15.9.22

Today in Science, we used our knowledge of human teeth, to discuss the teeth of herbivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous animals. 

We then challenged our knowledge by trying to guess an unknown animal from a skull, showing its teeth! 

'I think it was a dog or wolf, as it has an L shaped jaw and more incisors and canines than a human.'

13.9.22

This week we focused on the regrouping of 4-digit numbers, using base ten as a visual representation. Each child had a go at drawing their own 4-digit number that could be regrouped differently and we swapped with our partners. We then extended our knowledge by solving a number riddle, where we had clues to guess which 4-digit number had written a riddle. 

7.9.22

Today in history, our curiosity for the Romans was sparked, when we carefully handled some artefacts, acting as archaeologists would. This included: oil lamps, pottery, hygiene kits and Roman coins. We found it the most interesting that the Romans would take their hygiene kits to public baths!

6.9.22

We started off our Year 4 ICT curriculum by reviewing our existing knowledge of coding. To progress, we used positional coding and language to move objects.

12.7.22

As our last lesson in our unit on Earthquakes, we analysed the distribution of earthquakes in relation to volcanoes.

5.7.22

Today in Geography, we explored the 4 main factors that affect the amount of damage that an earthquake causes. These were:

-its strength and power on the Richter scale,

-where it happened (ocean or land),

-when it happened (day or night),

-the wealth of the country (education, infrastructure, specialised training).

We then used this information to think about why the earthquake in Haiti had so much more damage than the earthquake in Chile, despite the strength being lower on the Richter scale.

28.6.22

Today we were lucky enough to take part in a Skateboarding workshop run by Charlie and Alex from the Pioneer Skateboarding Club. We were all able to stand safely on our boards and even learnt some tricks!

21.6.22

We had a lovely morning filled of sporting activities run by St Albans School at Woollam Playing Fields. The focus was placed on: athletics and invasion games. 

13.6.22

Today in Science, we made food webs using a variety of living things. We had to carefully consider whether they were omnivores, carnivores or herbivores. To make the food chain a food web, we made it more complex by adding two more consumers of the producer. We then discussed what would happen if one of these living things became extinct and what effect this would have on the overall food web.

8.6.22

Year 4 finished their Art final projects all about collaborating on 3D designs, where they made casts and then paper mache from wellington boots! They then decided to plant tomato plants in them as they were sturdy and secure enough to hold soil and water!

27.5.22

We collaborated on our 3D projects in art and used the casts we formed last week with masking tape, to paper mache the wellington boots!

25.5.22

As part of our unit on 3D design, we made cast forms of wellington boots using masking tape. In order to make a secure structure we had to make sure the tapes were in tight layers.

18.5.22

This week we finished our unit of English work where we wrote our own playscripts based on the book 'The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon' by Mini Grey. We analysed an Alice in Wonderland playscript and identified key features of a playscript.

10.5.22

Today we went on a fantastic trip to ZSL Whipsnade zoo. We managed to see the vast majority of the animals as well as go on the train! We used our newly acquired knowledge of classifying animals as vertebrates or invertebrates to compare groups of animals together. We had a lovely day (despite the constantly changing weather) and even saw baby boars!

3.5.22

Today in Science, we discussed our local environment and which micro-habitats exist there. We looked at how these change with the seasons and went on a walk around the area looking for the different plants and invertebrates that live there!

26.4.22

Year 4 started their new unit of Geography work on the continent of North America. The first lesson consisted of learning about Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Florida, the world's biggest theme park. The children used a map to plan an efficient and logical route to meet a success criteria, which included 2 toilet stops, 2 restaurants and a variety of different rides and attractions. 

28.3.22

Last week in DT, we created our own reading lights based off our plans and used trial and error when choosing materials for a stable structure. We incorporated our knowledge of circuits from Science and these were some of the finished products...

This week in DT we will be evaluating our reading lights, considering what worked well, what needed to be improved and what we would change if we made the product again.

21.3.22

Today we conducted an experiment into which materials and objects are conductors or insulators of electricity. We found that the metal pencil sharpener was the only conductor whereas the rubber and paper were insulators, meaning the light bulb was not on.

We had to be careful not to put the crocodile clips next to each other and this bypassed the object we were testing.

15.3.22

In English, we started the planning phase of our writing, using a boxing-up template, linked to our Aladdin model text. The language used in our plans was selected very carefully to meet the brief, with an emphasis on past tense consistency.

10.3.22

Today in DT we designed our reading lights, reflecting on which materials would make for a sturdy but yet flexible reading light.

7.3.22

Today in English, we planned our own innovated wishing tale, based on Aladdin. We thought of an opposite character who would wish for friendship, something Aladdin had.

3.3.22 - World Book Day!

Today we focused our day on the picture book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

We worked with a partner to write an alternative ending for the book, made the wild things from potatoes and did a collaborative piece of art work.

28.2.22

We explored different electrical hazards around our homes and what effect these could have on ourselves. We created posters to illustrate our understanding.

25.2.22

Linked to our unit of work on Wishing Tales, we used the marketplace in Aladdin to write expanded noun phrases linked to our 5 senses.

We started off with a basic noun phrase and then up-levelled this sentence twice, incorporating adverbs, adjectives and conjunctions. 

22.2.22

Today we started our new Design and Technology topic of electrical circuit products. We made our own simple circuits as well as a switch made from a paper clip, split pins and a piece of card!

7.2.22

As part of our Science topic of Sound, we thought about how the pitch of different instruments can be changed. Mr Williams gave us a demonstration of how the thicker the bass string the lower the pitch (frequency) and how the shorter the string the higher the pitch (frequency).

1.2.22

Today we had the joy of having a day full of workshops run by Phillip from 'Green Up Your Act' in London. The workshops linked to our Geography unit of sustainability and we:

-made wallets made from drinks cartons,

-made eco fish from recycled paper,

-made notebooks from old maps of England,

-planted pea shoots in recycled plastic containers.

25.1.22

Today in Geography, we focused on our own school's sustainability and went on a walk around school in groups, to identify what we are already doing to be sustainable as well as, what else we could do.

21.1.22

This week in maths, we have been looking at symmetry in quadrilaterals.

We used the terminology of vertices, parallel and perpendicular to compare the quadrilaterals and mirrors to prove our predictions.

17.1.22

Today in Science, we went around the school on a 'Sound Walk.' We thought about what sounds we expected to hear and when we carefully listened, what we actually were able to hear.

17.12.21

This week we finished reading our Charlotte's Web Guided Reading book so we finished the term with a themed day!

14.12.21

We collected our own data by rolling dice and counting how many hops we could do in a minute. We then used a bar chart and line graph to represent this data, using the language of 'discrete' and 'continuous' data to decide which representation was needed for each data set.

13.12.21

We came to the end of our Science topic named 'states of matter' and produced our very own water cycle illustrations. 

We used the terminology:

-condensation

-evaporation

-precipitation.

6.12.21

We started our new unit of work in English surrounding 'Celebrating Differences' and we read and compared the books The Proudest Blue (by Ibtihaj Muahmmad) and Perfect (by Nicola Davies).

2.12.21

In maths today, we were measuring, estimating and comparing capacity. We estimated the volume of squash in 6 different containers and then measured the squash to see how accurate our estimations were. The width and height of the containers sometimes fooled us into thinking there was more or less volume of squash than there actually was!

30.11.21

Today we had a wonderful visit from the acclaimed best-selling children's history author Steven Vinacour. We started off the session by using sentence starters to create a whole-class story. This story used all of our ideas as a class and we very much enjoyed the process! At the end of the session, we had some time to ask Steven questions about his career and journey to become an author.

24.11.21

We practiced mindfulness this morning, by writing positive affirmations about our peers on their backs. During this time, we listened to calming music and reflected on these kind words that our friends wrote about us. 

22.11.21

Today we finished our unit of work on explanation texts where we made cross-curricular links to our pervious Science topic of The Digestive System.

Our success criteria included:

-causal conjunctions (to show cause and effect),

-clear paragraphs,

-3rd person,

-formal voice.

15.11.21

Today in science, we related our own experiences of changes when heat is added and taken away.

We also carried out an investigation into what happens when heat is added to two different coloured ice lollies, based on our knowledge of the properties of liquids. 

8.11.21

In Year 4, we have moved onto our next unit of work based on explanation texts. We read a text called 'The Teacher-pleaser Machine.' We used the Pie Corbett strategy of story-mapping to learn the text verbally and with actions.

2.11.21

This week in Maths we are focusing on solving two-step addition and subtraction problems. We have been using the language of start, change and result to identify the 3 parts to our questions and illustrating this using bar models.

1.11.21

Our book corner has been revitalised into our very own Secret Garden! 

The children have been reading in this area for pleasure and enjoying the calm atmosphere it brings.

21.10.21

Today we came to the end of our unit of work based around writing balanced arguments. 

Our success criteria included:

-using a variety of sentence starters,

-using facts to support my arguments,

-using a variety of conjunctions to extend my sentences.

20.10.21

Today in Art, we analysed the popular pop-art of Andy Warhol and had a go at creating our own based on our own lunch habits!

13.10.21

Yesterday in Maths, we focused on spotting patterns in multiplication tables. Look at the shape patterns we plotted!

12.10.21

On Tuesday in Science, we conducted an experiment using tights and various foods to illustrate the process of the digestive system.

'We all had a good time watching the experiment and my favourite part was when the food exited the plastic cup which made a massive mess!' Alfie E.

8.10.21

Today we had an exciting visit from Kasper's Grandma Sarah, who is an archaeologist who specialises in all things poo! We completed a blanket excavation where we discovered Roman artefacts. Sarah taught us how to inspect artefacts with care and precision using tooth picks so we dissected (fake) Roman poo to learn about what foods they ate! We had such an engaging workshop and we thank Sarah so much for sharing her passion for archaeology with us!

7.10.21

In RE we researched Hindu Gods and Goddesses. We focused on what each God represents and what possessions they are holding and why.

4.10.21

Today in Maths, we looked at the concept that multiplication is repeated addition. We used bead strings to show that 24 is a multiple of both the 6 and the 4 times tables. Then, we used a hundred grid to look at the patterns of the 6, 8 and 9 times tables. 

30.9.21

In English we have been looking at discussion texts and we used the Pie Corbett strategy of story mapping to illustrate our model text. We used verbal rehearsal with actions to embed the new language.

28.9.21

Today, Year 4 went on a school trip to the Verulamium Museum to explore their History topic of The Romans even further. They enjoyed two workshops on Roman markets and artefacts and explored the museum also.

27.9.21

In Art this week, we looked at distorted portraits, working up to our end of unit piece based on the work of Andy Warhol.

23.9.21

Today we recorded our findings from our eggs-periment! We found that some of the eggs were protected more than others and some were rotten due to the sugars that the liquids contained. We related this experiment to the effect that sugary drinks have on our enamel and teeth. 

20.9.21

As part of our Science work on 'Animals including humans' we conducted an experiment on the effects of different liquids on our teeth. We placed boiled eggs in coca-cola, orange juice, milk and vinegar to carefully observe the impact over the week! What do you predict will happen?

We then linked our knowledge of human teeth to that of herbivore, omnivore and carnivore animals. 

14.9.21

In art this half term, we are focusing on collage. Today we focused on using different mediums to make layers to portray people standing in front of each other.

07.09.21

The children have transitioned smoothly into life in Year 4, with a week jam packed full of learning! 

In English, we have read the book 'Arthur and the Golden Rope' by Joe Todd-Stanton. Our focus have been on embedding the conjunctions 'and', 'but' and 'or' into our writing to extend our sentences. The children produced their own maps based off the map in the book and using complex sentences to describe what can be seen.