Year 4 - Dolphin class

Welcome to Dolphin Class!

Miss Randall teaches Dolphin class and is supported by Miss Scriven.

Watch this space for some regular updates to find out about our amazing learning!

This half term our topic is...

Road Trip USA!

W/C 17/06/19

We have been practising our sketching and shading and we created this Iroquois artwork:

We also had our amazing trip to WOEC (Weymouth Outdoor Education Centre) where we used lots of perseverance to do climbing, tunnelling, orienteering and team challenges.

'I like the tunnelling because we got to go in the ball pit and follow lots of footprints.' Sophie

'I liked the tunnelling because we got to wear headtorches and it was like exploring a real cave.' Thomas

'I liked the cave in the middle of the wolf tunnelling.' Charlotte

'The indoor climbing was my favourite because I liked the game shark attack.' James

'I liked the orienteering because it was fun finding different animals and using the map.' Indie

Here are some photos of us in action: 

W/C 10/06/19: 

This week we started our topic 'Road Trip USA!'. In Literacy, we began reading 'The Indian in the cupboard' and enjoyed describing the Indian using expanded noun phrases. In Maths, we have been learning about different measures and converting between different units e.g. litres to millilitres. In topic, we had a hunt around the school to find 14 states of America and collect tickets. We also learnt about the Iroquois including what they looked like, how they lived and what their houses looked like. We then designed our own longhouses and made them using natural materials. See below: 

WC 03/06/19:

We have kicked off Summer 2 with a 'Vision week.' Our vision is that we work to be; making a difference for good, with each other, everyone, in our community. The children have also been focused on our 3 core values which underpin our vision: love, trust and perseverance. We started by exploring the bible story Cain and Abel and thought about the importance of including everyone. The children have been very creative and have created wonderful art pieces inspired by our Values and Vision. Here are some of the pieces of work that we created: 

W/C 13/05/19

This week the children have been learning about the spelling rule/pattern: adding the prefix mis-

Please learn to spell the following words for the Speed Spell test on Monday.

1. Misbehave
2. Misplace
3. Mislead
4. Misspell
5. Misprint
6. Misunderstand

The children have been extremely excited to become news reporters in English this week. They have begun to create a newspaper article warning people about the DEMON DENTIST! In maths, we have been learning all about money. We began by converting pounds into pence, rounding and comparing money and then finished with money problems. We have had an amazing amount of junk modeling items to help make our digestive system models. We hope you are available to come to our showcase on Friday 24th May at 2pm, to have a look at them. 

W/C Monday 6th May

This week we have been continuing to read Demon Dentist and made predictions of what will happen to Alfie when he is trying to catch the infamous 'tooth snatcher.' We acted out our predictions in groups and then planned and wrote the next chapter. In maths, we have been learning about fractions which included fractions of numbers, equivalent fractions and amounts of money. In cornerstones, we have learnt body parts in French and created a poster about the importance of personal hygiene. 

W/C Monday 29th April

We had an exciting week of learning. We kicked off the week with a look at a pig's organs and we were surprised at how squishy they felt and how they were connected. We then found out about our digestive system and the function of each organ. In literacy, we drafted and published our letters to PC Plank to persuade him to arrest the wicked dentist, Miss Root. In maths, we continued our learning about telling the time which included comparing and ordering times.

We also found some shocking results to our science investigation. Orange juice had the biggest effect on the egg shell making it turn soft and decay. Below are the photos of our results: 1 - Orange juice, 2 - Fanta, 3 - Zero sugar Coca Cola, 4 - water and 5 - Milk. 

W/C Monday 22nd April:

In English, we have started reading the fantastic book by David Walliams, Demon Dentist. The children have described Miss Root using expanded noun phrases. We have looked at features of a persuasive letter and will be writing one to PC Plank to persuade him to arrest the cruel, wicked dentist. In topic, we had a look at our teeth and learnt their different names; incisors, molars, canines, premolars and wisdom. We have also started an investigation to find out how different drinks can affect your teeth. In maths this week, we have been learning about time including converting between analogue and digital time with both 12 hour and 24 hour clocks. 

Science Investigation: In each cup, we poured a different drink and placed part of an eggshell (to act as the enamel on our teeth). We are watching closely over the next week to see what happens. 

W/C Monday 1st April 2019

What a wonderful week we have had!

Talent Show.

Well done to Seal Class and to Dolphin Class who won the Talent Show last week!

All of the classes performed brilliantly. Every single pupil in Seal, Penguin, Dolphin and Whale classes were a credit to themselves, their class and to their teachers. We all enjoyed watching you share your singing and dancing skills. 

Easter Egg Hunt. 

Today, Friday, the children have been on an Easter Egg Hunt and have won various goodies after finding ten hidden eggs around the school building.  We hope that they enjoy their treats. 

Playlist Topic Showcase Afternoon. 

Thank you to all of the families who came along and supported our Playlist Topic Showcase afternoon. 

The children all sang their talent show song entries and shared their Playlist Topic books that were filled with all their learning from this term. Some of their learning has included:

- Music-inspired artwork that they created after studying work by Kandinksy and Klee. 

- Science work on 'Sound' and the science behind how we hear things. 

- Leaflets about their favourite singers and pop stars.

- English work on 'The Bear and the Piano' as well as many more lessons...

We would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter Holiday. 

From the Year 3/4 Pod 

W/C Monday 25th March 2019

On Monday Year 3 & 4 started thinking about their favourite popstars or pop groups. Then they did some further research in their IT lessons and made notes so that they could spend the rest of the week planning and drafting their own information leaflets on their favourite musicians.

On Wednesday afternoon we all had a wonderful time throughout the school. We all mixed classes to decorate crosses for an RE project being run by local churches. The children were kind and caring to one another and helped each other and shared resources. It was a lovely afternoon filled with creativity and friendship between the classes.

Finally, on Friday the Year 3 & 4 Pod are looking forward to the eagerly anticipated Talent Show that is taking place at 10am! The children have been creating their own class songs with their own individual lyrics to perform to the lucky Orca Class! The children have all worked hard on this and we’ll have to wait and see which class will become the lucky winners of this competition.

After school the children will be having a fantastic disco kindly arranged by our school’s PTA. We are all very grateful to the volunteers who put so much time and effort into providing wonderful opportunities for the children in our school.

Enjoy your weekend!

Next Week:

• Friday 2pm – Topic Showcase - a chance for you to come in and see what your child has been learning about this half term.

Times tables - remember to practise using Times Tables Rockstars: https://ttrockstars.com/

Spelling: 

The National Curriculum outlines the spelling rules that children will learn in Year 3 and Year 4:

• Use further prefixes and suffixes and understand how to add them (such as dis– and –sure)
• Spell further homophones (such as except/accept)
• Spell words that are often misspelt
• Use the possessive apostrophe accurately (plurals)
• Use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary

See: https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/at-school/subject-guides/spelling-at-primary-school/