Willow (Year 4)
Our topic for Term 1 is The Ancient Maya. This is a topic which will allow the children to explore the origins of many Maya inventions such as chocolate, calendars and advances in their understanding of astronomy, while finding out about when, where and how the Ancient Maya lived.
In English, we will read ‘The Great Kapok Tree’ – a book about a tree that was sacred to the Maya. We will use it to learn persuasive writing techniques by writing letters to stop people cutting down the special tree. We will also explore the theme of deforestation and the importance of preserving the rainforests. We will explore narrative poetry using the poem ‘Chocolate Cake’ by Michael Rosen. Our class reader is ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl. If the children have a copy at home, it would be great if they could bring it in for these lessons.
In Maths, we are starting the year by exploring number and place value. This will include 4-digit numbers and the introduction of ‘thousands’ as another place value. We will be looking at the number line up to 10,000 as well as introducing rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. We are also preparing for the statutory Year 4 Multiplication Check, which will take place in June 2027, and our focus this term will be on the 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, and 12x tables. Please visit https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/ for more information.
Our Science this term is all about States of Matter. We will be exploring how objects change state when heated or cooled. During this unit, we will find out about the process of evaporation and what role it plays in the water cycle.
In PSHE this term, we will be learning about family and relationships. In this unit we will learn to use respectful language to discuss different families, explore physical and emotional boundaries in friendships, and how actions and behaviour can affect other people. These lessons are mostly discussion based by talking about our own experiences and feelings, and exploring scenarios. In RE this term, we are exploring Christianity and looking at the concept of Trinity. This involves looking at Christian baptism. In Computing, we will use Scratch to code a game. In DT, we will use the architecture of the Maya to inspire us to build structures and in Art, we will use collage to make Maya masks. Our topic for French this term is All Around Town, where we will learn to count in tens to hundred and say where we live. We are delighted to be able to take part in the Brass Band project in our music lessons this term.
We are excited to be starting Year 4 with Forest School. The sessions will take place on Tuesday mornings this term from 15th September to 20th October.
For homework this term, we have created a project style task, where we ask the children to become a researcher and find out about one area of Maya life to share with the rest of the class. We would love to see these pieces of homework when they are completed, so please bring them in to share with the class. There are also weekly spellings for you to practise at home. The homework is available on Tapestry. Maths homework can be viewed MyMaths.