Cheshire

Welcome to Cheshire Class! 

21st January 2022

Term 3 Week 3

This week, we have looked at the features of a newspaper report and written our own version based on the King's proclamation to the public! We have interviewed, written eyewitness accounts and thought carefully about applying the features of a report. We have focused on past tense and using direct and indirect speech correctly.

In maths, we have continued working on division. We have thought about different methods to support our division skills before we moved onto calculating 3 digits by 1 digit.

Very excitingly, in Art we have created our own Logos which are going to be sent off to a competition. Our logo may end up on a satellite orbiting earth!

Term 3

15.01.21

This term, we are starting our fantastic new book called 'The King Who Banned the Dark'! We are going to be doing debates, newspaper writing, narratives and many more types of writing. Year 4 are going to be focusing on sentence structure and conjunctions to make sure we are really confident with writing for effect.

In Science, we have started our new topic 'Living Things'. So far, we have learnt how Chimpanzees are really similar to humans! Did you know Chimps can experience similar feelings to humans? like empathy and happiness! We have found out that their DNA is a 99% match to humans.

We are really excited to be starting our new Geography topic where we are going to be learning all about Brazil as a country and what it is like to live there. We have looked at where Brazil is on a world map and which countries surround it.

In maths, we are moving onto column multiplication and division and thinking about how these link together. We have thought carefully about different methods of multiplication and how they can link together to help us work out the answer for example Part Part Whole model and the column method. If we are confident with our timestables, how will this help us with multiplying and dividing?

Term 2 Week 7

16th December 2021

This week has been our final week at school before the Christmas break. We have been busy finishing off our book this term Beetle Boy - the ending did not turn out how we expected! 

We have been busy creating Christmas cards and decorations for our families and not forgetting taking part in our Christmas Service, albeit online. We also really enjoyed taking part in our Christmas party in our classrooms.

Unfortunately, as you know, we were not able to perform our Christmas production live on stage, however you can follow the links and see our rehearsals online. Please see above for the pictures of us in our Christmas outfits. 

We hope you all have a brilliant and restful Christmas break. Your children have worked tremendously hard this term and we couldn't be prouder of them. Thank you for all your ongoing support. 

With love The Year 4 Teaching Team,

Miss Silcott, Mr Davies and Miss Parsons.    

Term 2 Week 6

9th December 2021

In English this week, we have been looking at subordinating conjunctions in our writing. Subordinating conjunctions help to connect additional information to the main sentence or clause. These can be in the form of singular words, such as ‘because’ and ‘when’, or they can consist of more than word, such as ‘even though’ and ‘as long as’. Additionally, we have been continuing to look at our term text of ‘Beetle Boy’ and write narratives about what would happen to our characters after they find a mysterious door when escaping from Humphrey and Pickering’s flat!

In Maths, we have continued to focus on our times tables and begin to look at some strategies to help us work them out from other more secure times tables. It is really important to know the tables, but also strategies to help us if we aren’t able to remember them all!

Finally, we have been working really hard on the final touches of our Christmas Nativity production- ‘Children of the world’. Everyone has been tirelessly practicing their lines, learning all the songs and perfecting the choreography. We cannot wait for family and friends to see the finished performance!

Term 4 Week 5

2nd December 2021

In English, we have been learning about how to use apostrophes for possession and we have been using these in our narratives about Beetle Boy. Possession means that you have, own or control something. However, showing possession can be done in different ways depending on who or what is doing the having, owning or controlling. 

What are the rules?

Singular possession means that only one person, animal or thing has, owns or controls something. The apostrophe goes after the word and before an s. Sometimes, the singular nouns that have, own or control something are already words that end with the letter s, so the apostrophe would go after the s.  

Plural possession means that more than one person, animal or thing has, owns or controls something. A plural noun is irregular when it changes its spelling to show that there is more than one, so you change the word and add an s with the apostrophe at the end. E.g. child – children- childrens’.

In maths, we have been recapping our timestables! It is really important to know these and be ready for the Year Four Timestables Test later on in the school year. 

Term 2 Week 4

25th November 2021

In computing, we are continuing with drafting and sending emails but focusing on including attachments. We have discussed that we can attach any digital information to emails (such as Photos/Videos or Files) and practiced attaching them to emails which we have sent each other.

In Geography we have been looking at 3 different global coastal habitats. These are Mangroves, Coral Reefs and Estuaries. We have looked at the different aspects, what ecosystems they support, their advantages for our coastlines and the threats they face.

We are thoroughly enjoying Beetle Boy and we spent some time in the forest this week to really help our imaginations run wild! We have written a description of a forest through the eyes of a beetle and through the eyes of Darkus. It has been really interesting comparing the different perspectives and using figurative language to make the descriptions come alive!

Term 2 Week 3

19th November 2021

In English, we have been writing a narrative about Darkus and Uncle Max. They have entered an entomology room which looks similar to this. We thought about how they would feel knowing that this is the room where Darkus' father disappeared! 

Our composition of the week is 'Staying Alive by the BeeGees'. It can be watched following this link-

Composition of the Week - Staying Alive by the BeeGees (office.com). We have really enjoyed looking at the 70s fashion and listening to the uplifting music! 

In History, we have written a diary entry  from the perspective of a monk or nun living in a monastery. We thought about these questions-

What would it be like?
What would it look like?
What differences would there be between their lives ?and ours?
What is the purpose of living in a monastery?

In Computing, we have carried on looking at E-Mails as a form of long distance communication. We have spoken about their advantages and disadvantages as well as having a try at writing our own.

Term 2 Week 1

5th November 2021

In English, we have started our new text Beetle Boy. We have met our new main character Darkus and have investigated why his father may have disappeared! We wrote a police report gathering evidence about what may have happened. 

This week in Computing, we have been looking at different ways of sending messages over long distances and their advantages and disadvantages. In particular we have looked at the use of letters, telephones, radio (walkie talkies) and semaphore.   

In Science, we have been continuing with our topic of States of Matter. We have investigated why and how water boils in a kettle and why the water comes out hot. We learnt that the particles in the water move more quickly when the temperature increases and when it reaches a certain temperature the liquid turns into a gas called steam.

Term 1 Week 7

15th October 2021

In English, we have been continuing with sentence types. Simple, compound and complex. We have thought about different conjunctions we can use to extend our sentences and add more detail in our writing. We have looked at direct and indirect speech as well. Do you know the difference?

In maths, we have been continuing with column methods both for subtraction and addition. We have been using concrete methods such as dienes, number counters and place value charts to support us with exchanging. Most of us have been using 4 digit numbers to calculate as well as thinking about how we can apply our calculation skills to reasoning problems.

In Science, we have been investigating our question 'How to soften a solid?'. We have used tealights as our heat source to melt chocolate, butter and ice. We predicted which one would melt the quickest and slowest. We were surprised by the results as we found how quickly the ice melted compared to the chocolate! The ice melted around 9 degrees Celsius  and the chocolate around 40 degrees Celsius !

Term 1 Week 6

8th October 2021

In maths, we have continued building on adding and subtracting hundreds, tens and ones as well as thousands. We have been using concrete representations (Base 10, place value counters etc) before moving to abstract and mental methods. We have focused on lining up the digits and clearly setting the additions out in columns to help us get the correct answer. We have been applying our skills to reasoning problems.

In English, we have continued to read our text ‘How the Stars Came to Be’ by Poonam Mistry. We have written a diary entry about how the girl feels accepting such a large and important task which the sun has given her. We have used time connectives and fronted adverbials to extend our sentences and make them really exciting! 

In history, we have been exploring why the different Anglo-Saxon Tribes invaded and why using different sources of information is important when we are researching. Can you think of any examples?

Please use the below link to find out more about the amazing art Y4 have been creating this term:

24th September 2021

Term 1

In maths, we have been comparing 2 digit, 3 digit and 4 digit numbers. We have been using our reasoning and place value skills to justify why we are correct. We have recapped the words ‘ascending’ and ‘descending’ when ordering digits to help us make sure we are ordering the digits correctly. Being secure in our place value knowledge is really important when we are looking at numbers as we need to know why a number is greater than > or less than < or equal to = another number! At the moment we have been focusing on our thousands, hundreds, tens and ones- some of us know our place value up to ten thousand which is fantastic!

In Science, we have done our first investigation of the week! Our question- Why do we have bubbles in our water bottle? has been answered by looking closely at bubbles created in a container with pebbles In and pouring water on top. We used magnifying glasses to spot the really small ones! We found out that the bubbles are trapped air which is why we can see them. We also learnt that if we leave our water in a glass or bottle for a while, small bubbles appear and this is because the gases in the water have dissolved.

In English, we have carried on reading our text ‘How the Stars came to be’ by Poonam Mistry. We have focused on describing the Fisherman and his daughter using the text and illustrations to guide us, as well as research carried out in the Discovery Centre about Fisherman and the fishing industry. From this, we have been able to write a character description of the Fisherman’s daughter and a first person narrative from the fisherman’s perspective.

In Geography, we have continued to study coasts around the UK and explore the various reasons why people settle on the coast. We have identified the aspects of leisure, tourism and industry as key reasons for settling there. We have also begun to think about some examples of these aspects, including Fishing, Sightseeing and transportation.