This is what we will be learning about this first half term in Year 4. More information about the different subjects can be found in the 'Curriculum' section of the school website.

Reading: This half term we will be reading E.B. White's classic children's novel, Charlotte's Web. We will focus on specific chapters each week and take part in daily lessons that will help to develop key reading skills. We will be focusing on our retrieval and inference skills in particular.

Writing: To kick things off this half-term in writing, we will be basing our work around our reading text, Charlotte's web. As a class, we retell an adventure story starring Wilbur (from Charlotte's Web) before creating our own individual adventure narratives with different characters and settings. We will focus on using key writing skills such as: dialogue, fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases. During the latter part of the half-term, we will be writing a holiday brochure for the Canadian city of Toronto together before creating our own, individual holiday brochures for a different city in North America. 

Maths: This half-term, we will be studying place value before moving onto addition and subtraction. See below for the steps we will cover in each unit: 

Science:  In Science this half-term we are studying States of Matter. We will look at the properties of soilids, liquids and gases and we'll group and classify different objects into each category. We will also take part in a range of practical activities to help us observe changes between each state. 

Geography: This term we will be studying the continent of North America with a focus on the USA. During this half-term, we will: locate countries and geographical features on different maps; research both human and physical geography; explore the diversity of population in the USA; explore how the Grand Canyon was created; and look at how New York City has changed over time. 

Art and Design: This half-term in art, we will be focusing on observational drawing skills. We will first re-cap on the different shading techniques before attempting to draw and shade everyday objects within the classroom. We will create our own 'pocket art galleries' which will display the objects as well as 'framed' images of one of the drawings. We will also visit Leeds Art Gallery in October to familiarise ourselves with how art is displayed and we will also take part in a drawing workshop. 

PE: During our PE lessons this half-term, we will develop our footwork and balance skills before moving onto our jumping and landing skills. We'll take part in a variety of different games and activities which will apply the various skills we will learn. We'll also take part in weekly swimming lessons every Thursday at Pudsey Leisure Centre. 

Computing: We will be studying coding this half-term in our computing lessons. We will design, test and debug; use 'if' statement; explore using coordinates; use 'repeat until if/else' commands; and we'll also look at number variables. 

Music:  During our music lessons this half-term, Year 4 will be continuing to learn how to play the recorder. 

French: In French this half-term, we'll be learning various greetings, numbers 1-20, days and months and the nouns for objects in the school and classroom. 

RE: In RE this half-term, we'll will ask the question: 'How are important events remembered?' We will look at the festivals of Hannukah, Diwali and the Winter Solstice and explore how the use of light is a common theme in these.