Topic: Why won’t you find a polar bear in Africa?

Literacy

We will begin the term by looking at poetry, discussing the different types of figurative language that are used in a range of poems and what effect they create, before writing our own poem. We will then look at adventure stories, focusing on the use of paragraphs, punctuation and sentence structure.  Daily reading will take place and there will be regular phonics and spelling ‘zappers’ work, with spelling assessments taking place on a Thursday.  A new half-termly, Year 4 statutory word list will be sent home in week 1, to be tested in the last week.  Please encourage your child to regularly work on reading and spellings at home.

Numeracy

We will start the half term by focusing on multiplication and division, before consolidating our written calculation methods for addition and subtraction. We will then look at equivalent units of length and will be finding out how to calculate the perimeter of shapes. Linking to our geography work, we will be handling climate data in ICT.  There will be daily work on times tables and the mental maths ‘SMIRF’ facts, with weekly SMIRFs assessments on a Tuesday. Please encourage your child to regularly work on these at home, as it will greatly support their maths work in class.

Science

Our science topic this half term is ‘Living Things’.  We will recognise that living things can be grouped in a variety of ways and explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment

Geography

This half term, our focus will be on physical geography with the topic of Biomes and Climate, learning what the terms biome, climate zones and vegetation belt mean.  We will observe, describe and explain in basic terms the pattern of climate in the United Kingdom and will then go on to compare the climate in the UK to different areas of the world. We will be finding out how climate affects both the landscape of different biomes and discover the plants and animals that can live there.

History

This will be covered next half term.

Computing

We will be using ‘Logo’ and learning how to programme by focusing on repetition and loops within programming. We will create programs by planning, modifying, and testing commands to create shapes and patterns.

DT

We will be looking at where our food comes from and finding out about seasonal food. We will be discussing and planning healthy diets before cooking some healthy dishes from recipes.

Art

This will be covered next half term.

PSHE

Our topic is ‘My Healthy Lifestyle’ and we will be focusing on our physical, emotional and mental health.  We will identify some factors (positive and negative) that affect physical, mental and emotional health, as well as developing a range of strategies for managing and controlling strong feelings and emotions.

Music

We will be learning about major and minor chords, and developing technical skills on tuned percussion. As well as playing, singing and improvising, we will be listening to, and appraising music based around the acoustic guitar, before comparing and contrasting different artists styles.

PE

This half term, we will be focusing on developing gymnastics and cricket skills.

RE

Our topic is ‘Why are festivals important to religious communities?’  We will be learning about the festivals of Christmas/Easter, Diwali, Pesach and Eid ul Fitr,, finding out why they are important and how they are celebrated.

French

Our topic is ‘Les Animaux’.  We will be learning the names of a range of animals that are kept as pets.  We will be speaking and writing about our own pets and singing some animal songs in French.