Sunday 28 September 2014

Crabtree votes!

What another busy week we've had in Year 4.

A very quick update just to let you know Year 4s voted for their head boy and head girl as well as their school council rep this week. We had the opportunity to celebrate democracy in style with actual voting booths which Mrs Clements managed to borrow from the council! The children were indeed very excited.

Thursday was also an action packed day with Year 4 taking part in a science day. The topic on sound was introduced literally with a bang as well as with some dancing rice, thunder makers and whacky wind tubes! We also made good use of our data loggers where the children could literally measure the volume of their voices in decibels. The Year 4 team hoped that more than one learning objective here would be achieved! :-)

Hopefully Thursday inspired the children to complete their homework project on sound , although this isn't due until week Monday.

We also finished the week with a fabulous afternoon celebrating the European Day of languages. Birch went to the Seychelles and Ash to Belgium!

Let's see what next week as in store for us!

On a different note, thank you to all children who are trying hard to present their homework nearly. A gentle reminder that we would appreciate all children having the same commitment. Handwriting is a real focus in Year 4 at the moment and so we would appreciate it if all children could take care with their standard of presentation for work completed both in and out of school.

Finally, our glue stick supplies have already greatly diminished and so we would appreciate it if you could ensure your child has one in their pencil case.  Thank you very much for your support.

Have a lovely week!

Mrs Renier and the Year 4 team.




Friday 19 September 2014

Wonderful writing, magnificent maths and more!

We've come to the end of week 3 already! How time is flying by!

This week year 4  produced some wonderful writing based on two scenes from 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe'. We were really impressed by their imaginative descriptions and use of interesting vocabulary. Well done year 4, a great start to the term!

Towards the end of the week, we began our new topic based on information texts. The children have had the opportunity to experience and enjoy lots of examples of information texts and next week they will be working towards writing their own. If you would like to help your child prepare for this at home, it would be helpful to have a look at a variety of information texts (information books, newspaper reports etc), discuss the key features of each and the type of language used.

In Maths, Miss Clements class showed fantastic group work skills, working together effectively to help Lewis Hamilton scale his toy car up to ten times its original size. Some excellent measuring skills and group discussions enabled all the children to achieve a successful outcome. Have a look how they got on!








Please remember waterproof coats and snacks for swimming on Monday. We hope you have a good weekend.

The year 4 team.

Friday 12 September 2014

Wonderful Week 2!

Narnia day and more...

It's been another exciting week in year 4. On wednesday we had our Big Bang Narnia Day. It was fantastic to see all of the children dressed as characters (and some as the wardrobe!) from the story. Thank you to everyone who helped with costumes!

During the day the children took part in a drama session where they acted out the two opening scenes of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. The session was based around 'physical theatre' which meant that no props were allowed and any objects in the scene had to be created using only their bodies. Working in groups, they created some very impressive wardrobes and forest scenes!

The children also took part in a 'Fine Art' session. They began by drawing the outline of Aslan, the wardrobe and the Narnia scene and later used paints to block colour the different sections. Next week, we will be using oil pastels to add detail. We look forward to sharing these with you!

Have a look at our progress below:



 
Please don't forget that homework and reading records are due on Monday and also to bring swimming kits, a snack and a waterproof coat.

We hope you have an enjoyable weekend,

The year 4 team.

Friday 5 September 2014

Welcome back!


First of all, we would like to welcome you all to year 4! We have had an enjoyable few days back after the summer break and we hope that the children are beginning to feel settled into their new classes.
This week we kick-started our Narnia topic. It was great to hear that many of you had read 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' over the summer and consequently the children were engaged, enthused and ready to go, many of them experts on the plot and the main characters already. Thank you for your support!
Next week, we will be continuing with the story. If you would like to help your children prepare at home, watching the film version of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' would be really helpful in giving an overview of the plot. Later in the week, we will also be discussing the personalities and feelings of the main characters and will be writing a scene from the perspective of Edmund. It may be helpful if you are able to discuss how Edmund feels throughout the story, so that the children have lots of ideas to share with the rest of the class.  
Next week we will be hosting our ‘Meet the Teacher’ presentation after school on Monday. Please come along and hopefully we will be able to answer any questions you may have!
In advance of this, we would also like to remind you of the importance of children having healthy snacks at morning break time as it helps them to maintain their focus until lunch. This is especially important on swimming days. Please don’t forget swimming begins this Monday! Thank you to those parents who have volunteered to walk to Aldwickbury with us.
 
We wish you a lovely weekend.
The year 4 team.

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