Kenya Class Year 4
Class Blog Autumn 1 2023
Hummer Wood Trip
On Monday 18th September, we were really lucky enough to go on a trip to Hummer Wood to link our geography work on biomes with our English unit on recounts. We arrived at the farm and had to walk down past the animals and electric fence to get to the woods. Once there, we had our snacks and talked about the biome we were in. We looked, listened and smelt. It was lovely just experiencing the nature around us. Next, we wandered around the area to see where we would be working and then split off in our groups to build our shelters. It was very fun and used all of our school values: Collaboration, Resilience and Aspiration.
Geography
In Geography this half term, we have been learning about 6 different Biomes and locating these on a world map. We have also learnt about the climate, flora and fauna associated with each Biome. As part of this unit we listened to an Arctic Now Press Play Experience. Also, we have studied in detail Europe and we have used our map skills to identify some countries and their capitals. Lastly, we have focused on comparing what the homes, food and weather is like in Russia, Greece and the UK.
PE
In our two PE lessons each Monday, we have been focusing on the school value of collaboration. In our indoor PE sessions, we have been focusing on developing creating our own personal targets within a lesson linked to each lessons activity and the ability to be able to give our peers useful targets to work on too. Our outdoor PE unit has been called Multi-skills. We have been focusing on our agility, movement and team work skills in order to effectively play mini-games collaboratively.
Spring Term 2
Paignton Zoo
On Tuesday 28th February, we spent the day at Paignton Zoo to celebrate their 100 year anniversary. After arriving at the zoo, Matt one of the educational experts, gave us a talk and set us some challenges to solve as we explored the park. We first visited the Tropical Trails where we found a variety of snakes, frogs, turtles and many more creatures.Next we climbed up the hill in search of the red pandas, who were very adorable. Just before lunch time, we received a talk by Matt about the giraffes. It was really interesting to find about these animals and their history at the park. After lunch, we went across the wobbily bridge, which was great fun. We managed to catch a glimpse of a tiger and the baby orangutan too. Overall, we had an excellent day out.
English - World Book Day
As part of World Book day on the Friday 3rd March, we spent the morning focused on the author of our class book Cressida Cowell. Initially, we looked at each other’s costumes and identified which characters/books we had chosen to represent. Next we read the next part of our class book as inspiration for our two tasks. After this, we watched some video’s by Cressida Cowell about her writing process and inspiration behind her books. We then completed two tasks: one we created a fact file about our own dragon and the second activity was where we created a map of the island where our dragon lives. We then used our co-ordinate skills to complete a key for some of the key features on our islands.
Science
To celebrate British Science Week, we have focused on science activities linked to the theme of ‘Connections’. For the first afternoon, we focused on an experiment called Biscuit Bonzana and we investigated: “Does the temperature of the water effect how long you can dunk a biscuit for?” The rich tea biscuit lasted for a staggering 7 minutes!
In the next session, we looked at ‘Smashing Stereotypes’ focusing on what a scientist could look like. We then sketched our own pictures of what we thought a scientist looked like and added key skills a scientist should have. After this, we created a class set of fingerprints and wrote examples of scientific vocabulary on a T-shirt.
PE Spring Term 1 - Tennis
Over the course of this half term, we have been developing our tennis skills. In the first few lessons, we focused on how to hold the racket correctly and how to control the tennis ball. We have then worked in pairs to try to create mini rallies with just one bounce. The next skill we have worked on is serving. We have used the overarm serve and underarm serve and then we have also practiced the drop-shot as well.
Science – Changing State Unit
To start this unit, we had a visitor from Wessex Water as the hook for our Changing State unit. He explained about where water comes from for our water supply (Sutton Bingham reservoir) and compared this to what happens in Dorset. He explained using pictures how the water cycle works. In groups, we had to investigate how to clean some dirty water from the reservoir. We were given a tray, sand, an empty bottle, cotton wool and a sieve. When we poured the water through the sieve and filter (cotton wool) the water was a lot cleaner. The best score we were given was 7.5 out of 10 for cleanliness. Tim explained how they clean the water at the water plant using different chemicals to make the water clean and safe. For the last activity, we thought about what is safe to put down the toilet and the problems which can occur when the wrong paper and objects are flushed down a toilet.
Spring Term 1: Art – Anglo- Saxon Weaving
On Friday 6th January, we spent the day learning how to weave and weaving techniques from around the world. We first of all looked at Anglo-Saxons images linked to weaving and a video explaining this technique. We then looked at different weaving materials and methods from around the world before focusing on the artist called Gunta Stolzl. We then learnt how to do weaving using a paper loom and different coloured card.
The second part of the project involved looking at different landscapes for inspiration and then creating our own landscape designs. We then made our own cardboard loom and learnt how to weave using different coloured yarn. The end result was a miniature mat.
December 2022
PE - Multi-Skills
In this half term we have been focusing on our collaboration and fine motor skills as part of our multi skills unit. In the first two lessons, we have been focusing on improving our hand and eye co-ordination by practicing our throwing and catching skills with different size balls and then completing this activity whilst travelling through an obstacle course. Then we have been focusing on our throwing accuracy by throwing beanbags into different sized hoops. These were then allocated points and we had a competition amongst the groups. To make it more challenging we had to travel along the ladders and then complete the hoop challenge. In the following lessons, we have been focusing on controlling a ball through an obstacle course using a racket and ball and then using our feet to dribble a ball.
History – The Anglo Saxons
For History this half term we have been learning about the Anglo-Saxons. In the first lesson we found out who the Anglo-Saxons were and where did they come from and why. In the second lesson, we started off by looking at a video about what jobs people did in a typical Anglo-Saxon village. Then we were lucky enough to look at 20 different artefacts which we have on loan from Sherborne Museum. The artefacts ranged from jewellery and coins to dolls, combs and pottery. In our groups, we looked at a selection of the artefacts and we discussed the answers to the following questions:
- What do you think the object is?
- Who do you think would have used it?
- Where was the object found or came from originally?
- What is it made of?
- What can it teach us about Anglo-Saxon life?
As we moved around the objects, we started to group the objects linked to an Anglo-Saxons status in the village. For the last activity we drew a sketch of our favourite artefact and identified what we thought the artefact was, what it was used for, what it was made out of and why we choose it. In subsequent lessons, we have been looking at village life in more detail, crimes and punishments and Sutton Hoo.
Geography – Europe Autumn 2
In our previous Geography unit in Autumn 1, we studied the different Biomes. In this unit we focused on identifying the key areas in Europe and then what types of Biomes you can find within Europe. Our three main questions were:
- Where is Europe and what countries does it contain?
- Where can we find the 6 main biomes in Europe?
- How is my life different to the children in Greece and Russia?
In the first lesson, we used our Atlas skills to label a map of Europe to show where 6 key countries are like Russia, Greece and the UK. As a challenge, we looked for the capital cities or key physical features such as mountains.
In the second lesson, we labelled a map of Europe to show which biomes can be found in Europe and what it is like in each Biome.
In the third lesson, we researched what the homes were like, food like and clothes were like in Russia, Greece and the UK. We watched a series of videos to identify the key facts and then we used this information to write 3 paragraphs focusing on identifying the similarities and differences between the three countries linked to the three topics.
Also, in English we have been learning about Non-Chronological reports and writing our own report for our own mythical creatures. In Maths, we have been focusing on learning our multiplication and division facts, especially our 3- and 4-timestables. In Computing, we have been developing our coding skills to create our own scene, including our own backgrounds and objects. Furthermore, in DT we have completed a sewing project where we have made our own Christmas baubles.
Autumn 2
In Kenya class, we have been working on our addition and subtraction methods in Maths and selecting the most appropriate method for different questions. We have then applied this knowledge to help us solve a range of PSR (problem solving and reasoning questions). We are also focusing on learning our 8 times table facts.
In English, we have started a narrative unit linked to a short film called 'The Ride of Passage'. We have been exploring the setting and how to write complex sentences with subordinate clauses. Next, we will be writing our own stories linked to Toki's adventures.
AUTUMN 1 2022
In Kenya class, we have just started an English unit based upon a short story called ‘The Tin Forest’. We are going to be exploring the setting and characters in the story so we can write a diary entry as the main character. In maths, we have been practicing our times tables skills and being able to read and interpret different number lines. We are enjoying our new science unit on sound and we are using experimenting on how to create different sounds and the note of a sound using different instruments.
