Literacy

In literacy, we will start by looking at stories about imaginary worlds. Children will:• Using Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl, children familiarise themselves with

features of narrative, finding examples from the book and through role play and hot-seating. Focus on direct speech and use the features and format they have seen to plan and write their own fantastic stories.

Year 4 - Spring Term (1st Half) 2015

We will then move onto myths and legends. Children will:• Become familiar with a range of Greek Myths, The Orchard Book of Greek Myths by Geraldine McCraughrean, Greek Myths by Marcia Williams. Use them to study powerful verbs, verb tenses, use of first and third person, paragraphs and ways of showing dialogue. Children draw story maps to learn a Greek Myth off by heart and to retell another myth in written form.

Finally, we will be learning how to write recounts. Children will:• Explore The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean. Act out swap stories, learn about adverbials and recounts using past tense and first person and chronological order. Write a new version of The Diary of a Killer Cat, by Anne Fine, using recount features and complex sentences. The Hamilton Group Reader, The Diary of a Lively Labrador, is used to stretch more confident readers.

This half term, Year 4 will:• Tell the time on a 24 hour clock, using am and pm correctly; convert pm times to 24

hour clock and vice versa; use 24 hour clock in calculating intervals of time; measure and calculate perimeters of rectilinear shapes where each side is labelled in cm and m; find missing lengths in rectilinear composite shapes; find the perimeters of rectilinear shapes with some lengths not marked; convert from one unit of length to another; solve word problems involving lengths including those involving perimeters

• Recognise and compare acute, right and obtuse angles; draw lines of a given length; identify perpendicular and parallel lines; recognise and draw line symmetry in shapes; sort 2D shapes according to their properties; draw shapes with given properties and explain reasoning; draw the other half of symmetrical shapes.

• Recognise and compare acute, right and obtuse angles; draw lines of a given length; identify perpendicular and parallel lines; recognise and draw line symmetry in shapes; sort 2D shapes according to their properties; draw shapes with given properties and explain reasoning; draw the other half of symmetrical shapes.

• Recognise, use, compare and order decimal numbers; understand place value in decimal numbers; recognise that decimals are tenths; round decimals numbers to the nearest whole number; divide 2-digit numbers by 10 to get decimal numbers; multiply decimal numbers by 10 to get 2-digit numbers; divide 3-digit multiples of ten by 100 to get decimal numbers; multiply decimal numbers by 100 to get 3-digit multiples of ten; add four digit numbers using written method with answers greater than 10 000

• Add amounts of money using written methods and mentally using place value and number facts; choose to add using the appropriate strategy: mental or written; subtract, choosing appropriate mental strategies: counting up or taking away (using counting back, place value or number facts); solve subtractions using a suitable written method (column subtraction)

Maths

This half term we will continue to learn about sound. Children will already know many things about sound, even without any formal teaching of it. They will encounter how sounds are made on a variety of instruments and how they can be changed in volume, pitch and over distance. They will explore making sounds on a range of objects that aren’t instruments, in order to investigate how sounds are created to make music.

If we manage to finish sound, we will be moving onto states of matter…

Science

We are musicians - Producing digital music

Computing

E-safety: The pupils will think about copyright when sourcing audio or publishing their own compositions. We will discuss how copyright relates to music performed in school as well as illegal downloading and sharing of copyrighted music.

Skills: communicating, creating, programming, searching the web

Vocabulary: audiocompositioncopyrightdigitalinstrumentspitchsamplesequencingsoftware

In this unit, the children will explore and compare different music genres. They will produce digital music suitable for a specific purpose using a software program called Audacity.

Topic

This half term we will start looking at the Vikings! We will start by finding out who the Vikings were - we will learn about Viking raids and invasions, discover the chronological place of this key era in the history of Britain and find out how we know about the Vikings. We will then move onto finding out where the Vikings came from and why they invaded. This will be done through map work, and we will also learn about Viking routes and settlements in the British Isles. Next, we will discover what made the Vikings successful. We will consider the experience of a Viking raid from the Anglo-Saxon perspective, and design posters and write letters based on our knowledge. Moving on from that we will learn about Viking warriors: their names, beliefs and weapons – we will then make our own Viking shield.

MusicWe will be exploring melodies and scales in music this half term. We will be doing the following activities:

• Follow the pitch movement of the melody in the song ‘Jibber Jabber’• Identify leaps in a melody by ear• Demonstrate leaps in a melody using whole body movements• Work out melodic intervals in ‘Simple Melody’ by ear• Invent melodies from a set of intervals• Perform and record the new melodies• Learn ‘Skye Boat Song’ and discuss the phrases• Learn to play the melody of the verse by ear• Record a performance of ‘Skye Boat Song’ with groups playing the

melody and adding sound effects• Identify and learn a scale passage in a melody• Learn to sing the first melody from Do-Re-Mi and use Kodaly hand signs• Learn the second melody from Do-Re-Mi• Discuss the structure of the complete Do-Re-Mi song• Learn to perform a melodic ostinato accompaniment with the second

melody in Do-Re-Mi• Perform the complete Do-Re-Mi song• Sing the song ‘Jibber Jabber’• Learn a second voice part and xylophone accompaniment to ‘Jibber

Jabber’• Appraise a performance of Jibber Jabber

Art/DT

We will be using the Vikings as our focus for art and DT this half term. We will be using a range of skills, including independent researching, accurate cutting and sticking, sketching and tying.

Using these skills, we will be creating Viking longboats, Viking jewellery and Viking weapons.

RE

For this half term we will be learning about Jesus as an adult. The children will learn:• About the early life of Jesus• The concept of friendship• About the 12 disciples and their personal qualities• Some of the key beliefs of Jesus• That Christians believe that Jesus shows what God is like• To identify some symbolic language used to describe Jesus• What parables and miracles are• The key message of the ‘Good Samaritan’ through in-depth study

PE and games

PSHE

Alongside swimming (which will finish at half term), Yr4will be doing cheerleading this half term. An outside organisation will be coming in and taking the class for 6 Lessons - with a performance at the end!

We will be looking at how it is ‘good to be me’. This will include:• Feeling good about myself• Hopeful and disappointed• Hiding feelings• Being assertive• Drugs education

  Handed out Collected in

Literacy Monday Thursday

Maths Thursday Monday

PE is on a Wednesday and swimming is on a Thursday. Please make sure you have the correct kit, labelled and in school all

week. Earrings must be removed for PE.