Topic Summary
We begin our year by thinking about our role in the world and trying to answer the question 'how can our actions affect the planet?' We find out about animals that have become endangered or extinct due to the actions of humans, and thought about what responsibility means.
We make information texts on our class animal, as well as persuasive letters to help us to raise money to adopt our class animal.
Science is a big focus this half term – we investigate life in the local area, as well as meet some creatures who visit our school. We think about groupings, classification, and the role of each living thing in its environment.
In the topic we will be teaching the children the following key concepts:
- Responsibility - What responsibilities do people have to our planet?
- Change - How can we make a change?
- Consequences - What are the consequences of our actions when we don’t care for our planet?
Visits/Events
- Monday 29th September - European Day of Languages
- Thursday 16th October - Visit to Mosque
- Wednesday 22nd October - Harvest Collection
Subject Information
English
This half term we will develop our story telling skills about when a troublesome animal visits school. The children will learn to write an information text on an endangered animal and then think about how they can alter the purpose of their writing to persuade the audience. They will be writing a persuasive letter in the hope that we can adopt our own endangered animal as a class!
We will use a variety of books and stimulus this half term to support our English lessons including:
- Journey
- Charlotte's Web
- Greta and the Giants
- Adrift
- Non-fiction texts about animals
Maths
In maths, we will be focusing on number to deepen our understanding of place value. We will also work on a range of addition and subtraction skills, applying these into some problem solving contexts.
- Place Value – Rounding, comparing and partitioning 4-digit numbers, as well as looking at negative numbers.
- Addition and subtraction – Look at written methods, as well as estimating answers.
Science
Linked to our work on animals we will be learning how to research and classify some of the incredibly diverse range of living things on our planet. We will come face to face with creatures to help us to make observations and discover more about them. Using our knowledge of animals, we will learn about food chains and their fragility. We will explore examples of human impact on the environment, both positive and negative.
Geography
In geography, our global warriors topic focuses on the consequences and causes of climate change. We will think about the different impacts of human actions on the environment around the world. The children will be encouraged to reflect on the responsibility we all have to stop climate change. We will use our knowledge to debate the question 'How can our actions affect our planet?'
PSHE and RE
In PSHE the children will deepen their understanding of our core value: respect. Children will be focusing on their similarities and differences in order to answer the question ‘What strengths, skills and interests do we have?’ We will be celebrating each others’ unique characteristics and what makes us special.
In RE the children will be learning all about Islam such as key beliefs and how Muslims worship. Children will visit a local mosque as well as comparing the Muslim festival of Eid to Christmas.
Art
In art we will be developing our skills to draw realistically. We will look at proportion, scale and position, during drawings of both people and animals. Using our skills we will develop the techniques of cross hatching to show tone, texture and to create a 3D effect.
We will also learn the skills to turn previously realistic sketches into a semi-abstract form (in the style Picasso).
Computing
Perhaps controversially for our children we will be thinking about the positives and negatives of technology! We will explain how using technology can be a distraction – both in a positive and negative way, and when someone may need to limit the amount of time they use technology. Children will look at how we respond to hurtful behaviour online or offline and what we can do if we experience something that makes us uncomfortable.
The children will then focus on developing their coding using Lego and various coding instructions to make their models move, light up and produce sounds.
Music
In Music, we will be looking at the rhythms and elements of the pink panther theme in order to develop appreciation of different movement styles. The first musician of our half term is the band Coldplay. Linking to our topic Global Warriors, the children will learn how this band generate their own electricity at their concerts.
If you would like any further details about this half term's curriculum in Year 4, please speak to your child's teacher.