Year 4 Blog Friday 28th April 2023

Date: 28th Apr 2023 @ 4:00pm

Year 4 Blog

Friday 28^th April 2023

Welcome to the first blog of the Summer Term. It has been lovely to see everyone again this week and although it’s been a little bit chilly the sun has been shining a little bit! Here’s what we have been learning this week:

In English, we learnt how to identify, select and effectively use pronouns.  We also wrote a description of the water goddess and the ‘Ceremony of the Full Moon’ using our senses and vocabulary from the novel.    

In Maths, we learnt how to find fractions of numbers using a bar model split into equal parts.  We used counters to share an amount equally and then found unit (eg 1/3   1/4   1/5) and non-unit (eg 2/3   ¾    2/5) amounts. Following this, we used bar modelling to help add and subtract fractions with the same denominator.    

In RE, we started our new topic – New Life. We listened to a story and then talked about our own experiences of feeling a bit miserable or something upsetting us, and then something happened which brightened our day and made us feel alive.  We also considered what we learnt from the experience and how good news changed the way we felt. 

In French, we learnt lots of different ways of spelling the 'ay' sound which I thought was difficult, but the children proved me wrong! Then we looked again some artwork by Matisse and described them.  Some children excelled themselves - super French writing Y4! Next week, we'll make our own picture in the style of Matisse.

In PE, we started our striking and fielding topic.  We started by practising throwing and catching both underarm and overarm and the played a mini game similar to cricket.  We will be developing our fielding and batting skills over the coming weeks!

In Science, we carried out a practical experiment around the school to help us recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear.  We were surprised to find out that sound travels best through a solid, then a liquid and then a gas! Look at some of our experiments here.

In Geography, we recapped some of our findings from the Formby trip. We will be creating a PowerPoint to highlight the impact of climate change on our local coastline.  This is a work in progress and will take a few weeks to complete.

In PSHE, we described how someone could respond to, and manage feelings in different circumstances.  We read different scenarios and discussed how the main character might be feeling and what they might do and say at the time. Finally, we thought about who the character could talk to after the situation. This was an interesting and thought-provoking discussion – well done Year 4.

In Art, we painted some pictures for our parent assembly.

Have a look at our Summer Term Class Overview to see what else we will be learning this term.

Home Practice

Reading

Please read out loud to somebody for 20 minutes each evening.  Look out for speech marks and pronouns when you are reading.  Look carefully at the punctuation used with inverted commas and think carefully about what noun the pronoun has replaced.

Spellings

Here are this week’s spellings. You will be tested on these words next Friday (5^th May 2023).

corrode        corrosion     intrude        intrusion

conclude       conclusion     comprehend comprehension

suspend       suspension   decide         decision

erode           erosion        expand         expansion

Counting

This week, please practise counting in fractions  

Start at ½ and count up to 10 and back again

½   1   1 ½    etc                       10   9 ½   9  etc

Start at 1/3 and count up to 4 and back again

1/3   2/3   1   1 1/3                              4   3 2/3   3 1/3   3   etc

Times tables

You will be tested on your tables target next Wednesday (3^rd May 2023). Please practise every day. Remember you can practise your tables playing Hit the Button and timestables.co.uk

Please also practise the ‘Multiplication Tables Check’ on timestables.co.uk

Sumdog challenges

You have been set 2 challenges on Sumdog:

• A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
• A times tables challenge based on all the tables

AND a class competition based on adding and subtracting fractions – have fun!

Please make sure you log on and have a go!  Little and often is the key to success!

Another app for practising tables and number facts is One Minute Maths from White Rose.  It is free to download from the AppStore and PlayStore. There are lots of excellent games you can play which will help you brush up your mental maths skills.  Please do your best to access this fabulous free resource!  Knowing your tables and number facts off by heart is crucial and will help you in many different areas of maths.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend

The Year 4 Team