Blackfell Primary School

Europe

To kick start our new topic, Discovering Europe, we learnt all about the countries that make up our continent. We were each given a country or group of countries that make up Europe and had a go at identifying the country we had. We then used an atlas to check if we were correct and see where in Europe our country is located and which bodies of water surround it. Finally we worked as a class to put the pieces of Europe together, a bit like a jigsaw, and we created a map of Europe. It was a lot of fun!

International Week - Bollywood Dancing

As part of International Week, Year 4 have been learning about India. We were lucky enough to have a visit from a dance teacher who taught us some Bollywood Dancing. Some of the steps were really tricky but we picked them up no problem. We also learnt some Indian words so we knew the steps we were doing and some of us even felt confident enough to sing along. It was lots of fun!

Holi Festival

During International Week, Year 4 learnt about one of the most important festivals celebrated in Northern India - Holi Festival. We learnt about the origin of the festival and the story it is linked to, how it is celebrated today in India and why paint is such a big part of the celebration. We then created pastel pictures to represent Holi festival and how it is celebrated. We would love to take part, it sounds like great fun!

Oriental Museum

During International Week, Years 3 and 4 went on a joint visit to the Oriental Museum in Durham to learn all about India. First, we spent time looking at artefacts from the main religions followed in India - Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Yak farmers. We then moved into the gallery where we were set a variety of tasks linked to the artefacts on display. In the afternoon, we did some drama where some of the class performed the story of Rama and Sita. We were then treated to a very relaxing meditation session - some of us even fell asleep! Finally, we went back to the classroom and made our own prayer flags which we were able to bring back to school. It was a fantastic day and we learned a lot!

Drama - Journey

We have been learning the story Journey by Aaron Becker. There are no words in Journey, only pictures, so we had to look closely at these to help create the story.  We worked in groups to create a drama performance for this story so we could get to know it better. We all followed the same structure of the story however individual retellings were marked out by added details and embellishments. Each group had different ideas about a scene or character. 

Invertebrate Hunt

Year 4 have been learning about Living Things and Their Habitats in Science this term. We spent a lesson learning about invertebrates and went on an invertebrate hunt around the school environment. We found creatures including ants, worms, woodlice, snails and moths. We brought them back into the classroom with us and studied their features using magnifying glasses. We also looked at the habitats and characteristics of each creature. At the end of the lesson, we released them back to their natural habitat. 

Michaelangelo

As part of our topic on Europe, Year 4 have been learning about famous European artists and designers. We looked at famous Italian artist Michaelangelo and took inspiration from the way he painted the roof of the Sistine Chapel by creating our own masterpieces by lying under the desks! It was really tricky and we have a new appreciation for how tremendous of an artist Michaelangelo was!

Making a Chauri

During International Week, Year 4 were learning about Sikhism which is one of the main religions followed throughout India. We learnt all about the holy book the Guru Granth Sahib and the special object they use to clean the air around the book and turn the pages - the chauri. We created our own chauri and explained why they are a very important Sikh object.

Mendi Hands

During International Week, Year 4 designed mehndi hands. Mehndi is a type of body art from ancient India in which decorative patterns are created on a person's body using a paste created from the henna plant. We created our own designs and drew them in black ink onto our paper hands. They looked great!

Trying Indian Food

To finish off a brilliant International Week, Year 4 were able to try some delicious Indian foods. Miss Henderson bought some poppadoms, mango chutney, tomato and onion chutney, tzatziki, bhajis, samosas, pakoras and different flavours of naans breads and we had a mini picnic in the classroom. We all agreed the poppadoms were our favourite! We then got to spend some time in the kitchen cooking with the chef. She made us paneer and mango skewers, a healthy smoothie and some of us who were feeling brave tried the lime pickle. There was lots of water needed afterwards! 

Mass

We have been looking at different forms of measurement in maths and today we focused on mass. We split into groups and then located 5-7 items from around the classroom that we could weigh. We then decided which one was the lightest item and which was the heaviest then ordered the others in between. Once we had done this, we made estimates for the mass of each item. Finally, we used the scales to weigh the items and see how close our estimates were.

Circuits

Year 4 have been learning about Electricity in Science. We took all of the components that make up a circuit and investigated how to create complete circuits in order for our bulbs to light. We also identified what was wrong with a circuit that didn't work. We have really enjoyed this topic!

Drama - The Firework Maker's Daughter

We have been reading the story The Firework Maker's Daughter in Year 4 which is an Indian folktale. During International Week, we got to know some of the characters from the story better and discussed the plot and characters' feelings and actions by carrying out some drama activities. We then used everything we had learnt to write some character descriptions. They were fantastic!

Rangoli Art

In Maths during International Week, Year 4 created their own rangoli patterns. Rangoli is an art form native to India in which patterns are created on the floor in living rooms and courtyards using materials such as coloured rice, dry flour, coloured sand or flower petals. We looked at the symmetry of the patterns and created our own using a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line of symmetry. They looked fantastic!

Capacity Carousel 

Year 4 have been learning all about measures in Maths. We spent a whole morning completing activities linked to measuring, estimating and calculating capacity. It was lots of fun and we learnt a lot!

Literacy - Using Espresso 

We spent a Literacy lesson in the ICT suite practising our spelling, punctuation and grammar using activities on the Espresso programme. We focused on fronted adverbials, subordination, commas, apostrophes, speech punctuation, expanded noun phrases, pronouns and nouns and spelling rules. We watched videos linked to the area of literacy we were looking at and then completed quizzes and activities linked to what we had seen. It was great fun and we all scored really highly on the quizzes!