Year 4
Click Here To Download The Year 4 Coverage Document
Welcome
Welcome to Courage Class. This year we have one class with two teachers – Mrs Carr and Miss Nicolas. We sometimes work as a whole class, and sometimes split up into two smaller classes. Together, we work to provide the best possible learning opportunities and environment for the children. We are excited about the learning that will take place, the adventures we will embark on and the memories that we will be making together.
English
In Year 4, we look at various genre types – these are what our English is based around. At the start, we have a chapter introduction to explain what we need to include to achieve our purple stamp. We also have a ‘Technical Knowledge’ part on our chapter introductions, and this explains the skills that we need in general to be a good writer. If we achieve the purple stamp, we move onto the Greater Depth challenge, where we can earn the gold stamp.
In English, we use the ‘double-page spread’ technique to plan all of our ideas, we then use these to form a draft, before creating a final piece. We’re always aiming to improve, and have focused lots on structure, the best language to use and making sure that we include context in our writing. This is helped with our Slow Writing, which we love! We often go through our work together, feeding back on our classmate’s work.
Our writing this term is based around fairy tales – we are writing an adventure narrative based on Snow White, where we are writing as the apple, and are then writing a dilemma text focused on the different decisions and choices that a character could make.
Maths
We follow the National Curriculum for maths. At the beginning of each objective, we have a chapter introduction – this outlines what we are learning and the steps that we need to do to achieve the objective for our purple stamp. Once we have gained our purple stamp, we move onto the Greater Depth challenge which is a challenge designed for us to apply and manipulate our new skills. If we achieve this, we earn the gold stamp.
Every chapter begins with a pre-assessment, and we mark this together in class to give us a head start in our learning. At the end of each chapter is a post-assessment.
On Fridays we have a reasoning session based on problem-solving and applying the new skills that we have learned in maths. We really enjoy these as they are fun and interactive!
Our first maths work in Year 4 is based on Place Value, and we are exploring the value of different digits, how different numbers can be represented and also how to order numbers from Least to Greatest and Greatest to Least.
Training Week
For each topic, we have a Training Week, which gives us the chance to explore our future learning, predict how we might use the given knowledge, practise any practical skills and make links between our activities and the curriculum. We also focus on our specialist mission vocabulary too.
Topic
Our first topic, "In Search of Fire and Ice…", is based around Iceland and The Skrimslis. We have weekly missions on our "Mission Log" and each mission has a brief and debrief sheet that tells us what we need to do to achieve and whether we have achieved or not. We cover human and physical Geography, Art, DT, History, Dance, Music, and Science. Have a look at some of our work!
Immersion Room - Iceland
Our Iceland-themed immersion room helps us get the feel for what it must be like to live in Iceland – it is full of waterfalls, volcanoes and lava fields!
Trip
Our trip for "In Search of Fire and Ice…" was to The Story Museum in Oxford – we learnt all about different stories and explored different themed rooms, as well as having a guided literary tour of Oxford itself!
Word Study
Our Word Study sessions follow a four-part sequence:
- Sort
- Explore
- Challenge
- Reflect
Word Study is based on exploring the spelling patterns and meanings of words, and linking them to phonics. By exploring the words and patterns, we are able to discuss our findings and apply them to our writing.
Reading
We use the skill of reading constantly, but we also have a weekly whole-class reading session on a Friday morning. Each week is based on at least one of the seven skills:
- Vocabulary
- Retrieval
- Inference
- Sequencing
- Summarising
- Prediction
- Explaining
We discuss which skills we are focusing on and use a range of resources, such as pictures, videos, texts and debates. We also complete "Can You Still…" reading, which tests us on our written comprehension.
Enrichment
Our enrichment this year is "Find My Community" which is run by Mrs Arundel and Kenny. This term, we have been exploring what makes up our community, and are planning on visiting different parts of the local community.
Carousel & PE
Our carousel time lets us learn different subjects throughout the week. During one week of carousel we will be taught:
- RE – Miss Nicolas
- Sikhi – Mrs Kooner
- Spanish – Mrs Wallis
- Computing – Mr Peggs
- Personal Development – Mr Hallam
We will also be taught PE every week, with our first focus being Athletics followed by Gymnastics.