaries in order to gain dojos. Once a child has read 100 times at home, they are allowed to chose a book from the online book store to purchase and keep at home as a reward for being such book worms !! I wonder who will be the first member of our class to achieve this?!
• It has been lovely meeting some of you in the yard at hometime. If you ever have any questions, please do grab me at the end of the day or message me via dojo. Have a lovely weekend everybody!

Mrs Fillingham x