Year 4 took their maths outside to investigate if people with longer arms can throw further. Each person threw the beanbag three times and recorded their measurements. We then found the average distance thrown for each child and recorded this data on a bar chart. We measured each others arms to see if people with longer arms did throw the furthest.
During Creativity week Year 4 listened to different pieces of music from the Carnival of the Animals. We guess which piece of music represented each animal and discussed which instruments were used to show large and small and fast and slow animals. We then experimented with a range of instruments to produce different sounds. We worked as a group to create a sound story using different rhythms and instruments. In our story we created a calm sea filled with playful fish, which ended with a shark attack.
We have started our preparations for Carnival week by getting creative and making giant paper mache fish. The children had to work together in groups of 3 to cover a balloon in newspaper and PVA glue. We left the glue to dry over the weekend, so that we can decorate them for our carnival parade on Friday.
After a busy morning finding out about the different types of activities we would be doing at Woodlands and starting our diaries, we finally set off. When we arrived and found our suitcases and all of our 
belongings, the next thing was to find our bedrooms and sort our beds out. Once our sleeping bags and pillows were in place, we set off to find explore the facilities.
The staff gave us a safety talk before we split into our 2 groups and taking us to the zip wire and the assault course. Once we were all kitted out with harnesses and safety helmets we all waited to complete the zip wire, even Mrs Hall and Miss Hughes took their turn and completed the zip wire. The group doing the assault course had just as much fun getting muddy and wet on the cargo nets and doing the over and under beams. They even found some mud with better cleansing properties than the local Spa! As it was national hug a tree day everyone had to find and hug all the trees as well as give them a name. Soon it was time to swap over activities and head back to the dorms and get cleaned up and start preparing tea for that evening;
Jerk Quorn Chicken and Caribbean Peas and Rice
All too soon it was bedtime and we eventually fell asleep.
The next day, we were all up bright and early and after a hearty breakfast of toast and cereals we were ready to face the day’s activities. In the morning we attacked the climbing and abseiling wall. We were split into groups of six and sent to a wall. Each climbing wall differed in complexity and the children really had to think about where the next foot or hand hole/grip was that they could use. Everyone climbed higher than they thought they could and everyone reached their aim with a little encouragement. Although not everyone completed the abseil, everyone made it to the top of the tower and got their heels over the edge of the platform.
With lots of encouragement from the children Mrs Hall was able to overcome her phobia of heights and abseil down the wall. Massive thanks for the encouragement guys!
After lunch was the activity that was for most of us the most fun the canoeing. It was hard work making the canoe go in a straight line or just move, but once we got the hang of it and some of us got used to the water splashing our faces we were ready to race. After we had a few races the real fun began, a game of fruit salad. We were all give a fruit and when our fruit was called out we had to swap seats with another person. The last person standing was splashed by everyone in the group. It was great fun and everyone got a thorough soaking.
Tea for the night was Paella.
We had a scavenger hunt followed by hot chocolate and snacks whilst sat around the camp fire. It was really cosy. As the soon began to set and our eyelids began to droop it was time to head indoors. Before long our heads were on the pillows and we were fast asleep. The day’s activities had tired us out.
In Year 4 this week we have been practising our debating skills as part of our topic on the blue abyss. We began by researching the coral reef and reading ‘Where the forest meets the sea’. This gave us lots of ideas about why it would be exciting to visit the Great Barrier Reef but also why a hotel might be a bad idea,
We sorted facts and opinions into two sides of an argument- those for building a new hotel, the Aquis Resort, and those against. We then split into 2 groups, presented our side of the argument and tried to persuade the other side to change their mind.
It was a very heated debate and we showed how good we are at making our point and giving evidence.
The Big Read Book Bench
During art lessons children have been working in groups to help decorate St Clement’s Book Bench, which will be part of ‘The Big Read’ an educational event during the 16th July until 13th September 2016.
The book bench has been decorated with well-known characters from famous children’s books. Have a look at the pictures below do you recognise any of them?
The book bench will be displayed in a secret location in Birmingham’s city centre giving everyone the opportunity to enjoy children’s creativity and love for reading.
Make sure you go out and find our book bench this summer. It will be an unmissable creative event!
Today in Year 4 we had a visit from Aston fire fighters. They taught us all about fire safety and how to spot fire hazards in our homes. We also learnt the safest route to leave our house if there is a fire and what to do if we hear our smoke alarm going off. We learnt that fire fighters have to wear special clothes to keep themselves protected from the fire. Some children were lucky enough to try on the special uniform.
The message to remember is ‘Get out, stay out, call out!’
Year 4 have been getting creative and working in the style of the famous artist Wassily Kandinsky. We used 2D shapes to create musical instruments and bright colours to imitate his unique style. Hopefully you will see our interesting artwork around school.
During Maths week we made biscuits and sold them at our fair to raise money for Christian Aid. We used grid method to scale up the recipe and we worked to a budget. We practice fractions by finding fractions of amounts and fractions of shapes. We used this knowledge to ice fractions of our biscuits. We sold our biscuits for 30p each or four for £1.
On Monday, Year 4 were lucky enough to take part in an exciting poetry workshop led by Language Alive. We imagined ourselves in the future, in 2020, when the president has made outrageous laws, including making poetry illegal. We worked in role as undercover newspaper reporters to infiltrate the poet’s gang and find out his plan. In our role, we learnt the poetry rules and used them to make our own poems. We made up new words to describe ordinary objects, used our feet to feel the beat and had great fun thinking of new ways to describe a spider. It was a fantastic afternoon and it has inspired us to work on our own poems and songs this week.
