Junior Class Activities

Year 4 What Have We Been Doing?

UNIT OF INQUIRY – On the Move

Central idea

Subject areas

Social studies

Throughout history, people have been on the move, with wide ranging effects on themsilves and others. (A case study of the Vikings)

Concepts

Causation, perspective, change, reflection

Lines of Inquiry

Social, economic and political reasons for migration

Where people have moved to and from in history

The impact of people moving

Punctuation is important If you want to write a story. Emphasise words with exclamations! Use speech marks for conversations. Ask a question if you want to know, Use a question mark and you’re good to go. Use a comma to take a breath, Then in a list and you’ll be the best. We’re the Year 4 Apostrophe Posse When using them we’re very bossy. Omission and possession, that’s the rule, Remember that and you’ll be cool. Ellipses, Capitals and Full Stops Good punctuation REALLY ROCKS!	Punctuation Rap Year 4 are on punctuation alert. We are trying to improve our how we use punctuation in our writing and we worked together to write a Year 4 Punctuation Rap.
. .	This week in Year 4 This week Year 4 visited the Lancaster Maritime Museum for a workshop about life in Viking times. We were greeted by the Viking warrior Cracai and his wife Linden who asked if we were friends or foes! Then Cracai showed us all his shields and weapons and taught us how to build a shield wall - then we attacked....it was very impressive. Later we went in the Longhouse with Linden, we learned how to use the quernstone to grind flour and how to braid. Linden told us if we Vikings didn't work, they didnt eat - so we worked really hard. it was an excellent visit and as usual our children were commended on their behaviour. We are going to write some reports of the visit, Linden has asked us to send them to the museum where they can be displayed..It was a great morning. PS If you are pasing Year 4 classroom, you will be amazed at the fantastic drawings and models of Longships the class have made.
Torah Scroll	We have been researching Judaism. We used the internet to find lots of information to link facts to relevant artefacts. We found out that in the Jewish faith, it is very important to follow God's laws; the Torah Scrolls contain the laws of Judaism. We wrote our own rules for making a happy school and put them in a Torah type scroll. . In class we are reading The Owl Who Was afraid Of The Dark by Jill Tomlinson, it's a great book about a little barn owl called Plop who is afraid of the dark and wants to be a day bird. He finds lots of signs and symbols about the dark on his adventures, so it links in with our UOI as well as being great to read. . In maths we are working on problem solving and using what we already know to help us find out more, especially with multiplication and division. Some of us still find our 7, 8 and 9 times table tricky - maybe try to practise them at home.
To view more pictures of the visit please click here..	Visit to Buddhist Centre Preston We went on a visit to the Buddhist Centre in Preston to support our work on signs and symbols and our studies of global faiths. . We visited the shrine and talked to the monks who live in the centre, then did a guided meditation which we enjoyed so much we are going to try to use some of the techniques in school. . The monks were very impressed with the calmness of our children and the depth of their questions. They commented that they have never had suh a positve response from a school and really appreciated the children's open minded respectful approach.
	Signs and Symbols Safari Our unit of inquiry is Signs and Symbols and we will be looking at how different faiths and cultures use signs and symbols to express their beliefs. . But first we decided we needed to find out what was the difference between a sign and a symbol; we agreed that a sign usually tells or shows you something, but a symbol represents something. . Then we went on Safari around the school campus to find signs and symbols - we found lots including Victorian signs, enamel signs from the 1950's and the oldest sign on campus, which is from the original Rossall Hall. Most of Year 4 didn't even realise it was there! Do you know where it is? . In maths we are looking at how addition and subtraction can be used to solve puzzles then, we completed magic squares. Maybe Year 4 would like to try Sudoku squares at home?

. ,	Last Half Term RNLI Visit Year 4 went to visit Fleetwood lifeboat station because our inquiry is about groups of people working together and we wanted to learn about the lifeboat crew. We saw the inshore lifeboat, it can't go in deep water. The off shore boat can go in deep sea and if someone is in danger in the middle of the sea it can get to them very quickly. . The crew room is where all the crew get changed. They have to wear a wooly huggy bear suit under their waterproof suit. Their suit is yellow so they can be seen in the dark more easily. Their wellies are glued on to the suit so that they can't come off. . When the alarm goes off the men have to get out to sea very quickly. They can get from their home. get changed and be out to sea in only six minutes. . I think the RNLI is a great service because if we didn't have them people could drown at sea. . Report by Lily May Warwick
	Bananas On Tuesday, year 4 did an activity about how bananas get from the plantation to the shops. We did it because we are learning about how people work together globally. . Me and Edward were the banana growers. We had to work 14 hours a day in very hot conditions. Our job is hard work because we have to pick the very best bananas and have our hands in water nearly all day, because they have to be washed. Also we could catch diseases or even cancer because we have to use pesticides that are dangerous. . We thought we should be paid about £90 per day but if we were real banana growers we would only get paid 1p for every bunch of bananas we pick. Most of the profit goes to the big shops. I don't think that's fair because the workers do most of the work - they should be paid more than 1p. . Report by Charley Clarke