Year 4 Summer Term 2023
In English, we have been imagining what it would have been like to live in apartheid-era South Africa. In guided reading, we have been reading Journey to Jo’burg by Beverley Naidoo. In writing, pupils practised features of a persuasive letter in order to write a letter to the then President, F W de Klerk, to persuade him to abolish apartheid.
In Maths, we have covered the unit of money, including estimating a total amount, adding and subtracting money and giving change. We have also covered the unit of time, including telling the time to the minute, using a.m. and p.m. and converting to a 24-hour clock. We were also focussing on practicing all the multiplication tables up to 12 times 12 for the official DfE Multiplication Tables Check (MTC), which the pupils took in June. We had daily practise sessions and a weekly quiz which supported them not only with their quick recall but with the format of the official check as well.
Our Science topic has been about Classification and habitats. We have learned why we might classify living things into different categories. We also learned to use a classification key to sort living things according to characteristics. The children were fascinated to learn that all living things can be sorted in to five kingdoms: animals, plants, fungi, protista and prokaryotes! Finally, we have looked at how animals are well suited to the environment they live in – their habitat. We have looked at how changing habitats could pose a danger to the living things within them.
In Geography, we have been focusing on map-work skills. We have learned about the equator, lines of latitude, longitude and the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. We have been learning to read four- and six-figure grid references and also to label the same features on an aerial photograph as on a map.
Inspired by our English unit of Africa, we created an African sunset using watercolours. We then researched the types of African animals and trees and used black card to create the silhouettes. The children loved practicing their watercolour skills and choosing the colours that they wanted in their sunsets.
In DT, the children designed and made their own hand puppets. They were able to use a variety of stitches including running stitch and blanket stitch to sew two pieces of fabric together. They were then assisted by an adult to use a hot glue gun to attach any details e.g. ears, nose and mouth!