Welcome back to our lovely Year 4s.
We hope you had a restful, fun Easter and all ready for your Summer term!
This term our topic is ‘Chocolate’. During our topic time we will be covering a range of different themes. For example in Geography, we’ll be finding out: where cacao trees are found; about the factors affecting the growth of cacao trees; and about other cash crops.
In History, we’ll be finding out: who first discovered chocolate; who took the first chocolate to Europe; and about the importance of cocoa beans for trade. In Science, we’ll be finding out: about the ingredients in chocolate; if chocolate causes tooth decay; why chocolate wrappers are made from special materials; and what the melting point of chocolate is. It is also important to understand Fairtrade and how it is beneficial to farmers on these plantations. Not only will we be learning this, but we will also be finding out why the equator is so important for the growth of cocoa beans and other geography objectives which are relevant to this topic.
In Maths we will be collecting data, and then turning this into tally charts and into bar charts. This is an important part of data collection. We will be moving on to division and multiplication techniques, which will help us with our mental maths. As always, we encourage your child to complete the Sumdog times table tests and challenges online - with this we will also continue revising our times tables every day during lessons.
In Literacy our ‘Power of Reading’ text will be ‘The Village That Vanished’. We will be focusing on discussion texts and recounts. We want our children to become confident editors of their own work, so we will be also focusing on planning and drafting writing. To up-level our work we will be learning how to extend our sentences using a range of conjunctions to ensure our audience stay interested. It is important to encourage your child to read every night as this will have a positive effect on their literacy skills.
PE is on a Wednesday afternoon for Year 4 so please ensure your child has their PE kit in school on this day.
We look forward to a fun challenging summer term!
Miss Boyle, Miss Smith & Miss Dickson
We love school!