Year 4 Curriculum outline Summer 2021
Year 4 Curriculum Outline Summer 2021
Thinking Detectives ~ From Smoke Signals to Smartphones
Humanities - Social Understanding In thematic for our Thinking Detectives topic we are going to explore our thinking toolkit. This will include developing computational thinking skills through completing coding challenges. We will use our enquiry skills to explore and discuss artifacts. Thinking about thinking will feature through looking at famous Greek philosophers and exploring the legacy they gave us. In this topic it will be important to apply our critical thinking skills to analyse evidence and ask historically valid questions. In Smoke Signals to Smartphones we will be using evidence to explore the evolution of communication. We will be studying Native Americans, Ancient Egyptians, World War strategies and modern day technology to build up a picture about communication and how it has developed over time. We will also return to Ancient Greece and explore the Polybius Square. 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, pupils will be getting to grips with recounts through looking at the world of newspapers. We will be looking at the ‘5 Ws’ used when reporting a news story, reading the news and thinking about producing a report with a balanced point of view. Look out for reports about fairy tale happenings which may have been mixed up for a modern day audience! As part of our Thinking Detectives topic we will also be trying to solve a Shakespearean mystery. Appreciating and exploring the art of Haiku will be another focus, with pupils becoming immersed in this beautiful art form and really refining their use of powerful and ambitious vocabulary to produce their poems. In the second half of term, 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 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 studying physical descriptions, in particular describing hair and eyes. This will lead onto looking at Picasso’s portraits and drawing a portrait in Picasso’s style.
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 before spending time on identifying acute and obtuse angles, comparing and ordering angles up to two right angles by size, and comparing and classifying geometric shapes. Before moving on, pupils will identify lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes presented in different orientations and complete a simple symmetric figure with respect to a specific line of symmetry. 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.
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 own instruments/recorders to develop their instrumental technique and expand their repertoire. With this regular practice (which will support the learning in students’ instrumental lessons), they will build their confidence and fluency with reading staff notation alongside learning how to convey expression and more detailed musical markings. As part of this process, students will be encouraged to add their own creative ideas and interpretations into their performances, and we will explore the various stylish options that are available. Students will regularly submit and perform finished performances for feedback, evaluate and reflect upon their own work, and will potentially have the opportunity to provide feedback for one another. This process of identifying aspects of their performance which could be improved/refined and then honing in to work on these aspects encourages active listening and increasingly mature musical awareness. During the course of this summer term we will also ‘journey downstream’ to complete a more extensive composition project. Using Smetana’s ‘Ma Vlast’ composition as our main stimulus - a piece in which the composer uses tone painting to evoke the journey and sounds of one of Bohemia’s great rivers - the students will consider how to manipulate the elements
of music to build a composition from the basic building blocks to a more developed piece. Their compositions will aim to musically take the listener on a journey from the initial start of the river as small springs, through its winding journey past a variety of magical scenes, to its final joining with the sea. Most of all, pupils will enjoy putting together their class and year group performances for our grand Summer Concert, a musical showcase of the children’s hard work. Year Four will be building bridges in more ways than one in Create, Design and Engineer, with some factual work on bridges before having a go at constructing collaboratively. We will create our own blueprints using simple printmaking techniques and take our technical drawing up another level. Additionally, we will take a look at the work of a Malian textile artist and create a piece of work inspired by his idea of communicating through the medium of textiles. In the second part of term to complement our Smoke Signals to Smartphones theme pupils will be making 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 detective stories for the Thinking Detectives topic and the ways in which we can hold the attention of the audience. We will look at museums and use freeze frames and tableaux to create scenes in a museum. Signals to Smartphones will give pupils scope to explore communication through drama, using voice, expression and gesture.
Scientific Understanding This term’s Science has a focus on Physics. The first topic, on Friction, helps the pupils to develop a deeper understanding of forces and how to measure them more precisely, and we will look in detail at important examples of friction - air and water resistance - including carrying out an independent scientific investigation. We then move on to a topic on communication and Sound, learning about how sounds are made by vibrations, the various ways in which they can be changed in terms of pitch, frequency and volume, and we will end with a fun lesson in which pupils can demonstrate their abilities to alter sounds tunefully, using their favourite musical instruments! We will conclude this term with a topic on Circuits and Conductors, in which pupils will learn about how to identify materials as conductors or insulators, how to build electrical circuits, how to use component symbols to draw circuit diagrams and how to keep safe when using electricity. 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 during 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.