Primary 4 Term 4 update

It is great to see the children back after their Easter break refreshed and ready to learn. I hope you all had a lovely time together spent with families and friends. As we approach the last term of Primary 4, there is still lots to do and lots of learning that will take place. Here is an update of what we will cover in class in the term ahead.

IDL

Our topic last term was a roaring success. We learned all about charities and how we can help others. The children were amazing during this time and were able to plan and organise our entire Lent activities for the whole school over a span of around 5 weeks. We raised a whopping £600 for SCIAF which is absolutely amazing. I am so very proud of their achievement as well as their enthusiasm during this topic.

Moving forward, our topic this term will be Scottish castles. We will focus on 6 of the most well-known castles around Scotland and explore their history. We will also look at Mary Queen of Scots as a small sub topic and how she visited some of these castles at different points in her lifetime.

Literacy

The children in the class are working well in their groups for all aspects of literacy. Please continue to support your child in accessing bug club at home as the ‘bug questions’ that pop up during their reading task helps them in their understanding of literal and inferential questions.

Note taking is an essential skill that will be a focus for us during this term. Within this we will concentrate on what constitutes a note, how we organise notes as well as what a key fact is and under what heading it would belong. We will explore different ways that these notes can be recorded, for example, in written form with bullet points, mind mapping etc.

In terms of our Grammar, I have seen massive improvements in our understanding of the English language. Last term had a focus on dictionary tasks, sentence writing, as well as verbs and their tenses (past, present and future). This term will look towards adjectives, nouns, proper nouns, similes, metaphors and onomatopoeia.

Much of our writing this term will be focused around our topic. We will look at explanation texts (a leaflet/ a brochure) and this will need the skill of note taking as well as how we use time connectives. We will also look at some Scottish poetry and attempt to write some poetry of our own.

We are continuing to develop our ability to listen for instructions and show what a good listener is. This term will see the introduction of solo talks. This will take the form of show and tell once per week and then a presentation in front of the class towards the end of term.

Numeracy

The children have worked extremely hard last term with both addition and subtraction. The term ahead will be challenging as we have lots to cover in our numeracy; however, the children in P4 are absolutely up to the challenge! This term we will be learning all about multiplication and division. This is why the children have been working on their time tables since August and the retention of their facts is crucial in their learning. We will particularly be exploring how our multiplication facts can link to our knowledge of division as well as the mathematical language associated with this.

This term will also see us focusing on fractions, decimals and percentages. The children will be introduced to concepts such as nominator/denominator and simplifying fractions.

Our beyond number topics will be measurement (length, volume, capacity, weight, area and perimeter as well as all of the language that is associated with this), angles, symmetry and grid referencing (language describing movement and direction/clockwise and anti-clockwise).

Health and Well-being

Our health week within school usually happens in this term which will allow us to explore different aspects of how we can keep ourselves and other safe. Alongside this however, we will also be taking a focus on substance misuse. We will also be looking at ‘God’s loving Plan’ and the vocabulary associated with the different parts of our body.

In terms of P.E, the class will hopefully be doing a lot more P.E outside (in the sunshine – fingers crossed) where we can focus on our knowledge of athletics, orienteering and outdoor games in general. We will also have our second block of gymnastics. The class completed their first block last term and I was very impressed at the confidence and skill of some of the children. We will continue to work on their confidence as this is usually the biggest barrier to learning within a topic like gymnastics.

R.E

I am so very proud of Primary 4 in terms of their R.E. Some of our children celebrated their sacrament of confirmation last term and they represented their families, their school, myself and themselves brilliantly. The children who didn’t were an excellent support and gave constant encouragement to their peers. As well as this, due to their hard work and organising skills, the school managed to raise lots of money for SCIAF and the Ukraine humanitarian crisis fund. A great big WELL DONE!!

This term will see the children celebrate the last of their sacraments which will be their Communion.  As part of their preparation for this, we will explore the Rosary and how we can pray the Rosary ourselves or as part of a group. We will continue to learn about Jesus and his love for us as well as explore stories from the bible.

Expressive Arts

Much of our expressive arts this term will be completed as part of our new topic. We will look at clay modelling within art, script work/writing through drama, as well as how we can give constructive feedback to our peers which will help them develop their performances.

Modern Languages

The children will continue to learn French with Mrs MacKinnon. They have already been learning all about the capital of France and can discuss different tourist attractions within Paris. This term will focus on the children talking about themselves in French.

 

As always, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your ongoing support. Have a lovely May bank holiday.