WC28.11.22

This week has been an extra busy week as Y4, along with other year groups, have completed their first NFER Assessments for the year. I am so so proud of Y4 Manatees as they have approached their assessments with determination and excellence. They have given these assessments their absolute best and this is shown in their results. A huge well-done Manatees, Miss Marsh and I are beyond proud of you all!

Writing

Due to the NFER assessments we have had fewer Writing and Maths lessons, however we have still completed lots of fantastic learning in these subjects. In Writing, we continued to prepare for our alternative event retell. We began the week by using conjunctions to extend writing. Using a wide range of conjunctions is a skill in which we sometimes forget to include in our writing, so this was a really useful lesson to try and help us to incorporate more conjunctions. Our Grammar lesson on Monday was also focussed upon conjunctions so we have had lots of practice this week which has prepared us well for our independent writing. On Wednesday, we planned our independent write focusing on what vocabulary we could use in each of our paragraphs. We then learnt how to turn planning into writing through exploring how to use the different pieces of vocabulary cohesively. On Thursday we then completed our independent write.

Arithmetic

In Arithmetic this week we have recapped some basic skills. We have learnt how to multiply a number by 1 and 0 and how to divide a number by 1 and itself. Although these skills seem relatively simple, it can often be confusing especially when we don't understand what is happening to a number when dividing it by itself for example and this can cause lots of misconceptions. These basic skills are fundamental to Arithmetic success, so it was great to build up our understanding in these areas.

Maths

In Maths this week we have looked at multiplying 3 numbers together. We used arrays to develop our understanding of what calculations such as '3x4x3' look like before completing a skill check to see whether or not we could multiply 3 numbers together. As we have completed lots of work with our times-tables, Y4 Manatees did really well in this lesson. On Friday we moved onto using formal methods to multiply. We recapped our Y3 learning of multiplying a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number without exchanging (e.g. 22x3). This was a great lesson to practice setting out column multiplication which we will be doing lots of in the upcoming week.

Science

In Science this week, we continued with our topic of 'Electricity'. This week we considered how a switch impacts the flow of electricity. We learnt why we need switches and we also looked at the different types of switches we sometimes see. Y4 were fascinated by the different types of switches, referencing when they have seen a certain example before. We then drew scientific diagrams of circuits that included switches which we did a brilliant job at because we had learnt how to draw circuits in last week's Science.

History

In History this week we have continued with our topic entitled 'Roman Republic'. This week we learnt all about The Battle of Zama in which Hannibal's army came face to face with Scipio's army. Scipio was a man who volunteered to lead Rome's army after the First Punic War. He was very determined and focused. We learnt about how Scipio had prepared for Hannibal's war elephants resulting in Hannibal surrendering. Year later, Scipio and Hannibal actually became friends as they respected what each other had achieved as commanders and leaders. This was a truly fascinating lesson, and we can't wait to learn some more next week!

Geography

In Geography this week we have continued with our topic of 'Climate and Biomes'. After learning all about polar and tropical climates, this week we learnt about another climate called the Mediterranean Climate. We learnt that the Mediterranean Climate is not too hot or cold. We looked at data from two regions with a Mediterranean Climate (Turkey and Adelaide). We then plotted data to complete the maximum daily temperatures in these two Mediterranean Climates. This was an ambitious lesson, however Y4 did their very best to produce accurate graphs displaying the data.

Despite a busy week of assessments, Y4 Manatees have still shown their commitment to the school values. Once again, we are so proud of what Y4 have achieved. We hope that everyone has a lovely weekend, and we shall see you all on Monday.

Miss Selman and Miss Marsh