Year 4 Spring 2022-23
What is sound?
For this half term, our unit in Science is all about sound! Today we spent some time investigating what sound is and looking at the visible vibrations objects make as they make a noise. We had lots of fun making different observations.
NSPCC Number Day
To celebrate Number Day with the NSPCC, Year 4 worked in small groups to complete a range of challenges linked to multiplication and division. We had to think logically, find multiple solutions and put our times table knowledge to the test! Some of us used practical resources to help us find a solution and others drew out the problem visually on whiteboards. We had a lot of fun! In addition to this, we took part in the national Timestable Rockstar challenge to compete for the highest average of correct answers.
Children's Mental Health Week
For Children’s Mental Health Week, Year 4 had lots of fun exploring the theme ’Let’s Connect’. We considered who we would connect with on a day-to-day basis and the impact these connections had on ourselves as well as others. Then we learnt more about one another by playing games such as Bingo and Guess Who? Towards the end of the week, we also worked together with Year 3 to attempt the ‘Jerusalema Challenge’. It was a lot of fun trying to help each other learn the steps and complete the dance.
Snowman Competition!
We had 'snow' much fun building our snowmen as part of a school wide competition! We worked together really well and had some great strategies to collect and compact the snow. Year 4 were delighted when we were announced the Key Stage 2 winners!
Wellbeing Workshop
Year 3 and 4 came together and took part in a wellbeing workshop with our school nursing team. They discussed different emotions and how they make us feel physically and mentally. Then they tried a range of strategies to help manage difficult emotions. We were all very impressed with the children's participation and contributions to discussions.
Who was buried at Sutton Hoo?
To kickstart our History unit about the Anglo Saxons, Year 4 became archaeologists and investigated a range of sources which were uncovered at Sutton Hoo. We used the sources to learn about who we thought had been buried there and what life was like for the Anglo-Saxons. We determined that they were keen fighters as well as being skilled in metal work and they also enjoyed items which were decorative as well as practical.
Safer Internet Day
With the theme for Safer Internet Day being ‘Want to talk about it? Making space for conversations about life online’, we participated in different activities which provided opportunities for discussion about how the children spend their time online and what experiences they’ve had. As a class we created ‘The Alpha-net’ (an alphabet of anything related to life online); we ranked different online issues from those which posed the lowest risk to children our age to the highest risk and we had a ‘snowball fight’ where we threw questions we had around the classroom which our peers then answered.
Tectonic Oreos
This term in Geography, Year 4 have been learning all about volcanoes. As part of this, we have been investigating how tectonic plates can cause volcanoes to form or to erupt. To help us understand how tectonic plates move, we used Oreos! The biscuit acted as the Earth's crust and the cream inside acted as the Earth's mantle. We practised moving the 'crust' in different ways to mimic tectonic plates.
The Last Supper
Within our RE lessons, we have started to look at the importance of Easter. We've begun by looking at the significance of the Last Supper within the Easter story and how Jesus told his disciples he had been betrayed but commanded them to love each other when he was gone. Year 4 enjoyed re-enacting the supper and thinking about how they could put their own friends first in future.
How is Easter celebrated?
To conclude our RE unit about the significance of Good Friday, we recapped what we had already learnt about the Easter story and the importance of Jesus’ resurrection. We recognised Easter is a time to celebrate new life and how this is represented within the Easter story. Then we looked at different ways Christians around the world celebrate Easter and had a go at some of these ourselves.
NSPCC Assembly
Mrs Reynolds joined us to deliver an assembly all about the NSPCC. We learnt about how the charity helps keep children safe by promoting the message 'Speak Out, Stay Safe'. Together, we thought about who our trusted adults were and found out how we can contact the NSPCC and Childline if we ever felt unsafe or worried. We loved learning a little routine to help us memorise the phone number.
How far can sound travel?
As part of our last lesson on sound, Year 4 have been thinking about how far a sound travels before we stop hearing it. We set up a mini investigation outside where we all started near a drum and moved further away until we stopped hearing it. We repeated the same activity with a speaker. Although we didn’t stop hearing the sound at the same time, we all stopped hearing the sound at some point. We thought about why this happened and considered sound waves like ripples when you drop a stone into a pond; the further they go, the weaker they become until they have no energy at all.
World Book Day!
Year 4 have loved celebrating World Book Day! During the morning, we joined Reception to share their favourite books and help them make a book mark to take home. We loved working alongside the younger children to enjoy a range of stories together. In the afternoon, we spent some time sharing our favourite characters and books with one another by completing some reviews. We also designed our own book covers for the story we wrote based on Coraline. To finish the day, we competed in teams to carry out a scavenger hunt in the library. We've all had so much fun!
Changing State
In Science, Year 4 have been investigating how solids, liquids and gases can change state. We've investigated the best temperature to melt wax using thermometers to measure the temperature and stopwatches to measure how long it took to melt (if at all). As well as this, we set up some mini experiments to explore how water can change to/from ice or water vapour. We were surprised to discover how much water is lost from a kettle as water vapour when it boils and how quickly ice melted when salt was added.
