| Year 4 |
Welcome to Elm and Oak Class
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PE Days Our PE days are Tuesday and Thursday Please ensure your child comes to school in their PE kit on these days |
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Homework Homework is set on a Friday and due back in on a Wednesday Elm Library books changed on a Thursday |
Maths
We will begin the year by consolidating and furthering our understanding of place value. We will build our competency by exploring number through concrete, pictorial and abstract resources, activities and methods.
We will then move on to addition and subtraction (with and without exchange!) before moving on to learning about area by counting squares.
We will finish the autumn term focusing on multiplication and division.
It is really important that Year 4 are supported and encouraged to practice their multiplication tables both at home as well as at school. Using TT Rockstars is a fun and interactive way to do this! (Check the front your homework book for your log in details!)
Times Table learning
Week commencing:
9th September: 2 times table recap
| times_table_yearly_plan.docx |
English
Science
We will start the term by learning about electricity. The children will identify appliances that run using electricity and recognise common conductors and insulators. They will construct simple electrical circuits to light a lamp and create a switch to open and close a circuit. In the second half of the term, the children will find out how sound is made. Through a number of investigations the children will discover how sounds can be changed and how sounds travel.
Guided Reading
We will explore fiction and non-fiction texts. Our main story this half term will be ' The world according to Humphrey' by Betty Birney. All about a school pet hamster who helps out all the children in the class with their dilemmas. We will then move onto 'Krindlkrax' by Philip Ridley. Ruskin Splinter wants to be the hero in a school play but Elvis the school bully and a strange creature in the sewers gets in his way!
We will endeavour to listen to ALL children read aloud during our weekly guided reading sessions. Please ensure that your child brings their reading book to school with them everyday!
Please continue to read at home and record your reading in your reading diary.
We will visit the library once per week as a class where your child will be able to select a book to share with you at home. Please ensure these are returned for changing the next week.
Geography/History
In Autumn 1, we will focus on Geography and the discover the nature of 'Biomes'. We will explore forests, deserts, rainforests and tundras. We will discover the difference between the weather and climate of a country. In Autumn 2 we will cover History and we will explore 'What happened when the Romans left Britain?' We will learn about the Anglo-Saxons, their kingdoms, way of life and understand how Britain was converted to Christianity. We will develop our skills as historians by looking at and evaluating different sources. We will ask and answer questions, improving our enquiry skills.
Art and Design/DT
In Art, the children will learn about tone using charcoal. They will create a piece using their cutting skills to develop ideas on composition. They will use wire and soap to create 3D models. It will get messy! The children will use their scientific knowledge to create a light box on the theme of winter. They will create an electrical circuit and design and decorate the box to house the circuit.
PSHE
We will begin our class discussions on recognising emotions and the nature of a positive and healthy friendship. The children will look at their rights and responsibilities in the class, the school and the community. They will ensure they know how to identify bullying correctly and how to help themselves and their friends if this situation arises.
Computing
We will begin the term reminding ourselves about e-safety and the importance of being safe online. We will then move on to exploring Networks and the Internet. We will learn what a network is and develop a basic understanding of how they work. We will understand why we need to keep networks safe and move on to consider internet content, its ownership and its validity.
Following our work on Networks and the Internet we will explore Email using PurpleMash. We will learn how to use email independently and safely. We will be able to send and receive emails, add attachments, use an address book and report anything that makes us feel worried or upset.
French
The children will continue to develop confidence with key phrases in French such as their name and age. They will learn numbers 1-20 in French. In the second part of the term, the children will learn objects in the classroom and be able to say and write what they have and do not have in their pencil case.
RE
This half term we will focus on ‘The journey of life’, considering key questions such as;
- Why do some people think of life as a journey?
- Which times are special and why?
- How and why do we celebrate special and sacred times?
Understand the meaning of sacred as well as secular and culminating in creating our own journey of life.
PE
We will be refining and developing our fundamental movement skills in our first unit such as balancing, running, jumping and skipping. We will also be learning essential ball skills making sure the children can accurately track a ball and improve their throwing and catching techniques. After half term, the children will work on their fitness to develop strength, co-ordination and stamina. Alongside this unit, the children will learn new skills in gymnastics. They will develop individual and partner balances as well as practising a range of rolls and jumps in sequences.
Music
All around us there is rhythm, so we begin this term focusing on ‘The rhythm of life’.
Skills will include:
Reading rhythms, writing rhythms, creating own rhythms and performing them on non-pitched percussion instruments including our wonderful djembe drums. We will also perform as an ensemble using body percussion.
Reading in KS2
In KS2, children are encouraged to become confident, expressive and passionate readers. Most children will move fairly quickly onto the broader range of books available in the Brown, Grey and Blue book bands. Your child may spend quite a while on each book band. This isn't because they are not progressing, it is rather an opportunity for your child to be exposed to a wide range of authors, genres and styles of writing at a level in which they can comprehend what they are reading. They will be asked to answer comprehension questions to show their understanding of what they have read and encouraged to discuss the books they have enjoyed from the book band and the ones they have disliked.
We aspire to make every child a passionate reader and need your help to do this!
We will try to read with your child as often as we can in school. This will be either 1:1 with an adult, or in a guided reading activity where the children will read in a group and discuss the text together. We will read with your child a minimum of once a week but encourage you to supplement this by reading with your child as often as possible at home.
If your child would like access to more books at home, perhaps you could use Oxford Reading Owl to read different books. Oxford Owl has many different books and you can download and read them all online for free.
Oxford Owl
For a recommended reading list, please visit:
Recommended reading list for KS2 children
Ways you can help at home
- Read with your child for 10 minutes every day.
- Ask the children questions about what they are learning about in school.
- Complete your child's homework alongside them.
- Encourage practice of times tables using TT Rockstars or other methods. (TT Rockstars log in details can be found in the front cover of your homework book)
- Practise your child's spellings at home.
- Please see useful documents and links below:
| ks2_common_exception_words.pdf |
If you have any questions please talk to any of the team in Year 4 and we will be happy to help you. You can also make an appointment at the school office. Look out for further messages about events in school through parent mail.
We thank you for your support this year.