Science: This week, we started our new unit on sound. We kicked off the unit with a ‘bang’ and experimented with different instruments, exploring how they make sound. We looked at percussion, string and wind instruments. We discovered that different parts of the instruments vibrate when they are hit, plucked or blown into and this is what creates the sound. It was certainly a very noisy hour but Badgers had a great time! 🎶
Art: We created some Remembrance Day artwork inspired by Jacqueline Hurley.
Welcome to Term 2!
Welcome back everyone! We hope you had a relaxing half term. A few reminders for this term:
English: This term, we are looking at newspaper reports. Our new model text is a newspaper report reporting on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This week, we composed our own ‘cold’ newspaper reports and have begun to learn our new text. Have a look at our freeze frames below!
Maths: We are looking at multiplication and division. This week, we have focused on the 3, 6 and 9 times table. We will explore the relationship between these times tables in further detail next week.
Computing: We took part in the UK BEBRAS computing challenge! This is a challenge all about computational thinking. Each child had 45 minutes to tackle a series of interactive tasks, designed to encourage logical thinking and problem solving skills. We will find out our results in two weeks!
Topic: We are continuing our work on the Romans. This week, we looked at Hadrian’s Wall. It took the Romans over 6 years to build and much of it is still standing today. We worked out that it would take just over 24 hours of non-stop walking to walk across the whole wall!
Well done on completing your first term of Year 4 everyone! Have a fantastic break 🍂 🎃
Art Morning - Tuesday 22nd October
We studied Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. She liked to paint using polka dots and repeated patterns. She used complimentary colours when painting - these are colours that lie directly across from each other on a colour wheel. They are opposite hues, containing one warm colour and one cool colour. When she was growing up, Yayoi's family grew pumpkins at home. As a child, she drew pumpkins and continued this when she was an adult. We had a go at creating our own pumpkin artwork inspired by Yayoi.
Friday 18th October 2024
Week 7 has flown by here in Badgers Class. Take a look at our highlights below.
English: We have loved our unit on limericks. We all wrote our own limericks and performed them to the class. Here is our whole class limerick - what do you think?!
One day Tibby walked down the lane,
To meet Cainan in his private jet plane,
They flew to New York,
Barbecued some pork,
Until it sadly started to rain!
Maths: We have finished our work on addition and subtraction and started a new unit on area. We had a go at some problem solving and enjoyed working in groups.
Computing: We have been learning about websites and how easy it is to upload information onto the internet. Have a look at what we edited on our class page below!
Welcome to Badgers!
We are looking at editing websites in computing. The time is 13:25pm and the day is Wednesday 16th October. We are editing this page RIGHT NOW!!!
We think we are the best class in the school... do you agree?
Art: On Tuesday, we enjoyed our autumn themed art morning. We have another exciting art morning planned for next week, stay tuned for pictures!
Friday 11th October 2024
English: This week, we began a short unit on limericks. Each line has to have the correct number of syllables to create a rhythm. The first and second lines should both have 8 syllables (one more or one less is fine), the third and fourth lines should have 5 syllables and the final line goes back to 8 syllables. The rhyming pattern also follows a similar structure with the first two lines rhyming (a rhyme), the second two lines rhyming (b rhyme) and the final line rhyming with the first two again (a rhyme).
Maths: In maths, we have continued our work on formal methods of addition and subtraction, focusing on applying our skills to solve word problems later on in the week.
Topic: In topic this week, we studied Boudicca's rebellion. We tracked her rebellion on a map of Great Britain - she led her army to London, St Albans, Colchester and Shropshire. We learnt all about the battle tactics of the Celts and the Romans and discussed which we thought were most effective and why.
Science: We have continued our work on States of Matter. This week, we looked at 'changing states'. Some materials can change from a solid to a liquid, for example, ice to water. The temperature at which this happens is called the melting point. We conducted an experiment with milk chocolate, dark chocolate and butter and investigated their melting points. We then got to make rice krispie cakes with the melted materials! We were all VERY happy about this!
Friday 4th October 2024
It really has been a busy week here in Badgers Class. All of the children have taken everything in their stride this week and I could not be more proud of them. They have represented our school wonderfully!
Take a look at the video below of our music lesson yesterday. Mrs Andrews let us loose with the percussion instruments and we had a great time!
Friday 27th September 2024
I know there has been a little confusion on home learning this week. Just to clarify, our expectations from the children are:
- Fill in reading journal whenever they read, either alone or to an adult
- Add book reviews to reading journals when they finish a book - positive and negative reviews welcome!
- TTRockstars
- Spelling Shed activities
Optional maths activities are available on ATOM Learning. The home learning grid linked to the Romans is also available if children wanted to complete any additional tasks at home. There is no expectation to bring this work into school.
Any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!
English: In English this week, we innovated our model text. As a class, we came up with a new character and storyline. We changed our main character from Tranio to Livia and changed our storyline from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius to an animal escaping from the Colosseum. We are looking forward to writing our own versions next week!
Maths: We have looked at rounding numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. This can be quite tricky! We use stem sentences to help us remember how to round numbers. For example:
When rounding to the nearest 10, we need to look at the 1s column.
When rounding to the nearest 100, we need to look at the 10s column.
When rounding to the nearest 1000, we need to look at the 100s column.
Topic: In Topic, we studied the Roman invasions of Britain. We looked at why Julius Caesar and Emperor Claudius invaded Britain - they wanted Britain to be part of the Roman Empire and to show how powerful they were. Britain had plenty of raw materials like wood and metals such as lead, iron, gold and silver. The Romans wanted these things to make items such coins and jewellery or pipes from lead. They could use the wood to build ships and houses.
Science: We conducted a science investigation on whether or not gas has a weight. First of all, we weighed a bottle of fizzy drink. We then shook the bottle to 'wake up' the carbon dioxide and get it all fizzing up to the top of the bottle. We then slowly let out the carbon dioxide, being careful not to spill any liquid. We then weighed the bottle one more time once we had let out all of the gas. The bottle had slightly decreased in weight! This proves that some gases do have weight.
Languages Morning: On Wednesday, we celebrated European Day of Languages. As a school, we chose to focus on languages from around the world to include some of the languages that are spoken here at WPS. The children had a great morning moving around the school and learning about 4 different languages; Shona, Tagalog, Japanese and Ukrainian. For more photos of this day, please click here.
Friday 20th September 2024
English: This week, we have focused on using expanded noun phrases. We have described our story setting, a harbour in Naples, and our main character, Tranio. We have to remember to use a comma to separate two adjectives and to also include one after a prepositional phrase. For example:
In the early hours of the morning, Tranio liked to sneak down to the calm, peaceful harbour to watch the colossal ships float out to sea.
Maths: This week, we have continued our work on place value. We have looked at ordering and comparing numbers. One of the stem sentences to support us with this is:
If the number has the same amount of thousands, you need to look at the hundreds column.
Science: We started our new unit called States of Matter. We learnt about the particle formation of solids, liquids and gases. We also sorted materials according to whether they are a solid, liquid or gas.
Music & Dance: This week with Mrs Andrews, we learnt about songs written in 4 beat time. We practised clapping songs and really enjoyed the Among Us video we got to clap along to! Our understanding of rhythm has already improved since last week. We are able to use this knowledge to help us with our dance lessons as our song for dance is also written in 4 beat time. Knowing how to count correctly to the music helps us with knowing when to change to a different dance move.
Friday 13th September 2024
That’s our first full week in Badgers Class done! The children have all come back to school full of enthusiasm which is great to see.
Blue reading journals have been sent home today - please see previous class page update and the class newsletter for more information.
English: We have started our work on the story ‘Escape from Pompeii’. The children all had a go at writing a ‘cold’ adventure story about escaping from either an earthquake or volcanic eruption. They were full of exciting ideas and I’m looking forward to seeing what they produce later on in the unit when we have learnt the key grammatical features in more detail.
Maths: We have started Year 4 by looking at place value. We have started investigating 5 digit numbers and also been introduced to Gattegno Charts. We represented different numbers on these charts - take a look at our examples below.
RE: Our unit this term is ‘Worship’. We discussed what worship means and how it is different for all people and religious believers. We thought about all of the things and people in our lives who we respect and show loyalty to. We created worship spinners showing the most important things in our lives.
Music: We are so lucky that this year we will be having music lessons with Mrs Andrews! We had our first lesson on Thursday and focussed on clapping songs and following a rhythm. By the end of Year 4, we will all know how to play some basic tunes on the ukulele!
Welcome to Badgers Class!
Here you will find important information about our learning and updates as to what we have been doing in class.
Please ensure children are reading regularly at home and filling in their blue reading journal. Spelling Shed tasks will be set weekly. Children should also be practising times tables on TT Rockstars. The Home Learning Grid (see below) and online ATOM maths questions are optional additional activities.
Feel free to contact me via the class email address badgers@watlington.oxon.sch.uk if you have any queries or questions.
PE days this term are Tuesday and Friday.