1. This is what we’ll be learning this half term…
Year 4
Term: Autumn 1
Spoken Language:
Develop understanding through guess-work, imagination and exploration.
Writing:
Write an informal postcard to describe their experience from a trip to New York.
Use their senses to help describe the states they have ‘visited’ and explored in the USA in the form of diary writing.
Engage:
‘Visit’ four different states in America in each Year 4 class. Engage with hands-on activities, try new food and drink associated with each state and listen to traditional music. Locate individual states and identify them by their abbreviations.
Maths:
Compare and order numbers, estimate and round up to Add and subtract numbers to using mental strategies and problem solving.
Computing:
Follow the ‘Switched On Computing’ scheme using Scratch.
Road Trip to the
USA
History:
Look at the history of a Native American Tribe. Focus on how they hunted, travelled, communicated and more.
Geography:
Compare and contrast the UK to the USA. Name some of the individual states, locate them on a map and discuss how they differ.
Science:
Identify every-day appliances that run on electricity. Learn to operate a circuit and understand how to debug common problems such as an error with the loop or switch.
PE:
Focus on agility, balance and co-ordination through the ‘Real PE’ scheme.
This is what we’ll be learning this half term…
Innovate:
Use their knowledge of the different states they have researched to plan the trip of a lifetime to America for a family. Plan a budget to meet the needs of the given brief.
Express:
Celebrate their work by sharing their holidays and by discussing this in the style of a holiday review website.
PSHE:
Establish their place in our new classroom and learn to work collaboratively in the new setting.
Music:
Listen to a wide range of traditional and contemporary music from different states in the USA.
Learn to play as an ensemble in the Gamelan Orchestra (a musical instrument from Indonesia).
D.T
Travel back in time to visit the Native Americans and practise the skills of weaving and designing. Explore the intricate art found on totem poles to then design their own. Study the purpose of dream catchers and create their own examples.

2. Things to explore with your child…
PE: Our PE days are Monday and Friday.
Please ensure children have suitable PE clothing as the colder weather approaches.
Creative Zone:
During this half-term the children will be visiting the United States of America! The children will be studying some of the different states and will apply their knowledge to imagine and to design a state of their own. We will look at why people remember some of these states and focus on some of the landmarks. They could use this opportunity to create a piece of home learning. They could make their very own landmark, like the Statue of Liberty or the Hollywood sign.
They could use craft materials to create a 3D model, paint an iconic skyline, like New York, or design a postcard to sell to the tourists visiting their state.
The children are encouraged to bring in their home learning to share with the rest of Year 4. They will then create their very own American Museum during our celebration event!
Reading:
Please ensure your child is reading regularly at home as this will benefit their learning in school. Children will have opportunities to visit the school library and select a book of their choice. We are developing their stamina and confidence to read longer texts and to read aloud to others.
Children can choose from any variety of reading material such as stories, magazines, comics and non-fiction books.
Maths:
We will be testing the children on their times tables every week. The children enjoyed ‘climbing the times tables ladder’ last year so we will continue with this on a weekly basis. The children will be responsible for knowing which times table they need to revise and the ones they will need to practise daily.
We will be revisiting the topic of time later this term. To support your child at home, encourage them to read the time using an analogue and digital clock.
Writing:
The pupils have really enjoyed researching about their class animal, so please encourage your children to write about them at home. They have focussed on poetry at the start of this term so they could write an acrostic or rhyming couplet poem to describe their class whale. We would love to share them with the rest of the class!
Children also need to revise their spellings each week as they will be tested on these every Friday.
Dates:
Topic Celebration
Tuesday16th October
Please join us to celebrate the work our children have completed this half-term.
Parents Evening
17th October 2018
18th October 2018