Blackfell Primary School

Welcome to Year 4!

What a great start to the year we've had! Year 4 have spent some time discussing what our rights and responsibilities are in school which we then used to create our own class rules. We also reminded ourselves of what the 5Rs represent and the types of characteristics and behaviours we might show for each. To finish our first week, we loved playing some team building games to help us develop and practise our communication and cooperation skills.

Mamma Mia!

Year 4 have loved exploring music by ABBA this term with their favourite song so far being Mamma Mia (which we are learning to perform). We have compared different songs and identified ABBA’s style indicators to help us recognise their work.

Black History Month

With the theme for Black History Month being 'Saluting our Sisters', Year 4 looked closely at the life of Rosa Parks. We watched a short video biography and collected notes that we could use in our own biographies. To find out more information, we completed a timeline of her life and took part in a little quiz. We loved learning about the impact she had within America and across the world!

The River Nile

In Geography this term, we have been learning all about rivers and decided to do a study on the River Nile. Because we have been learning about Ancient Egypt in History, we already knew how the Nile was used in the past so we used this knowledge to compare how it is used now. We also looked at some key facts including the location of the source and mouth, the length of the Nile and the nearby wildlife. In groups, we worked together to create a short PowerPoint to present to our friends.

The Lost Happy Endings

In Literacy we are currently focusing on the book ‘The Lost Happy Endings’ by Carol Ann Duffy and Jane Ray. To start our unit, we unpicked some of the figurative language the authors used and thought about what it meant. After finishing the book, we sequenced the events as a class and created different freeze frames to develop our understanding of the story.

Great North Museum: Hancock

What a fantastic day we’ve had! Year 4 have loved learning about the Ancient Egyptian afterlife and the mummification process on our visit to the Great North Museum: Hancock. We spent a lot of time in the Egyptian gallery completing a range of different tasks which also included looking at an actual mummified person! Throughout the day, we also toured the other exhibits and made a visit to the planetarium where we explored the idea of life in space.

Exploring Frame Structures

To kickstart our DT unit, we have being investigating how to make strong, stable frame structures using mini marshmallows and cocktail sticks. We all had so much fun and learnt a lot about which shaped frames would be best to use when we make our own pavilions. 

The Phoenix of Persia

Our first Literacy unit has focused on the folktale 'The Phoenix of Persia' by Sally Pomme Clayton. When we were first introduced to the story, we listened to a version with a musical accompaniment using traditional Persian instruments. We stopped at various points to explore the setting and the characters and make predictions about what would happen later in the story. As a part of this lesson we looked at atlases to locate Persia (which is now modern Iran) and unpicked a range of images to see what the country of Iran is like. 

The Bogeyman

For National Poetry Day, Year 4 have loved learning the poem 'The Bogeyman' by Jack Prelutsky. We worked in our house teams to recite different verses of the poem practising our intonation and expression as we spoke. Each group though about how the words should be read and what actions could go alongside them. We loved performing our final edit to the rest of the school.

Disco!

Year 4 had a fantastic time at the school disco! Everyone looked brilliant whether they had their party clothes on or they dressed up in costumes for Halloween! They loved spending time with their friends, dancing to their favourite songs and singing on the karaoke. 

French Verbs

Throughout our unit in French, we will be learning 10 familiar activities that we are able or are not able to do. In this lesson, we learnt the first five activities: to dance, to sing, to cook, to skip and to ride a bike. We practised pronouncing the verbs, spelling them and reading them. Can you tell which verb we are acting out in each picture?

Anti-Bullying Week

The theme for this year's Anti-Bullying Week is 'Make a Noise About Bullying'. To begin with, Year 4 thought about what came to mind when they heard the word 'bullying' and discussed the four types of bullying and where it can happen. Then we listened to a story and at various points we stopped to discussed the characters feelings and actions. By the end of the story, we were able to recognise the significant impact the bully had on the victim but also the impact others can have as 'bystanders'. We thought about what we could do if we saw someone being bullied and who we could talk to. To remind others of the trusted adults we can reach out to, we finished our work by creating some posters to highlight this.

Fun in the snow!

Year 4 loved getting wrapped up and going out in the snow! We all had so much fun playing together and getting creative building different things.

Christmas Party!

Year 3 and 4 had lots of fun this afternoon at their Christmas Party! All the children looked great in their party outfits and enjoyed playing different party games. Corners, ‘Let it Snow’ and Christmas Bingo were amongst the favourites and we even had time to have some party snacks too!

And let there be light!

This half term in Science we are focusing on electricity! Year 4 loved exploring the components of a circuit and working in small groups to make a complete one. They were so excited when the light bulb came on that we had to switch the lights off to get the full effect! We spent time investigating what happens when we add extra batteries to the circuit and we also tried changing the electrical load to a buzzer and a motor.  

World Mental Health Day

After learning about what mental health is, Year 4 spent time being reflective by adding their thoughts and opinions about themselves around a photograph. We talked about how our thoughts and feelings can impact our behaviour and that sometimes these thoughts can be unhelpful and make us feel uncomfortable. To follow on from this, we looked at different strategies to cope with these unhelpful thoughts and discussed why some responses help us more than others. Finally, we thought about one of our own worries and decided on a suitable strategy to help us feel less worried.

Performing Mamma Mia

To conclude our Music unit this term, we performed Mamma Mia to the children in Reception. Year 4 sang so confidently and were given a 10/10 from Reception! Well done, everyone!

Symmetry in Architecture

Year 4 loved exploring symmetry within architecture today as we focused on the Taj Mahal in India. We used tracing paper to help us create a symmetrical image of the famous mausoleum. Not only is there symmetry within the building itself, but the pool in front of the Taj Mahal reflects the beautiful architecture too. With this as inspiration, we also explored reflection using different colours.

How to families differ?

As part of our PSHCE unit on 'Families and Relationships', we have been considering how families vary in this country and around the world. We started our lesson with a quiz about who does what in our house at home, we noticed that each household was different but there were some common similarities too. Then we worked in groups to find out about life for families in other countries and identified similarities and differences which we then shared with out peers.

Non-Chronological Reports

After starting  our unit on non-fiction writing in Literacy, we identified different features within non-chronological reports. We discussed how these features help the text to meet its purpose (to inform and explain). In small groups, we looked at examples of non-chronological reports and identified the key features in each such as headings, subheadings, pictures, captions and technical vocabulary.

Christmas Pavilions

Within DT we have designed and made our own Christmas themed pavilions. Once we were happy that our frame was strong and stable, we applied cladding and decorative features. It was a great team effort from everybody and we're all very proud of how they turned out!