Fir Class 2019/20

Welcome to Year 4! I hope you all had a fantastic summer and are ready to get back to school! We have an exciting journey to go on this half term! 

We will continue to be using Class Dojo this year to reward positive behaviours. When a child reaches a multiple of 100 (eg. 100,200, etc), they will be able to spin the 'Wheel of Fortune' and receive a reward for their achievement! I will also be putting up pictures of activities the children are taking part in over the year, so please do make sure you are linked to the class! 

Vocabulary 
This year, we are having a school-wide push on vocabulary. This will take the form of vocabulary lessons as part of guided reading sessions, and taking the time to really think about what each word means. We will be thinking about 'shades of meaning' - the small, subtle differences between two words that mean almost the same thing.

Don't be afraid to use big words with your children, the more vocabulary they are exposed to, the more likely they are to use clear and exciting words to make themselves understood. 

English 

In English this half term, we will be reading 'The Egyptian Cinderella' by Shirley Climo. 

"Poor Rhodopis! She has nothing - no mother or father, and no friends. She is a slave, from  from the far-off country of Greece. Only the beautiful rose-red slippers her master gives her can make Rhodopis smile. So when a falcon swoops down and snatches one of the slippers away, Rhodipis is heartbroken. For how is she to know that the slipper will land in the lap of the great Pharoah himself? And who would ever guess that the Pharoah has promised to find the slipper's owner and make her queen of all Egypt?"

We will be basing our own adventure story based on this exciting story. I will be looking for: 

• Use of expanded noun phrases
• Use of fronted adverbials for where 
• Inverted commas and other punctuation to show direct speech
• Paragraphs to order writing
• A joined handwriting style throughout work 

Guided Reading
There will be 2 sessions a week, the first of which will concentrate on vocabulary, and the second session will give the children a chance to show and discuss their understanding of the texts they read. They will be asked questions using 'VIPERS' strategies. 

Maths
We will begin the year by practicing and extending our place value skills. We will cover the following objectives: 

• Count in multiples of  25 and 1000.
• Read and write numbers to at least 10 000.
• Recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number.
• Identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations (including the number line).
• Order and compare numbers beyond 1000.
• Round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1000.
• Read Roman numerals to 100 and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value.
• Select a mental strategy appropriate for the numbers involved in the calculation.

PE
We will be taking part in swimming lessons for our PE sessions until February. The sessions will be on a Monday morning, and the children will be transported to and from the lessons by coach accompanied by school staff.
Children will need to bring swimming costumes, towels and swimming hats. Please, no goggles to be bought to lessons. If you do not have a swimming hat and are not able to purchase one prior to the lessons beginning, the hats cost £1.25 at the pool and can be purchased on the day. 
All inhalers will be taken with the children and supervised by myself.

History and Geography
We will begin the year by journeying into the exciting - and sometimes a little gory! - world of Ancient Egypt. We will think about mummification, important Pharaohs and why was the Nile so important? The children will be able to take part in their own research about iconic people in Ancient Egyptian history and think about the impact this civilisation had. 

Later in the half term, we will move onto Geography and the water cycle and rivers. We will take a practical approach and create our own 'plastic bag' water cycles so the children can see the process clearly. We will also have a visiting workshop from United Utilities to give us some interesting facts about this. 

Religious Education

At Sacred Heart, RE is at center of everything we do.
This half term, we will be exploring 'God's People' and how we can follow their example. We will be thinking about how feelings and beliefs affect behaviour. We will be using Caritas in Action, CAFOD and Come and See to explore this. 

Science 

In Science, we will be learning about States of Matter. We will be covering the following objectives: 

• Compare and group materials together, according to whether they are solids, liquids or gases.
•  Observe that some materials change state when they are heated or cooled, and measure or research the temperature at which this happens in degrees Celsius (°C).
•  Identify the part played by evaporation and condensation in the water cycle and associate the rate of evaporation with temperature.
•  Solids, liquids and gases can be identified by their observable properties.
•  Solids have a fixed size and shape (the size and shape can be changed but it remains the same after the action).
•  Liquids can pour and take the shape of the container in which they are put.
•  Liquids form a pool not a pile.
•  Solids in the form of powders can pour as if they were liquids but make a pile not a pool.
• Gases fill the container in which they are put.
•  Gases escape from an unsealed container.
• Gases can be made smaller by squeezing/pressure.
•  Liquids and gases can flow.

ICT
ICT will be taught on a Wednesday morning by Mrs Sargent.