Amber Class

Welcome to Year 4 (Amber Class)

Miss Gooch is your class teacher. 

W/b Monday 10th July 2023

On Tuesday, we had our sports day. Thank you Year 6 for organising the event. We had so much fun! We asked to do it all again! 

W/b Monday 26th June 2023

In Picture News, we have been talking about suborbital flights. Can you believe that within the next 10 years, people will able to travel from London to Sydney in just 2 hours by journeying through space on a suborbital flight. We felt lots of different emotions from excited to confused. This week’s big question was, ‘How has travel changed our lives?’ Our challenge was to make an aeroplane, try it out and discuss how to improve the design and make it fly further and for longer. We had so much fun and we couldn't believe we were making paper planes as part of a lesson!

Transition Day!

Although we stayed with Miss Gooch for Transition Day, we still made sure to have some fun. Take a look at our self-portraits in the style of Julian Opie’s pop art! We had such a giggle guessing who was who!

W/b Monday 19th June 2023

In DT, we are going to make a pencil case. So far, we have explored different pencil cases including ones that are made out of different materials, have different fastenings and embellishments and are made for different target audiences. Then, we decided on who we are making our pencil case for, what it is going to made out of and what fastening it will have. We designed and labelled our pencil case. This week, we practised our sewing skills. We practised sewing a running stitch, back stitch and whip stitch. Next week, we are going to practise sewing on a button and using it as a fastening. 

Thursday 15th June 2023-Beamish

W/b Monday 5th June 2023

In maths, we started our new topic, Fractions. We started of practical and experimented with how a whole and parts can be represented. We then looked at how mixed number fractions are made up from wholes and parts. We learnt how to represent these through diagrams, part-part-whole models and equations. 

In writing, we learnt all about superlatives. We know it is a word that is used to show something is of the highest quality of its kind. We learnt you need either use ‘most’ before a word or use ‘-est’ as a suffix. In partners, we had to sort the root words into the correct column. Look at our examples… 

Finalllyyyyyy… our Multiplication Tables Checks are officially completed. We have worked our socks since the beginning of the year so we had a well deserved break with an extra playtime. Can you tell how happy we were about it? 

Tuesday 6th June 2023

Today, the children began their new science topic learning all about ‘Sound’. 

First, the children explored some musical instruments and were asked to consider how they made sounds e.g. pluck, bang, scrape, shake. 

Then, they were encouraged to think about sound as a vibration. In order to support this, we used the large drums and added lentils to the top of the drum. We then made loud noises to explore what happened to the lentils when a noise was made (they ‘danced’/vibrated). 

The children really understood sound as a vibration which in turn will support their later learning of sound. 

Well done Year 4. 

W/b Monday 22nd May 2023

This half term, our focus in History has been the legacy of the Stephenson brothers and their creations such as the Geordie lamp, the first locomotive and the first railway. In this week’s lesson, we did our own research on the brothers’ creations and made our own fact files. We have done a lot of writing this term so we made our fact files using a software called Purple Mash. We had so much fun!
 

In our picture news, we learnt all about Eurovision coming to the UK. We spoke about the impact music has on the world and we discussed whether it was positive or negative. We also created our own talent show, we had football, singing, dancing and karate. 

Last week, we had so much fun doing Active Maths so we did it again this week. We are experts at using coordinates now!
 

W/b Monday 15th May 2023

In English, we turned into archaeologists just like Howard Carter himself and excavated Ancient Egyptian artefacts. We had no idea what our new topic would be until we started to discover and discuss the artefacts we had found. Our new book is called, ‘The Story of Tutankhamun’ by Patricia Cleveland-Peck. So far we have discovered lots about Ancient Egyptians and how their lives compared to ours. Please ask us all about their education, appearance, games, food and more. We can also tell you how crazy Tutankhamun’s family tree was too!

On Wednesday, we took part in an Active Maths lesson. The past 2 weeks, we have been learning about coordinates. In our Active Maths lesson, we created catch phrases/dances to help us remember our axis and which way to move first on our grids. We then played a multiplication game to recap ready for our Multiplication Check in a few weeks. We created large grids on the floor and used spots to test our coordinates skills and knowledge. We had a carousel so that each team got to use all the different stations including, plotting points, writing coordinates, translating shapes, describing movements etc.

W/b Monday 8th May 2023

This week, we have continued to use our Glockenspiels to learn the song, ‘Blackbird’ by The Beatles. We are working on singing and playing at the same time. It’s really tricky but we are improving each week. 

In Art, we evaluated our first attempt at tie dye and discussed what we liked and what we could do to improve our work. Then, we used our own evaluations and feedback from friends to create another piece of tie dye. This time, we created patterns by layering colours or using less dye to contrast with the white. Some of us worked on blending and some of us challenged ourselves to polka dots and spirals created using different folding techniques. 

W/b Wednesday 3rd May 2023

We had so much fun experimenting with tie-dye in Art. We looked at different ways we can create patterns using tie-dye. We know how to create spots, stripes and spirals. This week, we explored making stripes and using the tie-dye as it's very tricky and messy to use. We found that the more dye we used, the deeper the colour and the more it spread. The less we used, the lighter and blotchy it became. We asked our adults, lots of times, if we could create our own t-shirts. If you experiment with this at home, please send in pictures!  

W/b Monday 24th April 2023

This week, we have continued to learn all about hockey in PE. So far, we have learnt what equipment we need to play hockey. We have learnt how to stand and hold hockey sticks correctly. We have learnt how pass to team mates and how to shoot. On Wednesday, we focused on learning how to do an Indian dribble with the ball. Our number 1 rule is that we're only allowed to touch the ball with the flat part of the hockey stick. 

W/b Monday 17th April 2023

This week, we started our new story called The Baker by the Sea. We entered our classroom to find we were in a bakery that had ingredients to bake with and there was a recipe for Hot Coconut Buns. We decided we would make the Victorian treat ourselves! We focused on imperative (bossy) verbs and made sure to get our bossy pointing fingers out when we heard them in our recipe.

This term in Art, our topic is Textiles. This week, we researched different mono-prints and learnt all about how they are created. In particular, we looked at how artists create thick and thin lines. First, we observed how to create one. Then, we created our own using paint and different tools such as paintbrushes, glue spreaders, pencils etc. We learnt that to create a mono-print using paint, we have to make sure to work fast so that the paint is still wet enough to print. 

W/b Monday 27th March- Easter

This week, we welcomed our families into school for Easter crafts! We had so much fun making Easter bunny masks, cute chicks with springy legs, doing mindful colouring and creating our own Easter eggs. Thank you for coming!

In Maths, we learnt how to explain why the final digit zero can be removed from a three-digit multiple of 10, when we divide by 10. We experimented with this using a place value chart and counters. We know when we divide by 10, we move ‘1 place to the right’ on our place value chart and the number becomes ‘ten times smaller’. 

British Science Week- W/b Monday 13th March

To celebrate British Science Week- we focused on all things FINGERPRINTS!

As a class, the children discussed how fingerprints are used in the modern world; unlocking phones, entering buildings, as well as solving crime mysteries!

The children were given the task of discovering how we can gather the clearest fingerprints. They studied the patterns on their fingerprints first and compared them to those of their peers. They looked at the names of fingerprint patterns and decided where they would best fit in comparison.

As a class they then explored how to take an effective print- comparing using graphite to cocoa powder and printing these onto Sellotape. It was quickly identified that when using graphite, the patterns within our fingerprints were clearest to see.

They discussed as a class how we are all unique individuals!

Miss Redpath was very disappointed to discover that someone in the classroom had touched something they were not supposed to! As she now has copies of our fingerprints, an investigation will be undertaken to identify the culprit! The plot thickens! 

W/b Monday 6th March

On Tuesday, we learnt all about the 4 stages of the water cycle, precipitation, collection, evaporation and condensation and acted them out in groups. We then created our own water cycle using a bowl of hot water, cling film and ice. We got so excited when we actually saw it working and saw the precipitation happening. Also, can you believe that the water we drink now, is the same water the dinosaurs would have drank!!

On Thursday, Brazilian Soccer Schools came to visit us. Since football is the topic of conversation all day every day in our class, we absolutely loved it. Even those of us who don't usually show interest in football, still enjoyed it! A huge thanks to Mark and Abbie for a fantastic session! 

After exercising we thought it would only right to try some healthy foods. Check out how we felt about our food tasting lesson in DT... Let's just say there was a lot of funky faces! We were so proud because every single one of us tried something we weren't keen on. After, we described their appearance, smell, taste and texture and then discussed whether we liked or disliked them. 

W/b Monday 27th February

What a busy week! In English, we started our new story, Odd and The Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman. We learnt how to infer from the text to help us define unknown vocabulary. We created our own Gods and Goddesses and described how they look and their characteristics. In Maths, we learnt more about the commutative law and the impact of including 0 in a multiplication or division calculation. 

On Wednesday, we had World Book Day. We had so much fun dressing up as our favourite book characters, sharing stories with our adults and doing lots of World Book Day activities. One of our favourite activities was creating our own story and illustrating our own book cover with our friends. We also had a live chat with a real illustrator called Helen Shoesmith. We had lots of questions for her and it was so inspiring hearing all about her work. 
 

We tried out something new called NowPressPlay this week. NowPressPlay is an immersive audio resource. We listened to a story all about Vikings to tie in with our Writing lessons and we had to act out the story as if we were a main character. It was so much fun and really helped us imagine living as a Viking. 

W.B 6.2.23

We have had a busy week this week and we have bee very lucky to have Miss Gooch working with us. In English we have looked a new book called FArTHER. We are hooked and love all the writing opportunities it is giving us. We have written a post card, a letter, instructions and a setting description. Amongst all that, we have even had time to design our own flying machine so that father can escape the island. 

In Maths we have impressed our grown ups with our times table knowledge. Our recall of our tables is getting stronger by the day! 

In science, we carried out an investigation to see whether the temperature affected how quick our tea towels dry. We have been learning about evaporation and condensation. We soaked three tea towels with water and put them in different places in school. Our investigation showed that the hotter the room, the quicker our towel dried.

We have loved being able to get creative in Art today. In Art we created our own sculpture of a show but first we had to look at the purpose of different shoes and what attracted people to buying shoes. We then designed our own shoes and Miss Gooch let us paint our designs. There were lots of cool, colourful designs. Take a look at our pictures below.  

26.1.23

In Science we have been learning about states of matter. We have learnt what a solid, liquid and a gas is and examples of each state. We have looked at the particles of each state and we acted out what the particles of each state looked like. Today we looked at how to change a state. In our science lesson we carried out an experiment looking at how to turn a solid into a liquid. We melted chocolate, ice cream and ice cubes by heating them. We had to heat the chocolate and the ice cream but the temperature in our classroom made the ice cubes melt. We also found out that those changes were reversible and we can also turn liquids back into solids.

Take a look at our pictures below. Mrs Morris bought marshmallows and we dipped them into the melted chocolate. It was delicious!

24.1.23

Amber Class took part in a workshop all about the Aztecs. The workshop helped the children to consolidate what they had already learnt about the Aztecs and to also learn new information. The children had lots of fun and did lots of different activities. 

In the morning, we warmed up by playing a game called 'wink sacrifice.' It was lots of fun. Then we took part in a true or false game show and learnt some new facts about the Aztecs. Ask your child which new fact they learnt. I'm sure they would love to share! Then we looked at the different types of jobs Aztec people could have and we created a hierarchy. The Emperor was the most important person of all and he was at the top of our hierarchy. We learnt what a market trader was, a craftsman and a warrior. The most important job to have was a priest. Aztecs thought very highly of priests. 

In the afternoon, we got in to character and did some drama. We acted out scenarios from different time periods within the Aztec period. We also had to create a timeline of different events. By the end of the day we were exhausted but had had lots of fun!

16.1.23

Today we had another cricket session with Durham Cricket Club. In our session, we practised throwing and catching. Each time we successfully caught the ball, the coach added a challenge. The hardest challenge was to throw the ball in the air, touch your head, shoulders, knees and toes before having to catch the ball. We then played some throwing and catching games with our partner. We had so much fun!

W.B. 9.1.23

Our first full week back in Spring 1 and we have manage to fit so much in! We have started our cricket sessions on a Monday which we are really enjoying. This week we played lots of team games and next week we are practising our throwing and catching. 

In English we have started a new story. Our story this half term is The Iron Man. We have been introduced to the main character and have read and written the opening of the story. We can't wait to read on and find out what happens to him.

In Maths, we are continuing to look closely at our times tables and look at the patterns between the 3, 6 and 9 times table in particular. We are using our knowledge of those times tables to help us solve problems. We have also learnt how to use arrays to help us work out our multiplication calculations. 

In Science our new topic is States of Matter. We have identified different states and objects that are solids, liquids and gases. We can't wait to start experimenting and observing how they can change states. 

On Friday we went swimming. We have impressed Mrs Morris with how confident we are becoming in the water. Two weeks in to our lessons and some of us have already moved up to the big pool!

W.B 12.12.22

We have had a busy but festive week this week. On Tuesday, all of KS2 go to go to the pantomime! We loved seeing all the different characters and had so much fun joining in. Our dancing was excellent, we even spilled out into the aisles.

We have performed our nativity to all of our grown ups. We had so much fun and put on a great show for everyone. It was that good we did three times!

The week ended on a high with our Christmas party. We danced our socks off, played lots of games and had some delicious food. Huge thank you to Lisa in the kitchen for our party boxes. 

We are ready for a well earned rest to recharge our batteries and come back ready to work super hard in the spring term. 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thursday 8th December

We have had a lovely festive day at school. We have worn our Christmas jumpers and had Christmas lunch with all our friends and teachers. It was delicious!

This morning, we also got chance to help Chris plant some trees around our school playground. It was lots of fun. Chris and Mrs Morris said we could name our tree baby. There were lots of weird and wonderful names! Take a look at our photos below.

W.B 28.11.22

We are continuing to work hard as the end of term creeps up on us. We are super excited for Christmas - we couldn't wait to open the first door of our class advent calendar. 

We have been practising our Christmas carols ready to perform to our parents. They will be amazed with our lovely singing. 

We have still been working hard in all our other subjects. We have began designing and making our own moving flag linked to our geography topic on Spain. It will be accompanied with a very informative information poster with lots of facts about Spain. 

In English, we have began writing a persuasive letter to Mr David Walliams asking him to donate some of his wonderful books to our school library. In Maths, we have began exploring perimeter and looking at ways of calculating the perimeter of different shapes. 

Keep up the good work Amber Class. Well done for you all your hard work and super effort this week. 

W.B 14.11.22

Amber Class have had another super busy week this week! We've had a visit from an author, a sport event and celebrated children in need. On Friday, we were able to come to school in non-uniform to help raise money for children in need. We even had a visit from Pudsey himself!

Take a look at our pictures below of the sporting event we attended at Hetton Comp on Friday afternoon. We took part in a variety of sports: badminton, handball, nerfball, football, skipping, table tennis and we even got to have a go in the gym. Mrs Morris was impressed with our weight lifting skills and had a giggle at us strutting our stuff on the treadmill. 

On Thursday afternoon, we had a visit from Paul Cookson and there were giggles a plenty coming from our school hall. He had some very funny poems and they soon got stuck in our heads. Especially when we learnt actions to go along with the poems. It was such good fun.

Miss Redpath posted photos earlier on in the week of us being electricians and experimenting with series circuits. In English we have written our own story of Feast but from Dad's perspective rather than Winston the dog. We have really enjoyed this story and have enjoyed writing our own version of events. 

In Maths, we have continued with rounding to the nearest thousand, hundred and ten and learnt a catchy song, we will round you, to help us with deciding whether we need to round up or down. In Geography we are still learning about Spain and made a poster on the human features and why you should visit Spain. We can't wait to try some spanish food. 

Well done on another super busy week Amber Class.

WB 15.11.21

This term we have began our new Science topic...ELECTRICITY!

The children have been fantastic electricians today when creating series circuits. They identified the components that built the circuit and explored how to create a complete circuit that would allow electricity to flow to the bulb. 

Great stuff Year 4! 

W.B 7.11.22

What a busy week we have had. We have continued with our story in English. Two more plot points to go before the end. We have really enjoyed watching the Disney clip Feast and building our sentences to make our version of the story. In Maths, we have continued with our unit on place value but have looked at rounding to the nearest thousand and hundred. We have found it tricky but we have been resilient and not given up! In our Maths lesson today (Friday) we have learnt our 4 times tables. 

In Science we have began learning about electricity. We had to find and sort lots of different items that used mains power or battery power. In Geography we continued to look at Spain but looked at the physical geography of Spain and made an information booklet all about the Pyrenees. Our booklets are very informative. In PSHCE, we looked at how making assumptions about people can affect people's feelings. We also looked at what influences us to make assumptions about others whether it be the media or our friends and family. 

This week, in our reading lessons, we have focused on a very important event. We have learnt all about Remembrance day and why it is important to wear poppies. Some of us got to go to a service on the 11th of November with Mrs Hill and Mrs Woodhall and lay a wreath to show our respects. Those of us who stayed in school, showed our respects by having a 2 minute silence at 11am. 

W.B 31.10.22

What a start to the half term and in our brand new school. The children have settled back into school so well and picked up our new routines very quickly! We are enjoying being back outside with the whole school at break times and lunch times. 

In English, we started a new narrative called Feast. We are hooked and can't wait to see how it ends and start writing our own version of the story. In Maths, we are continuing looking at place value and are experts and ordering and comparing 4 digit numbers. In Geography we are learning all about Spain. Lots of us would love to go on holiday to Spain. We have spotted Spain on the map and can tell you the capital city, which oceans and seas surround Spain and its bordering countries. 

A super start year 4 to autumn 2 - keep up the good work!

Year 4 trip to Vindolanda

Year 4 had an excellent day at Vindolanda yesterday. The children had the opportunity to explore the Roman ruins and explore the museum which was filled with lots of Roman artefacts. Yesterday afternoon the children then went to the Roman Army Museum and experienced what a lesson would be like in roman times and then watched a 3D documentary about the life of a roman solider. Take a look at our photos - we had a fab time!

Take 10 minutes to read

Today, Amber Class have taken part in the take 10 minutes to read activity launched by the literacy trust. Every child in Amber Class read their book for 10 minutes at 10am. 

Reading just 10 minutes a day can help to make you feel calm, improve memory and concentration, reduce stress and make you feel relaxed.

W.B 26.9.22

What a busy week we have had this week. We have impressed Mrs Morris with our independent narratives. We have also finished our addition and subtraction unit of work and moved on to numbers up to 10,000.

In science we have continued to look at our bodies and this week we looked at the digestive system. We carried out an experiment using food and tights to represent our digestive system. It was interesting but put some of us off our tea!

Sunderland Tennis Centre

Yesterday the children went to Sunderland Tennis Centre for a wellbeing afternoon. There were different activities for the children to take part in and they learnt all about keeping our bodies healthy. Ask your child what they learnt and what they need for a healthy diet. 

Tuesday 20th September

This week in Science the children used plaque disclosing tablets to identify the importance of brushing their teeth. The children were so engaged and through the investigation they were able to record their own information of why tooth brushing is so important. What a super lesson!

Ask your child to tell you all about 'decay', 'enamel' and 'plaque'. 

W.B12.9.22

Amber Class are continuing to work hard and have learnt lots this week! In English we have continued with our story and next week will be our independent write. A chance to amaze Mrs Morris and write our version of events based on what we have learnt over the past two weeks. 

In Maths, we have continued with addition and have reviewed our learning of the column method. We have also been learning our 3 times tables. Help us practise by asking us to recall 3 times table facts. 

In science we have had lots of fun with Miss Redpath learning about our teeth and the impacts sugary drinks has on our teeth. We found that acidic and sugary foods/drinks decay our teeth. 

In PE this week our football coach has been in and we have begun practising our dribbling skills and have managed to play a few matches. We were working well as a team. 

Science: 6th/13th September 2022

This term we are looking closely at our teeth and the digestive system. The children have recently took on the role of "Dental Technicians" and created teeth using carrots; they were required to think of the shape of the teeth and why they needed to be that shape considering the role they took when chewing food.

Ask your child to use the correct names of our teeth: canine, incisor, pre-molar and molar! 

Additional to this, we have begun an experiment to understand the impact that sugary drinks and acid has on our teeth! We will let you know the outcome! 

W.B 09.09.22

Wow! Amber Class have blown my socks off this week and have been amazing. They have settled back into school and picked up routines as if they have never been away. They have also worked super hard. 

In Maths, we have revisited addition and have been adding two digit numbers and three digit numbers. I've even tried challenging them with some word problems but they were just too good!

In English we have started reading our new adventure story called The Whale. The children have written sentences to go make their own version of the story. 

We have had PE this week and worked really well as a team. We have started our PSHCE and now how to be a good team player. We have also started our science work where we looked at our teeth, the different types of teeth and their different functions. In History, our topic is all about the romans and how they impacted Britain. We have begun looking at the different types of men who became roman soliders. 

Well done - a fantastic week Amber Class.