Year 4

Year 4

Welcome to Year 4

(2022-2023)

Class Teacher: Mr Mathews

Class Teaching Assistant: Miss Jones

ABOUT ME:

As this is my first-year teaching having qualified as a teacher, I am extremely excited to start my first year with the wonderful Year 4 children. This is going to be a great year filled with lots of fun, jokes, laughter, and learning! Below you will read some of the important information and life in the Year 4 classroom. I aim to update this page regularly so you the reader won't miss out on a thing!

HOMEWORK:

Homework in Year 4 will be set (when applicable) on Wednesday's and the children who are in attendance will be given a paper copy along with writing paper if the homework calls for it. At the beginning of the year, each child was given their own pencil to take home with them so that they can complete the assigned work. Those children who are absent on the day the work is set will be sent the homework virtually through Class Dojo.

HOMEWORK IS TO BE RETURNED ON THE FRIDAY OF THE SAME WEEK.

SECRET STUDENT:

Each day a 'Secret Student' is chosen who has demonstrated model behaviour in line with the class expectations, at the end of the day the class take a vote on who they think the 'Secret Student' may be. Said student is revealed and will receive 5 Dojo points.

BEHAVIOUR:

As a school, a new behaviour system called 'Steps-to-Success' has been introduced. Children who present excellent behaviour in line with the class expectations can reach 'Sky is the Limit', and those children who model good behaviour maintain on 'Green for Growth'.

DOJO WINNERS:

Dojo points are rewarded to the children if they have displayed excellent effort and behaviour in line with the class expectations of behaviour. When a child reaches 100 Dojo Points, they have the opportunity to trade said dojo points in for a prize from the Dojo Prize Box. If they choose not to trade, then those 100 Dojo Points roll over with a chance of your child winning 200 Dojo Points.

Literacy

The Boy at the Back of the Class

Our Class novel this term is called 'The Boy at the Back of the Class' by Onjali Q. Raúf. Our Class novel this term is called 'The Boy and the Back of the Class' by Onjali Q. Raúf.

When a new boy joins their class, a group of children try to befriend him. They soon learn that Ahmet is a refugee and has been separated from his family. None of the grown-ups seem to be able to help him, so the friends come up with a daring plan, embarking on an extraordinary adventure.

This is an excellent and poignant story that Year 4 and I have thoroughly been enjoying reading during our literacy lessons. So far, we have used this novel to produce fantastic diary entries from the perspective of Ahmet on his first day of school and to develop our persuasive writing techniques by creating strong 'Anti-Bullying Speeches'. We have many more exciting activities planned as we work our way through this 'hard to put down' novel.

Science

Where does all that food go?

In Year 4, our topic for the first half of the term is 'Where does all that food go?'. Here we investigated the human digestive system to learn and understand the process from the moment when food enters our body, during and after it leaves.

Attached below is some of the exciting experiments we completed as a class:

Maths

Place Value & Addition and Subtraction

In Year 4, our topics for the first half of the term are 'Place Value' and 'Addition and Subtraction'.

Attached below is some of the exciting lessons we completed as a class using group work and our whiteboards:

Religion / Come & See

The Domestic Church

In Year 4, our topic for the first half of the term is 'The Domestic Church'. Here we learned about Jesus' family tree, our own family tree, the importance of family, and how all three are closely linked.

Attached below is when as a class we each took turns doing a 'Hotseat with Ruth' along with a class performance of our first Year 4 class hymn called 'Hope':

Music

Violin Lessons

In Year 4, we have been very privileged to receive weekly violin lessons from the wonderful Mrs. Harvey. She visits our class each Wednesday afternoon and she has been teaching us the history of the violin, music theory, music composition, and how to successfully and carefully play the violin.

Attached below are some images of us first meeting our violins and some class performances and participation: