Year 4 Spring Term Curriculum

To boldly go

Areas of learning

  • As historians, we will be learning about the Aztecs and how their civilisation shaped modern Mexico.
  • As geographers, we will be learning about the different continents and the countries within them.
  • As scientists, we will be investigating how the digestive system works. Looking at teeth and how we can take care of them.
  • As artists, we will be designing, imagining and presenting new ideas of planets, landscapes and alien life forms.
  • As writers we will develop our ability to use adjectives and figurative language and similes to describe settings effectively, e.g., in science fiction. We will also develop our understanding of how to construct a story with suspense.

Responsible Citizens

PSHE

  • We will be thinking about how to respect other cultures and their beliefs through the children’s participation in Latchmere Goes Global.

Environment

  • We will be discussing how our health can affect our lives. We will be considering the impact of what we eat can have on our environment.

Spiritual & Moral

  • When studying the European exploration of the New World we will consider the – often disastrous – effects on the indigenous peoples.

Communities

  • We will invite parents to watch our class assemblies. We will also invite our parents and buddies to see our display of alien artefacts created on Science fiction day.

Year 4 Subject Skills

Literacy

Spring 1: Because of Winn-Dixie – Kate DiCamillo/ Persuasive writing

Spring 2: Selection of Science Fiction stories and poetry. Non-chronological reports

  • To recognize Science Fiction as a genre and to introduce some of the features of this writing; to use factual research to inform sci-fi writing ;to explore the process of writing a sci-fi story; to consider what readers expect of a sci-fi story; to reflect on overall structure; to identify specific conflicts that will be resolved in the story.
  • To develop use of settings in own writing – e.g., in science fiction – making use of work on adjectives and figurative language to describe settings effectively; to write own examples of descriptive, expressive language based on those read; to develop the use of adjectives and similes; to understand how the use of expressive and descriptive language can create moods and arouse expectation.
  • To recognise explanation as a non-fiction genre; to identify its purpose and audience; To recognise the use of subject specific language in explanatory texts; to understand that an explanation can be represented as a flow chart.
  • Use information sources to research a topic; to practise note-taking, writing information in the third person. To give a context and purpose for research. To appraise an information poster for its content and usefulness. To be able to take notes on a non-fiction source. To understand the meaning and use of a glossary.

Reading

Develop positive attitudes to reading and understanding of what they read by:

  • listening to and discussing a wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
    reading books that are structures in differt ways and reading for a range of purposes
  • using dictionaries to check the meaning of words that they have read
  • identifying themes and conventions in a wide range of books
    preparing poems and play scripts to read aloud and to perform, showing understanding through intonation, tone, volume and action
    • discussing words and phrases that capture the reader’s interest and imagination
    • recognising some different forms of poetry [for example, free verse, narrative poetry]

Writing

Plan their writing by:

  • discussing writing similar to that which they are planning to write in order to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar
  • discussing and recording ideas
    draft and write by:
  • composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), progressively building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures (English Appendix 2)
  • organising paragraphs around a theme
    in narratives, creating settings, characters and plot
    in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]
    evaluate and edit by:
  • assessing the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggesting improvements
  • proposing changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency, including the accurate use of pronouns in sentences
  • proof-read for spelling and punctuation errors
    read aloud their own writing, to a group or the whole class, using appropriate intonation and controlling the tone and volume so that the meaning is clear.

SPaG

Develop their understanding of the concepts by:

  • • reading books that are structured in different ways and reading
    by using a wider range of conjunctions, including when, if, because, although
  • using the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
  • choosing nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition
  • using conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
  • using fronted adverbials

Learning the grammar for years 3 and 4 indicate grammatical and other features by:

  • using commas after fronted adverbials
  • indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
  • using and punctuating direct speech

Numeracy

Number/Calculations

  • count backwards through zero to include negative numbers
  • recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number (thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones)
  • identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations
  • solve number and practical problems that involve all of the above and with increasingly large positive numbers
  • read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time,
  • the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value.
  • estimate and use inverse operations to check answers to a calculation
  • use place value, known and derived facts to multiply and
  • divide mentally, including: multiplying by 0 and 1; dividing by 1;
  • multiplying together three numbers
  • recognise and use factor pairs and commutativity in mental
  • calculations
  • solve problems involving multiplying and adding, including
  • using the distributive law to multiply two digit numbers by one digit, integer scaling problems and harder correspondence problems such as n objects are connected to m objects.
  • counting up and down in hundredths; recognise that hundredths arise when dividing an object by one hundred and dividing tenths by ten.
  • calculate quantities, and fractions to divide quantities, including non-unit fractions where the answer is a whole number
  • add and subtract fractions with the same denominator
  • recognise and write decimal equivalents of any number of tenths or hundredths
  • find the effect of dividing a one- or two-digit number by 10 and 100, identifying the value of the digits in the answer as ones, tenths and hundredths
  • compare numbers with the same number of decimal places up to two decimal places

Shape and Measure

  • Convert between different units of measure [for example, kilometre to metre; hour to minute]
  • measure and calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure (including squares) in centimetres and metres
  • estimate, compare and calculate different measures, including money in pounds and pence
  • solve problems involving converting from hours to minutes; minutes to seconds; years to months; weeks to days.
  • compare and classify geometric shapes, including quadrilaterals and triangles, based on their properties and sizes
  • identify acute and obtuse angles and compare and order angles up to two right angles by size
  • identify lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes presented in different orientations
  • complete a simple symmetric figure with respect to a specific line of symmetry
  • describe positions on a 2-D grid as coordinates in the first quadrant
  • describe movements between positions as translations of a given unit to the left/right and up/down plot specified points and draw sides to complete a given polygon.
  • solve problems involving increasingly harder fractions to

Science

States of Matter

  • To recognise the different states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) and their properties.
  • To observe and understand the changes that take place when materials change between different states.
  • To plan and execute a fair test.
  • To be understand how different materials can be separated.
  • To recognise that chemical changes can be reversible or irreversible.

Sound

  • To recognise what is sound and how it is created.
  • To understand how to change sound.
  • To be able to label the parts of the ear and understand how it works.
  • To recognise how sound can travel through different mediums.

Computing

We are Historians

  • The children have the opportunity to look at historical databases, such as the census for the local area. They then set up their own database using a spreadsheet. They can then analyse and present this data to the class. 

We are Co-authors – Creating a Wiki Page – Switched On ICT

  • Talk about what information they need and how they can find and use it.
  • How to develop and refine ideas by bringing together, organising and reorganising, text tables, images and sound.
  • In this unit, children create their own mini Wikipedia, using good research skills and by exchanging and sharing information with different children creating the content for different pages.

History

Aztecs:

  • Characteristic features of the periods and societies studied, including ideas, beliefs, attitudes and experiences of men, women and children.
  • Social, ethnic, cultural, religious diversity of the societies studied.
  • Identify and describe reasons for, and results of events and changes.
  • Describe and make links between events, and changes across periods.
  • Recognise the past is represented and interpreted in different ways, and give reasons for this.
  • Ask and answer questions. Select and record relevant information.
  • To consider the impact of other cultures upon a country

Geography

  • Locate the world’s countries, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities
  • Name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns.
  • Identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle
  • Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)
  • Describe and understand key aspects of physical geography, including climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes.

Art/DT/PSHE

Science Fiction Day

  • To create alien artefacts or futuristic gadgets.
  • Creating music for the future

PE

Hockey/Ball Games/Golf

  • Plan, use and adapt strategies, tactics and compositional ideas for individual, pair, small group and small-team activities.
  • Develop and use knowledge of the principles behind the strategies, tactics and ideas to improve their effectiveness.
  • Apply rules and conventions for different activities.
  • How exercise affects the body in the short-term.
  • To warm up and prepare appropriately for different activities.
  • Why physical activity is good for health and well-being.
  • Why wearing appropriate clothing and being hygienic is good for their health and safety.
  • Music

Modern Foreign Languages

  • How to employ their foreign language in real situations.

Music

  • Play tuned and un-tuned instruments with control and rhythmic accuracy.
  • Analyse and compare sounds.
  • Listen with attention to detail and internalise and recall sounds with increasing memory
  • Learn how music is produced in different ways