Summer Term in Year 4 - Half termly letter
English
This half term we will be studying the book ‘The Iron Man.’ We will be looking at Ted Hughes’ style of writing and try to imitate this to describe our own fantasy creatures. We will focus on drafting, assessing and refining our language to ensure we are using the best vocabulary and examples in all of our work. We will also write poetry, persuasive letters and news reports inspired by events in the story. Finally we will write a comparison piece to evaluate the similarities and differences between ‘The Iron Man’ and ‘The Iron Giant’.
Maths
We have an exciting half-term of mathematics ahead where we will be covering a variety of topics. We will begin by looking at measurements including converting between different units of measure for weight, length and capacity. Following this we will explore geometry covering the following themes: angles; shape and symmetry; position and direction.
Science
We will study living things and their habitats. We will learn how to recognise the different ways that different living things can be grouped and use identification keys to help categorise a variety of animals. We will also explore our local environment to classify the living things in our habitat and creating our own identification keys. Finally we will look at how our local environment is changing and how this may affect its inhabitants.
Computing
We will use a program called ‘Hopscotch’ to create a simulation of a toy. We shall also be using stop animation and movie maker in a special project linked to our English text.
Topic
Our new topic theme is: ‘What are the effects of Tudor Exploration?’ We will explore when the Tudors existed in history in relation to our previous topics. We will also look at significant historical figures of the British Empire during that time and compare them to other significant Brits. We will then delve into The Age of Exploration by looking at what exploration is, who did significant explorative voyages, and what benefits they had upon the British Empire.
Art/DT
Our art and DT will link to our book, ‘The Iron Man’. We will complete a special project combining ICT and DT to create a moving storyboard of the book. We will then use stop animation to create our own video synopsis of the book.
PSHE
We will explore the following; issues that face people with disabilites; strategies to deal with peer pressure; compare our rights and responsibilities from home, school and the wider community; how to successfully deal with conflict and finally how to recognise the signs of choking and how to administer first aid appropriately in that situation.
Spanish
We will be expanding our knowledge on the verb “to be” in Spanish and we will be using the adjectives we have previously studied to start forming simple sentences.
PE
4B will be learning how to play tennis and 4M will be learning to play cricket with our PE coaches.
Music
We will continue using Charanga to explore new musical knowledge. The children will use their voices and instruments to learn how to read music and alter their performance of a piece. Our focus song will be Blackbird by the Beatles.
RE
This term we will be learning about Hinduism; learning the story of Holika and Prahlad and how it links with the festival of Holi. We will talk about how statues of Hindu gods and goddesses show different things about what Hindus believe about God and start to draw comparisons with other religions that we are familiar with.
Trips and Special Events
Golden Hinde residential trip – 24th-25th May.
PE ‘Inspire Day’ to learn about archery.
Reminders
Please keep up the good work with Mathletics as this supports classroom learning.
Please have PE kits at school everyday.