Welcome to Year 4
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” William Butler Yeats
In Year 4 we endeavour to make your children’s learning exciting, relevant and fun. The best way to learn is to provide the children with a real-life context for their learning and to listen to all their voices on what and how they would like to learn. Once engaged the children to experience a variety of teaching styles and strategies to bring their learning to life.
The new curriculum for Wales promotes the development of children and young people as:
- ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives;
- enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work ;
- ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world;
- healthy, confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
In Pontybrenin, these 4 core purposes form the bedrock of all our interactions with your children and together we can ensure that every child reaches their full potential.
| STAFF INFORMATION
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| Your teacher is: | Mrs Rowe & Mr Jones
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| Your teaching assistants: | Miss Atkinson
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| CLASS REMINDERS
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| Monday | / |
| Tuesday | / |
| Wednesday | Physical Education
Due to hygiene and to develop healthy attitudes to exercise a change of clothes for PE is expected. Children require kit appropriate to the weather i.e. Winter – Tracksuit bottoms, T-shirt and jumper. Homework due in |
| Thursday | / |
| Friday | Spelling Test administered
Homework will be on Google Classroom Spelling words for the half term have been shared |
READING IN YEAR 3 & 4
“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.”
Mark Twain
Evidence suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better in reading tests than those who don’t but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures.
You can make a huge difference! Parents are the most important educators in a child’s life – even more important than their teachers – and it’s never too early to start reading together.
Reading is Reading routines are now well established this term, with all pupils aware of reading day procedures and changing of books. If you would like any advice on how to help your child with reading please don’t hesitate to contact one of the Year 3/4 team.
Our main topic will be Road Trip USA
Buckle up and put your sunglasses on – this half term we’re going on a road trip across the USA!
We’ll start by ‘visiting’ the states where Native American tribes settled. We’ll use travel brochures and the internet to research New York and write postcards to family members. Using maps, we’ll locate the USA and find the names of the states. We’ll look at the amazing lights of Times Square, make circuits and create a program for a tourist trip around New York. We’ll write diaries and explore Native American myths. After learning about their cultural significance, we’ll weave beautiful dreamcatchers. Looking at aerial views of natural landmarks, we’ll think about how they might have been formed. We’ll create travel brochures and make illuminated models of different landmarks. Then we’ll cook delicious dishes – would anyone like a corn dog?
At the end of the project, we’ll make a ‘journey stick’ so we can remember where we have visited. We’ll use this to explain our learning journey.
Help your child prepare for their project
The USA is an incredible place, with a varied landscape and culture. Why not choose a state to research together and create a scrapbook of exciting locations? You could also make a playlist of American songs from different genres that you could listen to on your road trip. Alternatively, visit the supermarket together to see if you can identify any foods associated with the USA. You might even try some of them!
In this project the children will learn:
| Memorable experience |
Visit 14 US states
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| Innovate challenge |
Plan a family holiday
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| LLC |
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| Humanities |
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| Exp arts |
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| Sci & tech |
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| Health and well-being |
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| Science investigations |
What conducts electricity? How do plugs work? Can you make a circuit from play dough?
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