Curriculum Plan – Spring 2017
Teachers: Mrs Bates , Mrs Butterworth and Mrs Perry Year Group: 4
The following topics will be covered by the majority of the children during the Spring term. We have provided this information to help you support your child at home should you wish to do so.
English / Persuasion: in this unit children will analyse the features of a persuasive text including forms of language used; plan, draft and write a persuasive article (tourist brochure linked with our topic on Italy) and a letter to the Tourist Office persuading them to stock the brochure in their offices.Narrative/Performance Poetry: in this unit the children will:study poems that can be performed and identify performance techniques. They will read and recite poems discussing vocabulary, structure and language features used to create effects. They will work collaboratively to organise, rehearse and present their own poetry presentations. They will learn a poem by heart.
Take One Book: in this unit we will be completing writing activities from this term’s class novel, “The Gentle Giant” by Michael Morpurgo.
Dilemmas: in this unit we will be exploring short stories with dilemmas and writing our own.
Grammar: we are building on grammar rules taught last year, and focusing on inverted commas for speech, apostrophes for plural possession, Standard English, noun and preposition phrases, fronted adverbials, pronouns and paragraphing.
Maths /
- Number and Place Value: Children will be taught to read, write and order numbers with four digits; recognise and interpret negative numbers on a number line; use the < and > signs; predict numbers that will occur in a sequence; round numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000.
- Addition and Subtraction: Children will be taught to add and subtract numbers with up to 4 digits using the formal written methods of column addition and subtraction where appropriate; estimate and use inverse operations to check answers to a calculation and solve addition and subtraction two-step problems in context.
- Multiplication and Division: Children will be taught to recall multiplication and division facts for multiplication tables up to 12 x 12; recognise and use factor pairs in mental calculations; multiply two and three digit numbers by a one-digit number using formal written layout and solve problems involving multiplying and dividing.
- Fractions (including decimals):Children will be taught to recognise common equivalent fractions; understand hundredths; solve problems involving fractions of quantities; recognise and write decimal equivalents of fractions such as a half and a quarter. They will also divide one and two digit numbers by 10 and 100, round decimals with one decimal place to the nearest whole number and solve simple measure and money problems involving fractions and decimals.
- Measurement:Children will be taught to convert between different units of measurement (e.g. kilometre to metre, hour to minute); calculate perimeters of rectangles (in centimetres and metres) and begin to calculate area of rectangles by counting squares. Estimate, compare and calculate different measures including money in pounds and pence.
- Geometry (properties of shapes and position and direction):Children will be taught to identify acute and obtuse angles, compare and order angles up to two right angles by size. Identify and draw lines of symmetry in 2D shapes presented in different orientations. They will learn to use coordinates in the first quadrant and describe movements between positions as translations to left/right and up/down.
- Statistics:Children will be taught to interpret and present discrete and continuous data using appropriate graphs and charts and solve problems using information presented in bar graphs, tables and pictograms.
Science /
- Sound: Children will be taught to identify how sounds are made, and how to change the pitch and volume of a sound.
- States of Matter – the children will learn about the differences between solids, liquids and gases, and their properties through a range of practical demonstrations and investigations. Children will be taught how solids change to liquids, and liquids to gases, and vice versa.
R.E. /
- Local Church- Community – Life in the local Christian community and ministries in the Parish
- Eucharist –Relating Giving and Receiving living in communion
- Lent Easter – Giving self- discipline – celebrating growth to new life
Geography /
- Atlas skills – focusing on Europe, looking at countries and cities, major rivers and mountain ranges, leading to a focus on Italy.
- Life in Italy – focusing on the Piedmont and Lombardy regions in N.W. Italy, comparisons between life there and in the UK. Taught through exploring aspects of everyday life including schooling, diet, work, climate and economy.
- Volcanoes – exploring where volcanoes are situated in the world, how they are formed and the effects of eruptions, focusing on Vesuvius and Mount Etna.
Design Technology /
- Designing and making a pizza – the children will make a pizza of their choice
- Linkages – to make a card representation of an exploding volcano!
Art Design /
- Varjak water colour
- Iconic buildings around the world
- Drawing skills – shading and hatching
- Claywork.
Music /
- Water music
P.E. /
- Weekly swimming on a Thursday.
- Dance and Cricket
Computing /
- Programming and games
French / Unit 9 ~ Raconte-moi une histoire! (Tell me a story!)
- The unit is based on a song that tells the story of Sleeping Beauty. The children will learn:To use, follow and give instructions; numbers in multiples of 10 up to 100; some common adjectives; how to make simple feminine agreements
- The children will learn: to make simple statements (about sports, activities and diet); questions with Qu’est-ce que …?; faire: je fais, tu fais; jouer au (+ sport); faire du/de la (+ sport);