Year 4 Home Practice Friday 10th December 2021

Date: 10th Dec 2021 @ 4:15pm

Year 4

Home Practice 10^th December 2021

Welcome to this week’s blog. Here’s what we have been learning in school this week ….

In English, we looked at the features of a ‘Wanted’ poster and created our own for the Iron Man who was last seen walking into the sea.  We made sure that we included a picture, a detailed description of the Iron Man and information about the crimes he had committed!

In Maths, we learnt to look very carefully at addition calculations and decide whether it was more efficient to work them out in our head, use jottings or a formal written method. In addition, we revised the formal written method of subtraction.  We started by using the compact method of subtraction to subtract 2 digit numbers and then 3 digit numbers - some of these calculations required exchanging which can be quite tricky! Additionally, we have been practising our tables, and counting in 7’s and 0.2’s.

In RE, we learnt about the birth of Jesus and the story of the Wise Men.  We learnt the names of the Wise Men and talked about the symbolism of their gifts.  In addition, we discussed the signs and symbols that can be seen in Church and at home at Christmas.

In History, we learnt how Britain became part of the Roman Empire and the 3 invasion attempts. We also pretended we were Roman Generals and discussed the pros and cons of invading Britain – Julius Caesar was pleased with our ideas!

We are in the process of designing and describing a Christmas jumper in French - hopefully we'll finish next week. It was tricky and we all rose well to the challenge! Year 4 will be super proud of their work once it's finished!

In Science, we identified and classified electrical conductors and insulators by testing different materials. Then we explained our results.  We need to make a variety of switches next week then we are qualified junior electricians! Well done, year 4!

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the Lancaster City Museum on Thursday. We had an action-packed day which included a Roman workshop in the morning when we met Marcus Aurus Nepus, and a visit to both the history and Military museums in the afternoon.  During the trip, we learnt more about life in the Roman Army, especially what the soldiers wore and what they were required to keep in their back packs. As it has been a few years since our last school trip, it really was an exciting day out!  

This week’s Home Practice ….

Reading

Please read for 20 minutes each evening to an adult at home.  Make sure you discuss the story and the characters.  Find the meaning of any new words too.  Reading every night will help you read more fluently and with understanding. 

Times tables

You have been given your own individual times table target.  Please make sure you continue to practise your times tables in preparation for your test next week, on Thursday (16^th December 2021). Ask someone at home to test you on your tables – can you recall them quickly and accurately?  

Remember - you can also practise your tables playing ‘Hit the button’.   

Counting

This week, please practise counting in 7’s and 0.2’s – draw a line and some marks on it like I do in class. You could write the numbers down as you count up.  When you count down, cover the numbers up, say the number, then reveal what you have got written down to check you’ve said the correct number.

Count in 7’s

For example, start at 0 and count up to 84 and back again (this will help with your 9 times tables)

0   7   14    21  etc                     84   77    70   etc

Count in 0.2’s

Start at 0 and count up to 1.8 and back again

0   0.2   0.4   etc                    1.8   1.6   1.4   etc

Do this a few times to help you learn them!

Spellings

The spellings this week all have the prefix ‘uni’, ‘bi’ or ‘tri’.  A prefix is a group of letters that are added to the beginning of a word and change the meaning or make a new word.  Uni means one, bi means two and tri means three. Please practise your spellings each evening at home.  You will be tested on them next Thursday (16^th December 2021). We have discussed different strategies you could use to help you learn them and you could also use ‘Look say cover write check’.

unicycle        unicorn         uniform        universe       binoculars

bicycle         biceps          bifocal         bilingual       biannual

triathlon      triangle       trilogy         tricycle        triplets

Sumdog challenges

You have been set 3 challenges on Sumdog:

• A spelling challenge based on the spellings above
• A times table challenge based on the 7 times tables
• A 2digit column addition and subtraction challenge

Please make sure you log on and have a go! Many of you are still not accessing Sumdog on a daily basis. Little and often is the key to success!

Number bonds

Please continue practising your number bonds / addition skills playing Hit the Button

The game you will play will help with your number bonds and quick addition skills. For example:

8 + 6               you could partition this into         8 + 2 + 4 = 14

This is because 8 + 2 is a pair to 10, then add the 4 to 10

Click on the link above, then on Play Game.

Click on Number bonds

On the left-hand side you will see the words ‘Up to 20’

Click on Addition within 20

See how many you can get correct in 1 minute. Then have another go and try and beat your score.

Maths and spelling training

Please continue to use the maths and spellings training sections as these are tailored for your child to practise skills, facts and words that they find difficult.