Year 4 Autumn Term 2

English

In English, Paris class will complete the Oliver and the Seawigs unit. Oliver Crisp's parents are explorers and for 10 years they have travelled the world, taking Oliver with them. Now they have decided that all the great unknowns have been seen and they are ready to return home. To their surprise they discover a dozen mysterious islands in the bay near their house. They pull out the dinghy and immediately set off to explore whilst Oliver begins to unpack. When he goes out to check on them, the islands are gone and so are his parents. That is why a boy who dreams of staying home and going to school winds up on yet another amazing adventure, in search of his missing parents.

Through the unit children will:

• explore, interpret and respond to illustrations in a book
• discuss meanings
• build an imaginative picture of a fantasy world, based on real life experience
• explore a story and its experiences through role play and through writing in role
• write stories from another character’s point of view

Madrid and Rome classes will be focusing on the ‘Faster Read’ project during this term.

 Maths

This half term, we will be focusing on the operations: multiplication and division. We will be learning how to calculate the area of simple shapes and compare the areas of different shapes.

Science – Electricity

Electricity is our new Science topic this term. The children will experiment with circuits, identify the reasons why they break, recognising symbols as well as discussing the potential dangers of electricity.

History – Romans

In this unit, the children will discover when and why the Romans invaded. They will find out who Boudicca was and what she felt about the Roman invasion.  The children will also explore what life would have been like as a child in Roman Britain. They will learn about what happened at the Romans baths. At the end of the unit, the children will learn about the legacy of the Roman invasion.

Art – Mosaic Masters

The unit, Mosaic Masters, teaches children about the history of mosaics, before focusing on the colours, patterns and themes found in Roman mosaics. The children will learn techniques to help them design and make a mosaic tile.

Music - Transposing and adapting motifs (Theme: Romans) 

During this unit children will learn a new song, singing in time and in tune while following the lyrics. They will identify motifs aurally and play a repeated pattern on a tuned instrument and then create and perform a motif, notating it with reasonable accuracy. Next the children will transpose their motif, using sharp or flat notes where necessary and change the rhythm. Finally, they will combine different versions of a musical motif and perform as a group using musical notation.

P.E.

This term, the children will be learning about gymnastics. They will develop their individual skills when learning about jumps, rolls and balances. The children will then create routines and understand the importance of body management when using equipment.

In their second PE lesson, the children will be developing their knowledge and understanding when taking part in orienteering. They will be need to use their co-operation, communication skills and be determined, whilst completing a variety of activities.

P.S.H.E Celebrating Differences

Over the term the children will explore these aspects of celebrating differences:

• Accept that everyone is different
• Include others when working and playing
• Know how to help if someone is being bullied
• Trying to solve problems
• Using kind words
• Know how to give and receive compliments

French – Portraits – describing in French

In this unit, the children will be learning adjectives to describe people’s physical appearance and their personality. We will use these to create simple sentences ensuring that the adjectives agree with the gender of the noun.

R.E. – Christianity in Action

We will be continuing our topic, ‘Christianity in Action’. We will be looking at Christian values, and how these are put into action in society today.