Liverpool World Museum
Towards the end of our History topic, Year 4 visited the fascinating Liverpool World Museum as part of our Early Civilisations History topic. The already had so much knowledge from their learning and this visit really embedded this understanding but also provided them with new bits of historical knowledge. 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.
History
The children have loved this topic, and have delved in to the world of the early civilisations (Ancient Egyptians, Indus Valley, Shang Dynasty, Ancient Sumer 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 developed effective irrigation systems to help with the access to water. 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! However we think the Spanish conquest had something to do with it.
Mental Health Week
During this week, the children supplemented their PSHE work based around wellbeing and looked further in to ways of improving our mental health. We joined a webinar with thousands of other children around the country to share our ideas. We also spotted moments throughout the week where we could improve our mental health through having a calm environment.
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 based around our History topic of ‘Why are Early Civilisations important for us?’ 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 that included a working mechanism. As you can see, the children were very proud of what they produced!
English – A Place Called Perfect
For the last 6 weeks, 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? They were all very passionate about this topic. Take a look at Theo’s piece of writing:
Science
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!! We looked at how the water cycle is the same in Stoke-on-Trent as it is in a hot climate like Egypt. The children used ice, steaming water and a bag to represent the water cycle (with the help of a cold window too).
Music
The children have looked at the different instrument families that make up an orchestra. They experimented with a range of instruments that can be played in a major and minor tune and explored the impact both have on the emotions of people. We finished off by having access to all of the instruments in an orchestra on the iPad so they could experience all of the different instruments from all of the families.
Year 4 Parent’s Dinner
We invited the parent’s of our Year 4 children in to experience our delicious school lunches and to quite simply sit and enjoy a meal with us. Thanks to all that came.
