English

During the autumn term, the year 4 children have the opportunity to read and write a variety of different genres. The first half of the term focuses on story settings and mystery writing. We use the picture book 'Ocean Meets Sky' to stimulate their imagination and creativity to be able to write fabulous story settings. Using the short film clip titled 'Roads End', which is taken from the website Literacy Shed, the children look at each section in great detail to help them re-write the film clip as a mystery story. The children are able to really delve deeply into the world of descriptive writing.

Guided Reading

Guided Reading is such an exciting subject in year 4. We start by reading the text 'Secrets of a Sun King' which is written by Emma Carroll. The basis of all of our guided reading throughout the autumn term is around this book. It gives the children the opportunity to look closely at the characters and the events that unfold as we read. The children follow the journey of Lil and her quest in trying to return a canopic jar, which she believes is cursed, back to its rightful place in Egypt.

Mathematics

Children begin the Autumn term exploring place value in numbers to 10 000 supported by Maths - No Problem! quality resource using a Mastery approach.  This is followed by addition and subtraction, again in numbers to 10 000.  Alongside this, they work on their factual fluency using Number Sense number fact strategies to improve speed of recall.  These strategies are then applied in the children's maths lessons.

History

In the Autumn Term, we journey back in time to discover the civillisation of Ancient Egypt. The children have learnt about the first pyramids ever built and of how the building of these wonderous structures developed into the likes of The Great Pyramid of Giza. We have ventured down the Nile River, identifying the reasons why Ancient Egyptians chose to settle on its banks and learning of the many uses for the Papyrus reed. The children were thrilled (and a little grossed out) to take part in a mummification activity where they followed the traditional steps involved in the mummification process to mummify a tomato!

Our work on the Ancient Egyptians continues into the second half of the Autumn Term when children focus on the importance of the Gods and the hierarchy of Egyptian rule, finishing with the downfall of this impressive civillisation.

Science

In Science this half term, the children have learnt about 'Humans including Animals'. Within this topic, we have carried out investigations into tooth decay, using hard boiled eggs to mimic the enamel coating our teeth, as well as creating a digestive system using tights, a sandwich bag and a combination of food and drink items. Both Teal and Purple class have loved getting involved in this and using their new knowledge to create investigation questions to then carry out. As part of this topic, have also spent time looking at Food Chains, identifying the Producer, Prey and Predator in a variety of different Food Chains.

In the second half of the Autum Term, children will be looking closely at the topic of 'Electricity' and investigating how a circuit works in order to power a lightbulb, before moving on to create their own battery powered torch in DT!