This half term Year 4 have been learning about electricity. We carefully planned an investigation to find out which materials were conductors and insulator of electricity. We choose the materials we wanted to test and discuss how we were going to make it a fair test.
During the investigation, we created a simple circuit and tested each material within the circuit. We discovered if the bulb lit up then the material was allowing electricity to pass through it, so it must be a conductor of electricity. When the bulb did not light up we learnt that the material must be an insulator because it did not let the electricity pass through it therefore, making the circuit incomplete.
Take a look at some of the different materials we choose to investigate!
Yesterday in Year 4 we started our lesson by sharing and looking at the ‘Jigsaw Charter’ to reinforce and help them understand how we work together.
We played a bingo game – ‘Meet & Greet’. This game helps the children become more aware of all the similarities and differences they have with their class friends.
Next we all took part in the ‘Calm Me’ activity to help the children’s minds calm down so that they were ready to learn.
During the main part of the lesson we completed an activity called ‘Open my mind’. This encourages the children to understand what it feels like to be included and excluded from a team/group and reinforces the need for everyone to be included and feel part of the class team.
We have started a new scheme throughout the school which is called Jigsaw and will be following a new structure for PHSE lessons.
This week with year 3,4,5 and 6 I put up a PowerPoint example of a learning charter and explained about our rights and responsibilities which create a learning environment, in which everyone can learn well. I explained when people take their responsibilities seriously, they can gain rewards. When they do not, there are consequences.
Children in groups created their own learning charter.
With Year 1 and 2 we did the ‘Calm Me’ time which develops mindfulness using breathing techniques, awareness exercises and visualisation. We then did circle time and introduced a new Jigsaw ‘Friend’ and mentioned that he/she will be part of their class and they will have to look after it.
We discussed the reason as to why the ‘Friend’ could be nervous and the children gave their own explanations.
On Thursday 18th January, Year 4 visited Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to find out about the Anglo Saxons.
We started the day exploring the many levels of the museum. After lunch, we visited the Staffordshire Hoard, which is the largest hoard of gold ever found in Litchfield and it belonged to the Anglo Saxons.
During our workshop, we took part in many activities to understand how archaeologists dug up the artefacts and also how the conservation team at the museum recreated some of the pieces of jewellery to be displayed in the museum for everyone to enjoy.
This week Year 4 have been learning about fractions and how to find a non-unit fraction of an amount. On Friday, we applied our knowledge within a problem using Smarties. We shared the Smarties in to equal groups by dividing the amount by the denominator. Then we multiplied by the numerator to find our final answer. It was great fun and we even got to eat some Smarties when we solved the answer accurately!
Today a new group of children started Forest School sessions. This group of children are all in Year 4. The children made a great start, it was brilliant to see them making good use of the area.
This week in Year 4 we have looked at a variety of different instruments and how they make different sounds. After discussing the instruments we decided which instrument we wanted to make using a range of different materials. Lots of us made guitars, some of us made a drum kit out of plastic bottles and some made wind pipes using plastic straws.
We also explored how sound travels over a distance using a string telephone. We used 2 paper cups and string to make our telephones. Then we investigated how the sound vibrations passed along the string. We took it in turns with our partner to talk into the cup at one end of the string and listen carefully to what are partner was saying.
Take a look at our instruments and string telephones.
On Monday, Year 4 visited the Roman Lunt Fort to learn new and interesting facts about the Romans. When we arrived at the fort, we had to use a secret password to enter.
During our visit, we learnt about life as a Roman solider and their many different duties.
Codie was lucky enough to try on the Roman body armour, helmet and shield and we also learnt what they were called in Latin.
In the afternoon, we learnt how to fight like a real Roman solider. We used a wooden shield and sword to attack the rotten Celts!
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