Topic Summary
What made the ancient Egyptians so unique?
We will take children on an exciting adventure, traveling back in time to the Ancient Egyptians. We think about how our lives compare and develop an understanding of what life was like, and some key beliefs and aspects of their civilisation. We will visit the Great North Museum to see artefacts and meet real-life mummies. The children will also learn about Ancient Egypt’s place in history and in geographical terms, looking at maps and focusing on the Nile, and the significance on this on the life of the people of the time.
In the topic we will be teaching the children the following key concepts:
- Empire - What was the role of the empire in the time of the Ancient Egyptians?
- Belief - What were some of the key beliefs of the ancient Egyptians?
- Identity - What makes the identity of the ancient Egyptians so unique?
- Achievement - What were some of the key achievements of the ancient Egyptians?
Visits/Events
- Trip to the Great North Museum
- Egyptian Day - an opportunity to come in to school dress and live like an Egyptian for the day!
Subject Information
English
This term we will look at the following texts and stimulus:
- Haiku Poems
- Instructions – Mummifying a banana
- Tadeo Jones
- Egyptian Artefacts
- Anthony Browne
In poetry we will discuss what a syllable is and practise counting them within a text before writing our own.
Using their historical knowledge, children will write clear instructions on mummification. They will use subordinating conjunctions, imperative verbs and adverbials.
We will tell a tale of adventure and horror for a story of exploring an ancient tomb. The children will watch a short video clip which will inspire them to create an informative paragraph that describes an Egyptian artefact. They will use expanded noun phrases and similes in their writing and then become ‘curators’ and produce an oral presentation to the class, presenting their chosen artefact.
We will finish the half term, looking at a range of texts by the author Anthony Browne. The children will practise making inferences and explore character emotions. They will take part in discussions and practise using their voice to offer opinions.
Maths
This half term in maths we will be looking at the following topics:
Multiplication and division – We will learn about factors and how to multiply and divide by 10 and 100. We will also learn written methods to support our multiplication and division. Everyday we will continue to practise our times tables up to 12 x 12.
Length and perimeter – We will learn about accurate measuring of rectilinear shapes, polygons, and to use different units of measure e.g. in cm and km.
Fractions and Decimals – We will be focusing on improper fractions and equivalent fractions. The children will then learn about tenths and hundredths as fractions/decimals, and how to represent them on a place value chart and number line.
Science
This term in science we will look at electricity.
Children will explore electricity and recognise that it is a way of moving the energy needed to power appliances. Children will study the concept of circuits and will focus on conductivity and circuits. The children will also learn about renewable energy and how it can be used to create electricity.
History
Children will find out about the ancient civilisation of Egypt this term. We will be finding out about key achievements such as hieroglyphs and learning about how they organised their society. We will continue our work on using sources, evaluating them according to how effective they are and what they show us. We will look at important discoveries and key beliefs and practises. We will also compare ancient Egypt to other ancient civilisations.
Spanish and PSHE
During Spanish lessons with our specialists on a Thursday afternoon, the children will learn to describe their Birthdays. They will learn to count to 31 and learn the names of the months.
In PSHE, our topic this term will be around the zones of regulation. We will think about what the colours mean, our emotions, and strategies to stay regulated.
Art
Our focus in Art this term is sculpture. The children will learn about the sculpture artist, Augusta Savage and they will evaluate her work. The children will then use scoring and slipping to join pieces of clay. The children will design and make a Canopic jar using clay and then decorate it.
Computing
We will start the topic this term by looking at fact, opinion and belief through an internet safety lesson. We will then look at programming with the Microbits, changing light, sound and colour.
If you would like any further details about this half term's curriculum in Year 4, please speak to your child's teacher.