Year 4 Curriculum outline Summer 2022
Year 4 Curriculum Outline Summer 2022
Survival - Cracking Contraptions
Humanities - Social Understanding In the first half of term, our theme is Cracking Contraptions. We will create a top 10 of all inventions through time and comparing their importance. These inventions are then categorised into STEM, where our activities will be in the field of Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. From toothpick bridges to Microbit alarms, cracking contraptions will allow us to be hands-on in our learning approach with a lot of practical experiments. Furthermore, we will be mapping and timelining our top inventions, developing these key skills. In the second half of term, our theme is Survival! We will be looking at The Philippines as a case study and will be looking at natural disasters, such as typhoons and hurricanes. We will also continue to develop our mapwork skills, looking at the compass rose, coordinates and symbols. Thinking about how humans and animals develop survival skills is another key focus. Woven into our study will be discussing the UN sustainability goal of clean water and sanitation.
In RS pupils will continue to learn about key aspects of Christianity, including Ascension and Pentecost, the establishment of the early church, parables and prayer. They will also consider what makes Jesus unique among other faith leaders, considering the miracles that were performed. Key skills will include describing religion, asking questions and responding sensitively, making comparisons and forming and expressing opinions.
Language and Communication In the first half of term for English, we will be studying explanation texts through exploring cracking contraptions, both real and fictional. Pupils will become familiar with the key features of this text and will invent their own contraption on which to base their own explanation text. Finally pupils will be learning to create suspense through writing a mystery story, using devices such as using similes, metaphors and onomatopoeia to help the reader to build up a vivid picture in their imagination. Through all of these topics we will be continuing to focus on introducing and reinforcing different aspects of grammar and punctuation. In the second half of term, pupils will be studying diaries and thinking about how to write an effective diary entry. They will also be studying fictional diaries as well as diary entries from some great explorer, such as Scott, to fit in with our survival theme. They are also going to be writing adventure stories where they will continue to develop their storytelling skills, using language and structure to ensure a successful outcome.
In Modern Languages there will be a variety of activities which will complement the thematic learning topics. The focus will be on speaking and listening with stories, songs, rhymes and
language learning games as well as writing and reading skills. Pupils are encouraged to use languagesonline or Quizlet in order to consolidate their learning in their own time. In French, pupils will learn about different parts of the body before using key phrases and vocabulary to describe themselves. They will focus on the use of “il” and “elle”, as well as using “je” to describe others. Bringing together all of these areas, pupils will then create and draw their own imaginary monster and describe it. The grammatical focus will be on using definite and indefinite articles accurately. Pupils will consolidate their learning towards the end of term with revision of key phrases and vocabulary from the year. Pupils will start the term in Spanish revising family members and then moving onto parts of the house. This will lead onto watching some parts from the famous movie “Encanto” and learn about typical hispanic houses.
Mathematical Understanding In Maths Year 4 will start the term looking at numbers up to two decimal places. They will focus on rounding decimals, recognising and writing decimal equivalents, finding the effect of dividing by 10 or 100 and identifying the value of the digits in answers. The next topic is measurement: pupils will need to estimate, compare and calculate different measures, including money in pounds and pence, solve simple measure and money problems involving fractions and decimals to two decimal places before moving on to looking at time. This will include converting between different units of measure and reading, writing and converting time between analogue and digital. They will also be asked to solve problems involving converting from hours to minutes; minutes to seconds; years to months; weeks to days. Next, maths lessons will focus on statistics and pupils will be given the opportunity to interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphical methods, including bar charts and time graphs. They will also look at information presented in bar charts, pictograms, tables and other graphs. The final topic is position and direction. This involves describing positions on a 2-D grid as coordinates in the first quadrant; plotting specific points and drawing sides to complete a given polygon; and, describing movements between positions as translations of a given unit to the left/ right and up/ down. Finally we will develop problem solving skills in all of these areas, encouraging pupils to apply their skills and break problems into smaller chunks to help them solve them.
Physical Education and Well-being In PE and games lessons cricket, tennis and athletics will be the focus. In cricket, pupils will learn the skills needed to play and also develop an understanding of the basic rules of the game. Pupils will gain an understanding of field positions and basic tactics which can be used by teams in competitive situations. In tennis, pupils will develop the key skills required to play and begin to think about how they can outwit opponents on court. In athletics, the children are taught a variety of track and field events as well as the rules for these. Do encourage your child to get involved with any of these sports outside of school by joining local clubs, and discuss the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle. In PSHEE pupils will cover the Personal Safety Unit, learning about safety rules and who and when to tell. As part of the Relationships and Sexual Education unit (RSE) pupils will be able to identify and name body parts, including the sexual parts and distinguish between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ touches. Pupils will learn how to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ secrets and be able to recognise what bribes and tricks are. They will be able to assess problems and risks to keep safer, including assertive voice and body language. When considering what, when, who and how to tell, they will consider what makes a good listener and when it is the best time to tell. After half term to continue the RSE unit, pupils will learn about the main stages of the human lifecycle and will investigate perceptions of being ‘grown up’. They will consider their responsibilities and how these have changed and how they will change in the future, including responsibilities that parents and carers have for babies and children.
Creative and Performing Arts Each week in Music the pupils will practise their instruments and recorders to develop their instrumental technique and fluency with reading staff notation. As part of this process, pupils will learn how to convey expression through detailed musical markings and will be encouraged to add their own creative ideas and interpretations to their performances. In addition to receiving regular feedback, pupils will be encouraged to evaluate and reflect upon their own work and that of their peers. This process of identifying performance aspects which could be improved or refined and then honing in on these areas encourages active listening and increasingly mature musical awareness. During the course of the term, we will journey downstream to complete an extensive composition project based on Smetana’s ‘Ma Vlast’. In this piece, the composer uses tone painting to evoke the journey and sounds of one of Bohemia’s great rivers. Pupils will consider how to manipulate the elements of music to build a composition from the basic building blocks to a more developed piece. These compositions will aim to take the listener on a musical journey through the small springs, then through the magical scenes, before the river’s final joining together with the sea. Most of all, pupils will enjoy putting together class and year group performances. Fitzwilliam Junior School pupils will showcase their musical endeavours in the West Road Summer Concert.
Dame B’s pupils will be completing their automata, recapping forces and making decisions as to which movements they would like to create as they convert rotary motion to linear using cams. After some technical drawing and sketching we will move on to make a simple LED torch that will satisfy the secret agent in us, fully equipped to try out some morse code! For their Drama work this term, pupils will explore the theme of ‘Survival’ through a time machine adventure. Multi-roling as two characters (the eccentric Grandpa Atticus and the adventurous young Sammy), pupils will use their imaginations to create engaging characters. Whilst playing the role of Sammy, pupils will have to survive in different time periods and locations. Still image, mime, creative writing and tempo will all be explored in this topic. When exploring ‘Cracking Contraptions’, pupils will experiment with physical theatre, rhythm, timing and sound effects to create their own machines. Pupils will also devise some of their own unique scenes, in keeping with the theme, in the setting of a museum.
Scientific Understanding This term’s Science has a focus on Biology. In the first topic, Habitats, we will be learning about how we can use keys to identify living organisms in order to then classify them into different groups. We will also look at the various ways in which different species interact with each other and how we can use this information to produce food chains, showing the producers, predators and prey in a habitat. In the second topic, Moving & Growing, the focus is on skeletons and their roles in protecting and supporting animals’ bodies and helping them to move. We will look at the various types of skeletons found in both vertebrates and invertebrates and will get to know the names and functions of the major bones in our own human skeleton. How you can help: Visit local museums, such as the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, Saffron Walden Museum and Cambridge Science Centre. These institutions have extended their online resources since lockdown, as has BBC Bitesize Science. Look out also for science programmes on TV.
Digital
The Inner Wheel With the Google apps at the heart of digital curation our pupils use Google Classroom to complete work digitally and hand in work that is produced in a variety of ways. We have identified 7 main apps, our EverGreen apps, that help to showcase our pupils’ learning. An animation, movie or annotated piece of work provides richer feedback for the teacher and ultimately helps to make greater progress. Explain Everything www.explaineverything.com Green Screen www.doink.com Stop Motion www.cateater.com Strip Design www.vividapps.com/Strip_Designer/ Notability www.gingerlabs.com Book Creator www.bookcreator.com Puppet Pals www.polishedplay.com
The Outer Wheel We have a number of apps that we use consistently throughout our curriculum that lend themselves to our creative approach. We avoid apps that are specific to a particular outcome, preferring content free apps that can help to enhance our pupils' work and understanding. Some examples are: Minecraft, iMovie, KeyNote, Pages and Padlet.
Coding Another aspect of our digital curriculum is the coding/programming skills that are embedded in all subjects or taught discretely in Years 5 and 6. We have identified a progression of apps that help to develop our pupils' ability to code. The apps provide variety and challenge and help to develop the computation skills that are crucial learning in our digital work. We combine the coding experiences with physical output. Using Spheros, BBC Micro:Bits and Ozobots provides visual outcomes that bring our code to life. As our pupils develop further they transition on to written code.
Thinking Toolkit Alongside and underpinning our curriculum we ensure that our pupils are developing as active learners and active thinkers. Throughout each subject area pupils are encouraged to use their range of thinking tools and reflect on when and how they are using them. Pupils are encouraged to reflect on how their thinking tools underpin all aspects of their learning and not just in the more obvious ways. How are they creative in maths? How do they enquire in English? How are they critical in Music? How do they think computationally in PE?
Inclusion This curriculum map outlines the core curriculum for each year group each term but at the heart of our wheel is the individual learner. Each subject area has a progression of skills which enables staff to stretch or support individuals as and when they need a little help, a bit of a push or a just a different way in. Within our classrooms through planning, teacher knowledge and interactions work is differentiated to suit the needs of each individual.