Year 4 Blog 2023-24

Monday 11th March 2024

Year 4 had a fabulous trip to the Look Out Discovery Centre in Bracknell today. They enjoyed exploring all the hands on science exhibits and climbing the lookout tower for views over the forest. We enjoyed a space exploration session inside the inflatable dome, learning about different constellations, nebulas and planets!

To add to the fun-packed week, we had the most amazing World Book Day. The children dressed up in the most impressive outfits and participated in a range of activities in the hall. They particularly loved reading in pairs to the Reception children.

8th March 2024

In English this half term, we have been exploring an action text. The children have analysed the vocabulary and composition of the short story and formulated a bank of ideas that they would like to use in their own writing. To plan their story, they collaboratively brain stormed the different elements and as a class we decided what we most liked to include in our inspiring piece of writing. They generated some extremely effective ideas and even managed to put a twist on the events which showed that they were able to be really creative.

Our Geography topic this term is to explore where our food comes from. Therefore, we kicked off our topic with thinking about what food we enjoy eating and how it gets to our plates. The children listed the typical ingredients and what countries they could come from. They then researched the miles their food had travelled to be imported to this country. They were surprised to see the journey and also made connections with the impact that has on the environment, which is what they will be learning in future lessons.

As part of our wow day, we had a look at our favourite food and what the ingredients are. Then we researched where in the world those ingredients came from and how many air miles they may have travelled. After which, we placed those ingredients on a map and the children were surprised to see the distance the food had to travel to get to us.

Friday 26th January 2024

This half term has got off to a flying start in year 4, with lots of creative learning. In Science lessons, the children have thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with different objects, as mediums, for transmitting sound. They were able to compare the different quality of sounds and how it travels through gas, solids and liquids. They seemed quite surprised by some of their results and took part in some interesting discussions which enhanced their understanding of new vocabulary. 

During Art lessons, year 4 have used primary colours of paint, mixing white to create gradually lighter tints and black to further shade the colour. They will be eventually demonstrating this skill, expressing their artistic flairs, creating a painting which showcases a range of tints and shades, giving it a realistic appearance. 

24th November 2023

During the last two weeks, year 4 have been multiplying and dividing by various numbers and finding their fact families. They have used a range of resources and techniques to aide them in their understanding. We have been learning how to find short cuts to recalling multiples and practiced multiplying by 2-digit numbers. Mrs Sealy has been so impressed with their attitude to learning and trying out challenges to show depth of understanding, in each lesson. 

In English, we have explored the toolkit required for effectively writing about a character's description and applied it in our writing so that it is coherent and implies how a character is feeling rather than stating it. The ideas that they shared were very creative and they understood how the choice of vocabulary can be effective in creating an atmosphere for the reader. 

As a cross curricular link, in Guided Reading, the children wrote a letter in response to a character, using a range of evidence from the text. We hope you enjoy reading what they wrote!

9th November 2023

These last two weeks, year 4 have experienced some amazing exploratory learning and truly enjoyed it. 

To begin our Geography unit about rainforests, we watched some videos about rainforests around the world. Further asking questions to revisit by then end of the topic to analyse how much we have learned. Children then designed and made their own versions of what they thought a rainforest was like. 

Linking both Science and Geography, we contextualised our learning of adaptations of animals and plants inside a rainforest by visiting 'The Living Rainforest.' Year 4 really made the most of the visit, asking questions and sharing their previous knowledge with each other. It was an extremely enriching experience. 

29th September 2023

This week, year 4 have been exploring a scene in our text 'The Firework Makers Daughter.' We discussed our understanding of vocabulary and the actions of the characters in the book. The children thoroughly enjoyed taking on the role of each character and how the choice of  language in the book impacts the reader. 

During Art this term, we have been looking at creating effect through use of different mediums and shading. The children then had the opportunity to express their artistic flares further through creating pictures, by adapting their form, using scissors. This is to be followed with replicating that image in wax crayon images. They have done an incredible job with their work.