Year 6 have been hard at work completing their SATs this week but that hasn’t stopped year 4 from getting their teeth stuck into their learning. Let’s have a look at what we’ve learnt this week.

English

In English this week we have been revisiting setting and character descriptions. We have practiced using verbs and adverbs, expanded nouns phrases, fronted adverbials and prepositions. Year 4 have blown us away with the quality of their writing this week as they have shown off fantastic vocabulary and an eagerness to expand their already fantastic vocab. We spent some time collecting ideas of what we would see, hear, smell and feel if we walked through a west African village which was very inspirational and reminded us that, when describing a setting, it’s not just about what we see but about all the senses that are triggered.

Next week we will continue to challenge and push these skills.

Maths

In maths this week we have moved onto working with decimals in our calculations. Whilst the thought of adding and subtracting decimals was initially intimidating, year 4 quickly realised that we follow the same rules when adding decimals as we do when we add whole numbers. The only difference is we now need to account for the decimal point and make sure all the decimal points are lined up before we complete the column method.

Next week we will be working on multiplying decimal numbers.

 

Thematic

This week saw the end of our thematic topic ‘Water World’. We learnt all about the water cycle this week. We had already learned about evaporation and condensation last week and so we know that evaporation is when a liquid changes to a gas due to being heated up and condensation is the opposite (a gas changing to a liquid due to being cooled down). We then learnt that these processes are constantly occurring on our planet. Water on the earth’s surface evaporates, becoming water vapor, and rising up until the colder temperatures cool it down and it goes through condensation, collecting up into clouds. When these clouds become heavy enough it rains which is know as precipitation, causing the water to collect on the earth’s surface again and thus starting the cycle anew. We drew our own diagrams of the water cycle to show our understanding and use of this new vocabulary.

We will end the term with RE and exploring Buddhism.

 

Spellings

As we have our Year 4 assembly next week, we will not have spelling lessons next week so that we can rehearse.

Love to Learn

On Friday 6^th June (the first week back after half term), Year 4 will be taking the statutory Multiplication Tables Check (MTC). Year 4 students will be taken in small groups to complete these on an iPad on Friday morning.

The test requires the students to answer 25 random times tables questions with 6 seconds to answer each question. It does not assess the speed the students answer each question.

Because this is quickly approaching, we ask that Year 4 take every opportunity they can to practice their times tables. TTRS is great for this and, if using it to practice, please make sure you are playing the GARAGE mode as it will challenge students on those they find most difficult.

We also recommend practicing using the ‘MathsFrame multiplication check’ as it is very similar to what they will do on Friday 6^th June.

https://mathsframe.co.uk/en/resources/resource/477/Multiplication-Tables-Check

We will also send home some times tables sheet with the children for them to practice with.

Please note that during the MTC, Year 4 will not have access to multiplication squares to help them so make sure to not use them during practice.

Dates to remember:

21st May – Year 4 class assembly 2.50-3.05

23rd May – Be here, Be you, Belong celebration. Children can come to school wearing anything they feel represents them as part of our ‘Dress to Express’ day. We will have a parade at 2pm on the field to celebrate this, to which our families are all invited.

23rd May – End of Term 5

Many thanks

We hope you have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cousins and Mr Oxley