Yr 4 – Mr Biggs – Howden

Year 3/4 Autumn

Term 2

Open wide – let’s look inside! We’re on a voyage of discovery to investigate the busy world inside your body. 

Our Topic this term is Burps, Bottoms and Bile. We’ll find out about different dental procedures and learn new scientific vocabulary. There will be lots of investigating as we learn about our different teeth, how to brush them and how sugary drinks affect them. We’ll examine the amount of sugar in different foods and explore healthy and unhealthy teeth. In science, we’ll learn about the organs involved in the digestion process as well how different animals digest their food.

Children will also be attending PGL residential, Eureka! and the Derby Open Centre.

PGL – 3^rd Nov – 6^th Nov (year 4 who have chosen to attend)

Eureka! – 13^th Nov (year 3 and 4)

Derby Open Centre – 20^th Nov (Year 4)

Please encourage your child to investigate all aspects of our exciting topic. Ideas are listed below; we will share their home learning during the week.

• Keep a food diary and notice what happens as certain foods (like beetroot, sweetcorn, asparagus or blueberries) pass through your body.
• Who spends the most time in the bathroom in your house? Make some observations and display your findings in a graph or chart!
• Find out how to look after your digestive system with some colon-cleansing foods (cider vinegar, flax seeds, avocado and spinach are good) and make a song or poster encouraging people to look after their guts!
• Learn how to boost your immune system. Make a poster or advert for a doctor’s surgery to help people avoid falling victim to the flu season.
• Do you have any horrid habits, such as nail biting or nose picking? What habits do you dislike in others? Think up some tips on how to give up a horrid habit.
• Have a burping competition with family or friends! Set rules to make it fair. Record the contestants to resolve any disputes, and decide whether carbonated (fizzy) drinks are allowed.
• Drop grubby copper-plated coins into a range of fizzy drinks and leave them overnight to see what happens. Which brand has the most powerful cleaning properties?
• What qualifications and training do you need to become a dentist? You could quiz your dentist at your next check up! Ask before you are in the middle of a scale and polish!
• Some people sneeze because they are allergic to certain substances such as pollen or house dust mites. Survey your friends and family and find out if anyone you know has an allergy. How will you record the information?
• Try a new food or drink that you have never tasted before. What do you like or dislike about its taste and texture?

Spellings – Weekly spellings will continue to focus on high frequency words as listed in the National Curriculum. Spellings will be given on a Monday and tested the following week. Please check reading diaries for the words for that week.

Reading – Please continue to encourage your child to read at home. We always welcome book reviews and recommendations to encourage other readers in class. Do not forget to check out and read the Top 20 Must Reads.

Grammar Hammer – This will be given out on Monday to be completed and returned any day but by the following Monday at the latest. Please encourage your child to complete this homework as it supports the grammar, punctuation and spelling learning, which takes place within the classroom.

In Maths this term we will be consolidating addition and subtraction and learning multiplication and division. Children will be exploring the relationship between multiplication and division whilst conducting daily practise of their times tables. Year 4 will be using their knowledge of place value to look how numbers are affected when multiplying and dividing by multiples of 10.

Times tables –  A quick recall of times tables facts are an essential skill to support understanding in mathematics. Encourage your child to practise, as all children in year 4 need to know their times tables to 12 x 12 and the related division facts. Times tables will be tested during the following week. To reinforce times table knowledge, every child has a Rockstars log on. Please encourage your child to use Rockstars a few times a week. From this academic year all Year 4 children will take part in a statutory times tables test. Please ask your teacher for your log on!

Maths Skills Check –  Homework will be given weekly to support and consolidate the learning in class. This is given out on Monday to be completed and returned any day but by the following Monday at the latest.  Your child should use the ‘Prompt Sheets’ to support them. They will complete this task independently the following week.

PE – PE will take place two afternoons a week. Please ensure that your child has both an indoor and outdoor PE kit, as we will be venturing outside as much as we can.

Indoor PE Kit – White t-shirt, black shorts and trainers or pumps

Outdoor PE Kit -White t-shirt, joggers, leggings or tracksuit bottoms, pumps/trainers and a hooded jacket or jumper.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

Help Sheets

LKS2 Top 20 Reads

Y3 Maths Prompt Sheet

Y4 MathsPrompt Sheet

Spelling Programme Y3 Stage 3

Spelling Programme Yr 4Stage 4