Welcome to Year 4, your teachers are Mrs Judd in Holly Class and Ms Schooling in Larch class.
Our topics for the Autumn term are:
- Funny Bones (Science Topic)
- Nasty Neighbours (History/Geography Topic)
- Healthy Lifestyles
- Deaf Issues
- Measuring
- Poetry
- Non-fiction writing (reports)
Reading
In year 4 your child will read everyday. As parents you are your child's most influential teacher with an important part to play in helping your child to learn to read. Here are some suggestions on how you can help to make this a positive experience.
10 Tips on Hearing Your Child Read
1. Choose a quiet time
Set aside a quiet time with no distractions. Ten to fifteen minutes is usually long enough.
2. Make reading enjoyable
Make reading an enjoyable experience. Sit with your child. Try not to pressurise if he or she is reluctant. If your child loses interest then do something else.
3. Maintain the flow
If your child mispronounces a word do not interrupt immediately. Instead allow opportunity for self-correction. It is better to tell a child some unknown words to maintain the flow rather than insisting on trying to build them all up from the sounds of the letters. If your child does try to 'sound out' words, encourage the use of letter sounds rather than 'alphabet names'.
4. Be positive
If your child says something nearly right to start with that is fine. Don't say 'No. That's wrong,' but 'Let's read it together' and point to the words as you say them. Boost your child's confidence with constant praise for even the smallest achievement.
5. Success is the key
Parents anxious for a child to progress can mistakenly give a child a book that is too difficult. This can have the opposite effect to the one they are wanting. Remember 'Nothing succeeds like success'. Until your child has built up his or her confidence, it is better to keep to easier books. Struggling with a book with many unknown words is pointless. Flow is lost, text cannot be understood and children can easily become reluctant readers.
6. Visit the Library
Encourage your child to use the public library regularly.
Our local library is:
Mitcham Library
157 London Road
Mitcham
CR4 2YR
020 8274 5745
http://www.merton.gov.uk/learning/libraries/findalibrary/milib.htm
7. Regular practice
Try to read with your child on most school days. 'Little and often' is best.
8. Communicate
Your child will have a reading diary from school. Try to communicate regularly with positive comments and any concerns. Your child will then know that you are interested in their progress and that you value reading.
9. Talk about the books
There is more to being a good reader than just being able to read the words accurately. Just as important is being able to understand what has been read. Always talk to your child about the book; about the pictures, the characters, how they think the story will end, and their favourite part. You will then be able to see how well they have understood and you will help them to develop good comprehension skills.
10. Variety is important
Remember children need to experience a variety of reading materials e.g. picture books, hard backs, comics, magazines, poems, and information books.
http://www.starfall.com/index.htm
Teachers around the world use Starfall.com as an inexpensive way to make reading fun and inspire a love of reading and writing. Parents can use Starfall to prepare their children for reading in school and to support them once they are there. Starfall is an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children.
Spelling
In year 4 we will be focussing on homophones and plurals. Homophones are words which sound the same but have different meanings, such as their/they’re/there, sea/see and wore\war. www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/spelling/.../homophones/ has an excellent activities page and a fun quiz.
You can download all the key stage 2 spelling objectives at:
http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/node/183127 (year 4 from page 53)
Formations of plurals generally follow these rules:
In English, the plural of most nouns is formed by adding s.
E.g. hat becomes hats, pencil becomes pencils.
a.Nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z
For nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z, the plural is formed by adding es. The reason for this is that these words would be difficult to pronounce if only s were added. The ending es is pronounced as a separate syllable. For example: branch becomes branches, bus becomes buses, and fox becomes foxes
b. Nouns ending in y
Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant usually form the plural by changing the y to i and adding es. For example: city becomes cities, lady becomes ladies, and story becomes stories
Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel usually form the plural simply by adding s. For example: boy becomes boys, day becomes days, and key becomes keys.
c. Nouns ending in f or fe
Some English nouns ending in f or fe change the f to v when forming the plural. For instance, the following nouns ending in f form the plural by changing the f to v and adding es.
Therefore calf becomes calves, elf becomes elves, loaf becomes loaves, and shelf becomes shelves.
A fun quiz can be found at
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/english/revision_bites/spelling5.shtml
Numeracy
In year 4 we will be focusing on measure, shape and space.
Key objectives:
Measures
Know and use the relationships between familiar units of length, mass and capacity.
Your child will learn that 1km = 1000m, 1m= 100cm, 1m= 1000mm, 1cm=10mm, 1kg=1000g, 1 litre = 1000ml etc.
Check you knowledge at:
www.mrnussbaum.com/dropdownmetrix2.htm
Shape and space
Classify polygons using criteria such as number of right angles, whether or not they are regular, symmetry properties.
A polygon is a 2d shape with straight sides.
www.mathsisfun.com/geometry/polygons.html
Children in year 4 need to know 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 times tables by heart. This in turn will help them to be able to divide by these numbers later in the year. Therefore please practice these regularly
Here are some ideas to help you with your child’s learning in Year 4.
You can help your child to learn at home by visiting the library for books on these subjects or exploring these areas on the internet
We suggest the following websites as starting points.
These will be updated termly.
Funny BonesBBC Pod's Mission
Arrange the bones correctly in the human skeleton and find out more about their function.
How the Body Works
Online demonstrations of how food travels through your intestines and how your eyes, muscles and lungs work.
Virtual Frog Dissection Kit
Dissect Fluffy the virtual frog and view with or without its skin on and choose whether to view the skeleton, organs and nerves. Make movies and view from different angles.
Skeletons & Skulls - Sir Robert Hitcham's Primary School
A gallery of photographs showing the skulls and skeletons of a range of animals. Includes simple text explaining how each animal is adapted to its way of life. A well presented resource for KS2 pupils.
A look inside the human body
A site written for children explaining how the main systems of the human body work.
BBC Nature - Mammals
Use the interactive Mammal Maker to put together skeletons of mammals adapted for different ways of life.
Bones-An Exhibit Inside You
The games Boney or Boneless, The Bone Detective, Build Your Bones and Bones are Living Tissue and learn as you play.
Nasty Neighbours - InvadersRomans for Kids
Part of the Woodlands Junior School homework help pages. Newly updated with some great pictures.
BBC Schools The Romans
Very comprehensive site designed for Key Stage 2 pupils. Aligned to the BBC schools programmes, it includes activities, resources, timelines and web links.
The Romans in Britain
An interactive site for 7-10 year olds about the Romans and especially the Romans in Britain.
Roman Gods
Information on Roman Gods, days of the week/month, Roman numbers and Roman mazes. Also includes a fun interactive mosaic designer.
Show Me - Romans
Well presented set of links to interactives, news stories, teaching ideas and classroom resources- all to do with the Romans
Nettlesworth Primary School
The Romans
You wouldn't want to be a Roman Gladiator
Watch out... as a barbarian fighting against the Romans you are about to be captured, sold as a slave and trained to become a Roman Gladiator!
Pyrrha's Roman
Translate Roman inscriptions - including luggage labels! Learn to decipher Roman tombstones. Many spells and a few of the names used in the Harry Potter books are based on Latin words, see how many you can remember - or work them out with the help of a Latin vocabulary list!
Healthy LifestylesThe Balanced Plate
One of Crick school's excellent online interactive science resources which are perfect for whiteboard or individual use. Find out about the different food groups then try the conveyor belt sorting activity. (NB: Teachers notes are available if you click on the link "healthy eating" and the activity can be accessed by clicking on the picture.)
Welltown Food Game
Department of Health and Department for Education and Employment websites KS1
BBC revisewise - living things
Online activities, fact sheets, tests
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