PUBLISHED 26 June 2020
Week ending 26th June, 2020
Year 4 have been great settling well into their new classroom in the senior school and the children at home have been wonderful at getting involved in the online lessons and learning together via Skype.
In English we explored synonyms and antonyms. Synonyms are words with the same or similar meaning. Antonyms are words with opposite meanings. We also looked at the key features of non-chronological reports and information texts. The children wrote their own non chronological reports about different animals. In RE we looked at places of worship in the Christian faith as Christians worship God in Church buildings all over the world and also explored the special objects found in a church.
Electricity can be hard to create in some countries so increasingly new ways are being developed to create alternative ways to generate electricity. Energy from the sun is so powerful that you can use solar radiation to cook food. In some countries with lots of sunlight throughout the year many people are now using solar ovens to cook food. Solar ovens can also be used to pasteurise water or even sterilise instruments. Instead of converting solar energy to electricity, solar ovens trap light particles, called photons, to generate heat. For the science work the children created their own version of a solar oven using pizza boxes, foil and card.
In history we investigated Mayan food; we discovered that the Mayans ate avocado, chilli, honey, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and cacao beans. The children made a Mayan hot chocolate with vanilla or chilli using a traditional recipe to experience food from the past. In art we created wave models based on the Great Wave, from the series of thirty-six views of Mount Fuji Painted 1830–32 by the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. We explored how Hokusai played with perspective to make Japan’s grandest mountain and second highest volcano appear as a small triangular mound in the picture. In maths we looked at how to use an 8 point compass and then the Year 4 children in school tried out their new skills in an orienteering session around the senior school with Mrs Hobson Woodhead. We investigated factors and tried to find common factors and solve problems involving factors. Factors are numbers that divide exactly into another number.
In DT the children designed a structure made from Willow withies or eco bricks for the school garden. An ecobrick is a building block made from unrecyclable plastic. It is created by filling a plastic bottle with clean, dry plastic until it is packed tightly and can be used as a building block. Eco bricks can be used to make a table, sofa or an outdoor sculpture. In outdoor learning the children created a mindfulness calm jar or painted a stone animal for their own garden. https://www.ecobricks.org/
We are now moving into our last week in Year 4 and I would like to say a big thank you to all the year 4 children, parents and extended family members for the time together and being involved in the school community. I will miss you all when you move into Year 5!