Let me introduce you to Sapphire Class… I am Jenny the class teacher, Linda is our TA2 and we have our teaching assistants Janice and Amelia. The pupils in Sapphire class are: Daniel, David, Lawrence, Joshua, Damian, Zaki and George.
Summer 2
Topic
Our topic this half term is ‘How does your garden grow?’ During this topic the children will experience digging, planting and watering in the school garden. In class we will be investigating seeds, learning what they need to grow successfully, planting them and caring for them. The children will learn to identify and name key parts of a plant. We will be looking at what lives in the soil and how minibeasts are important in the garden.
ICT
In ICT Skills this half term our focus is on photography. The children will be learning to use the different settings on digital cameras and iPads to take pictures around the school grounds. The children will then edit and Photoshop a selection of their favourite images.
Literacy
This half term our fiction Literacy work is based around The Twits by Roald Dahl. Mr Twit is a foul and smelly man with bits of cornflake and sardine in his beard. Mrs Twit is a horrible old hag with a glass eye. Together they make the nastiest couple you could ever hope not to meet. Down in their garden, the Twits keep Muggle-Wump the monkey and his family locked in a cage. But not for much longer, because the monkeys are planning to trick the terrible Twits, once and for all . . .
We will also be doing a 2 week non-fiction section on minibeasts to link in with our topic theme.
The 3 Pigs Challenge
As part of our topic work on houses the children undertook The 3 Pigs Challenge. They were given 5 different stations with materials on to build a house for the a pig - sticks, straws, sugar cubes, marshmallows and straws and Lego with card. Once the house was built, they used hand fans to try and blow them down.
This week in maths we have been focusing on 3d shapes. We investigated different types of
packaging and talked about the 3d shapes we had found. To link with our Town & Country topic, the
children designed and made buildings from the different boxes and containers.
The Buildings
Damian
Damian Plan
Daniel
Daniel Plan
David
David Plan
George
George Plan
Joshua
Joshua Plan
Lawrence
Lawrence Plan
Naomi
Naomi Plan
Zaki
Zaki Plan
ICT Skills - Lost Posters
Sapphire Class - Summer 1
Literacy
This half term we will be reading and basing our Literacy work on Paddington Bear by Michael Bond.
The classic story of the bear from Darkest Peru who arrived at Paddington Station with nothing but a suitcase, a half-empty jar of marmalade and a label that read,
‘Please look after this bear. Thank you.’ Mr and Mrs Brown discovered him, named
him Paddington and welcomed him to their home, where he has lived ever since.
Topic
This half term our topic is Town & Country which has a Geography and History
focus. During the topic the class will explore their local surroundings and
experience the differences between our urban towns and rural countryside.
The children will identify familiar characteristics, landmarks and locations and also look at the differences between construction materials and styles of buildings.
ICT
Our ICT Skills focus this half term is ‘Creative’. The children are going to design and create different formats such as posters, leaflets, postcards and storyboards
using images and text. Some of this will link in with our Paddington Bear literacy
book.
In Topic ICT we will use some of the drawing and construction programmes to
design, draw and build houses.
Exploring Georges Marvelous Medicine
Touching and Talking About Slimey Materials
Maths - Exploring 3D Shapes
Maths - Which 3D Shapes Would Roll?
Truck Art Pictures
Spring 2
This half term our Literacy book is George’s Marvellous Medicine
George is alone in the house with Grandma. The most horrid, grizzly old grunion of a grandma ever. She needs something stronger than her usual medicine to cure her chronic grouchiness. A special grandma medicine, a remedy for everything. And George knows just what to put into it. Grandma's in for the surprise of her life - and so is George, when he sees the results of his mixture!
Our science and PHSE based topic this half term is Spellbound. The children will experience and examine a range of different substances by mixing, melting, freezing, combining and blending. They will observe, explore and comment on the changes in state through looking, touching, smelling and tasting (when safe).
In ICT Skills this half term we are focusing on creating sounds and music using different programs such as Busy Things, 2Explore, 2Beat and Beat Box App.
Our topic ICT will see the children create mixed up animals, potion bottles, insect symmetry and labelling owls.
In topic ICT the children created their own collages on http://www.aminahsworld.org/ by dragging and dropping different objects, fabrics and papers.
ICT Topic
Colour Poems
Paul Klee
This week the children have learnt about the artist Paul Klee. They have used pastels, paint and pencil crayons to recreate some of his famous work - the Townscape, a Portrait and the Cat & Bird.
Originals
Cat & Bird
Portraits
Townscapes
Literacy and Topic Photos
Literacy - In Literacy we are reading My Many Coloured Days by Dr Seuss, which links colours and feelings. The children created a coloured collage background with an image of themselves in the middle, to show that we feel many different emotions. They created a storyboard with captions using the key colours and animals from the book.
Topic - In topic the class learnt about warm and cool colours. They used these to create an underwater themed picture with starfish. We learnt about the artist Wassily Kandinsky and used his concentric circle work to create our class tree and snails. As part of this years first Year 4 assembly, all the children printed with their hands onto giant class hands to create a large piece of artwork, which is on display in the corridor.
Spring 1
This half term our Literacy book is My Many Coloured Days by Dr Seuss, which explores feelings and colours.
Amazon: 'You'd be surprised how many ways I change on different coloured days.' Maybe on some days you feel sort of brown, like a bear; you feel slow and low, low down. But then comes a yellow day and wheeeeeeeee! you feel like a busy, buzzy bee. Dr. Seuss takes the reader on a journey through many different moods in this vibrant and highly original book.
My Many Colored Days
Our art based topic this half term is Pictures, Paintings and Photographs. The children will learn about different artists and their styles each week, allowing them to experience working with a variety of mediums. In ICT the children will take pictures using cameras and iPads and then use programs to manipulate and change the images. We hope to visit a photography exhibition at Stockwood Discovery Centre, which opens at the end of January. Sapphire class will be learning about and creating work in the style of:
Sapphire Class Autumn 2
Literacy
This half term each year band focuses on a traditional tale and in Year 4 our story is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
A retelling of this classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, recounting the story of a beautiful princess with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony. With 18 beautifully designed books in the first reader series, this well-loved traditional tale is specially adapted for beginner readers. Supports national literacy strategy with high frequency vocabulary and phonics.
Topic
This half term our topic is ‘Let there be Light!’ During this topic pupils will experience a variety of customs and practices associated with certain festivals and celebrations, such as Halloween, Bonfire Night, Diwali, Chinese New Year, Hanukkah and Christmas.
Maths
In maths we will be covering the areas of number, geometry and measure. We will be focusing on subtraction, number formation, capacity, positional language and 3d shapes. Keep looking at our webpage to see what we get up to.
This half term our skills focus in ICT is typing. The children used a framework on Busy Things to draw their own monsters and then write about them.
This half term our topic is What a load of Junk! which focuses on recycling and the environment. In class we’ll be looking at different materials and how they can be recycled or reused. The class will take part with the rest of the year band in a project identifying and improving an area of the school. We will be going on visits out to the local recycling bank and charity shops in the local town centre.
Literacy
Our main book for this half term is The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson and we will also be using non-fiction books linked to our topic.
Amazon Description: George wished he wasn't the scruffiest giant in town. So when he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he decides it's time for a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he's the smartest giant in town . . . until he bumps into some animals that desperately need his help - and his clothes!
All children will love The Smartest Giant in Town, a funny and warm-hearted tale from the unparalleled picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo.
Numeracy
In maths we will be covering the areas of number, geometry and measure. Keep looking at our webpage and reading the home school book to find out which strand we will be covering each week.