‘How far that little candle throws it’s beams’ – William Shakespeare

What an action-packed week we have had! Year 4 have been certainly ‘throwing their beam’ not just in the classroom but all around the school! Well done Year 4 you make me more and more proud every week! 

On Monday we explored the Shakespeare play ‘The Merchant of Venice’.  First, we looked at images of the play and organised them into what we thought was the correct order.  Then we read a synopsis of the text then discussed the different themes. 

We also had the pleasure of working with Miss Heim-Sarac and Year 3.  The children were split into small groups and given a scene to act out.  The children blew Miss Heim-Sarac and I away with their acting skills, they were incredible.  On Tuesday we had the privilege of watching the Royal Shakespeare Company perform ‘The Merchant of Venice’.  We had a great time!

Maths – This week we have been focusing on the column method for addition and subtraction.  We used base ten as a visual representation on how we need to ‘carry’ ones or tens over to help us solve the questions. 

English – We have been focusing on Information texts and this week we have created our very own information text on how to keep your mobile phone safe.  We have also been looking at noun phrases and how we can use these to describe settings.

Science – This week we have explored how environmental changes can impact on wildlife, habitats and food chains.  We created fact files on the impact of urbanisation, pollution, deforestation and natural changes such as earthquakes and noted the effect of living things. 

RE – In RE we have been making links between the Bible stories of Moses and David and Goliath.  We created a mind map and compared the beliefs and actions of Moses and David. 

History – We have been looking at ‘Danegeld’.  Danegeld was a payment made by the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready to the Vikings to stop them from raiding Britain.  The children analysed a poem written about Danegeld and match it to statements about Danegeld. 

PE – This week we have been focusing on our throwing skills.  We have been working hard on our chest pass and bounce pass.  The children played a game where they had to pass the ball without it being caught by the defender. 

Important notice

Last week I sent out the log in details for the children to access Times Table Rockstars at home.  I would like the children to have a go at least three times a week this should include at least once at the weekend to improve their fluency.  If you have any problems with logging in please let me know.

Homework

Maths – page 18 and 19 (Written Addition and Written Subtraction)

English – page 16 and 17 (Noun Phrases)

Times Tables – On Thursday (17th) I am going to quiz the children on the times tables they have learnt this half term.  These include all the times tables apart from the 7’s and 12’s.  I’ve sent home a times table fact sheet to help the children learn them.

Spellings – I have sent home 8 spellings for the children’s quiz on Thursday (17th)

Award winners

Maths Award – This week my Maths Award went to Molly.  Molly’s time table knowledge is incredible.  She has blown me away with her scores on her times table tests and has been applying her knowledge to working out fractions of amounts.  Well done Molly!

Star Writer – My Star Writer Award this week goes to Isabella.  Isabella’s writing is truly outstanding! The effort and detail she puts in is absolutely incredible and I love reading her work.  Well done Isabella!

Golden Award – This week the Gold Award went to Jensen.  Jensen is an amazing role model in Year 4.  He constantly works hard and tries his best even when he is finding something difficult. Well done Jensen!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Shining our light

What a week!  The children have blown me away with how hard they have been working and have shown great resilience if they have found something quite tricky.  We have been really shining our light.  Well done Year 4!

Maths – This week we have been looking at multiplying 2 digit by 1 digit numbers.  The children have worked extremely hard and have used their growth mindset when they have found it difficult.  We have also been looking at fractions of a number.  We had to use our knowledge of fact families from last week to help us solve the questions.

English – We have started our new theme of Information texts.  We discussed where we can gather information from came up with questions we would want to ask if we were looking at buying a new mobile phone.  We also analysed the information text ‘Greatest gadget of them all’ and looked how it was presented it in a way which included a story about a character named Emily.

Science – This week we have been looking at food chains.  We discussed the different parts of a food chain and we able to use scientific vocabulary to describe them.  We then created our own food chains and explained each part using the correct scientific term.

RE – We have looked at the story of David and Goliath this week.  We discussed the actions of David and how he bravely stood and faced Goliath with no armour.  We also discussed that David trusted in God to protect him and the Israelites.  The children then created their own ‘jar of courage’ with the ingredients David needed when he faced Goliath.

History – This week we have been investigating the Viking raid on Lindisfarne.  We looked at how the Vikings destroyed the monastery, stole all the treasures and killed the monks who lived there.  We then wrote a letter pretending we were a surviving monk to King Ethelred explaining what had happened.   

 Important notice

We have now finished our Yoga session for this half term.  With this change in timetable I have now moved our outdoor slot from a Friday to a Wednesday.  The children will still have their indoor PE slot with Mrs Parker on a Tuesday.

Homework

Maths – pages 32 and 33 (fractions of amounts)

English – page 4 (nouns)

Times Tables – I have sent home the 8 times table fact sheet for the children to learn for our quiz on Friday (11th)

Spellings – I have sent home 8 spellings for our quiz on Friday (11th)

Award winners

Maths Award – My Maths award this week went to Sienna.  Sienna has blown me away with her resilience and maturity in Maths.  She constantly tries her best and will always ask for help when needed. Well done Sienna!

Star Writer – My Star Writer award this week went to Elliot for his incredible piece of writing on the Viking attack on Lindisfarne.  The descriptive language he used really made me think I was there.  Well done Elliot!

Golden Award – My Golden Award this week went to Kourtney.  Kourtney is such a positive role model in our class and always works hard.  The effort and detail she puts into each piece of work is truly outstanding! Well done Kourtney!

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Another busy week!

What a fun and exciting week we have had in Year 4! The children have really settled into the Year 4 routine and are living up to the expectations that Year 4 brings.

Maths - This week we have been working super hard on our times tables. the children have been exploring fact families and have been using the concrete objects of hoops and bean bags to help them. I’m very impressed with how hard that children have worked! Keep it up Year 4.

English - We have planned and written our own chapter for the dilemma text ‘Lost or Stolen’ where our character Chandra faces another dilemma. The children have blown me away with their writing they were a joy to read!

Science - This week we have been looking at the digestive system. The children were able to label and describe the function of each part of the digestive system. They were also able to describe how food passes through it and wrote a piece about ‘The journey of a cheese sandwich’.

RE - We have been analysing the story of Moses this week. The children were able to recall the story and analyse the reasons behind the actions of Moses. The children’s thoughtfulness when analysing the reasons showed me that they are all true disciples of Jesus.

History - This week we have been looking at how England was divided into 7 kingdoms. We discussed that each kingdom had their own king and how each kingdom would invade the other.

European Languages Day - On Thursday we spent the afternoon creating our own fact file about Germany. We looked at German facts, numbers and colours. We also coloured the German flag and were able to locate Germany on a map of Europe.

Reminder

Unfortunately today some of the children were quite disappointed with their scores on their times tables and spelling quiz. After speaking to the children quite a few admitted that they had not learnt them. Please could I ask all parents to remind their children of the importance of learning both spellings and times tables as it is part of their homework. Thankyou.

Awards

Golden award - This week the Golden award was given to Declan. Declan is an amazing role model in Year 4 and is constantly on task and working hard. Well done Declan.

Star Writer - This award was given to Kourtney. Kourtney has produced some outstanding pieces of writing this week. The attention to detail, handwriting and content of her writing is truly outstanding. Well done Kourtney.

There was no Maths award this week as on Monday we welcomed our new reception children to our school family.

Homework

Maths - Page 22

English - Page 62 and 63

4 times tables facts and spellings for our test on Friday.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Another lovely week in Year 4.

What a lovely week we have had in Year 4! We have been extremely busy being authors and scientists.

English - We are continuing looking at our dilemma text ‘Lost or Stolen?’ This week we pretended to be one of the characters and created a ‘conscience alley’ where our character seeked advice on the dilemma she faced. We have also began to plan our own chapter for the story which we will write next week.

Maths - We have been working extremely hard in Maths this week. We have been adding 2-digit numbers mentally, placing 4-digit numbers on a number line and recognising multiplication and division facts for the 6 times table.. The children also had a small 3 times table quiz, please ask your child for their result.

Science - This week we have done an experiment to investigate the effect different drinks have on our teeth. We submerged boiled eggs in; cola, orange juice, apple juice, water and milk. We then observed them at the same time for 3 days and noticed how the eggs were cracking, peeling and changing colour.

RE - We have been looking at the Bible and exploring how God speaks to us through it. The children were able to find references in the Bible and could explain what message God was sending to us.

History - We have been continuing with our Anglo-Saxon theme and have been describing the different jobs the Anglo-Saxon people had. The children were particularly interested in the fact that the children did not know how to read or write and would hardly have anytime to play.

Competitions

Mrs McVey has launched two competitions this week.

1. Design a ticket for the RSC Merchant of Venice production at school. If the children would like to enter please could they complete their entry on an A4 piece of paper with their name on the back and hand it in to me. The closing date is on Monday (23rd) and the winner will have their design printed on the tickets that will be sold in school.

2. Design a poster for European Languages Day which explains why is it important to learn a language? What are the benefits? Again, could entries be on an A4 piece of paper with their name on the back and hand it in to me. The closing date is Tuesday (24th) and prizes will be given for the best designs.

Homework

Maths - Ordering and comparing numbers (both pages)

English - Prefixes mis and dis (both pages)

Times tables - I have given the children the 9 times table fact sheet. The children need to learn these please as they will have a short quiz on Friday.

Spellings - I have sent the children home with some spellings. These spelling will be part of a dictation passage the children will be doing on Friday.

Awards

Maths Award - This week the Maths award was given to Brodie. Brodie’s perseverance and resilience during our Maths lessons has been absolutely incredible. Well done Brodie!

This week with having the school photographer in unfortunately we have not had our Golden Assembly therefore we have not had a Golden Book award or a Star Writer award.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

This week in Year 4 ...

I cannot believe we are already at the end of our second week together. All the children have settled in really well and I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them.

We have had a busy week of learning and the children have created some beautiful pieces of work! Lets keep it up!

Maths - In Maths we have begun to look a 4-digit numbers. We have been looking at how we can write these in words and what each digit means. We have also been comparing numbers using the greater than or less than crocodiles.

English - We are still focusing on our dilemma text ‘Lost or Stolen?’. This week the children have written their own blurb for the story using interesting words. We have also been focusing on inverted commas.

Science - In Science we have been looking at teeth. We have been able to identify the different types of teeth and describe the functions. We also compared human teeth to the teeth of different animals.

History - This week we have examined an Anglo-Saxon settlement. We discussed the different features and planned our own settlement.

RE - We have been looking at the Bible. We discussed what it was and why it is important. We were so lucky that Father Jim popped in to visit us during our lesson so the children were able to ask him some really interesting questions.

The children had their first wider opportunities lesson with Mrs Benson. The children seemed to really enjoy it and Mrs Benson came to find me to tell me how impressed she was with the class. Well done Year 4!

Award winners

Golden Award - This week the Golden award was given to Lila for her constant hard work and positive attitude to learning. Lila is a joy to teach and is constantly eager to learn.

Maths Award - This award went to Isabelle who has completely blown me away with her love for learning and growing independence in Maths.

Star Writer Award - The Star Writer Award was given to Cianna. The English work Cianna has produced this week has been incredible, the detail she gives to each piece of writing makes me want to read more and more!

Homework

English - Pages 60 and 61

Maths - Page 8

Children also need to practice their 3 times table fact sheet as they will have a short quiz on Friday 20th.

Again, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a lovely weekend

Mrs Cunningham-Kay

Welcome to Year 4!

Hello and welcome to Year 4.  Each week I will write a blog to keep you informed of what the children have been learning.  I will also include homework tasks and any important notices.

I have been absolutely amazed by the children this week.  I am so proud of the maturity, enthusiasm and the positive attitude to learning the children have shown me.

We have been working extremely hard this week and have began our exciting learning together.

Maths - We have been looking at number bonds to 10, 20 and 100.  We have been also looking at what we need to add to a number to reach the next multiple of 100 and what we need to subtract to get to the previous 100.  The children have created some fabulous pieces of work that I am very impressed with.

English - We have completed our star reading tests this week and have been looking at a dilemma text called ‘Lost or Stolen?’  The children have been investigating the language used and identified the dilemma in the story.

Science - We have started a topic on animals including humans.  We have been looking at nutrition and what a healthy diet consists of.  The children also created their own menu’s of a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner.

History - We have began to look at our topic of Anglo-Saxons and Vikings.  We discussed events we already knew about and placed them on a timeline.  We also mind mapped what we already knew about the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings. 

RE - This week we have done some work on Our Lady.  We have discussed why Mary is so important to us and thought about her feelings when the angel told her she was going to have the Son of God.  The children also wrote out the Hail Mary in beautiful handwriting and decorated it.

I have given the children homework this week;

Maths - pages 2 and 3

English - pages 36 and 37

Important notices:

• P.E days are on a Tuesday and Friday.  Tuesday is our indoor session and Friday is our outdoor session.  During the Autumn term the children will also be taking part in a Yoga session.  Please can I remind parents that children with earrings must come into school either without earrings in or be able to take them out themselves.

• Your child will come home with a reading book and log.  Please sign and date when your child has read.  I expect the children to be reading nightly.  Once the children have read a book then they will then take a test on accelerated reader to check their understanding of the book.

•  I will put homework details on the blog every Friday.  As in Year 3 homework is given out on a Friday and is due in on a Tuesday.

• The children will be coming home with spellings each week for them to learn as they will have a test every Friday

• Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to chat about your child.  You can call or email school but I am also around at the end of the day if you would like to catch me then.

I am so excited that I have such a lovely class and for the year ahead.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Cunningham-Kay