Today's literacy and maths

In our literacy time today we wrote letters about ourselves, practising our letter writing skills. After that we looked at number sequences in maths. We learned about the sequence of triangular numbers. You can see the first four triangular numbers on the board above. You can find any triangular number by adding 1, multiplying, and dividing by 2. For example, the tenth triangular number is found by multiplying 10 x 11, and then halving the answer. It is 55.

Maths and Literacy

We practised our punctuation skills. There were various ways of punctuating the sentences correctly. We added connectives to join some of the sentences.

We also practised using sorting diagrams. Remember that everything in the universe must fit into a Carroll diagram. Where should we put an elephant on the diagram shown above? It goes in the bottom right section because it is not an odd number, and it is not a number greater than 25.

The end of a very busy week

Today we completed a word search on countries of the world while some of us caught up with the short science test which they had missed yesterday. We also did some practice maths sheets to keep our skills sharp. Later, after our Arabic exam, we watched part of a Roman topic video and learned more about the Roman invasion of Britain. Finally we designed and made holiday cards in our art lesson. I haven't time to post any whiteboard screens today as we are all so busy marking exams. Have a good weekend and study well for your remaining Arabic and Islamics exams.

Maths: seasonal word problems

The end of our maths exams certainly doesn't mean the end of learning for this term! Today we solved some seasonal word problems on the whiteboard. We thought of different ways of doing the working out. There are still a few problems that we did not have time to solve. We will do them over the next few school days.

Literacy: shared comprehension

Literacy exams may be over, but we still go right on learning! This morning we tackled a whiteboard comprehension exercise. We had to read carefully to find evidence for our answers in the text.

Science: short test tomorrow (Wednesday)

Don't forget we have our short science test tomorrow, on Solids and Liquids. We have known about the test since last Thursday. It is NOT an exam. We do not do a science exam in Year 4. However, we do have a short test at the end of each science unit. As you will remember, we had a short test on the Keeping Warm and Cool unit earlier this term. There are five science units in Year 4, and each class studies the units at different times.

Maths and literacy exams are finished

Well done, everyone! We have finished our maths and literacy exams, and we can spend our remaining maths and literacy lessons this term doing educational activities that are good fun and help us to learn at the same time. We cracked a secret code this afternoon. We used our reading skills to do it. We did not have the key to the code. We looked for short words, and we knew that the most common letter is e. Using those facts we could tell what some of the letters were, and that made it easier to find the other letters. Have fun showing off your code breaking skills at home. You might also like to try this codebreaking website.
We also tried the game Petals Around the Rose. Some of us found the rule of the game and became Masters of the Rose. You can play the game online here. If you know the rule, don't tell anyone! Let them enjoy working it out for themselves.

Mental maths exam tomorrow (Tuesday)

I don't have any whiteboard images to put on the website today because most of our lesson time was spent doing the written maths exam, and having our last session of mental maths practice.

At home please review all of the practice mental maths tests we have done, and make sure that you understand how to do each question. It is very important that you practise your times tables this evening, especially the 6, 7, 8 and 9 times tables, which are the hardest. There is no time in the mental maths exam to mess around counting nines on your fingers. You have to know your tables without using fingers. Do lots of practice tonight and try your hardest tomorrow.

Maths revision

Today we completed the last few revision points in time for tomorrow's maths exam. We started with co-ordinates. To do co-ordinates we need to look at rows and columns. We put the column first, then the row, as you can see on the board above.

Next we looked at the equals sign. What does the equals sign mean? It means is the same as. It does not mean changes into or becomes. If the example at the bottom of the board above looks OK to you, then you are reading the equals sign correctly.

Here are more examples that use the equals sign. Can you find the numbers that go into the boxes? 2 goes into the top box, because both sides make 7. 10 goes in the bottom box, because both sides make 16.

Lastly we looked at reading scales. First we have to find what each little space on the scale means. 50 is the little line half way between 0 and 100. We see that there are 5 spaces between 0 and 50. That means each space is 10g.

At home please look through the last few revision sheets. You do not need to do every question. Just make sure that you understand how to do them.

If you are not feeling well on an exam day

Remember what Mr Hannay said to us today. If you are not feeling well on an exam day you should stay at home. You can do your exam when you feel better. No-one can do their best work when they are feeling sick.

If you are feeling fine, then come on in and do your exams! You might even enjoy them. Think of an exam as a piece of work, just like any other. It's always important to try your best. Have a good weekend and get plenty of rest ready for Sunday.

Science: short test on Wednesday next week

Every time we finish a science unit we have a short test. (You will remember that we had a short test on Keeping Warm and Cool when we finished that unit a few weeks ago.) The science tests are not exams. If you read the sentences on the board and make sure you know them, and you know what a fair test is, you will be able to do the short science test. We will have it on Wednesday 14 December. There are no exams on that day.

Art: drawing Roman artefacts

This afternoon we looked at Roman artefacts. An artefact is something that has been made. These artefacts are copies of real Roman ones that were dug up by archaeologists. When we are drawing with a pencil we need to look carefully at shape, shade and shadow.

Science: dissolving instant coffee

This afternoon we tried dissolving some instant coffee granules in warm water. First we observed the dry granules. Next, we added warm water and stirred the mixture. The coffee granules dissolved. They became too small to see. How did we know that they were still there? We could see the brown colour of the coffee solution and we could smell the coffee.

Literacy: shared writing of a letter

In our last revision lesson before tomorrow's writing exam we did a piece of shared writing. We imagined that we had been in a car crash. We wrote a letter to an imaginary friend, telling them what it was like. The letter is on the two boards above. I wrote too much to fit onto a single board. In the exam you will be expected to write a lot. I have put pointers to show you some good things about the letter that would get marks in the exam.

Maths: fractions of numbers

As well as continuing our general revision, we looked at fractions of numbers. To find a half of a number, divide by 2. To find a third of a number, divide by 3. If the top number is not 1, multiply your answer by the top number. Two thirds of 27 is 9 x 2 = 18.

We did a harder question about a barrel of apples. The key is to notice that one third of the apples must be good. We are told that 24 apples are good, so 24 must be one third of the total. To get the total we multiply 24 by 3.

Maths: word problems and general revision

We looked at our word problems from yesterday and made sure that we had shown our working. There are many different ways of working out the answers. As long as you show where your answer came from, your working out is good.

Afterwards we did a general revision sheet which we can finish at home. There are word questions on the revision sheet. Read them carefully. Remember to show your working.

Literacy: comprehension practice

This afternoon we did a practice comprehension about dinosaurs. Although it was quite easy, we still need to look very carefully at the text to make sure that we have found the best answer. We must not stop looking until we are sure that the answer we have found is the best.

Maths: equivalent fractions, and telling the time

We began by looking at equivalent fractions. That means parts of a whole one that are the same, but written in different ways. Look at the fraction wall above, with the green parts. One half is the same as five tenths. We can prove that they are the same even if we have no fraction wall to help us.

If there is no fraction wall, we have to remember that the top and the bottom of the fraction are multiplied by the same number. (Sometimes they are both divided by the same number.)

Here are more examples of how to do equivalent fractions without using a fraction wall.

Afterwards we moved on to telling the time. It is easy if you follow the steps. We saw that we could tell the time quite well if we had a clock with only an hour hand (red). The minute hand (blue) helps us tell the time more exactly by counting the minutes.

Read carefully through the examples above, and remember today's lesson. After that you should be able to tell the time quite easily. You can find a good clock website here to practise.

At home please do the maths problem sheet I gave you, and as much of the maths revision sheet as you can. If you cannot finish the revision sheet in the time you have, no problem. We will look at it together in class. More revision sheets will follow over the next few days.

Literacy: letter writing and punctuation

We produced a wide range of letters for our combined classwork and homework yesterday. To write a good recount letter you need to include lots of description. That means your letter will be quite long, with lots of adjectives describing sights, sounds, smells and feelings. You should use similes too. Can you find adjectives and similes in my example letter on the two boards shown above? If you write a very short letter, it will not get a high exam mark. In a longer letter, make sure you write in proper sentences and paragraphs. Check your full stops and capital letters. They are very important.

To show how important punctuation is, look at the example on the board above. Without the punctuation it sounds as though the robbers are going to smash a window with a plastic teaspoon, and the man in the cafe is stirring his tea and playing the violin at the same time. The punctuation makes the true meaning much clearer.

Literacy: writing an informal letter

We watched a short video clip of the RMS Titanic sinking. You can see the clip again by clicking here. Our task is to pretend to be a Titanic survivor, safe aboard the rescue ship Carpathia the next morning.

Write an informal letter to a friend, telling them what it was like when the ship was sinking. Put plenty of description into your letter. Use adjectives and adverbs. Try to use WOW words. Please finish your letter at home. Don't forget the end of the letter. I have put an example of the beginning of a letter on the board above. Make a good job of your homework and enjoy doing it.

Maths: negative numbers

We completed our work on negative numbers today. We remembered counting on and counting back from our days in the infants. Negative numbers are all about counting back below zero. Check the example on the board above.

Water Aid cake sale: well done!

The cake sale raised KD212, which is the most that has ever been raised by a cake sale at NES Juniors. Well done, everyone, and thanks to parents for sending in so many wonderful cakes. All of the money has been passed to Mr Melvin, who will send it to Water Aid.

Literacy: formal and informal letters

This is letter 1. It is a formal letter from James Saunders to the head of Lincoln City Council.

Above is letter 2. It is from Kate Rickman, to the manager of the apartment block where she lives. It is a formal letter.

The third letter is an informal letter from Danielle to her friend Abigail.

We looked at each of the three letters and found language that is formal or informal. We also found other evidence. Informal letters contain lots of chatty information. Formal letters contain only important information about the subject of the letter.

Maths: sorting diagrams and negative numbers

We made a good job of our sorting diagrams, which we finished for homework. We thought carefully about each of the people and put them in the right box. Thinking carefully is much better than rushing to be the first to finish.

The second sorting diagram was done equally well. Again, we had to look carefully at each person, and think about both the questions: hat or no hat? Male or not male?

At the end of our lesson we moved on to negative numbers. We pretended to be infants, learning to add and take away by counting on and counting back on a number line. Next week we will practise this more. It is fun, and we can learn a lot about negative numbers. If you can count on and count back, negative numbers are easy.

Topic: a Roman triclinium

Rich Roman families ate while they were lying on couches. There would be tables on the inside of the couches, with a space for slaves to bring food to the tables. The Romans would eat a lot. We pretended to be Romans and had a feast of cakes left over from the cake sale (one cake each).

Art: reflective symmetry

We linked art with maths today. We looked at reflective symmetry. We drew a mirror line down the middle of a piece of squared paper, and then we made a reflected pattern. We had to count the squares carefully to get the reflections in the right places. My first pattern is a robot's face. My second is a spooky castle.

Reflective symmetry is a maths topic which is part of our preparation for the winter exams.

Cake Sale for Water Aid

Remember tomorrow is cake sale day, and we are selling the cakes! Please bring a few small cakes to school tomorrow morning (Thursday) and put them in the art room. Each class has its own table in the art room. Look for the signs.

Please don't bring big cakes as we have no time to cut them. Small cakes are best. We will sell the cakes for 250 fils each. All money will go to Water Aid.

Maths: sorting diagrams

We looked at sorting diagrams today. In this type of diagram (called a Carroll diagram) there are rows and columns. In class we practised sorting the Grizzly Gang (NHM page 122) into the diagram. At home please do page 122. Draw the Carroll diagrams neatly in your book. There is no need to draw the faces. Read the questions carefully, and think about the explanation you heard in class. Enjoy your homework.

Literacy: formal and informal language

We had sheets today with different kinds of language on them. We cut the sheets up and sorted the pieces into two sets: formal language and informal language. The difference is explained on the board above. Do you know which set each piece of writing goes into?

Science: filtering sandy water

Today we purified sandy water by filtering it. We mixed sand and water, and then we poured the mixture through some filter paper in a funnel. The filter paper lets the water through, but not the sand. The sand is trapped in the filter paper. Clean water comes out of the bottom of the funnel.

Maths: tally charts

Today we looked at tally charts. On the board above you can see how they work. Tally charts are easy if you concentrate. At home please complete the tally chart about insects on the sheet I gave you. Don't count each type of insect. Tally the insects one by one, so you count all the types of insect at the same time. Enjoy your tallying. Don't forget to review your practice mentla maths test too.

Literacy: improving a letter

Last night at home we finished our Pied Piper letters. As always, those of us who listened well in class, and tried hard, produced good work. Several of us gained a house point for our letters. Well done!

Today we looked at a letter written by a student to a friend who was absent from school. The letter contains the word good too many times. Our classwork was to think of other words that would be better, and replace all the goods.

Y4 revision website

Don't forget to look at the Y4 revision website. It is updated often. I updated the maths revision list this morning.

Literacy: writing a recount letter

Today our objective was to write a recount letter, from one of the children in the Pied Piper story. We thought of words to describe the music of the piper, and words to describe what it was like when we were trapped in the cave in the mountain.

At home please write your letter. I have started mine on the board above. Rememer the address, and the opening (Dear Mr Mayor). Remember to indent your paragraphs.

Your first paragraph should describe the piper's music. Your second paragraph should be about what it was like in the cave. Your last paragraph should ask the mayor to pay the piper so that you can go free.

Remember to put Yours sincerely, and your name, at the bottom of your letter.

Do NOT use speech in your letter. You are telling the mayor what the music was like, and what the cave is like. Enjoy doing your homework.

Maths: reading data from a table

Today we looked at information organised in tables. We answered questions. We found that we had to read the questions very carefully to get the right answers. Rushing to finish causes mistakes.

It is important to show our working when we answer a problem question. We should not write only the answer. We should write the calculations we did to get the answer. We may get marks for showing our working in an exam.