History
During this topic, the children have delved in to the world of the early civilisations (Ancient Egyptians, Indus Valley and The Mayans) and seen how they lived. They compared these civilisations with British history and how they influenced how we live now. The Ancient Egyptians were the favourite civilisation the children learnt about and they particularly loved how the Egyptians believed in the afterlife. The children decoded hieroglyphics to find out what each civilisation was memorable for – The Indus Valley people were famous for building ‘healthy cities’, The Ancient Egyptians were memorable for mummification and irrigation and then The Mayans were well-known for the development of writing and the fact historians think they JUST DISAPPEARED!
Educational Visit – Liverpool World Museum
Year 4 visited the fascinating Liverpool World Museum as part of our Early Civilisations History topic. This immersed the children in to Ancient Egyptian history and culture as they explored the countries top Egyptian exhibit. They understood how the early Egyptian people lived, how they used irrigation to improve standards of living but most interesting of all the children learnt about the afterlife and the routines they would go through when someone died. They even performed their own mummification process, including removing the key organs of the deceased and embalming the remains. It got a bit dirty! Take a look at the pictures of a great day.
Design and Technology
How do linkages and levers create movement? This was the main question for the children to understand during this very interesting topic. They started by creating different types of mechanisms, such as linear, reciprocating, oscillating and rotary movements for their prototypes. After this, they produced a design brief where they would create a page from the book ‘Stick Man’ that would include a moving character. Once the design brief was settled on, the children delved in to the ‘making stage’ where they collaboratively produced a specific page from the book that included a working mechanism. As you can see, the children were very proud of what they produced!
PE – gymnastics and yoga
The children have impressed us so much with their ability to perform different actions and then turn them in to a routine. Most impressive was the couple of lessons spent on developing head stands. They worked excellently together to support and encourage each other when doing this daunting gymnastics action. Yoga on a Wednesday has been a very relaxing and mindful experience where the children have fully exposed themselves to being calm and controlled. Take a look at some of our pictures!
Science – Do states of matter, matter?
The children have investigated the following questions to help them decide on whether states of matter, matter!
-What is a solid, liquid and gas and what is around us?
-Can a material change state? How?
-Can we keep chocolate in the desert?
-What is the journey of a raindrop?
-Is the water cycle in Meir the same as it in Egypt?
The Year 4s have used a range of scientific skills to be able to discover the answers to these questions. I think it was very difficult for the children to not eat the chocolate during the chocolate experiment!!
English – A Place Called Perfect
The children have loved producing pieces of writing based around our ‘Love for Reading’ text – A Place Called Perfect. They started by creating a diary entry based around how Violet felt when she woke up and had lost her sight. The children wrote in such an empathetic manner and really got across her feelings at that moment in the story. They learnt how to use parenthesis in their writing and then proved they could use it independently when they wrote their own diary entry based around the life a snowman. We then moved on to trying to persuade the reader by planning and writing a balanced argument about whether biscuits should be dunked in to our cups of tea. We then used this writing skill to create a balanced argument about whether ‘ Tea in Perfect, is it a blessing or an evil? Take a look at Jenson’s piece of writing:
Computing
The children have loved using Scratch to create codes that can move characters and even create games. They were also able to produce a programme that allowed their character to ask a question and then give the user an option to answer it. Computing is one of the children’s favourite lessons of the week!
