Class 4 Newsletter Spring Term 2023

Dear Parents

Welcome back, I hope you have all had a lovely Christmas and are ready for the new term!

Outlined below are the curriculum areas to be covered as well as ways you can help to support your child’s learning in Year 4.

English

As usual we will be studying a variety of text types to help develop your child’s writing skills. We have started the term studying a range of Roman myths and legends, many which are based on Roman mythology and gods. At the end of the unit, the children will write their own Roman myth. There will also be a unit based around ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl where we will be writing our own newspaper articles, reporting the news when Charlie Bucket finds the last golden ticket. After half term, we will be studying syllabic poetry and creating our own Haiku poems about volcanoes. We will then be looking at stories from other countries where we will be studying the book ‘African Tales’ by R.Griffin and G.Mhlophe and ‘The Pot of Wisdom’ by A. Badoe. Children will then write their own version of an African story.

Grammar includes using and understanding grammatical terminology, using and punctuating direct speech, expressing time, place and cause using conjunctions, e.g. when, so, before, after, while, because, using commas to mark clauses and to mark off fronted adverbials, using apostrophes to mark singular and plural possession, using paragraphs, using short sentence to move events on quickly and developing complex sentences with subordinate clauses.

Listening to your child read continues to be very important, as does discussing their understanding of the texts they are reading. There will be daily classroom time for reading, handwriting, grammar and spelling activities.  Children must bring their reading records and books to class every day.

Maths

This term we will continue to work on recalling multiplication and division facts up to 12 x 12. We will also use place value and known and derived facts to multiply and divide mentally. We will be recognising and using factor pairs in mental calculations. We will then move onto multiplying two-digit and three-digit numbers by a one-digit number using a formal written layout. Once children are confident with their formal written methods, we will then solve problems involving multiplying and adding, including using the distributive law to multiply two-digit numbers by one digit, integer scaling problems and harder correspondence problems such as n objects are connected to m objects. We will then move onto converting different units of measure as well as measuring and calculating the perimeter of rectilinear figures. Finally, we will be focusing on fractions and decimals which will include recognising equivalent fractions, counting in hundredths, adding, and subtracting fractions with the same denominators, recognise and write decimal equivalents, multiplying and dividing numbers by 10 and 100, comparing decimals and rounding them to the nearest whole numbers and then solving problems involving fractions, decimals, measure and money.

At home it would be helpful if you practiced telling the time both analogue and digital and continued practicing times tables and related division facts using Times Table Rockstar (5-10 minutes as often as possible). This will also help to prepare children for the times tables test in the Summer term.

Science                                                                                                                                                                                                  We will be exploring states of matter in science which will include: comparing and grouping materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases, observing that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled, and measure the temperature at which this happens in degrees Celsius (°C) and identifying the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature.

Topic- (History/Geography)

In history we will be studying the Romans which will include using maps and atlases to understand how far the Roman Empire spread, research the different Roman soldiers and the types of clothing they wore, compare the lives in Roman and Celtic Britain, understand the role of Boudicca in British history and reflect upon what the Romans did for us.

In Geography we will be studying Earthquakes and Volcanoes which will include using maps, atlases, globes and digital mapping to locate countries and describe features, describe key aspects of physical geography including rivers, mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes and the water cycle and children will also be focusing on asking and answering geographical questions about the physical and human characteristics of a location.

French

We will be learning about the weather and transport. Children will learn to understand and communicate ideas, facts and feelings in speech and writing using developing knowledge of vocabulary and understanding of grammatical structures.

Computing

In computing we will be using Garage Band to create a piece of music and we will also be sharing experiences and opinions through blogging.

Art and DT

In art, the children will be focusing on exploring complementary colours by studying Andy Warhol’s famous volcano piece of art and comparing this with Katsushika Hokusai’s water coloured Mount Fuji. In DT, we will be exploring levers and linkages and using these to create Roman structures.

RE

This term, we will continue to follow our new RE scheme which centres around three areas: Theology, Philosophy and Human and Social Sciences with each lesson starting with an enquiry question. We will be learning about a range of religions including Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

PSHE 

We will be focused on wellbeing mindfulness whilst also learning about belonging to a community, challenging gender stereotypes, compassion towards each other, Google internet legends, digital wellbeing and exploring basic banking and budgeting.

Music                                                                                                                                                                  This term we are fortunate enough to have music lessons through the ‘Charanga’ scheme provided by Essex music services. We will be listening to and analysing well known songs throughout the decades and then performing these in groups. Artists will include Abba and Bill Withers.

PE

Children will need to bring in their swimming kits to school every Monday. Their kits must include a swimming costume, towel, a swimming hat if your child has long hair and googles. On Wednesdays, children will need to come to school in their PE kits and they will take part in hockey, orienteering and dance across the term with Mr Snelling.

Homework

It is greatly beneficial to your child’s learning for you to hear them read whenever possible, please make a note/initial in their orange reading journals when you hear them read. When children finish a book, they must complete a reading challenge in their journal (from the list in the front cover) about the book they have just finished.

Along with listening to your child read, the children will be set spellings to learn each week. Six sets of spellings will be issued for the half term and tests will take place every Friday; please assist them with look, cover, write, check activities to consolidate their learning or an alternative method that suits your child’s way of learning.

Maths, English, Science or Topic homework will be set on Fridays for return the following Wednesday. Tasks are set in order to support and consolidate the learning taking place in class.  Please support your child to ensure that they understand what has been asked of them and to make sure that their work is clearly and neatly completed but allow them to complete the work as independently as possible. If there is ever any confusion, or your child is having trouble with the homework, please let me know (preferably before Wednesday) so I am able to help them.

Water/Snacks

Children are actively encouraged to bring in water, and a snack for break time each day. It is often a long time between breakfast and lunch and a snack is important to keep us all going. We ask that these are healthy, in line with our Healthy Schools ethos (fruit or vegetables only).

If you have any particular questions or concerns, please feel free to speak to me at the end of the day or contact the office to arrange an appointment/call before or after school.

Best wishes

Miss Ullmann