Welcome to Year 4's Spring Term 2017
The Awesome Anglo-Saxons
To kick start our topic on the Anglo-Saxons, we were visited by Paddy and David from Durham University. They brought along replica objects which we studied and tried to guess what they were and what they were used for. We also dressed up as monks and learnt about the Lindisfarne Gospels. Finally we had a lesson in writing with quills, it was really tricky! We had a really fun day and learnt a lot.
Rugby
Year 4 have been working with a coach in PE on Tag Rugby. We have been learning the important skills of how to hold the ball, how to throw the ball correctly and how to catch. We have also played some games of tag rugby which was lots of fun!
Chicks
Reception received some visitors earlier this term and we were lucky enough to have them come to meet us in Year 4. Miss Hepplewhite brought the chicks down to meet us and we all got to hold one and watch them interacting with one another. It was an exciting Easter treat!
Jarrow Hall
We went on a trip to Jarrow Hall where we learnt lots about The Anglo-Saxons. We started off the day by getting dressed up in tunics before visiting the farm and learning about the role of animals in an Anglo-Saxon village. After that, we visited Thane's hall where we sat around the fire telling riddles and listened to Beowulf. We also tried some Anglo-Saxon biscuits! In the afternoon, we took part in a Moot Trial where we put Mrs Simpson in the stocks! Finally we had a battle - Anglo Saxons vs Vikings - the Anglo-Saxons reigned victorious. It was a brilliant day!
World Book Day
Year 4 had a brilliant time on World Book Day! We had a visit from a chef who cooked healthy snacks based around books and book characters such as The Hungry Caterpillar. We also took part in a book swap and wrote book reviews during Big Write. Of course our favourite part was getting dressed up as our favourite book characters. We looked great!
Decimals and Fractions
We have been learning about decimal and fraction equivalents of any amount of tenths and hundredths. To help us understand this a bit better, we worked in groups to sort out equivalent fractions and decimals into matching pairs. We were really good at it and every group matched them correctly! Some of us played a game called ‘Roll a Fraction’ where we rolled a fraction dice and then matched the fraction on the dice to an equivalent fraction on our sheet. We were really good at it and even beat Mrs Ewart to match 5 correctly!
Anglo Saxon Amulets
We designed and made our own Anglo-Saxon amulets. First, we learnt about why the Anglo-Saxons used amulets - to ward off evil spirits as they were a very superstitious bunch! Next, we designed our own amulets using images of Anglo-Saxon designs. Finally, we made our amulets out of clay and decorated them using paint and jewels. They looked excellent!
Anglo-Saxon Class Assembly
We did our class assembly this term and we were able to show everyone what we had learnt about The Anglo-Saxons. We sang songs, shared facts and told stories. Thank you to everyone for coming to see us - we really enjoyed sharing our learning with you!
Maths Investigation
We completed a Maths investigation where we were game designers testing out a board game similar to Connect 4. We had to use our reasoning and problem solving skills to find errors within the game and then correct them so the game could be won. Once we had completed this, we tested out our games to make sure they worked!
Turning over a new leaf...
During RE, we have been learning about Lent and how Easter marks a time for new beginnings. To reflect this, Year 4 have been 'turning over a new leaf'. We wrote down on a leaf something we do now that we don't like or want to get better at and then turned over the leaf and wrote down what we are now going to do to make a positive change. We will look back at our leaves during Summer term to see who has managed to successfully turn over a new leaf!
RE
We have been learning about symbols Christians use to represent and describe God. We split into groups and were given one of 4 Bible stories - The Lost Son, The Lost Sheep, The Creation Story or The Story of Moses and the Pharaoh. We read the story together as a group and then on a piece of A3 paper we created a spider diagram which explains how each story describes God. We did this using ‘Each One, Teach One’. We nominated one person from each group to move around to the other groups and explain their story and how it describes God and the rest of the group wrote down what they learnt on the spider diagram.
Anglo-Saxon Brooches
We designed and made our own Anglo-Saxon brooches in Art. First, we learnt about why brooches were an important accessory to the Anglo-Saxons - they needed them to keep their tunics fastened as there was no buttons or zips! Next, we designed our brooches based on similar designs found on Anglo-Saxon artefacts. Finally, we made our brooches out of felt and other materials.
Easter Egg Competition
Year 4 took part in the Easter Egg Competition where we designed eggs to represent the 5 R's - resilience, resourcefulness, relationships, reflection and risk taking. Our entries were fantastic! Well done to Ty, George and Liam who all won an Easter egg for their entries.
Anglo-Saxon Shields
We created our own Anglo-Saxon shields during our Art lessons. Shields were extremely important during battles and were used for protection and sometimes as a weapon. We designed our shields based on artefacts we have looked at from the Anglo-Saxon period. We then made our shields from various materials. They looked really authentic!
