Fractions

Year 4 have been learning all about fractions and their equivalents. Some children were finding this concept quite tricky in class. We’d like the children to revise fractions at home and below is some useful information and ideas to support your child.

All children in Year 4 are expected, by the end of the year, to be able to recognise and show, using diagrams, families of common equivalent fractions.

What is a fraction?

A fraction represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half and three-quarters. The numerator (the top number) represents a number of equal parts, and the denominator (the bottom number), which cannot be zero, indicates how many of those parts make up a unit or a whole. For example, in the fraction 3/4, the numerator, 3, tells us that the fraction represents 3 equal parts, and the denominator, 4, tells us that 4 parts make up a whole.

This is a cake with one quarter removed. The remaining three quarters are shown. Dotted lines indicate where the cake may be cut in order to divide it into equal parts. Each part of the cake is denoted by the fraction 1/4.

Using a fraction wall to help to visualise equivalents is a very useful tool.

Using this wall, it’s clear to see that ½ is equivalent to 2 quarters. Can your child write and draw three more fractions that are equivalent to a half?

Following some fluency work, we then look at some reasoning skills to show a deeper understanding…

A pizza is cut into 8 slices.

Zara says, “If I take half of the pizza, and my brother takes 4 slices, we will both have the same amount.” Is she correct? Convince me by using a diagram.

Ideas to help at home

• Cut fruit and veg into pieces of equal amounts and look closely at the sizes of each piece. How many are equivalent to a half? Children find it hard to see that the larger the denominator, the smaller part.
• Ask word problems to secure understanding. If I had 48 grapes and my friend ate a quarter, how many grapes did my friend eat? Prove it!
• If ¼ of a packet of Jelly Babies is 7 sweets, how many are there in a whole packet?
• How many eighths are equivalent to one quarter? How do you know?
• How many eighths are equivalent to three quarters? Draw a diagram to show how you worked this out.
• True or false? Four sixths are larger than one half. Prove it.

There are fraction related activities on Mathletics that will also help your child to further their understanding.

Homework

Last week, the children were asked to show what they’ve learnt about habitats or food chains.

Yet again, the standard of homework produced was excellent and so very creative. Ranging from food chains made with paper links to lifelike habitats, Year 4 had the lot!

All the staff are constantly amazed by how much effort the children put into their homework. It is always a pleasure to see the class celebrate and share their work with each other. There are lots of great examples of homework below. Well done, Year 4!

Exploring classification

We began our topic lesson today with some Liquorice Allsorts on our desks. Why, we hear you ask?

The children were asked to work as a group to sort the sweets according to clear characteristics that can split the specimens into two new groups.
They had to think of some questions that may help them to sort and split the sweets. The children thought about the following characteristics or features:
• structure (layered, encased in a shell)
• shape
• size
• colour

Using the idea of a flow chart, we began to group the sweets. The children tried to make their questions interesting and ensured that they always needed a ‘yes’/‘no’ answer, for example, ‘Is the sweet a primary colour?’

Next, our aim was to recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways.

Using the same idea as before, the children had to generate questions that only had a yes/no answer, such as:

• Can the animal fly?
• Does it lay eggs?
• Does it have feathers?
• Is it a mammal?
• Does it breathe air?
• Does it live in water?
• Does it live on land?

The class were able to create their own animal flow charts to group the various creatures.

After-school clubs

Safer Internet Day 06 February

Splats Team Robot v Meanies e-Safety Show

As part of Safer Internet Day, on February 06, the pupils from Years 3 to 6 are learning and performing a show-in-a-day with Splats Entertainment e-Safety show.

The day is all about how we act online and in life. Each group of pupils work with the ‘Splats’ director where they learn their scene and then they make props in the classroom. The show is then being performed at the end of school at 2:30pm which we would like to invite you to attend. The day and performance is led by the ‘Splats’ director and the pupils join in and act out the parts.

It is a fun and light-hearted look at what is, of course, a very important issue of safety. The day is designed to get the pupils thinking, talking and developing their awareness of their online behaviour. We hope it will help facilitate discussion at school and at home and help the pupils be responsible and careful in their online activity.

Topics covered during the day include: keeping personal information safe; how we never know who we are talking to online; how to deal with any mean messages; how we never know how other people feel with what we say online; and if we are unsure of anything, we should always seek help from a trusted adult.

If you would like to come and watch the e-safety show, please complete the reply slip, on your child’s letter, and return to school as soon as possible as we have a limited number of spaces.

An unforgettable experience!

This week, Year 4 enjoyed a visit from The Mimika Theatre Group.

We were transported through a non verbal exploration of four contrasting areas of the natural world.

Landscapes is a unique show featuring puppets, mime, lights and sound which was designed to communicate through atmosphere.

We witnessed remarkable visual effects and transformations all set inside a beautiful  dome.

Throughout the 45 minute session we enjoyed atmosphere, movements, rhythms, and sounds of four contrasting areas of the natural world.

The Sun rises over a buzzing desert, a chick hatches.

The Eagle leaves the nest in search of food.

Below, the Meerkats are alert.

The journey begins…..

Desert

Where the meerkats,lizards, snakes and scorpions battle each other but all live under the constant threat of danger from above…

…the ever circling Eagle searching for prey.

Rainforest

Where Apes and even the butterflies,spiders and birds are all drawn to a clutch of eggs on the riverbank but, the Crocodile is always on guard.

Sea

A crowded kaleidoscope of constant movement, the large and the small, the speedy and the slow, the beautiful and the ugly, the familiar and the bizarre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antarctic

Where the snow and the wind, the cold and the ice provide a harsh but beautiful background for the setting sun at  journey’s end.

What did we learn?

At the end of the performance, Year 4 went back to class and discussed the amazing experience we had just been a part of. Not only had this show enriched each child’s knowledge of life, it had also opened up some new and exciting vocabulary. We will be sure to use this in our current report writing. The children were able to say how this show has helped them to learn more about things like:

• environments
• habitats
• different species
• adaptation
• predators and prey
• life cylces
• food chains

We also discussed how using music in the production created an atmosphere for each environment.

“You can tell by the change in the music when a predator is nearby,” said Poppy, hiding behind her hands!

I really enjoyed the show and didn’t want it to end,” Henry said.

“We can honestly say that we found Landscapes to be one the most exciting, moving, educational performances we have ever seen. All the staff witnessed  an awe of wonder on every child’s face as they watched this incredible show.  Indeed, we were all very privileged to be a part of this journey through different lands.  All this without a word being spoken,”  discussed Mrs Freeman, Mrs Charlesworth (who was none to keen on the snakes) and Mrs Pearson. 

Below, there are some images from the Mikika Theatre website for you to enjoy with your child. Ask them to describe each picture and which creatures inhabit the environment shown.

Our newest class member

To fit in with our topic of Life Forces, Year 4 have adopted a gorilla in support of the WWF charity.This incredible charity works to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable animals.    ADOPT A GORILLA The powerful mountain gorilla, now critically endangered with only around 880 left in the wild. The mountain gorilla is one of four surviving gorilla subspecies. They’re found in just two isolated populations – in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, and the Virunga volcanoes – which span the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We will be looking very closely at all aspects that are affecting and causing the decline in population. The adoption and support will to do many things. Such as: train rangers to detect and safely remove snares set for other animals, which can often servery hurt or kill gorillas help to train rangers to protect the gorillas against poaching of babies for the illegal pet trade work with local governments to improve the management of the national parks where gorillas live help to protect vital gorilla habitat help reduce conflict between mountain gorillas and humans when gorillas enter villages and farmland Today, in class, the children were very excited to begin learning about these magnificent creatures. Lots of question were asked and we hope, in time, we will be able to answer them. The children received their first Gorilla update from the charity. This is The Year 4’s first Gorilla update. HOW YOU’RE HELPING With WWF’s help a 10 year trans-boundary strategic plan has been agreed to allow the authorities of Uganda, Rwanda and DRC to work together to help protect mountain gorillas. The plan will help the three countries come together, share knowledge and best practices, and manage the Virunga Massif and its diverse ecosystems in a more coordinated way. Your adoption helps pay for cameras to be put in remote locations – so we can check on wildlife numbers and health. Take a look at this amazing footage of a beautiful gorilla family. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AggPUKh6Z6Y Thank you for making The Year 4’s a Gorilla adopter. Your adoption is really vital to us. Together we can be a truly effective partnership for protecting the natural world. Thank you! WWF Year 4 will keep you posted on all the updates received from the charity.

New school dinner menu

After half term, our school dinner menu will be changing.  This menu, provided by our school meals provider Catering Leeds, will be served until the end of the summer term.

Our School Council have recently repeated a vegetable survey to find out children’s favourite choices.  These preferences have now been incorporated into the new menu.

As well as on our website, the three week cyclical menu is also displayed on our dining room window for you to discuss with your child.   If you would like a printed copy, please ask at the office.

Have a look for the days ahead to make your child aware of what the daily meals are.  Following pupil and parent feedback, children now make their main meal choice at the start of the day.  This ensures they get their first choice of meal.

School meals continue to be free for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. If your child is in Key Stage 2, please check for eligibility for free school meals. (It’s important to check for eligibility for younger children, too, because school receives additional funding for each child who is eligible for a free meal, even when they’re free in Reception and Year 1 and Year 2!)

If your child would like to start having school dinners, please inform the office. A combination of packed lunches and school dinners is also available.

Children are consulted on school meals through our regular School Council meetings.  Feedback may also be given by speaking to an adult in school or completing a suggestions/comments slip and posting it in their class I want to say box.  We have a few new dishes on the menu which we encourage the children to try.

Thank you to parents who also raise questions and give feedback.  We can then ensure this is passed on to the kitchen staff.

Safer Internet Day 2018

Pupils will be taking part in different activities to support their learning of this important subject. As well as in class learning, children will have the opportunity to work with the following external visitors.

We welcome ‘Splats Entertainment’ who will be delivering e-safety drama workshops for pupils from Year 3 to 6. Children will be learning and performing a show in a day. Please see your child’s letter to request tickets to watch this show at 2:30pm on 06 February.

D:side, an online safety charity, will be visiting classes Y1-Y6 on 01 and 02 February to deliver internet safety sessions with the following focus:

• What we use the Internet for (KS1)
• What is / is not safe to share online (KS1)
• What to do if we are not sure about the internet (KS1)
• Using emails safely (KS2)
• Social networking and safe profiling – including use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat, Oovoo, etc. (KS2)
• ‘Chatting’ with care (KS2)
• Responsible and safe use of the internet (logins, email, photography, password protection, personal information and self-protection). (KS2)
• Using text and picture messaging (KS2)
• Behaving responsibly (KS2)

Dave Hill, from d:side, will also be delivering an online safety workshop for parents/carers on Thursday 01 February at 2:30pm-3:15pm.  There will be chance to find out what your child has been learning in this area, to give you some skills and knowledge to keep your child safe online and to ask questions on this subject. There will be limited places for this workshop so please complete and return the response slip, on your child’s letter, if you would like to attend.

If you are unable to attend the workshop, please refer to the guidance that will be sent home with your child published by the NSPCC/O2. Further guidance can be found on our website.  There will also be a workshop for parents of older children later in the term, specifically looking at the use of social media.

Make-a-wish

This year, we’re supporting Make-a-wish as our school charity, chosen by the School Council.

Today, we welcomed John Russo, a volunteer from Make-a-wish, who told us about the charity, the kind of wishes they make happen and how the money we raise might be spent.

Children were asked to consider how we can support the charity over this year.  They could either write a suggestion for their ‘I want to say’ box or pass on their ideas to their class school councillors.