Year 4 Viking day!

On Monday, we had a very exciting day getting completely immersed into the world of Vikings. We did Viking battleships, learning about the different types of Viking longships that they used to come over to Britain from Scandinavia. We also made Viking purses in DT, learning how to cut patterns and thread needles. Last but not least we had a Viking visitor who showed us Viking weapons, taught us how they went into battle and we even learned some of the language!

Countryside Days

What a day we had at Countryside Days at Harrogate Showground! This is always such an exciting, jam-packed day with so many activities that link to our curriculum. Our group’s activities included: trying out cycling on a range of different bikes; weaving with willow to create a natural wreath; exploring 3D nets and the use of leather to create a bag and learning about different cattle and what they produce in Britain. We also ended the day with the legendary sheep shearing, which was entertaining and taught us lots of facts about the British Empire’s relationship with wool trading. The weather was glorious and, as you can see, some hill-rolling was essential. All of us in Year 4 believe Countryside Days is a valuable day that builds cultural capital.

A workshop with Cressida Cowell

This afternoon we joined a workshop with Cressida Cowell the author of ‘How to train your Dragon’. We chatted about reading being a magical power, we heard some extracts from her new book and discussed how Writing is so much more than the mechanics!

She was incredibly engaging and gave the children lots of ideas for their own stories!

Pentecost

This week, 4SH have been producing some stunning pastel artwork representing Pentecost. We thought carefully about what symbolism we wanted to emphasise within our artwork; what colour we will use and what this represents; choice of paper size and how to blend or not blend pastel and chalk. We practised different parts in our ACE Artists book, reflecting on the impact and going again with reworking ideas. Recapping the skill of gestural drawing has been vital here to reflect the wild nature of the fire and the wind, representing the Holy Spirit.

Information Texts

Currently, we are exploring how to write information texts, specifically about newly-discovered creatures. Armed with our toolkit, washing line, knowledge of our model text and magpie books, the children have loved shared-writing their first two paragraphs this week. It is safe to say that this is our best non-fiction writing yet! Well done everybody. You are becoming fantastic writers and showing that you are nearly ready for Year 5!

Arts People Drama workshop

Today Year 4 took part in a drama workshop with Arts People around our book ‘The Boy Who Met a Whale’. We played some drama games and discussed how performances like ‘War Horse’ and ‘The Life of Pi’ use animal movements to bring the performance to life. We managed to recreate a storm and had a go at using body movements to create Elephant Rock and the Whale from our novel.

Globes

As part of our ‘Journeys’ unit this half term, we spent yesterday afternoon creating our own globes using paper maché. We hope to continually add to these during the unit as we learn more about certain geographical features about the world! This includes learning: the equator line, the hemispheres, latitude, longitude, 6-figure grid references and how time zones work. ?

Trip to Leeds Beckett Graphic Design Department

On Wednesday, 4SH spent the day at Leeds Beckett Graphic Design Department. This was a result of the ‘Winds of Change’ project which the students, along with Mr Magnall, had been working on during the Spring term.

A final workshop, hosted by the students and their lecturers in their amazing art studio, resulted in making an eco-town out of recycled packaging, creating a backdrop/landscape for the town from a range of drawing materials and turning a collage into a print. The impromptu ‘exhibition’ at the end of our time in their studio, showcased the days creativity as well as their zine booklets, clay tiles and dream catchers. 

A big thank you goes to 4SH for being artists, Mr Magnall for educating 4SH on how we can harness the wind to create energy and the students at LBU for designing workshops to support this learning. It was a fun, interactive and inspiring day.

Tree planting

Today we have planted some new trees. They are five Hazels, five Rowans and five Crab Apples. Pupils from year 3 and 4 are pictured here. Hopefully the trees will be taller than them by the time they move into secondary school!