Year 4
Our topic this half term is Biomes!
This half term, we are going to be linking our class book Kensuke’s Kingdom to our topic of Biomes. As geographers, we will be exploring what a biome is and identifying the different biomes across the world. We will be using our map skills and locational knowledge to locate these and also discussing how we as humans can help preserve and protect them.
Science
Our science topic is ‘Living Things and their Habitats’. We will be learning what an invertebrate and vertebrate animal is and how scientists use classification keys to group these animals.
We will also be learning about how humans can have both positive and negative impacts on the environment and how these environments and the animals within them change over the different seasons.
English
In English and Guided Reading, we are going to be reading and linking our writing to Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo. By the end of the half term, we will have created two pieces of writing. The first is a setting description of the beach Michael finds himself stranded on. For the second piece, we will be using our Oracy skills to in a debate on whether Michael should go home with his parents or stay on the island and help Kensuke. Our arguments will then be written up using the skills we have practised.
Maths
In maths, we will be starting with a short unit on finding the area of a shape. We will then learn how to tell the time to 5 minutes and convert analogue and digital time with the 12 and 24 hour clock. We will also be re-visiting place value and learn how to round a number to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000.
Times Tables are an important part of our learning in Year 4 so we encourage you to go on TT Rockstars as much as you can at home.
Creative Challenge
Imagine you have been stranded on a desert island. How would you survive? What would you need? For your creative challenge, we would like you to design a shelter to keep yourself safe, which you could build using things you may find on an island (you could draw this or make it from materials such as sticks and leaves). Or why not create a vessel that could help you escape the island by sea or by air?
Make sure you take lots of pictures and these may appear on our social media channels!
Reading Challenge
Read more about biomes and our living things and their habitats topics using these links:
Family Challenge
Forget a fruit salad, create a FRUIT ISLAND! Use the link below to find the ingredients and method needed to make your very own edible tropical island. Take lots of pictures and send them in for our social media channels!
Writing Challenge
Continue the story
Amy loved this place. It’s where she came when she wanted to dream.
Sitting in the comforting tangle of roots beneath the silver tree, Amy let her thoughts drift. It was so peaceful here: the dell was bathed in a milky light that leaked through the canopy above. The only sound that could be heard was the relaxing trickle of the stream that waltzed its way through this labyrinth of serenity.
A barn owl, perched on a nearby, ivy-covered tree, ruffled it’s hazelnut brown feathers, gazed at Amy with its wide, round eyes.
Butterflies danced gracefully through the hazy air, enjoying the dell as much as Amy did, if not more.
Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours. It felt as if she was caught in a dream - a blissfully happy dream.
Then, to the little girl in the dell’s surprise, the owl spoke…
Question time
● Where is this place and why does Amy come here?
● Does anyone know Amy visits this place?
● Is it real, or is it all a dream?
● Explain what a dell is.
● Are there any other creatures that live in the dell?
● What will the owl say to Amy?
● What will she say back?
● How would you feel if an animal spoke to you?
● Why do you think owls are often referred to as wise?
If you could be any animal, what would it be and why?
Picture this
Draw Amy and the owl speaking to each other, using speech bubbles.
Draw what might happen after Amy has had a conversation with the owl.
Sentence challenge
These sentences are ‘sick’ and need help to get better. Please help.
● The girl sat on the ground.
● She was being watched by an owl.
● It was a nice place. It was peaceful.