Hi Everyone, I'm Miss Brown and I'm extremely proud to be the class teacher of China Class this year! On our journey through Year 4, we will be spending time learning about China itself at different points throughout the year! We will then move onto learning about The Ancient Greeks, followed by Unfortunate Events and finishing with The Romans. 

Keep an eye out on our class page for updates on our learning!

TIE-DYE!

In our mini-topic lessons for Summer term, we thought back to our research on endangered animals. Considering how we could spread the word to help save endangered animals, we decided to make tie-dye t-shirts which we would later write on a bold slogan encouraging people to help wildlife. 

Within our Unfortunate Events topic, we completed a unit of art using water colours to create an 'Extreme Weather' painting. Here are some examples of the techniques we practiced and used with water colours, and the outcomes of our final paintings - A tornado scene and a winter forest scene. 

GREEN WEEK

This week is GREEN WEEK. This week is to  encourage  children to think about the global environment holistically and critically, as well as to promote awareness of the necessity of sustainability.

In year 4 we used the text ‘Glacier on the Move’ by Elizabeth Rusch as a starting point for studying the issues surrounding ice cap melting, glacier movement and how this impact the world, humans and wildlife as a whole. We created some art in the style of the book.

Hot Seating

In our English lessons, we have been reading A Series of Unfortunate events. This week we participated in 'hot seating' where we pretended to be some of the characters from the book and asked questions for them to answer in the role of their chosen person. 

Emergency Signals

To tie in with our 'Unfortunate Events' learning, we looked at some emergency signals that could be useful if we were ever caught up in an emergency.

Class Assembly

On January 12th we held the first Class Assembly of the year. Keeping with the theme of new year, we discussed the things we would like to achieve this year. 

SOUND

In Science we have been learning about sound. We have carried out investigations to explore pitch and amplitude. 

China class made Greek Gyros with a Tzakiki dip! At first, everyone was a little worried as many children had said that they had never tried cooking before! But, it didn't take long before we got used to the equipment. When we tasted them, we were shocked by how much we enjoyed them!

Ingredients we used (because the children have asked for them to make Gyros at home):

Pitta Bread, Garlic cloves, juice of half a lemon, chicken breast, cucumber, red onion, Greek Yogurt, oregano, Olive oil and white wine vinegar!

'I have never cooked before and it was fun! The food tasted amazing!' - Tabitha

'I learnt how to cut and cook chicken' - Frankie

'I learnt that when the pan 'spits', it's nothing to be scared of' - Nieve-Alice

'I learnt how to use the equipment. I was worried because I'd never used it before' - Declan

Becoming a Class 'Team'   

In our PSHE lessons this week, we thought about how good it feels to be included in a group and considered  how it feels to be excluded. Working at our tables in small groups we had nine post-its. We decided on nine words which describe teamwork and how it feels to be part of a team. We arranged the post-its in a diamond
nine formation with the most important word at the top moving down to the least important word at the bottom.

How is the past constructed?

In our history lessons we have begun looking at The Ancient Greeks. We considered what it means to be a historian and then used our chronological understanding to sequence some significant Ancient Greek events.

Types of Teeth

Today we used mirrors to look at the teeth in our mouth. We considered the following questions.

Are they all the same shape?

Why do some look different to others?

What function do the different teeth have?

This week (17-21.10.22) is STEM week! We have been set a challenge to create a bridge, with diagonal struts, which is 50cm in length and includes a working lightbulb.

We decided that first we would need to analyse some different existing bridges.

Tomorrow we will investigate diagonal struts. 

Today we had a go at creating some diagonal struts with spaghetti and marshmallows! We tested as many different shapes as we could. 

Finally, we completed our bridges and tested them to see whose could hold the most weight. It was fantastic to watch!

Congratulations!

Well done to Thomas in China Class, who has won the Mayor's Christmas card competition. His design was chosen from our school to be used across Darlington this Christmas on behalf of the Mayor, we can't wait to receive a copy of his card! We're very proud of you, Thomas! 

NEWSPAPERS 

This half term we are exploring newspapers. We have looked a various newspapers to explore the features and get a feel of how a newspaper is constructed.

Computing!

In our computing lessons we are using 'Scratch Coding' to create our own game. In the game, we are creating a labyrinth in which a minotaur will have to escape! 

Diwali Dance! 

On Tuesday we were lucky enough to be taught a dance by the West End in Schools workshop. We followed the story of Rama and Sita to create a dance. 

Internet Safety Day 2022

Every year the internet becomes more complex and challenging to navigate, with new apps, programs, websites, devices and games that link together.

It is therefore more and more important every year, that children have a strong and robust understanding of how to keep themselves safe when accessing the internet.

Today, we made sure we know how to explain how to keep our personal information private online and thought about how internet use is never fully private as it is monitored.

We now know some online services seek consent to store information about us.

Year 4 created some images of landscapes using pointillism in  recognition of our spotty themed Children in Need day.