w/c 15th January in year 4

With the freezing weather and roadworks getting to school has been tricky this week, but once in year 4 it’s really warm and cosy as the new heating does its job well. The sun has been streaming through the window to make the days bright.

The children are engrossed in our current book “Escape From Pompeii”

The children are engrossed in our current book “Escape From Pompeii” which contains a wealth of powerful verbs and interesting language. The children love the fascinating subject of volcanoes and this story shows the impact of a pyroclastic flow. They have been creating some excellent paragraphs with expanded noun phrases. On Google Classroom I’ve posted another two pages in the grammar book to help support this learning. I sent home a couple of sheets relating to this book, because I came across them in researching resources and they were so useful for vocabulary building and comprehension skills. Its purely optional to use these resources or not.

Linked with this, we are learning about the Romans, leading on from the children’s learning about the Iron Age last year. This another fascinating topic – “What did the Romans ever do for us?” is a question it’s always intriguing to answer. Our trip to Verulamium Museum on Wednesday will help deepen this understanding. If you are able to accompany us, please could you contact the office as we still need an adult (though I appreciate that Wednesday morning is not convenient for work schedules). Thank you.

We’re coming to the end of learning about times tables facts and soon will apply that knowledge in formal multiplication and division, involving instant recall of those facts.

States of Matter is our topic in Science. Can your child explain to you why solid objects retain their shape after being squashed and squeezed but a gas can occupy any size shape into which it is released?

The children’s ukelele playing is really progressing and the collective sound is very jolly and uplifting.

There were a few complaints about the number of spelling words last week – I did ask the class! – so apologies if the quantity and variety was a bit much for your child or you. However, there were good improvements and I’m very proud of the seriousness and commitment they children show to improving their spelling and writing.

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend, whether the weather stays bitterly cold or warms up.