At the moment we are looking at information books and non fiction on literacy. We have learned about the different things that non fiction books have such as glossaries, diagrams and captions. Some children are finding it tricky to decide whether a book is a non fiction book or a story based on some real facts.

Sharing non fiction books together and discussing what makes them different to stories would be really helpful to children.

To go even further you could look at the way they are written, do they contain opinions? Can children skim read then searching for certain words of answers to questions without reading the whole thing?

Sharing and discussing books is still really valuable, even as the children this age get more independent in their reading.

Activity idea:

Try using a child-safe image search like the one here: http://primaryschoolict.com/ . Type in an idea for things you could describe in a poem and select ‘Image Search’. See if you and your child can think of ways of describing without naming what you see. You could think about different senses or Alliteration, Rhyming or Onomatopoeia.

In Maths we are looking at multiples, and using multiplication for large numbers. We have some fantastic Tudor objects to look at in History, and we are doing an experiment about forces in Science.

On Friday it is our Eid and Diwali party. Some children have prepared acts for a talent show, and others have made games to play. We will discuss bringing food and drink in for the party with your children tomorrow. It is also a non-uniform day in aid of BBC Children in Need.

It would be really helpful if you could get children to keep practicing at home. Just asking them to read the time for you on both analogue and digital clocks will really help.

If they are confident with reading the time start telling them how long an event will be (maybe a favorite tv show, or cooking dinner), then ask them what time that means it will finish.

You could also give a time something will start and end and ask them to tell you how long that means it will be.

Time can be tricky, it just needs lots of practice. Give ‘Time’ some time at home for success!

This week in Literacy we are finishing writing our newspapers before starting poetry next week. We will also be finding out about the history behind bonfire night.

In maths we are looking at quick ways of adding numbers in out heads using number bonds to 10 and multiples of 10 and 100. You could support your child by giving them a 1 digit number, or multiple of 10 and asking them to say the number that makes it up to 10 or 100.

Leading up to half term we will be carrying on looking at newspapers in Literacy, and looking at tally charts and frequency tables in Maths.

I will be sending home spellings for over half term, so please remind your children to learn them. We ask them to learn by Looking, Covering, Writing, then Checking that they have spelt the word right.

If any parents or carers are unable to make this event then please get in touch and I will be happy to arrange another time to see you.

Mr Quinlan

Year 4 will be sitting two reading tests, two writing tests, a spelling test, a maths test and a mental maths test.

Please reassure your children that there is nothing to worry about and that trying their best is all they need to do.

Letters have gone out for parents evening appointments, and I look forward to meeting you there.

Mr Quinlan

You can also see the work we are doing at our class blog at http://4oqblog.wordpress.com.

At the moment we are working on place value and saying and writing numbers up to 100,000.

In Literacy we are looking at stories from imaginary worlds and how we can describe these worlds.

Next week we will be giving out reading diaries so children can record the reading they are doing at home. Children will be doing group reading with our teachers and teaching assistants in school, but it would be great if you could help then record their home reading as well.

If you want to be kept up to date with this blog you can subscribe by email on the left…

Mr Quinlan

Soon we will be working on ‘Stories from other cultures’. It would be really helpful if you could talk wih your child about traditional stories from your culture. We have so many cultures in our class, it would be great if everyone could start the topic with good examples of their own traditional
stories.

Keep checking the main class blog at class40q.wordpress.com fo examples of what we are working on…

First we have been splitting up the numbers like 129 into 100 + 20 +9, then subtracting them. Children could do some more practice at home by playing the game we played today: pick a 3 digit number (eg 432), reverse it (eg 234), then find the difference between the two.

We have also been working on descriptive writing based on the story of The Ice Palace.

Thanks to most of the class who got their spellings homework in on time, don’t forget the Maths homework given out today!

Next week

We have a short week next week due to bank holiday and the election on Thursday. The following week will be out test week. As before we will be doing tests in written and mental maths, reading, writing and spelling.