On Wednesday afternoon, we all had a good look at a variety of OS Maps. We were searching for evidence of early settlements based on place names. We discovered Celtic (Britons) place names in Wales and Cornwall. Lots of Saxon names in the South of England and a whole variety of Viking places around York (Jorvik).
We have really enjoyed library time over the last few weeks - many children being completely engrossed in their books - it’s great to see! We also did a little acting and drama during English this week. Acting out important elements of Chapter 6 in the Thief Lord through the use of freeze frames. Here are just a selection of some really funny photos!
We have just started a new unit of science, based on electricity. This week we created circuits and then drew them. We also did an experiment to test the conductivity of different classroom items - some of us were amazed that the pencil lead (which is graphite) was a conductor of electricity!
Great science and recording in tables.
On Thursday afternoon, we enjoyed working out how the new wall bars worked and how to set them up for gym class. It was a brilliant chance to enjoy a bit of indoor P.E. with our brand new equipment.
ART WEEK 2020!
What a fantastic start to the new year; a whole week of art!
We really enjoyed exploring Paolo Uccello’s painting, The Battle of San Romano we have produced lots of amazing artwork after being inspired by the painting, its story and the renaissance as a whole. Mr. Ind even showed us his university dissertation on royal portraiture. We have had a great week of art and learning.
A quick note to say thank you to all of you for your generosity over Christmas. I was astounded by how amazingly thoughtful everyone had been so a big thank you from myself and my family. Happy 2020!
Congratulations to all of our prize winners. What an amazing event to end our Potions topic with. The children mixed and created a whole variety of hideous concoctions to create the most amazing potions. There were shape-shifting potions, luck potions and whole lot of love potions! The speeches made were excellent and the children were quick to acknowledge not only the hard work of their classmates but also how much their parents had helped them with providing bottles. A really great way to sign off on a super half term. Now for a rest. To all the Owl Families I wish you a peaceful, restful Christmas filled with plenty of reason to be merry (and plenty of pigs in blankets too!).
After a week of tests we decided to fill the classroom with some joy and decorated it ready for Christmas. It was a lovely and heartwarming way to spend half an hour before lunch.
This morning Year 4 had great fun exploring and observing sublimation. Sublimation is the process by which a substance goes from solid to gas without going through the intermediate state of liquid. It was incredible how much fun (I and everyone!) had. In the afternoon we tested 10 different household substances using an indicator to determine whether they were acidic, alkaline or neutral - we had some fascinating results.
SUPER SCIENCE WORK OWLS!
On Monday afternoon we continued exploring potions in a practical way. Cue the white coats and the goggles! We made magic slime, magic cabbage colour-changing potion, a scented perfume and a fizzing potion. The children had to carry out the experiment and write down their observations including why the reaction took place. There was a plethora of brilliant science vocabulary on show. I heard: solid, liquid, gas, particles, non-Newtonian fluid, neutral, acid, alkali, indicator, neutralise, carbon dioxide, change of state and many more. Seriously impressive - well done Year 4!
In all of our maths lessons this week we have been exploring length and perimeter. Including understanding the difference between regular and irregular shapes. The children were even given permission to draw on the tables… cue the tentative drawing on the table when Mr. King entered with some visitors for our open day! Great effort this week in maths - keep it up Owls!
On Thursday afternoon Owl Class undertook some investigations into a couple of chemical reactions. We looked the role of an indicator in determining whether a substance was an acid or an alkali and used it on vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. We discovered that vinegar was an acid and that bicarbonate of soda was an alkali and as such they produced a reaction to neutralise each other. We watched our balloons expand (or explode in a couple of cases!) with Carbon Dioxide, which was the gas given off by the chemical reaction. All in all a thoroughly interesting investigation - even writing it up was fun!
On Thursday afternoon we donned the lab coats for the first time this half-term and enjoyed exploring, predicting and lots of learning. Ask the children all about their amazing colour-changing potions!
My Roman troops to Victory!
Amazing afternoon celebrating all things Roman in our innovate and express work. The children showed off their finished skills and matched, jumped, threw and got into formation. We practised the wedge and the testudo. Great work troops.
Have a restful half term. Potions next!
On Tuesday 22nd October Year 4 undertook a trip to Bignor Roman Villa. The children were a real credit to the school with their knowledge, facts and enthusiasm for the topic. We have loved studying the Romans this half term and I know that in Owl Class we have some really hooked historians. Thank you for a lovely day Year 4, it was fabulous fun!
P.S. A big thank you to the adult helpers that came and were well behaved too!
Sadly the weather has curtailed our plans for continuing the football tournament today but a BIG well done to the team for the way they performed 2 weeks ago. We haven’t had time for a proper practice session so they did amazingly well.
Plaistow and Kirdford Year 3 & 4 Football Team
On Wednesday in Owl Class we were exploring the idea of a thousand (M if you are of the Roman persuasion!) more and a thousand less with a variety of different numbers and different representations. There were children sorting through multilink, base 10, diennes and all manner of visual representation. The children worked super hard on three different levels of challenge and I was really pleased with the collaborative and independent work they produced. Well done Owls! Have a lovely weekend.
As part of our 150 Year celebrations we were lucky enough to be able to interview a former pupil of the school. My wife’s grandma attended the school in the 1950s and the Year 4s wrote some amazing historical enquiry questions to ask her. Ranging from behaviour and punishments to school lunch, it was great to hear from a living source, all about school at that time. A big thank you to all the children for their enthusiasm and range of questions and thank you to Grandma for answering them!
On Wednesday afternoon we had great fun deciding where to build our Iron Age forts. The children worked quickly to identify relief (hilly land), woods, vegetation and a river/stream. They also worked quickly in using as many post-it-notes as they could in 20 minutes - it was impressive going. Great job everyone but we don’t think there will be any stopping the Roman conquerors coming next week… if you can’t beat them join them!
Welcome to my new Year 4s!
