Year 4 – Autumn Term

Literacy

We will be following the National Literacy Strategy, and will cover the following:

Word Level

High frequency words, Look, Say, Cover, Check, handwriting, dictionary and thesaurus work, alphabetical order, homophones, verb endings, read and spell words through a variety of strategies, compound words, suffixes, synonyms, and various new spelling patterns.

Sentence Level

Full stops and capital letters, commas in lists, past and present tenses, functions of verbs, speech marks, question marks and ways of presenting text, re-reading own work for grammatical accuracy, adverbs, commas to mark grammatical boundaries, paragraphs and to read playscripts, using the grammar to indicate the meaning of the text.

Text Level

Writing a non-chronological report, exploring narrative order, use different ways of planning stories, instruction writing, identifying features of a non-fiction text, comparing and contrasting poems on similar themes, writing simple stories, and preparing, reading and performing playscripts.

Numeracy

We will be following the National Numeracy Strategy, and will cover:

  • place value
  • addition facts
  • subtraction
  • fractions
  • multiplication (as repeated addition)
  • doubling and halving
  • relationship between × and ÷
  • multiples of 5 and 10
  • properties of number
  • 2D shape
  • length
  • handling data
  • time

We will also be learning the 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables in class.

Science

Our Science topic is Moving and Growing and Circuits and conductors.  The children will learn about:

  • the main functions of the skeleton
  • the main characteristics of bones
  • how bones change as we grow
  • how muscles work in pairs
  • what makes a complete circuit
  • how electricity can be dangerous
  • the terms conductors and insulators
  • using a working  switch in a circuit
  • the need for more power to control more things.

History

We will be learning about Ancient Greece in our History topic.  We will learn:

  • to understand who the Ancient Greeks were
  • to appreciate the influence of gods and goddesses on Ancient Greek life
  • to understand how we know about the Ancient Greeks today
  • to learn what it was like living in Athens
  • to learn what it was like living in Sparta
  • to consider similarities and differences between Athens and Sparta
  • to learn that the Greeks built temples to many gods and goddesses to help       protect their cities
  • to appreciate daily life in Ancient Greece
  • to appreciate how the Olympics in Ancient Greece differs from the modern Olympics.

Geography

We will be looking at Village Settlers in Geography this term.  The children will:

  • understand what we need to survive
  • relate what we need to survive to what a house provides for us
  • learn what a village is
  • use maps to consider the make up of a village and highlight the essential component parts
  • understand why and how villages develop over time
  • understand villages need to be linked to survive
  • use knowledge to design a village.

ICT

This term the children will:

  • revise basics in Word processing
  • use Microsoft Word to produce a portfolio of themselves
  • use Imagine Logo to command the screen turtle to draw specific shapes
  • use Starting Graph to display data collected
  • create a tree diagram to organise information
  • design a card in Colour Magic, save and import into Microsoft Publisher.

Art

The focus in Art this term is to develop skills, and look at different artists.  The children will be:

  • using colour, shape and texture
  • using myths as a stimulus
  • looking at different cultures
  • applying and using different processes
  • clay work
  • looking at the work of Bridget Riley
  • looking at “Starry Night” by Van Gogh

DT

In addition to Art, we also have a DT project this term which is on designing and constructing an object that requires a working circuit.  The children are taught about materials and processes used in Art, craft and how these can be matched to ideas and intentions.

PSHE

The PSHE topic for the term is “Healthy Relationships”.  The children will look at:

  • Who am I?
  • What can I tell you about my family?
  • understanding that we all have different moods.
  • reflecting on the concept of fairness
  • reflecting on the qualities that make a good friend
  • discussing what bullying is and how it can hurt people
  • beginning the process of personal behaviour management
  • being multi-culturally aware
  • exploring the importance of creative listening in relationships
  • considering the impact of jealousy on relationships and devising strategies for dealing with jealousy.

RE

In RE, the children will be focussing on Hinduism.  They will look at:

  • what Hindus teach their children about God
  • the Hindu idea of God in many forms
  • what a shrine is and why it is important in the Hindu home
  • what happens in a mandir