This week we have become addition experts and estate agents.
Throughout our Maths lessons this week, we have been exploring our new unit of addition and subtraction. We started our unit by exploring our new vocabulary and the contents we would be covering. We also talked about the methods and mathematical representations we would be using. We started our lessons by adding 10s, 100s and 1000s using place value grids. Then we moved on to add 4-digit numbers. We have spent a lot of time learning how to use the column method through the visual representation of the place value grids to help us to do this. We have also focused on carrying when a value becomes higher than 9. Again, this week, we have been continuing to practise our arithmetic knowledge through our starters. At the end of the week, we completed an arithmetic quiz. After completing the quiz, we discussed how we would work out the answers.
We are becoming estate agents in our English lessons. We have been learning about the skills required to write a persuasive advert. We started our week by learning about Viking Longhouses. We needed to become experts in how they were built and what they looked like if we were going to successfully sell them! We have learnt how to use rhetorical questions to engage our reader and make them think. We have also been learning our model text and exploring it for key vocabulary. The children were given a list of 'estate agent language' and asked to match them with their definitions. Now, we will be able to use these words in our writing. We have also learnt how to use three adjectives in a sentence. This is something we call the rule of three. We used our best persuasive language and thought carefully how to word our rhetorical questions.Like all our units of writing, we created our persuasive writing toolkit. The children considered the skills we would need to use as well as finding examples in our text. Next, we boxed up the text. We explored the way the text was structured and again found examples of each part of the text. Finally, this week, we have planned our own persuasive write based on selling a longhouse.
We have been working through our 'auto' spelling pattern this week. Learning how to spell words with this prefix and also learning the meaning of many of the words we have come across.
In Geography this week we used Google maps to finalise our annotated maps to label a town, city and village. We were also able to select a photo to best describe what the settlement is like.
We were very excited to build our own long house in Forest School this week. Using our background knowledge, Mr Hadfield created a long house floor plan which we then used to create our own designs. We were surprised to hear that longhouses could be as long as 45m. As a team we collected the resources we needed to create a long house measuring 3m by 15m and acted out what might take place in each part.
In our Science lesson this week, we have been learning more about Sound. The class have recapped how sound travels and how the distance between sound changes. We started our lesson by conducting an experiment outside. One of the children hit the drum whilst the rest of the class slowly moved away. We talked about how we hear the sounds less as we move away because the vibrations have further to travel. We then moved on to learn about the pitch of sound. The children were given instruments and asked to make them produce a high and low sound. We then watched a video which explained how this happens in different types of instruments. Next, we made straw whistles which produced either a low or high pitch depending on the length of the straw.
For our Computing lesson this week, we used our time for research. Using the iPads, the children were learning about Viking Warriors. They had QR codes to appropriate websites and were asked to find key information about the warriors of the past.
Our final RE lesson this week saw the end of our first unit. To end our unit, the children answered our key question 'How do gospels encourage Christians to act as Good News in the world today?' The children started by drawing pictures to represent the three gospels we had learnt about. Then, they wrote their answers to the questions. I was so impressed by the ideas everyone had!
This week, a lot of our time has been dedicated to our RSE lessons. This week we have been learning about Alcohol. The children have learnt about the rules and recommendations around alcohol. We started by learning about the affects that alcohol has on people's bodies and behaviours. In lesson 2, we learnt about the risks related to drinking alcohol. Having previously looked at how alcohol affects health and behaviour; this lesson taught us how alcohol can affect a drinker's life and the people and community around them. In groups, we discussed why we thought people chose to drink alcohol. We compiled our thoughts and created a collective mind map. There were a range of ideas. These ranged from, wanting to have fun, to being stressed and needing something else to focus on. In pairs, we then looked at different pictures of people drinking. We had to decide: what the people in the pictures were doing, what types of drinks they had chosen, did we think the drinks were alcoholic or not alcoholic, why we thought they had chosen these drinks for these occasions, and finally, how we thought the drink would affect them. Our final task was to sort the 'effects of alcohol' cards. We had to arrange the scenario cards under the headings – affecting an individual, affecting family and friends and affecting the community.
In our final lesson, we discussed the laws and recommendations around alcohol. We looked at a range of government and NHS posters which promoted safe drinking. We talked about how people may respond to these messages and ideas. At the end of the lesson, the children were asked to design their own poster to make people think about the choices they make around drinking alcohol.
You are continuing to impress me with your skills in Year 4!
Miss Welch
office@wybunburydelves.co.uk
01270 841302
Wybunbury Delves
Bridge Street
Wybunbury
Nantwich
CW5 7NE