Year 4

WB 19.6.23

Over the past two weeks, Year 4 have enjoyed starting their “The Great Outdoors” topic in Art. We spent a wonderful afternoon outside in the shade drawing real life flowers and paying attention to the details of their shapes and sizes. In order to make our drawings as realistic as possible, we discussed how useful shading can be to add detail to their artwork and put this to practice. As well as this, we have been focusing on the fabulous works of Ford Smith and commenting on his excellent use of contrasting colours and vibrancy to inspire our future pieces of work.  

WB 9.5.23

Our topic in History is currently the Anglo-saxons and this week, we were focussing on their settlements and how they lived. In order to understand their ways of life and compare them to our own, we used junk modelling to create our own small examples of Anglo-saxon houses and surrounding areas making sure to include fertile fields and soil for our crops and farm animals, as well as a river close by for water.  

We used many different materials such as cardboard, clay, paper straws, spaghetti, paper and card.  

WB 24.4.23

During our first week back, Year 4 looked in detail at the parts and functions of the digestive system which helped us to understand what happens to our food once we have eaten it and what process it goes through in order to feed our bodies with the nutrients that we need. We had lots of fun carrying out an experiment using various household items to replicate this process and got very messy!

6.3.23

This week in Year 4, we have had great fun in Art creating masks for a Totem pole. After designing their totem pole mask in previous weeks – focusing on an animal, they were able to get their hands dirty and use Modroc! For this, the pupils each had a balloon and used Modroc to dip into water and layer on top of the balloon. The Modroc hardens once dry! They will be ready to paint their masks next week into their chosen animals! Very exciting! 

30.1.23

This week in science, the children have been learning about the water cycle and how the water is being recycled again and again! The pupils really enjoyed becoming the water cycle and acting out the different parts, this really helped them understand the different stages, from collection to evaporation to condensation to precipitation. During the lesson, the pupils were also involved in an experiment using hot water, ice and clingfilm. This showed the pupils the water evaporating and touching the ice on the top, causing water droplets to fall! Very exciting! Well done Year 4!  

WB 23.1.23

Our English topic in Year 4 these past two weeks has been focusing on the story of Narnia. The first week, the children created their own version of what may have happened to Lucy and Mr Tumnus, after they first met. They invented their own story lines and turned this into a playscript. The children really enjoyed creating their own play and acting out their scenes – they did such a fantastic job! This week in English, the pupils transformed into Lucy and Mr Tumnus and created diary entries, taking in their thoughts and feelings.  The children enjoyed showing the different emotions Mr Tumnus had been feeling and the guilt he had. They did an amazing job – well done Year 4!  

WB 16.1.23

This week, Year 4 created a prototype for their fabric book covers. Previously, the pupils designed their book covers and this week they were able to make a prototype. This meant that they could practice their sewing skills and see what their design would look like and if it would be strong enough to hold a book. The pupils finished it off with Velcro or a button to keep the book in. The children had lots of fun doing this and created some amazing book covers! Well done year 4!

WB 9.1.23

This week in Humanities we have been learning about the Ancient Greeks! The children had to research and write up a double page spread on their findings! The pupils discovered loads of interesting facts about Ancient Greece, including Alexander the Great, the founder of the Olympics, Sparta and the battle of Marathon. The children were very surprised at the fact that children didn’t start school until they were 7 years old! Next week we will be diving deeper into the way of life in Ancient Greece and why it is such an important period in history.

WB 3.1.23

In science this week, Year 4 conducted an experiment to determine what happens to different materials/ingredients, in different temperatures.  Excitedly, the pupils worked together on their tables, experimenting on different materials. They looked at chocolate, margarine, candle wax, coins and peas. The pupils placed metal trays in the different temperature water, with the ingredient on top. Using 3 different bowls per table, the children were able to observe what happens to it in different temperatures. From this the pupils discovered that the margarine melted at the lowest temperature and the coin and pea didn’t melt at all, even at 60 degrees! The children thoroughly enjoyed this experiment and were pleased with their findings. 

WB 12.12.22

In science this week, we focused on solids(ice) turning into a liquid (water). The children worked together in groups and were given the task to build an ice tower! The pupils found it more challenging than they thought, but with team work and dedication, they were able to complete it.

Once their ice towers were complete, the children started to notice their towers were melting! This was a great way to show the change from a solid to a liquid – while having fun at the same time!

The children then worked in groups to plan an investigation on what affects the rate of melting!

WB 28.11.22

This week in Art, we have finished our Joan Miro inspired paintings. The pupils had to create animals and shapes out of lines and paint them, using the 4 prime colours. The tricky part was not letting two of the colours touch each other. The pupils also added texture to their drawing, by mixing sand, paint and glue – this was the fun part and the children have created an interesting and rough texture to their work. They all look fantastic and we had a lot of fun designing them!

WB 21.11.22

In English, we have continued with our role as crime reporters for the crimes that Goldilocks committed. This week, the children took on the role as news journalists and wrote a news article all about what happened, the terrible crimes that were committed and also the court case in which Goldilocks was found guilty!

WB 14.11.22

This week in English, year 4 have been tasked with investigating a crime at The Three Bears cottage! They have examined evidence and explored the true character of Goldilocks! They have enjoyed exploring the topic through drama activities. They were charged with writing a crime report and also a character profile of Goldilocks.

WB 17.10.22

This week is science, Year 4 have been completing a science investigation. We explored which material, when tested, would light a bulb the brightest. We were looking for the best conductors of electricity. We also learnt that not all metals can be conductors. This was interesting since most of us thought all objects made of metal would allow electricity to pass through.

We concluded that copper was a great conductor of electricity. However, wooden and plastic object were insulators.

WB 10.10.22

In year 4 this week we have been finalising our packaging for our biscuits in DT. We explored existing packaging and pulled out features to use as our success criteria. Based on this success criteria we learnt that to make good packaging which will sell in supermarkets we would need to include the following features:

Barcodes, weight, allergy information, nutritional information, use good colours which compliments the biscuit picture, ensure recycling information is visible to name a few.

Here is an example of one of our designs which we have now improved based on what we learnt this week:

WB 19.9.22

This week in year 4 week designed their own cookies and came up with packaging ideas for sale in a supermarket. We mind mapped ideas and discussed ingredients we could use to make unique prototypes for cookies that may not exist yet.  

We thought of seasonal cookies and packaging since Christmas is just around the corner. Next week we will be baking our prototype cookies, taste testing them and deciding which cookies are best for sale to the public. We’ll post lots of photos then 😊  

WB 12.9.22

This week in D&T we have been baking! We had a great time tasting existing biscuits and evaluating what features we liked best. We then made a batch of standard cookies which we tasted and tested against the supermarket brands. The lesson involved a lot of measuring and weighing of ingredients. We had to be very accurate or else our cookies would not have turned out as yummy as they did! 

WB 5.9.22

In year 4 we looked at British landmarks across the country and when they were founded. We created a timeline based on this knowledge and chronologically ordered the landmarks from oldest to most recent.

The children really enjoyed this activity and were able to discuss the differences in materials used and the locations the landmarks were built upon. They developed an understanding of why landmarks are historically and geographically important across the world and how landmarks become benchmarks of time.