Boreal Owls Y4

This week's learning   

English

Our English focus for this term is the story Leaf, by Sandra Dieckman.

It is a beautiful story that will really allow the children to explore a picture book and the hidden meanings behind the illustrations within. 

We are going to be continuing with our learning based around the story of Leaf, spending time looking at the grammar and punctuation used within the text. 

Spellings

Our spelling focus this week is on words that have the suffix of 'ous'. The suffix of 'ous' is added to words ending in 'e', dropping the 'e' but not the 'ge'. 

Maths

This week we will be focusing on:

• Going back over key mathematical concepts
  • Dividing and multiplying a number by 10 and 100- in regard to place value
  • Ordering decimal numbers, smallest to largest on a number line
  • Using the greater than (>) and less than (<) symbols to show the difference in value between decimal numbers. 
• Decimals 
  • Similarities between a decimal and fraction
  • Adding a decimal number to a whole number. 
• Fractions
• x table focus 

Guided Reading

We will be exploring chapters 24, 25 and 26, this week. In addition, we will also be looking at answering comprehension questions based on the story. If there is time we will look at reading Chapter 27 of WTMR. 

Topics and Geography

We will start exploring our new topic of Rivers and Oceans this week, as well as linking back to last terms Science topic of Living Things and Their Habitats. 

We are continuing to explore Oceans and Rivers, with a focus this week being on key features of the rivers. This week we will be moving to look at the Water Cycle! 

Science

Electricity is our Science focus this term. 

Hello everyone and welcome to Year 4!

Year 4 - Boreal Owls

Teacher: Miss Lois MacDonald 

TA: Mrs Alison Wheeler

Dear Boreal Owls and Parents,

 Welcome to Term 6 (Summer Term 2) of Year 4. I am looking forward to delving into the learning this term with the class and continuing our learning journey together.

The topic for this term is Rivers and Oceans - geography focus. I am very much looking forward to starting this topic with Boreal Owls. For more information about the topic, how we will be exploring this and what other areas of learning we will be covering this term, please see the topic web below, under Term 6 Important Information. 

Important information

• The children need to enter the school through the new green gate in the corner of the car park. The arrival time is from 8:45 am until 9:00 am. 
• Collection time for the children with no sibling in school is at 3:15 pm. If your child does have a sibling in the school or is travelling home on the bus, the collection time is 3:30 pm. We have done this to reduce the number of people present at collection time. 
• As it is now getting hotter it is very important that the children bring in a hat and a water bottle every day and sun cream (if not already applied at home before coming to school). 
• The children will have PE on Tuesday mornings with Mr Sykes. Children will need to come to school in their PE kit for the foreseeable future. As it is getting warmer, it is extremely important that the children have a water bottle, hat and come in with suncream already applied. 
• Homework will be set and handed out on a Friday and should be completed and returned by Wednesday. When the homework is completed, the children return it to the classroom where they have to tick their name off a checklist once they have handed it in. On a Wednesday, the children will go through their homework together as a class, taking part in peer and self-marking. 
  • Each week the children will be set 1 main piece of homework, alongside a piece of handwriting. The main piece of Homework will either be related to Maths, English/Reading or chosen from the homework choosing grid. This will change from week to week and will be based on learning completed that week and also on how the children have coped with the weeks learning. I want to ease the children back into Homework as they have done an awful lot of home learning in recent months, due to COVID-19. 
  • The children will be given a set of spellings each week that they will practice in class, as well as being taught the Year 4 spelling rules. In addition, to this daily in school spelling practice, the children have been given a list of the spellings to keep at home, so that they can continue practicing these (for a couple of minutes) when they are completing their homework. 

• The children have been given reading journals to record their daily reading entries. I am trying to increase the children's involvement in reading, as well as trying to spark a sense of enjoyment when reading. When recording in their reading journals, I would like them to think about what they have read and how it has made them feel. I want them to share their excitement and wonder about the books they are currently reading or have read in the past. The reading journals are for the children and is there to record their thoughts about a book. 

• Times Tables Rockstars is a platform that we are using to help the children practice their times' tables. We use this alongside written times tables tests and maths lessons based around specific times tables. The Times Tables Rockstars platform enables me to see how frequently the children are practicing their times' tables but also how quickly they are able to complete the questions. As part of the Year 4 curriculum, the children will take part in an end-of-year times table test in June and this test will be on a computer. By getting the children to practice on Times Tables Rockstars, it will get them used to the computer format of the times tables but will also get them used to the speed at which they need to answer the questions. 

If you have any questions or wish to discuss anything with me, please let me know. 

Kind regards,

Miss Lois MacDonald