Literacy.

This term in literacy, we have been researching our local area to write a non-chronological report all about Newham. First, we learnt about the different features of non-chronological reports and then used our teamwork skills to research different aspects of Newham. We applied our knowledge about reports into our writing and then edited and improved our writing to create a final draft. Each class has also begun reading our first whole class text; Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo, Cyborg Cat: Rise of the Parsons Road Gangby Ade Adepitan, The Sleeping Sword by Michael Morpurgo, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson). In our reading lessons we have been learning to read with fluency and expression, as well as practising our prediction skills and writing character descriptions.

Maths

In maths, we have been focusing on place value. This has included how to round a number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1,000, multiplying and dividing numbers by 10, 100 and 1,000, and finding different ways to represent numbers. We have begun to look in more depth at estimating. We used our place value knowledge to develop strategies for estimating amounts and have been having different competitions to see who can make the most accurate estimates. Well done to Selina in 4M who had the best estimate for the number of chickpeas in a can (404).The times table are really important in Year 4 so we spent some time looking for patterns and making connections between the different times tables. We had to be resilient when looking at different types of challenges and questions in lessons.

Topic

During our history topic, year 4 have been studying the Romans. We have used our history skills to place key events on a timeline and come up with different questions we would like to find the answers to. We have also learned about the origins of Rome and began to look at features of Roman society. We visited the London Mithraeum and Guildhall’s Roman Amphitheatre. During the trip we got to see the remains of a Roman temple in the Mithraeum and experience what happened in Roman temples by listening to some of the Latin chanting that used to happen during Roman times. We also saw over 600 artefacts used in everyday life. In the amphitheatre we saw where gladiators used to fight in Londinium and learned how brutal the games were!