Author: Mrs Freeman

LO: Reflect and Remember

What does reflect mean?
To reflect think deeply or carefully about.
synonyms:
think about, give thought to, consider, give consideration to, review, mull over, contemplate, study, meditate on, dwell on, brood on/over, agonise over, worry about, chew over, puzzle over, speculate about, weigh up, revolve, turn over in one’s mind

As part of our 8Rs for learning, today we thought about reflecting.

What does it mean to reflect? “Take some time to sit and think.”

What can you reflect upon? “I can reflect on the choices I make.”

Does reflecting help you to think about your next steps? “Yes, because I can change things.”

Year 4 will be performing their assembly ‘Around the World in 20 Minutes‘ on Wednesday 03 October at 2.40pm.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Our travels through time have begun. With a focus on transport through the ages, Year 4 started off their journey learning about chronological order. The children put together a time line of events through history.

Following this, we studied early humans and how artefacts found have given us clues as to how these people lived. This initiated a conversation as to how history has shaped the lives we lead today.

Year 4 confidently carried out some research into cave paintings. I was very impressed by some of the children’s prior knowledge.

“Blood was used to add detail and colour. Bones were hollowed out so ‘paint’ could be blown through them onto the walls,” commented Albie.

“They had to use their legs as transport and the animals carried heavy items,” stated Jessica.

Did you know? 

Four boys searching for a lost dog  discovered paintings at Lascaux, France in 1940. These paintings were created around 15,000 BC, which would make them about 17,000 years old.

What did the paintings mean?

We discussed reasons as to why cave paintings were created.

There are three theories that the prehistoric man might have painted animals on the walls of the caves.

• The cave man wanted to decorate the cave and chose animals because they were important to their existence.
• The second theory could have been that they considered this magic to help the hunters.
• Prehistoric man could have used the painting of animals on the walls of caves to document their hunting expeditions.

Methods of Painting

Prehistoric people would have used natural objects to paint the walls of the caves. To etch into the rock, they could have used sharp tools or a spear. The paint or color that they probably used was from berries, clay, soot, or charcoal. The tools used to apply the paint could have been made by attaching straw, leaves, moss, or hair to sticks. They might have used hollow bones or reeds to spray the color on, similar to an airbrush technique we use today.

When we had finished our research and discussion it was time to create our very own cave paintings. Using different media, the children selected appropriate resources to make their painting look as realistic as possible.

Stay posted as lots more paintings to follow.

Last week, the children conducted a local survey around Moortown. Today, the class began to interpret the data and thought about how they could display it.

After looking at examples of bar charts,  Year 4 created their own and added the data from the survey. An interesting fact from the survey was that no one thought was rubbish was an issue in our local area.

“That’s because we go litter picking, ” commented Musa.

Resilience and patience were put to the test this morning when the children were given some Ordnance Survey symbols to match. The symbols formed part of a jigsaw. This was quite a challenge but we were so impressed with the determination shown by the class to complete this task.

Well done to all!

Year 4 thoroughly enjoyed a trip to two museums in Hull today.

Streetlife Museum of Transport

We all climbed aboard at the Streetlife Museum of Transport and enjoyed all the sights, sounds and smells of the past. There are over 200 years of transport history on display. The children walked down a 1940s high street, boarded a tram and enjoyed the pleasures of a carriage ride. Our big topic ‘Transport‘ starts next week so today’s trip was a great introduction to transportation through the ages. Enjoy our photos with your child. Question them about the visit.

From ‘bone shaking’ early bicycles to horse drawn carriages fit for royalty, the museum was packed with exhibits from various periods of time.

Hull and East Riding Museum

In this museum, we entered a world where 235 million years of history has been brought to life. From majestic mammoths to Saxon invaders, Year 4 travelled through history up to modern Britain. Walking through an Iron Age village, entering a Roman bath house and looking at the stunning mosaics were just a few of the displays to stop and study. We discovered a mysterious crew of wooden warriors and saw some medieval treasures!

 

This afternoon, the Year 4 class enjoyed a topic lesson with a difference. We studied maps (old and new), identified different countries and their capital cities, read a poem called Globe Trotter, began work on a class piece of art, visited the local shops and carried out a locality survey.

Location survey

We asked different people if they could spare five minutes to help us with our survey. Members of the public were very willing to answer some questions and commented on how polite the children were.

• “What is your main concern about the area?” “The parking and the traffic.”
• “What is your main reason for visiting this area today?” “I’m talking a walk with my child and visiting the shops.” “How often do you visit this area?”
• “Almost every day.”

We will be interpreting the data collected and then it will be put into different kinds of charts.

Ordinance survey maps 

The children searched for our school on the map.

Jess stated: “Well, our school won’t be on that map because it was built in 1915 and this map is before that date.” Good knowledge, Jess!

The shape of the land

Following a task to identify countries by their shape, borders and coastlines, work began on our very own version of the British Isles.

Using paint mixed with glue the land was transformed. To add different textures we also sprinkled sand on top of the paint. This created a rugged effect. The children will be carrying on with this project over the next few lessons.

Adding mountain ranges, rivers, towns, counties and a few famous landmarks will complete our work. Stay posted to see the unveiling of the United Kingdom as you’ve never seen it before!

Using stencils, some children created images adding coloured sand to represent different countries.

Every week, we have a ‘Love Of Reading‘ session.

The aim is to encourage the children to read for pleasure; the session allows them time to enjoy their chosen texts.

Alongside this, we’ll hear groups of children read as a guided session with an adult. This allows us to focus on particular skills required to aid reading for this age group. The age-related expectations can be found on the school website. These are worth looking through. They are used in reading as specific objectives and a focus for each group.

We began with the objectives below.

1. Can fluently read a set text appropriate for their age.
2. Apply phonic knowledge and skills to read unfamiliar words.

All children have been given a reading book and a target page. It’s very important that the children do not read beyond the set target page.

In addition to this, we encourage the class to bring books from home. Topic related books are always a good idea. The books can then remain in our reading area for others to enjoy – with your permission of course!

Around the World in 80 Days

This is our first class novel. We’ve read the first chapter and completed a retrieval activity based on who, where, why, when, how and what type questions. Ask your child what they know about the main character, Phileas Fogg, so far.

 

Today, we began our mini topic of ‘Where in the World?’

The children studied maps, globes and atlases.

We started by looking closely at the United Kingdom. Then, the next step was to find all the capital cities.

• “Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland,” commented Harris.
• “The capital city of England is London,” answered Ethan.

Next, we’ll be looking at some aerial photos and identifying  human and physical characteristics.

What a great start!

The children returned to school today excited and ready to learn. We were impressed by just how quickly the class settled into a new routine.

It’s set to be a busy term full of exciting learning. We like to keep you up to date with what’s going on in class so please check this class news page regularly.

We begin with a mini-topic, ‘Where in the world?’
This will be a Geography-themed topic. The children will be learning to use an atlas, map and globe. We’ll study, name and locate countries and major cities around the world. As well as using ‘old fashioned’ methods to navigate, the class will look closely at modern technology (Google Earth) and how this has impacted on the way we can now easily locate places around the globe.

Place value, rounding numbers and comparing numbers are all on our maths agenda. Alongside this, there will be daily counting and times tables practise.

A lot of our reading activities will cross over and link to our topics. On a Wednesday, the children will have a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ session. Each group will be heard read from a guided book, focusing each week on a different skill necessary to aid comprehension and fluency. It is very important that your child has read to the given target page each week. During this session, we encourage the children to bring in a book from home. They’re welcome to keep this in the reading area for others to enjoy should they wish to.

Mr Owen and I are both around most of the time so please feel free to pop in if you’ve any questions or queries relating to your child or their learning.

All the staff in Year 4 would like to wish the class a fond farewell and lots of luck in Year 5. We have been so impressed by the children’s learning attitudes and desire to strive and do their best.

Each and every child has developed in more ways than I could list! They should all feel very proud of their achievements this year.

Thank you for all your support and the end of term gifts.

Enjoy the summer break!   

Mrs Freeman, Mr Owen, Mrs Charlesworth and Mrs Pearson