Welcome to France

We have studied our local area and got a good sense of WHERE we are in the world. We’ve also looked at our local culture and history to better understand WHO we are and HOW Barnsley was shaped.

We’re now going to compare all of this to a contrasting location, France.  Our closest European neighbours.

We always start our topic studies with WHEN and WHERE so we have made a map of France. BUT! We’re Year 4! You didn’t think it would be as simple as that did you?

Mr Swallow gave us a blank map of France and lots of places to look for IN FRENCH!!!!

Thats right! We had to read the locations and find them on maps written in English. It’s a good job we are clever! We soon figured out that some of the places were cities, some rivers, seas or oceans and even some mountain ranges.

All of the places were not on 1 map. We had to use a POLITICAL map to find anything made by humans and a PHYSICAL map to find the natural locations!!! Wow.

What would we have looked like “Darn’t Pit?”

Daisy brought in her grandads Davey lamp as well as the more modern safety helmet and lamp.

we couldn’t believe how HEAVY everything was! The kids struggled to keep them on for a photo never mind work a 12 hr manual job in them!!!

The finished product

Check out our completed Miners’ Strike inspired art…it looks amazing on the classroom wall!  Lewis even called it the ‘Wall of Doom!’ because of the gloomy and somber atmosphere we had created!

Nearly there…

We got a little more done on our Miners’ Strike inspired artwork today. looking good…

Art inspired by the scenes from the Miners’ Strike

As our Unit on local history and mining draws to a close, we have been looking at photographs of the scenes that took place during the ’84 Miners’ Strike.

In literacy, we were trying to imagine what those men would have been thinking about or saying in those photos.  We have decided to try and capture those feelings with a piece of artwork.  It will take several stages for us to get to the finished piece.

Step 1-

Mr Swallow brought in lots of photographs of people who are angry!  Some of them were actors, pretending to be angry and some of them were real photos of how people behaved in riots or strikes.  We were looking at the poses that showed their feelings and the posture in which they were holding their body.  A lot of them were remarkably similar!

Step 2-

Next, we chose a partner and Mr. Swallow gave us a huge piece of art paper.  We could either trace the person from the photograph and then edit the tracing to look like the character we wanted, or just use the pose of the person in the photo to inspire and inform our own drawing.  We scribbled on the back of the tracing paper so that we could then print our tracing onto the huge art paper.  Together, we built up a selection of scenes showing the angry protests of the miners on our big paper.

Step 3-

The final step was to frame the scenes.  We chose charcoal because of the obvious tonal links to coal and the miners.  Framing the scenes in a black, dusty cloud gave the pictures a foreboding sense of anger and darkness.  The charcoal even reminded us of the clouds of smoke we saw in the riot pictures or ‘clouds of anger’ as Tilly eloquently put it!  We want our pictures to represent the scary, upsetting and even dangerous situation that those miners found themselves caught up in in the dark days of 1984.

Reading VIPERS challenge

This week, we are looking at the Summarise VIPER.  Our first Summary activity is a game of charades!  The children were brilliant and WE COULD TELL WHAT EVERY SINGLE SCENE from the book was, when they acted it out!  Year 4 are true drama queens!!!

Circuits Challenge

As you know, we did not get the chance to work practically when we learned about circuits at the end of Year 3.  So, we took the opportunity this afternoon to refresh our know about circuit diagrams, insulators and conductors as well as get our hands on the lovely circuits equipment that Mr Swallow bought.

 

Nora Batty and Compo Yorkshire Pudding Recipes

Well!  I asked for it!  I did!

I asked my pupils to pretend to be Nora Batty or Compo and write a recipe for making Yorkshire puddings ‘in character.’  AND…they did!

We had some creative suggestions from our Compos!  Such as “spitting in the pan” if you have no oil or “nicking the eggs from under a chicken!”

As for the Nora Battys, they were constantly recommending “Whacking Compo with their broom” and keeping an eye out for him trying to “snog” you!!!

They were great fun and (as well as staying in character) did actually manage to write a recipe that used the features they had identified.

Well done Year 4, that was a VERY independent piece of writing.

Yorkshire Pudding Recipe Challenge

We have written plenty of recipes with Mr Swallow before (Egyptian Saboob bread, Spaghetti Carbonara and our amazing Regional pizzas!)  So, Mr Swallow decided that we were ready for a recipe writing challenge!  He gave us this Yorkshire Pudding Recipe:

  • Get 2 eggs, 80g of flour & 100ml of milk
  • Mix it together

Cook it in the oven for around 20 mins

That was it!  It was a rubbish recipe!  He didn’t use time order words, bossy words, adjectives or adverbs!  Terrible.  He gave us just 1 lesson where he reminded us what features a recipe should have and then told us we would be writing our own with no help.

We know what you’re thinking, that is tricky but not that hard.  Well, that’s not all!  Meet Compo and Nora Batty…

Long-awaited memorial to Last of the Summer Wine star Compo could be just  weeks away - YorkshireLive

They are the stars of an old Yorkshire TV show and Mr Swallow let us see them in action.  He then challenged us to become either Compo or Nora and, write the recipe AS IF WE ARE THEM!

The Nora Battys would have to make sure that the house was kept clean whilst they worked and also to keep an eye out for Compo sneaking in to pinch ingredients or even a kiss!!!!

The Compos had to be a little creative in the ingredients they used and were, obviously, not too bothered about hygiene standards!

Yorkshire Pudding making

We have followed a VERY SIMPLE Yorkshire pudding recipe and, of course, we weighed our own ingredients and followed the recipe with our team.  We just needed Mr Swallow and Miss Housley to use the oven and handle the hot trays.

As you can see, the results were amazing!  They tasted fantastic too!

 

Timeline

Today’s challenge was really tricky.

 

We are making our own timeline that covers the history of mining in Barnsley.  This means it starts before Victorian times and runs all the way to now.

Mining has really shaped and defined our local identity so we couldn’t map the history of mining without including the changes in culture too.

We had to use LOTS of different sources of information to create our timelines:

Mr Swallow had written some important events down but they were all jumbled up so we had to get them into CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER and choose which ones we wanted to use.

We had dozens of books about mining and local history to gather our own information from to add to our timeline.

We had a set of existing timelines covering everything from pop culture to politics, again we could choose the information we wanted to use and add it to our own timeline in the correct place.

We have been looking at the art of Sheffield-born artist, Pete McKee

We love his pictures so we wanted to analyse his style.  That means we want to figure out what makes a typical McKee painting, a McKee painting.

We spotted that he uses:

  • Bold, cartooney colours.  The colours have shadow details too.
  • Simple style, don’t use too much detail
  • You hardly ever see peoples eyes or mouths

We soon realised that there was much more to a McKee than the type of drawing though…we noticed quite a bit about the subjects he paints:

  • They are typical Yorkshire people doing things we all like to do…visiting the coast, watching footy, eating chips
  • They wear typical Yorkshire clothing, like flat caps and football shirts (unfortunately of Sheffield teams rather than Barnsley!)
  • There are often typical Yorkshire landmarks or scenery in the background (we spotted the rainy weather in the cafe scene Mr McKee!)

We decided to use all these elements to create our own Pete McKee-style artwork.  So, Mr. Swallow sketched out a few ideas about things that mattered to him (his brother helping him on his house, his father-in-law blowing on his cup of tea and even a Yorkshire pudding!)

We then looked at how to import the sketches into the computer and reformat them so that we had a digital copy of the sketch.  We then used the program, Paint, to colour in the pictures digitally…re-creating that distinctive, Pete McKee look.  Here is our progress so far…

 

Place Value challenge:

We had to use the Base 10 equipment to create some models…but there was a twist:

Can you make a model of a robot in Base 10, that is symmetrical?

What is the total value of your model?  Does the fact that it is symmetrical influence its value?

Can you design an animal that has an odd value?

What will determine if the number is odd or even?  Which is the most crucial type of Base 10 block in the model?  Why?

Can you create a house, using Base 10, that has a total value as close to 500 as possible?

What happens when Mr. Swallow comes along and pinches some of your equipment?  Is it more important to get to 500 or to make it look like a house?

Birdwell Explorers

We took our overhead maps of Birdwell and set off on foot to see what we could add.  There are so many businesses and special locations in our village that it’s quite surprising when you note them all down!

We also had some areas of our map that were incomplete so we had to ‘fill in the blanks.’

New Term, new Topic!

This Topic is called, “Where am I from?”

We are going to explore the geography and culture of our region, it’s history and roots, it’s place in Europe and the World.  We hope you all enjoy it and get a better sense of who and where we are in the World.

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2021/09/WHERE-AM-I-FROM-Topic-Map.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

A Monday morning treat!

Elise, from Barnsley Music Services, came to see us this morning.  She demonstrated some of the instruments that she teaches children how to play and told us about how they work.  SHE WAS AMAZING!!!!

If you would like to sign up for lessons, let us know.

It’s Arcade Time!!!!

Our machines are built, we’ve wired up the buttons, the paint is dry (almost)…it#s time to open the arcade to the public.

Work in progress…

Check out how our arcade machines are coming together…

Welcome To Year 4!!!

Welcome back to school everyone!  Mr. Mathieson and I are very excited to be your teachers for this year.  We have lots of fun in store and know that you guys are going to work really hard for us.  Our first 2 days back are our transition days (these are normally the days you spend getting used to a new teacher and a new classroom).  However, because you already know Mr. Mathieson and me so well and know what we expect of you then we thought it would be a good opportunity instead to finish those arcade game projects we started at the end of Year 3!

 

Our bubble closures at the end of the school year meant that we have already designed and coded our own scratch games, as well as planned you our arcade machines could look.  Basically, we have completed a full topic, EXCEPT FOR THE BEST PART!!!!  Let’s put that right…our 2-day challenge is to have completed arcade machines READY to use, by TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!!!!

Here is one I did with Syd, in the holiday as a test run…

The end of the strangest term ever!!!!!

Well kids, it’s here at last…the end of what has been a really difficult time for all of you and hopefully the last day you have not been allowed to attend school.

I just want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of you and all of your wonderful parents and carers for your hard work.  You have made the best of a bad situation and you have often been the best bit of my lockdown experience because of the way you have shared your work and your adventures at home.  I only actually got to be your teacher for a little over 8 weeks but I will miss you all very much.  Mr Bennett is very lucky to be getting you all back in September and I know he will get you all working hard and making progress really quickly.

I’ve made lots of mistakes as I’ve learned how to set up distance learning (like forgetting to put the time of meetings, having Zooms that turn off halfway through, accidentally videoing my kitchen instead of the quiz!!!!!!)  However, you have helped me through and made it all worthwhile!  So one more big thanks and enjoy your summer.

 

If you would still like to create content for our blog and work on our topic then I have posted some ideas for other activities and units related to our topic that you may wish to have a go at.  I’ve tried ti make sure I have covered a range of subjects from sport to music.  I also recommend using the Oak Academy resources.

CLICK ME 

I have been using them at home with my own children and I’ve found them to be pitched at the right level of difficulty and also organized to plan activities in a very similar way to what I would do.

All the best for Year 5.

Mr Swallow

Everyday Heroes 1: What makes a hero?

Task 1: Art skill focus

Choose a superhero.  We are going to trace a picture of them into the middle of your sheet of paper BUT  you cannot use black or pencil, you have to trace in the colour you can see.  So if your hero’s hair is blonde, trace their hair in yellow.  If their cape is red, trace their cape in red…of course, if you trace something black, use your black pencil!  Once you are done, shade in the colours.

Now, label the features and powers your superhero possesses.

Task 2:

Repeat the activity for someone in real life who you consider a hero.  It could be a family member, someone in the community, an emergency worker or even someone you see in the newspaper!

Label their heroic qualities, such as hard work or kindness onto the sheet.

Online art lesson

Zoom meeting ID:  93671558710
Password: art

We are going to have a go at adapting a nice piece of artwork I’ve seen online to our People who changed the World topic.

You will need:

paper

pencil

thin and thick black pens (black biro, handwriting pens, felt tips and even black paint all work fine)

 

It would also help if you have a picture of Dr Martin Luther King Jr Available to draw from.

 

The FINAL quiz

Please join us on zoom for our last Beat The Teachers quiz.  Remember to add your current year group infront of your name on zoom so I can sort you into groups easily please.  However, feel free to come up with a crazy nickname on Kahoot!

Zoom Meeting ID: 946 5718 5074

Password: quiz

 

Beat the teachers 4

This week, there is even more reason to try to win, as Mr Swallow is competing this time as well as the rest of the staff.  Don’t worry though, I have kept him far away from the questions and answers!

Here are our sections for this week:

  • Harry Potter
  • Football
  • Maths
  • Topic/History
  • Staff questions

Zoom meeting ID:  946 5718 5074

Password:  quiz

Log on from 1:15 onwards.

As usual, you will need to have a separate device to access the Kahoot app to join in with the quiz.

Good luck kids, Mrs Rees!

RH8: Ye Olde Vocabulary

Tomorrow, we are going to write a newspaper article about a recent robbery.  I will remind you about the features of a newspaper tomorrow but today we want to ensure that the language you choose is suitably old-fashioned and period correct.

Use a thesaurus as well as interviewing your family to find lots of period-correct alternatives for these words:  (I’ve done 1 for you)

  • thief (rouge, miscreant, near-do-well, outlaw, scoundrel, blaggard)
  • policeman
  • the merry men
  • money
  • rich person

Beat the teachers Quiz 3

The teachers won last week and earned their treat…can you turn the tables on them this week?  We have introduced a new category this week, due to popular demand:  “Fortnite” (the video game, for old people like me!)  With questions written and presented by our Year 6 children and Mrs Rees’s son, Eddie.  I’ve read them when I put the quiz together and didn’t know any of them…it doesn’t look good for the teachers!!!

Zoom meeting ID:  946 5718 5074

Password:  quiz

When you log into Zoom this time, please use your year group at the beginning of your name  (3 Mr Swallow).  We are going to do the chat first and the quiz afterwards this time, log on from 1:15 onwards.

As usual, you will need to have a separate device to access the Kahoot app to join in with the quiz.

Good luck kids!

Woodland crafts

As we are learning about Robin Hood, we decided to learn some woodland craft skills.

Our first project is a fun, colourful toadstool, carved from a stick or branch.  We used a technique called, “whittling” where you shave off little bits of wood at a time to get the shape you want.

It was challenging but fun.  the kids went from hardly being able to remove any wood to being expert carvers!  They really had to persevere when things were difficult and understand that it takes time to get something to be proud of.

Writing task: Lying in wait…

Yesterday, our task was to build up a bank of vocabulary and phrases for a forest setting.  My group in school and I visited the woods down Hay Green Lane.  We tried to use our different senses to listen, smell, see and hear the things around us to capture in our writing.  The kids came up with some fantastic phrases:

“bark like crocodile skin”

“The leaves rustled like a million green butterflies!

“shadows danced in the woods”

“the leaves and soil smell like old tea bags”

“holly leaves nibbled at my neck like tiny shark teeth”

 

These are all fantastic phrases for bringing our writing to life and building up an image for your reader.

 

Now, I would like you to use your vocabulary bank to help you write a short piece in which you are Robin (or one of his outlaws) lying in wait in Sherwood forest.  You have to stay very still so no one sees you.  This will give you the opportunity to tell us about the sounds and sensations you notice all around you as you wait.  It would be good to include some of the discomforts you are putting up with, in your hiding position (this sort of thing tends to be familiar to a reader…we’ve all scratched our face on a branch or been stung by a nettle!)

I would like you pice to end with the line;

“suddenly I heald my breath as the coach pulled into sight between the trees…”

RH6: Forest vocabulary

We are going to bring the forest to life for our readers. What matters, in descriptive writing, is capturing the details and sensations of being in a place.  Presenting your reader with sights, sounds, smells and feelings that they have felt themselves so they can place themselves in the situation you are describing.

What we do not want to do is TELL the reader how they are feeling, instead GIVE THEM CLUES and make them interpret them, themselves!

For example:

You are in a dark, dank forest with huge, mossy trees. It is raining hard and only the fact that you are hidden amongst the trees is stopping you getting soaked.  (It’s not bad but you don’t feel as if you are there!

Instead, try:

As your eyes begin to adjust to the gloom, you begin to pick out some of the sounds and smells around you.  The deep, occasional creak of think, heavy branches.  The quick, sharp rattle of twigs clattering lazily together and the soft, rising & falling rustle of a million leaves in the trees above you.  The earth smells rich and mossy in contrast to the fresh scent of pine in the air.  You turn up your lincoln green collar and duck further back into the hollow in which you are hidden just in time to avoid the pitter-patter of raindrops falling all around you.    (These are all smells and sounds your reader will have experienced before so they will easily be able to picture the scene)

Your challenge:

Go and visit a wooded area.  You are soaking up the sounds and smells around you.  What can you hear, see and feel?  You could take photos and write notes around them.  You could record video or record your ideas on book creator.  What can you compare the sounds to? Get your family to join in, the more ideas, the better.  Do adults have clever vocabulary you can learn?  Do they know little sayings that help paint a picture?  What we want is for you to have a rich selection of vocabulary and ideas from which you can select from in your writing task tomorrow.

White Rose Maths- Money Week 9

Here are the instructional videos for the week:

Click to watch

Lesson 1:  Pounds & pence

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Lesson-1-Pounds-and-pence.pdf” width=”10%” height=”50px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Lesson 1 Answers – Pounds and pence

Lesson 2:  Ordering Money

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Lesson-2-Ordering-money.pdf” width=”10%” height=”50px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Lesson 2 Answers – Ordering money

Lesson 3:  Estimating

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Lesson-3-Estimating-money.pdf” width=”10%” height=”50px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Lesson 3 Answers – Estimating money

Lesson 4:  Money Problems

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Lesson-4-Four-operations.pdf” width=”10%” height=”50px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Lesson 4 Answers – Four operations

RH5: Top Trumps Cards

Design yourself a set of Top Trumps cards for the heroes and villains from Robin Hood!

You can:

  • Choose the style of art you would like to use, Disney, realistic, serious, silly?
  • Choose the categories, are you going to score the characters on strength, speed, height, cunning, goodness/evilness?  What other categories can you think of?
  • Score, will you give them points out of 5, 10 or even 100?  The choice is yours.

Scribble art

At home this weekend, Grace and I worked on a big scribble picture.  To begin with, we drew a VERY simple and very light pencil outline of Robin Hood on a big piece of paper.  You can make loads of mistakes and redo bits without rubbing out as no one will ever see them! (You don’t have to be a good drawer)

The only bit we put a lot of effort into was the face, especially the eye area.

Add black felt tip carefully to show details such as pupils, eyebrows and even some eye lashes.  We added a beard and moustache as we though it fitted the scribble style we were going to use.

 

Then comes the fun bit!  Scribble!!!  Keep going over your sketch lines, use different shades of the same colour.  You don’t need to be too careful but try to make your scribbles for parts of the picture go in the same direction…we did the shade lines on the face the same direction, we kept going over the hood with different greens.

Finally, add a background by drawing 100s of scribble leaves. Scribble them in light green and scribble in the gaps in dark green. Do really thick scribble when you get close to your character to make him stand out. You can even add secret words and messages into the leaves…

There you have it, a scribble picture…they look best when you do them really big and then view them from far away or take a photo.  Share yours with us so we can see your skills!


 

RH4: Tales about Robin Hood

Here is a version of the Robin Hood legend that you read along with…

[embeddoc url=”http://myths.e2bn.org/mythsandlegends/playstory13478-the-legend-of-robin-hood.html” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Here are a few comprehension activities to further develop your knowledge of the story and the characters.

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/robin_hood_and_little_john.docx” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:

Vocabulary Focus

  1. delicate and light in a way that seems to be otherworldly.
  2. to wrap up, cover or surround completely.
  3. inhabited
  4. Outside of the law – someone who has broken the law, especially one who has escaped.
  5. That they are walking slowly because they are tired.
  6. lurking

R – a few steps

V – flurry, erupted

E – They are carrying bows, they are walking long distances, they fight with a staff, there is a bridge tax

I – he is resigned to his fate – he feels like he will have to fight him now.

S – He stops people crossing the bridge unless they pay him.  If they do not pay then he robs them.

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Comprehension_Lower_KS2_sample-converted.docx” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/ANSWERS.docx” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

 

Spelling more homophones

Spelling more homophones

Homophones are words that are spelled differently and have different meanings, but are pronounced in the same, or almost the same, way. They are often confused in children’s writing. We have covered this before but I want to revisit it as I’ve added in a few new pairs of words…

accept/except, affect/effect, ball/bawl, berry/bury, brake/break, fair/fare, grate/great, groan/grown, here/hear, heel/heal/he’ll, knot/not, mail/male, main/mane, meat/meet, medal/meddle, missed/mist, peace/piece, plain/plane, rain/rein/reign, scene/seen, weather/whether, whose/who’s

Highwayman art in school

We used our home-made ink to follow Mr Swallow’s video tutorial.  Today, now they are dry, we added charcoal highlights to make some bits stand out!

They look amazing…

WANTED!

We would like you to design a wanted poster for at least one of Robin’s Merry Men.

Your poster should, of course,  include a sketch of the character but the main part of the poster should be:

  • a physical description of the character
  • some reasons that they are “wanted”.  What have they done?  How have they helped Robin?
  • appropriate vocabulary, your poster should sound ‘ye olde’ (old) through the old fashioned vocabulary you use

Remember!  This is a wanted poster for a criminal!  You are not on their side, you want them to be caught and arrested for their crimes so make them sound bad!

 

Online art lesson at 1:30

Here are some illustrations (by Charles Keeping) from the Highwayman book that the Year 5/6 blog will be covering over the next couple of weeks.We shall use these as inspiration for today’s art lesson at 1:30

Yesterday we made our own ink during an online Zoom lesson.  All you have to do is crush up some berries with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt.  I had a go at a quick portrait last night using some of the ink I made in the lesson…

Wednesday 1:30 portrait drawing

Zoom Meeting ID: 990 7137 5354

Password:  art

You will need:  paper (preferably a3 art paper but whatever you have will work!) your home-made ink from yesterday, either a stick of charcoal or some ash (you can just have an adult light a few matches and let them burn out, they work just as well)

 

Making our own ink!

This afternoon, we will use some very common household ingredients to make our own ink and quill.

We shall use our ink to draw a portrait of one of the characters from the highwayman on Wednesday.

The ink making and the art lesson will be both be online lessons through Zoom.  I will start the connection from 1:15 both days for you to log in.

Tuesday 1:30pm ink making lesson

Zoom Meeting ID: 951 3096 3816

Password:  ink

You will need:  salt, vinegar, a few handfulls of dark berries such as blueberries or blackberries.  (You can make other coloured ink with the appropriate color berry or veg!)  You will also need either a fine sieve, muslim cloth or old babric to strain them through.

If you would also like to make a quill, you will need a feather or a thin straw and some scraps of paper & glue.

 

Wednesday 1:30 portrait drawing

Meeting ID: 990 7137 5354

Password:  art

You will need:  paper (preferably a3 art paper but whatever you have will work!) your home-made ink, either a stick of charcoal or some ash (you can just have an adult light a few matches and let them burn out, they work just as well)

White Rose Maths-Properties of shape

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-WO1-Identify-angles-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-WO2-Compare-and-order-angles-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-WO3-Triangles-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-WO4-Quadrilaterals-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-WO5-Lines-of-symmetry-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-WO6-Complete-a-symmetric-figure-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-ANS1-Identify-angles-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-ANS2-Compare-and-order-angles-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-ANS3-Triangles-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-ANS4-Quadrilaterals-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-ANS5-Lines-of-symmetry-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-5-ANS6-Complete-a-symmetric-figure-2020.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Making our own ink!!

This afternoon, we will use some very common household ingredients to make our own ink and quill.

We shall use our ink to draw a portrait of one of the characters from the highwayman on Wednesday.

The ink making and the art lesson will be both be online lessons through Zoom.  I will start the connection from 1:15 both days for you to log in.

Tuesday 1:30pm ink making lesson

Zoom Meeting ID: 951 3096 3816

Password:  ink

You will need:  salt, vinegar, a few handfulls of dark berries such as blueberries or blackberries.  (You can make other coloured ink with the appropriate color berry or veg!)  You will also need either a fine sieve, muslim cloth or old babric to strain them through.

If you would also like to make a quill, you will need a feather or a thin straw and some scraps of paper & glue.

 

Wednesday 1:30 portrait drawing

Meeting ID: 990 7137 5354

Password:  art

You will need:  paper (preferably a3 art paper but whatever you have will work!) your home-made ink, either a stick of charcoal or some ash (you can just have an adult light a few matches and let them burn out, they work just as well)

Our New Topic!!!

Our final topic for this year is named: 

Hero or Villain?

Just like with our Space topic, we are going to run this topic across all of Key Stage 2.  As we do not know what will happen with schooling in the coming weeks and months yet, we have designed this topic to run all of the way through the Summer holiday.

We are going to cover 8 Units, each with a different curricular focus.  Some units will be history heavy, some literacy and some sport or music!

Our units are:

  • Stealing (our hearts!)
  • Conquer and Divide
  • World-Changers!
  • Everyday Heroes
  • Un-popular music
  • History Hero ZERO!
  • Champ to Cheat
  • Be the Hero of Your Own Story…

The work that you add to the blog and the work that pupils who are in school contribute will be added to displays and boards all around school, ready for you to see in September.

Let’s get started with Unit 1:  Stealing (our hearts!)  We investigate 2 stories where the hero of the story is a thief!  Someone who should be a bad guy!  We are going to build up towards being able to control viewpoint in our writing, with plenty of reading comprehension, art and practical tasks along the way!

You can choose, on Thursday, which text you wish to work on.  “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes will be covered on the Year 5&6 blogs whilst Robin Hood will be the focus of the Year 3&4 blogs.  YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THE TEXT ON YOUR BLOG, you can choose to do the work on either but bear in mind the Highwayman is a more difficult text.

HH

LOCKDOWN CHALLENGE category

On the right-hand side of the blog, you will notice there is an area called ‘categories.’  Clicking these links will show you all of the posts do do with that category.

I have added a new category called LOCKDOWN CHALLENGES to make it easier to see the tasks that the teachers have set without seeing all the work.  I know it can take quite a while to scroll down the blog to see what we have set for you (if you’re like me you get distracted by the brill posts all your classmates are adding!) so i wanted to make it as easy as possible.

As we add new challenges, we’ll tag them so just click on LOCKDOWN CHALLENGES when you log on to see the latest tasks.

(As I write this, this is the 76th challenge post!)

Friday afternoon quiz! BEAT THE TEACHERS!!!!!!!

As we have quite unusual circumstances in which to host today’s quiz, we are going to have a little challenge!  As none of the other teachers have seen the quiz, I thought that they should all join in…so you lot can beat them!

It’s…BEAT THE TEACHER!!! 

Some of the staff are going to join in from home.

What we want you guys to do is get a higher score than your teacher!

Remember, you need a device to view the quiz on (with Zoom downloaded and signed into) and a DIFFERENT device to put the answers onto (with kahoot! downloaded onto).

The quiz will begin at 1:30 but I will open up the Zoom link afterwards so we can see the friends in our class for a chat.

The Zoom Meeting ID is:

946 5718 5074

The password is:

quiz

PLEASE do not try to log in before 1:20 as the password WILL NOT work before then.

The Earth, from the ground and from space

The astronauts in the ISS get to see the Earth from a completely different viewpoint to the rest of us.  Here are some pictures of locations around the Earth, taken from the ground and then from space.  can you match the location to the 2 photographs?

[embeddoc url=”https://www.stem.org.uk/system/files/elibrary-resources/legacy_files_migrated/40778-From%20the%20ground%20and%20from%20the%20sky%20No%20Inst.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/36665/ground-and-sky#&gid=undefined&pid=1″ download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Space suit materials

A couple of days ago, you looked at why astronauts need space suits and the different jobs they need to do.  Space suits:

  • hold in air and keep out the vacuum of space, so astronauts are able to breathe!!!
  • pressure, the suits compress the astronaut as space is a vacuum and without the suits pressing down on the astronaut, they would expand and explode!
  • Keep in warmth (space is VERY cold) as well as reflect harmful direct sunlight!!!
  • protect astronauts from damage (they are made of very tough materials as a ripped spacesuit means certain death!)
  • communication, the suits contain cameras, microphones and instruments that measure  data about the astronaut
  • tethers, there are lots of loops and straps for ensuring the astronauts are fastened to the spacecraft and not drifting off into space!
  • drinking and going to the loo!  that’s right, astronauts wear nappies…spacewalks can take over 12 hours and the astronauts are only human after all!

Challenge:

What would you construct an emergency spacesuit from at home?  You are only allowed to use materials and items you can find in your house!  Now, BEFORE YOU GO AND TIP THE GOLDFISH DOWN THE SINK FOR THE BOWL, you do not HAVE to make this spacesuit!  Lots of your parents are busy enough managing homeschool and work without you cutting up the duvet and pinching bits from the dish washer!  There are lots of ways you could do this task:

  • design the spacesuit on paper and label the different materials (and explain why you selected them)
  • make a mini space suit for a teddy bear or pet
  • take photos of items around home and explain why they would be perfect for a space suit
  • lay items out into the shape of a person to show what your suit could look like
  • make a table, with a colum, that explain what a space suit must do, a column for the item you would use and a column for why it is a good choice
  • go nuts…yes your teachers have noticed that some of your parents are absolutely bonkers and seem even keener to dismantle the house for crazy school projects than you do… so go on, let them go for it and make you a space suit!!!

I can’t wait to see the results of this one!  Mrs Rees and I are trying to make a display in school so all of your writing, art, diagrams and photos will get used!

Star constellations

I have seen this ace idea for an activity that is easy to do at home.  You could do this activity two ways, as a sewing task or by making a viewing telescope.

Sewing:

This would be a great way of adding extra information to the back, such as; the number of stars in the constellation, where in the sky you find it, which galaxy it belongs to, the name of the stars, is the constellation used for anything such as navigation.  Maybe you think it looks like something else and could ‘join the dots in a different way and give it your own name!

here are some printable cards:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/printable-constellation-sewing-cards.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Telescope:

This is a nice, fun activity.  make sure you use thick card or black paper for the constellation card to completely block the light.  Can you use your telescope to help you locate the constellation in the sky?

Here are some printable templates:

printable-constellation-sewing-cards

What would you take?

When a rocket or shuttle is launched into space, it burns an incredible amount of fuel!  Take a look at this infographic:

Look at how small the part that actually holds the astronauts is!  Before the year 2000, to launch anything into space, NASA spent $18,500 PER KILOGRAM!!! 

So as you can imagine, they only send things that are vital and reduce weight as much as possible.  Therefore, the astronauts are only allowed a few special possessions.  My challenge for you is, tell me what special items you would take for a year in space and explain why.

Oscar’s Space X research

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/20200604_141612.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Check out Oscar’s fantastic reserach and write up!  Well done Mr Watson, Mrs Rees was very impressed with how quickly you managed to get this to her…you even beat some of the Year 6 pupils!!!

I know that we are all going to work together to make the Year 4 blog the best one in school!

Thanks Oscar!!!

Real-Life photos from the Kennedy Space Centre!!!!

Hello Mr Swallow

I have got some photos from when we went to visit Kennedy Space Centre last year. I thought you might like to see them! My favourite bit was the shuttle launch simulator. It felt like we were floating. I also liked the bus tour which took us around the launch site. There was a spaceX rocket on the launchpad when we were there.
From Sam

He even did some SpaceX research too!

Well done Sam!!!!   You are a super star!!!

Some of our classmates have started the Space topic with Mr. Mathieson in the hall!

Our Key Worker group, in the school hall, are looked after by Mr. Mathieson.  Just like you at home, they are attempting the Space topic challenges set by Mrs Rees and I on the blogs.  I thought you may like to see what your friends have done so far and then you could share what you’ve done at home on the same challenges!!!

Make sure you post everything or email it to me so I can make sure my blog is better than Mrs Rees’s and Mr Mathieson’s!!!!! 😜 (‘cos I’ve already told them it will be!!!!)

 

Friday afternoon quiz!

We are going to TRY to host a quiz for you all on Zoom, this Friday at 1:30pm.  To play, you will need:

  • A device to use Zoom on.  

This can be a laptop, a smart TV, a tablet or a phone but the bigger screens work best.  You mustfirst download Zoom onto the device and register yourself for a free account.  I will be admitting people to the group on Friday and will obviously not admit anyone who we don’t recognise so please use your child’s name as their username so we can admit them easily.

  • Our Zoom meeting ID

Type this number into Zoom to access the meeting on Friday afternoon:

471 482 8743

Use the password 

quiz

  • A device to use Kahoot on.

You will need a different device to answer the questions on.  You need to download the free Kahoot app.  When the quiz starts, there will be a pin number on the screen that you type into your app to join the game.

 

If this goes anything like the quizzes we have done for Years 3 & 4 and the one I tried on the staff, all sorts will go wrong!  However it works out, it will be lovely to see you guys and for you all to see each other.  I will start the Zoom broadcast a little early to help people logging on and try and solve any issues.

Bear with me, it will only be the second time I’ve used Zoom so I won’t be very slick!  Good luck and have fun!

Descriptive writing

Descriptive Writing – Pandora

https://www.literacyshed.com/the-sci—fi-shed.html

Click on the above link and scroll down until you get to the video called ‘Pandora‘.

This is a short ‘documentary’ about Pandora, the planet from the film Avatar.

Imagine that you are an astronaut who has landed on this planet.  Write a detailed description of the planet and its inhabitants.  

Be as creative and descriptive as possible, using ambitious vocabulary and using varied sentence structures and punctuation.

The planets of the Solar System

Imagine being able to travel into space.

  • Can you name all of the planets and their order?  Do you have a way of remembering this?
  • Which planet would you like to visit?  Why?
  • Find information about your chosen planet.  Think about the size of it, the colour of it, how far it is away from the sun or earth, what the atmosphere is like, whether it has any moons etc.
  • Think about how to present your information.  You could paint, draw, make a model, write a fact file, produce a PowerPoint, make a video – it’s up to you.
  • Remember to share your work on the blog or email me: t.rees@birdwellprimary.org.uk   I would love to see which planet you selected and how you chose to present your information.

 

The moon landing FUN FACTS (Pay attention, this may help with upcoming activities!!!)

1. The moon is 238,855 miles away from Earth. Even whizzing through space at super-high speed, it takes more than three days to get there.

2. Out in space, away from Earth, there is no gravity holding astronauts down, so they float around in their spaceships. Sometimes called zero-g.

3. The lunar module, Eagle, was so small that there was no room for seats. While Eagle dropped 60 miles to the moon’s surface, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had to stand up.

4. The landing site that Apollo 11 crew had chosen was an area called the Sea of Tranquillity, which looked smooth and safe for landing. This isn’t a sea as we know it. It’s a lunar mare – a large plain formed long ago by a volcanic eruption.

5. When Neil Armstrong landed the lunar module, there were only 30 seconds of fuel left. Yikes!

6. Neil Armstrong was supposed to say ‘That’s one small step for a man’, but he forgot to say ‘a’. Instead, he said the now-famous words, ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’.

7. Gravity on the moon is only one-sixth as strong as gravity on Earth. If you jumped on the moon, you’d go six times higher. Wow!

8. While Neil Armstrong may have been the first man to set foot on the moon, Buzz Aldrin was the first man to go to the toilet there, using a special tube in his spacesuit!

9. An amazing woman called Katherine Johnson carried out the calculations that made the mission to the moon possible and got the astronauts home again. Katherine’s incredible achievement made it possible for other women and people of colour to follow in her footsteps, breaking down barriers of race and gender.

10. While he was still working for NASA after returning from the moon, Neil Armstrong helped invent computer navigation technology called ‘fly-by-wire’, which is still used in spacecraft and aeroplanes today.

NEW MINI TOPIC: Surviving in space

We’re going to start our last half term with a two-week topic about Surviving in Space. All of KS2 are going to work on this topic together.  The children who are gradually returning to school will be joining in the same work with us that you are doing at home.  So, it will be fun to share what is happening at school and at home.

Each day, I will post a new activity linked to this.  There will be plenty of variety, including research, creative writing, art work, D & T and science.  I thought we’d start with something current.

Nasa Astronauts make history with Space X launch.

Many of you may have watched this live on Saturday.  Here is a short clip for you to watch again or for those who didn’t see it.

Can you find out the answers to these questions?  Find an interesting way to present your information including pictures.  I’m really missing seeing your work so please remember to share your work on the blog or email me if you just want me to see it: t.rees@birdwellprimary.org.uk

  1. Why was this an historic event?
  2. This was actually the second attempt at lift-off.  Why didn’t the first attempt happen on Wednesday?
  3. Where are they travelling to?
  4. Name the two astronauts.
  5. How are their space suits different to other space suits in the past?
  6. What is the Crew Dragon?
  7. How will they return back to Earth?
  8. Any extra information that you can find out.

 

White Rose Maths: Statistics week

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-WO1-Interpret-charts-2020.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-WO2-Comparison-sum-and-difference-2020.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-WO3-Introducing-line-graphs-2020.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-WO4-Line-graphs-2020.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-ANS1-Interpret-charts-2020.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-ANS4-Line-graphs-2020.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-ANS2-Comparison-sum-and-difference-2020.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ] [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/06/Y4-Summer-Block-4-ANS3-Introducing-line-graphs-2020.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Friday Quiz 3

Hi kids.  Mr. Mathieson and I are not able to meet up this week so quiz 3 will take place next Friday, with 2 major changes.

We are going to swap to Zoom for our quiz rather than YouTube (so I need to get practicing using it!)  The advantage will be that we will be able to see you guys, as well as you, seeing us!!!

The other change will be that the quiz will move into school-time.  Mr. Mathieson and I will be hosting the Friday quiz on a Friday afternoon for you guys at home.  We are also learning how to host some live lessons for you guys over Zoom as well so watch this space…

We hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather and staying safe, Mr. Mathieson and Mr. Swallow

Wildlife activities

A big that you to Charlie for recommending this site and to Oliver for inspiring us with his nature report.  There are some lovely activities to get you guys outdoors and enjoying the half-term sunshine!

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/30-days-wild-individuals-pack

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Activity-passport.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/30-Days-Wild-wallchart_0.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Individual-pack-fitness-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Nature-Table.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

White Rose maths week 6

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-1-Add-2-or-more-fractions-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-1-Answers-Add-2-or-more-fractions-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-2-Subtract-2-fractions-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-2-Answers-Subtract-2-fractions-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-3-Fractions-of-a-quantity-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-3-Answers-Fractions-of-a-quantity-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-4-Calculate-quantities-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-4-Answers-Calculate-quantities-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Friday night Quiz 2

The link for tonight’s quiz will appear here at around 5:30 with the quiz starting at 6:00 p.m. Click the link to be taken to the page:

Click me after 5:30

Hopefully we shall be able to read comments you add to the YouTube But please only add one or two as we don’t want to slow the feed down.

Hopefully, this week the feed will run quicker as we’ve changed the set up quite a bit. We have found that pressing “refresh” once you have joined can bring your browser up to the correct point.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Friday Quiz number 2

Thanks for all the feedback we received about the last quiz, both good and bad.  It seems as though the main issue was caused by the delay between us broadcasting the video and everyone receiving it. This delay sometimes got so long that by the time people were seeing the question on screen, the time to answer had already ended.

 

We have been looking at ways of improving this. The next quiz will be broadcast in much lower resolution and we will be taking a much more basic approach to sharing the quiz screen with you. This should reduce the amount of information we are trying to broadcast and therefore improve the speed.  We are also going to extend the answer time to 90 seconds for all of the questions to give everyone time to answer, even if they do experience some amount of delay. As soon as everyone has answered, Kahoot moves on anyway so this shouldn’t feel too different.

 

I am also trying to make it possible for comments to be viewable on the YouTube feed so we can read aloud messages from you all but please only send one or two at most as we don’t want to slow the feed down.

 

Our next quiz will have sections on; Children’s Literature, Movies, Video Games and The World!  If you would like a particular category adding in future quizzes, let us know and we’ll do our best.  I will send you out a new link on Friday morning and the link will be on here again.  Hopefully, more of you will get to participate this time.  Mr Mathieson and I are not experienced at all with being YouTubers (as you kids call it) and unfortunately are learning how to use all the technology as we go. This has obviously led to the frustrations for some of you so far. I can only apologise for the mistakes I made in the set up last week that spoiled the experience for some of you, I can’t guarantee that something similar won’t go wrong this week but we shall try our best to improve on the mistakes each go.

 

Good luck and (hopefully) enjoy the quiz!!!

 

Word class activity

Here is a nice activity that gets you thinking about how some words can act as either a noun or a verb.

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/OxfordSchoolSPaG_Word-Class-Nouns-and-Verbs.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Remember, a noun in a naming word, it names a person, place, object or idea.  Verbs are doing words, any action is a verb.

Here are links to BBC bitesize pages with a video tutorial and activity on each word class.

VERBS

NOUNS

Here are the answers to the sheet:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/OxfordSchoolSPaG_Word-Class-Nouns-and-Verbs-ANSWERS.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

I have highlighted the nounsb as well as the expanded noun phrases (remember, these are more than one word where extra detail is added to the noun, making a ‘phrase’) They came up a lot on our last grammar test.  I have NOT highlighted any pronouns. (A pronoun identifies a noun without using its name).  There were lots of them, can you identify any?

White Rose maths Week 5

Day 1:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-1-Recognise-tenths-and-hundredths-2019-1.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-1-Answers-Recognise-tenths-and-hundredths-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Here are the rest of the week’s video tutorials and worksheets:

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Week-5-videos.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]   [embeddoc

url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-2-Equivalent-fractions-1-2019.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]  [embeddoc

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-2-Answers-Equivalent-fractions-1-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-3-Equivalent-fractions-2-2019.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]  [embeddoc

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-3-Answers-Equivalent-fractions-2-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-4-Fractions-greater-than-1-2019.pdf” width=”20%” height=”100px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-4-Answers-Fractions-greater-than-1-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

A surprise for Mr Swallow!

My kids shouted me from working in the garden yesterday to tell me I’d had a special delivery!

What a treat! A lively jar of home-made jam from Finlay! As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir in the Swallow household as we knew we had to use it for something very special. We finally agreed on American style pancakes.

 

We cooked up a batch this morning and spread the delicious looking ham on them…it was easily the best jam I have ever tasted! Everyone agreed and we are far more pancakes than we should have!  So it’s Fin’s fault when Mr Bailey has to roll me back into the classroom!

Thank you so much Finlay and your family, that was an amazing lockdown treat which cheered us all up and I can not recommend your jam highly enough! I will definitely be buying some the next time you make any!

Now I just have to figure out how to keep the rest of my family away from it!

LIVE Friday night quiz!!!

On Friday, at 6pm, Mr. Mathieson and I would like to invite you all to take part in a quiz, just for Year 3 and 4 children and their families.

The quiz will be broadcast live on YouTube and your answers will come to us via an app called Kahoot!  To view the quiz you will have to have a device on which you can view YouTube and a separate device on which to play the quiz using the Kahoot app.  For example, a laptop could be displaying the YouTube stream and you could be sending in your answers on mum’s smartphone.

YouTube:  the stream should appear below on Friday evening

You can copy and paste or click on this link  into your browser on a laptop, ipad, smartphone or smart TV.

CLICK ME

The stream will go live at 6pm so don’t be surprised if you don’t see anything on the screen until then.  Once the stream starts you should see us on the screen.  The video will show Mr. Mathieson and I asking you the quiz questions and show you the possible answers.  You will listen to the question, view the answers and choose the corresponding colour button on your Kahoot app, on your other device.

Kahoot!:    You must have downloaded the Kahoot! app before the quiz begins.  When the video stream starts, I will display a code on the screen.  Open your Kahoot app and press the Enter Pin button.  Type in the pin on the screen and you will connect to our quiz.  You will be asked to choose a team name, please use your child’s name in the team name so we can see who is playing and answering, such as Syd’s Family, Grace’s Geniuses, Ted’s Team, Charlie’s Champions etc.

Your team name will pop up on our screen so we can see all the teams who have joined.  Once the quiz starts, your app will load up 4 coloured boxes for each question.  The possible answers to the question will be on the video stream, we will read them out loud and each will have a colour that corresponds to the colours on your app.  Press the answer you think is correct.

The app will tell you if you are correct or not and assign you points.  THE QUICKER YOU GIVE A CORRECT ANSWER, THE MORE POINTS YOU GET!!!!  Once everyone has answered, we shall see who is on the leaderboard after each question.  There are 20 questions, based on things that our classes have learned about this year.  There are also a few bonus questions based upon pictures you see in the quiz so that even younger children in the family can join in as long as they are watching carefully

If this all sounds clear as mud, don’t worry we shall muddle through.  I’m sure lots will go wrong but it’s all in the name of fun and keeping in touch. I’m sure we can come up with a few prizes for the winners and boobie prizes for anyone who gets certain questions wrong!!!  Mr. Mathieson and I have found it very difficult not seeing you all these past several weeks and when I saw this app being used to keep people in touch I knew I wanted to try it with you all!  (It’s just taken me AGES to figure out how to do it!)

See you all Friday…GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Year 4 spelling list

Here is a copy of those tricky words we just have to learn in Year 4.  DON’T try and do them all at once remember, pick 5, 10 or 15 at a time and work at those until you have them.  Highlight them off and try some more.

If there are some that keep catching you out, highlight them in red and keep re-visiting them.

Remember, these are not words that always follow spelling rules or that have a difficult pattern in them.  We can use tricks such as making them into a saying (like Sally Anne Is Dancing spells SAID) or make the word into a picture (like we remember where and there are the ones that tells us a place and they have a tree on a hill in them (there are the only where/wear/were/wear or there/their/they’re that has a h in them and that is what looks like a tree on a hill!)

What rules help you remember your Year 4 Word List?

[embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/SpellingWordList_Y3-4.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Topic activity: What is Stone Henge?

Here is a very nice video resource from the BBC, telling you about this famous site.  Read the page before you watch the video.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z82hsbk/articles/zg8q2hv

Can you design your own Stone circle?  You could make it from craft or building materials, at our house, we went for wooden blocks and Lego. My kids got fascinated with lining their models up to the sun outside!!!

Or, create an eye-catching piece of artwork using a similar technique to when we did our Winter work for Narnia when we placed a dark silhouette infront of a bright background.   (Anyone remember what we called that process?)   I’ve put some examples below:

White Rose Maths COURSE WEEK 4

As you are probably aware, White Rose are continuing to publish free online video tutorials every week but no longer free worksheets.  School has subscribed to White Rose so we can publish the sheets for you here.

Here is the link to the video tutorials for this week:

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-4/

Here are the daily worksheets:  (As before, PLEASE don’t feel you have to religiously work through every question, they are designed to approach the learning from lots of different angles which is repetitive if you do them all.  Choose the questions that you think make sense to you and which you think will challenge your child.)

Day 1:  [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-1-Correspondence-problems-2019.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:  [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-1-Answers-Correspondence-problems-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Day 2:  [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-2-Perimeter-of-a-rectangle-2019.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers:  [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-2-Answers-Perimeter-of-a-rectangle-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Day 3:  [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-3-Perimeter-of-rectilinear-shapes-2019.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers: [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-3-Answers-Perimeter-of-rectilinear-shapes-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Day 4:  [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-4-Counting-squares-2019.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Answers: [embeddoc url=”https://birdwellyear4.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/Lesson-4-Answers-Counting-squares-2019.pdf” width=”50%” height=”250px” download=”all” viewer=”google” ]

Topic activity: Hunter gatherers

Prehistoric people were known as hunter-gatherers.  as the name suggests, they ate what they hunted, caught or gathered from trees, plants and the ground.

They were not farmers, they had not figured out yet that you could plant crops and fruit for the following year so that meant they starved if they couldn’t find food.  This caused them to move around, looking for animals and food.  Most of the time they would live in camps so they could move easily.  It also meant that they would be prepared to eat just about anything they found!

Challenge:  The next time you go on your family walk, gather or list EVERYTHING that you would be prepared to eat if you were a hungry hunter-gatherer!  Berries, nuts, seeds, mice, birds.  EVERYTHING you see.

Put me together a caveman menu using ONLY what you found on your walk…let’s see if you found enough to keep you going until tomorrow!!!

Fun in school

Making robots from some cardboard Mr. Bailey brought us

Weeding and digging over the garden infront of school

WACKY RACES!!!!  The kids set up a race track on the playground and raced on whatever they could find…they even had cheer leaders!

we even had an impromptu karate lesson

 

Topic Challenge: Fire Building Task 2

Once you have mastered fire, you can stay warm in winter, scare off dangerous animals and cook delicious food.  Your second challenge is to be a true caveman and cook a meal over a flame.  This could be a jacket potato wrapped in foil on your own, home-made fire or a burger on your BBQ.  Again, THIS MUST BE WITH ADULT SUPERVISION AT ALL TIMES!  PLEASE TREAT FIRE aND HOT SURFACES WITH CARE AND STAY SAFE!

Let Mr. Mathieson and I see your caveman meals…I can tell that we are going to be slobbering onto our keyboards!!!

Topic challenge: Fire building Task 1

In Unit 1, we have established that cavemen lived in caves and this helped shelter and protect them.  Keeping them safe from animals, warm in winter and allowing them to store food and essentials.  It meant that families could live together and look out for one another.

Cavemen also discovered how to make fire and this made a HUGE difference to their survival.  Not only does food taste much nicer when it’s cooked but heating the food does 3 really important things:

  • it kills bacteria in the food that can make humans sick or even die
  • it preserves the food so that it can last longer
  • adding water can make a little food feed a lot of people (like soups and stews)

You have already built and decorated your own cave.  Now we want to see your fire building skills!  We want you to make sure you do 3 steps:

  • Build a fire-proof ring to keep the fire contained and safe.  You could use stones or bricks or even a ring of earth
  • add the wood!  this sounds simple but you need to ensure that the bigger, longer-lasting logs are at the bottom as they will be the hardest to light.  You also want to build the timber (planed wood) or lumber (rough, natural wood) into a pyramid or teepee shape so that the flames can be fed
  • add kindlin.  this is thin, easily lit and easy to burn material such as shredded newspaper, moss (or fluff from your tumble-drier).  Add the kindlin around and inside the bottom of your teepee

That’s it!  You have built your own campfire.  Your task is complete.  BUT…if you have a grown-up to supervise you and you are feeling adventurous, you could light your campfire to see if you have done a good job.

PLEASE TREAT FIRE WITH RESPECT AND NEVER PLAY WITH FIRE.  DO NOT TRY TO LIGHT A FIRE WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION AND NEVER LEAVE YOUR FIRE UNATTENDED.  

Here is a guide to help you:  https://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Campfire/

 

Stone Age spellings

Try to use these words in a sentence and then get a family member to test you when you think you have learned them.

stone

iron 

bronze

ancient

prehistoric

cave painting

hunter-gatherer

dinosaur

wooley mammoth

sabre-toothed 

Skara Brae (a prehistoric Scottish village)

Stone Henge (a prehistoric religious site)

evolution

primitive

Neanderthal

 

 

 

This weeks maths is tricky

https://whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/year-4/

As you can see, we are continuing to learn about decimals, thus week we are rounding decimal numbers, representing halves and quarters as decimals and looking at money!

As always, please pick and choose the activities you do. The White Rose sheets and lessons are very good but if you do every question every day they can be very time consuming.  Learning at home can be difficult and it’s not the same as being at school so keep it manageable and keep it fun.  Don’t feel bad about missing a day and working on your times tables or doing something fun!  AND keep sharing what you are doing with me!

Mr Mathieson has tips for our cave paintings from when his class did some last year…

Hi Year 4. 

I find cave painting so fascinating, there’s a special reason why the cavemen painted animals on the cave walls, can any of you find out why they did it?

Here’s a quick and easy tip that will make your cave art replicate the real thing…

  • Once you have drawn your picture, leave it to dry and spray over it with hairspray (don’t worry, you won’t use the full can so you’ll have plenty left to do your hair!)
  • After the hairspray has dried you need to cover it by using a tea bag. Here’s the trick – ASK A PARENT TO OVERSEE (I don’t want any burnt hands or tea stains in the house). Leave the teabag in hot water, let it cool down and then gently ‘pinch’ the teabag out and dab it over the artwork. Dip the teabag back into the water as it will start to dry when applying it to your artwork.
  • Leave the artwork to dry and you’ll have your very own cave art.

We can’t wait to see your finished outcomes.

Mr Mathieson 😉🤞

Cave painting

Cavemen decorated their caves and shelters with pictures of the animals they saw, the friends they lived with and hand-prints that can still be seen by us all of these thousands of years later.

I would like you guys to have a go at your own cave paintings.  I have posted some links to sites online that have examples.  There are lots of different ways of doing authentic-looking ones, including; working on old cardboard boxes, using hands in mud and painting with brushes.  (So we don’t have to destroy your mum’s lovely wall paper!!!)  As always, let me see what you get up to, I’ll be having a go at this with Syd today so I’ll do the same!

 

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/176273772894827401/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/571042427743842940/

https://learningparade.typepad.co.uk/learning_parade/2010/04/off-the-wall-cave-painting-.html

 

Why do we call them ‘Cave’ men?

All living things need certain things to survive and flourish.  They need to eat and drink, they need to rest, they need to stay warm or cool enough and shelter to keep them safe.  Cavemen were so successful because they found a way of improving all of these things…by using…(that’s right)…a cave!

Think:  How would life in a cave or shelter be better than living outside for:

  • Eating & drinking
  • Keeping warm or cool
  • Resting
  • Keeping safe

I want you to pretend to be a caveman (not too difficult for some of you I imagine!)  Now the first thing you are going to need is a cave!  You could build it out of your duvet cover or a big box…let your imagination run wild (and tell your parents I understand that the first day back I will have lots of cross Mummys to answer to!)  Do a good job and maybe you could sleep in it tonight???  If you do an amazing job, it may even protect you from the angry parents when they see what your challenge is!!!

Once you have built your cave, I want you to tell me all about why it is so good at improving your life (as a caveman) and keeping you alive.  You could do it as a piece of writing or a letter along with a photo of your cave.  Or you could make a video diary, showing off your new shelter and explaining why it is a big improvement on just living outside.  Let’s see what you come up with.

I can’t wait for the rest of unit 1…here’s a sneak preview of what will be coming up: