Literacy 

In literacy, we have been writing stories about a gladiator battle. We applied our learning in History about ancient Rome to be able to create an exciting narrative to engage the reader! First of all, we planned our story, then we wrote the story in the 1st person, as if we were entering the amphitheatre, ready to face the gladiator. In our description, we used lots of literary features, such as similes and metaphors and tried to describe all of our senses. Innovation was the most important core skill we used as we explored ambitious vocabulary and literary features to make our writing descriptive and dramatic to create a movie in the reader’s mind.

Maths 

This term we looked at dividing numbers and were introduced to using the bus stop method (compact method) to help us successfully divide larger numbers and to solve tricky division problems. We learnt that a remainder is what is left over when a number cannot be split equally into groups and practised applying this knowledge to solve reasoning problems. We also began looking at fractions by understanding how many fractions make a whole and how to find equivalent fractions.  We learnt to apply the rule “the bigger the denominator, the smaller the fraction” when comparing the size of unit fractions. We used our teamwork skills when we worked with our partners to consolidate new concepts.

Topic 

Year 4 have continued to investigate the Romans throughout history lessons this term. We have been building on the initial research and knowledge gained from last term and looked in more depth at the impact the Romans had on Britain. We explored the growth, what made them such a successful empire and how they came to dominate Europe and parts of Asia and north Africa. We have focused on the Curwen Core Skill of empathy, thinking about how different people might have felt about the Roman invasion. We also discussed the different jobs that were available during Roman time and noticed any similarities and differences. During computing lessons, we researched aspects of Roman life. We used all of our knowledge to prepare a performance for our Big Outcome , showcasing a different aspect of Roman history.