Year 4 Class News

Observational Drawing and Colour Wheels

Posted on Friday 12 November 2021 by Mrs Freeman

As part of our Art topic, the children have been participating in some observational drawing techniques.

What is observational drawing? 
Observational drawing is where you draw something right in front of you. Anything can be drawn from observation – this could be a bowl of fruit, a landscape, or a person. Rather than drawing from memory or what’s in your head, you draw what you see!
The children spent time looking closely at some pieces of fruit. We discussed lines, patterns, shading and textures. The finished sketches were very impressive indeed! A few of the children thought about adding a shadow to the image by identifying where the light source was.
In our next lesson, the children explored and created their own colour wheels. We discussed primary and secondary colours as well as warm and cold colours.
Blog: art lessons, art reviews, color theory / Fine Artist Gonzalo Ruiz  Navarro / Washington DC | Color theory, Warm and cool colors, Color wheel
The class enjoyed creating their own colour wheels.

This week’s bible story

Posted on Monday 08 November 2021 by Mr Roundtree

Remembrance Day

How much can we remember?

Let’s start by asking ourselves some questions about today.

– What did you do as soon as you got out of bed?
– What did you eat for breakfast?
– How did you feel when you got to school this morning?

Next, let’s think about last weekend.

– What did you do on Saturday afternoon?
– What did you eat on Sunday?

How about last week?
Have you noticed how it becomes more difficult to remember events the further back in time they are?

These events may have happened quite a long time ago, but they are remembered because they were fun. Happy times tend to stay in our memories for a long time.

Sad times can stay in our memories for a long time, too.

Click the link to read all about Remembrance day and why we remember.

Reflection:
Have a look at the pictures of the poppy. Think about why wearing a poppy is important to people. Wearing a red poppy means, ‘We are remembering together.’

Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for the many happy memories that we have.
We are sorry that some people have sad memories at this time of year
As they remember those who have died for our country.
May we wear our red poppies with love and compassion,
And may we remember and be thankful.
Amen.

 

Lots to look forward to…………..

Posted on Wednesday 03 November 2021 by Mrs Freeman

This half term, we have lots to look forward to.

Writing

We will be learning all about nouns, adjectives and expanded noun phrases.

What is an expanded noun phrase?  An expanded noun phrase adds more detail to the noun by adding one or more adjectives. An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

Following this, the children will complete a descriptive piece of writing.

Maths

We will be using some known facts to find a 2 digit number and a 1 digit number that compose 100.

What are known facts?

For this learning, the children need to be secure with their knowledge of number bonds to 10. Please practise these at home with your child.

Today, a few children demonstrated how they can use their number bond knowledge effectively.

The children are currently learning their 3 times table.

Topic – Art

The class are going to study the work of two very different artists.

Wassily Kandinsky (Russian artist)

Kandinsky believed that painting did not need a  particular subject, but that shapes and colours alone could be art. Over several years, he began to paint what would become known as Abstract Art. Kandinsky felt that he could express feelings and music through colours and shapes in his paintings. The shapes he was most interested in were the circle, triangle, and the square. He thought the triangle would symbolise aggressive feelings, the square calm feelings, and the circle spiritual feelings.

Discuss this painting with your child.
File:Kandinsky - Jaune Rouge Bleu.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Martha McDonald Napaltjarri (Australian artist)

Napaltjarri used intersecting lines softened and contrasted with concentric circles. Her imaginative and beautiful interpretation of landscapes led her work to become highly sought after. Her work is held in universities across Australia. What are your thought about this painting?

Martha McDonald Napaltjarri - 'Warlukuritji' - Aboriginal Art | Outstation

As part of a reading lesson, we thought about some questions we would ask Martha about her life as a famous artist.

Who inspired you to get into art?

Do you have a favourite painting?

Do you have any children and do they like art?

Why did you choose this style?

How did the landscape inspire you?

What do you think of Kandinsky’s work?

Finally, a quick reminder.

Some of the children have been asked to make sure they have their reading books in school every day. Please encourage your child to read at home, too.

If there is anything we can help with then please either pop in before or after school. Alternatively, call the office to arrange to see us. We are always glad to help where we can.

This week’s bible story

Posted on Monday 01 November 2021 by Mr Roundtree

A persistent builder: Genesis 6:5-22

God gave Noah a pretty big job; God asked him to build a huge boat. Even though he didn’t live near a lake or ocean, Noah persevered in finishing the job that God gave him.
Someday, God might give one of us a hard job to do, too. God might ask you to be friends with a kid who everyone else is choosing to ignore. He might ask you to forgive a brother or sister who teases you every day. God was pleased with Noah’s perseverance, and God will also be pleased with you when you persevere in doing what is right.

Reflection:
What is the biggest project that you have built out of Lego, wooden blocks or something else?
How long did it take? Did it take much perseverance to keep going and finish the project?
What would have happened if Noah had given up and left the ark half built?

Prayer:
Dear God,
There are times when we face some hard challenges. Sometimes those challenges seem so big for us to do and to finish. Help us to persevere and remember that we can do it.
Amen

 

Latin

Posted on Thursday 21 October 2021 by Mr Roundtree

This term, Year 3/4 have started to learn Latin. Sounds hard, doesn’t it? But we’ve been having great fun! We have been using our new-found knowledge of Latin words to create our own inventions. Using the translation sheet, can you work out what these new creatures can do?

New inventions translation sheet.

Ralph’s Aquacanine, Emilija’s Magniporci, Eliza’s Aquacent and Aubree’s Magicani.SKM_C554e21100514040

Kamile’s  Primoporci, Dexter’s Magicani, Edward’s Aquacanine and Summer’s Porcimagi. SKM_C554e21100514041

Olivia’s Magniped, Caleb’s Aquacane, Jack’s Subaqua and Casper’s Magniped. SKM_C554e21100514042

We hope you enjoy reading these as much as we did making them!

RE: creation stories

Posted on Tuesday 19 October 2021 by Mr Roundtree

In RE this half term, we have been learning about creation stories from different religions, looking at their similarities and differences and if they are relevant today. The class has been discussing the importance of rest.

Muslims have a day of prayer on a Friday.

Jews have a day of rest – Shabbat – every Saturday.

Christians have a rest day every Sunday.

Sikhs often have their day of worship on Sundays in the UK.

Here are some of our class’s thoughts about what they’d do on a rest day. Click on each link to see their work.

SKM_C554e21101308430 SKM_C554e21101308440 SKM_C554e21101308400 SKM_C554e21101308431 SKM_C554e21101308441

We love reading!

Posted on Monday 18 October 2021 by Mrs Freeman

The children have had a delivery of some brand new reading books. These books have been carefully chosen and are for the children who are free reading. We have put some of the books on display and the children can select a new book whenever they require one.

For those children who are not yet free reading, we are encouraging them to read more. We are listening to individual children read as much as we can. If your child requires a new book they need to bring it back into school and place it in the basket.

If you have any queries surrounding your child’s reading, please speak with us.

This week’s bible story

Posted on Monday 18 October 2021 by Mr Roundtree

The Good Samaritan: Luke 10: 25-37

Today, we’re thinking about how we treat people and reminding ourselves that we should never bully or intentionally hurt other people. First, think of some kind things that you could do today. Second, think of some things that you should not do today because they would upset other people.
Hopefully, many more of the kind things than the unkind things will happen today. Next, read the Bible story about someone who got hurt and think carefully to see who did and who did not help him.

Reflection:
In the story, someone had been badly hurt, or bullied, but only one of the three people who came by helped him. I wonder what we could learn from that story about how we treat other people, especially those who are feeling hurt or upset.
Think about these two suggestions for how you could help.
The first is that, if you see someone who is hurt or upset, don’t just ignore them – either go and help them yourself or fetch an adult who can help.
The second is to be prepared to help anyone, not just someone you like.

Prayer
Dear God,
There are times when we need help from others and times when others need help from us.
Help us always to be ready to help each other, even people we don’t like, just as Jesus taught us.
Amen

This week’s bible story

Posted on Monday 11 October 2021 by Mr Roundtree

Our friendship with Jesus: John 15:12-15 

Jesus calls us his friend and He wants to be in a relationship with us. In the Bible, we see the friendship of Jesus and his disciples develop. Although their intent was to serve and follow Jesus as Master, He calls them friends. Jesus’ love and sacrifice for those He walked with is the ultimate example of a relationship. Though we may show it differently, we show our friends how much we love them by the actions that we take.
Jesus calls us friend and He wants to live in a relationship with us. This means that He wants us to get to know Him and He wants us to share our lives with Him – every joy, every care, every hurt, every triumph.

Reflection:
We show our friends we care by the actions we do and how we behave towards our friends. Think about how you can show your friends you care this week and how you can share your week with them.

Prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you that we will always have a friend in Jesus. Help us to be good friends to our friends and show them that we care about them.
Amen

 

 

Living and Learning: I can talk about my feelings

Posted on Thursday 07 October 2021 by Mr Roundtree

This week we have been talking about the different emotions and feelings that we have.

Y34 made their own graffiti walls about all the different emotions that they feel.

We have also talked about how saying positive and nice things to others helps both them and us to feel happier, so we’re trying really hard to help us all to be happy!