In Year 4 this term, we are finding out ‘How We Express Ourselves’. The central idea for our Unit of Inquiry is ‘Legends can inform people about the culture and history of countries.’ As part of our inquiry we will be trying to answer the following:
- How can legend be portrayed in different ways?
- What do legends in Britain tell us about our country?
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We will begin our inquiry by firstly investigating what a legend is. This will be introduced through ‘living legends’ and what makes them legends, through this we will be practising our persuasive presentation and debating skills whilst sharing our own research about a living legend of our choice. This will then lead us on to our core texts that we will be using throughout the inquiry – the legend of Robin Hood and the legend of St George and the Dragon.
In English, we will be looking at how three key story elements are demonstrated in these legends; the description of characters, the description of the setting and how the plot is told. Our challenge and focus will be to turn the story of Robin Hood into a short story with a word count limit! This will be challenging because we will need to think very carefully about our word choices, character, place description, as well as what key elements to include within the narrative to tell the story.
In English, we will be looking at how three key story elements are demonstrated in these legends; the description of characters, the description of the setting and how the plot is told. Our challenge and focus will be to turn the story of Robin Hood into a short story with a word count limit! This will be challenging because we will need to think very carefully about our word choices, character, place description, as well as what key elements to include within the narrative to tell the story.
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The legends will also support our art study. The focus of our art lessons this term will be investigating how moods and feelings can be portrayed using different colours and tones. This will involve exploring the works of artist Henri Rousseau. We will then work with different colour palettes as well as working with light and shadow within the image; discussing what effect this has on the audience and the message of the painting. We will use these artistic techniques to create a woodland painting showing different moods and feelings. We will also be developing our colour mixing skills as well as learning to use watercolour techniques and brush skills.
Our science and music focus this term sits outside our central idea but is within our transdisciplinary theme ‘How we express ourselves’. As part of our investigation, we will look at how and why pitch and volume increase and decrease, as well as how sound travels. This will also involve looking into the anatomy of the human ear, discussing how the shape of the inner and outer ear help us to hear sounds of varying pitch and tone.
In maths we will be continuing to develop our knowledge of multiplication and division, recalling and using multiplication facts up to the 12 times table. We will use place value and known and derived facts to multiply and divide, both mentally and written. In the later stage of the term we will be beginning to work with fractions, recognising and illustrating families of common equivalent fractions and using fractions to calculate and divide quantities.
Our science and music focus this term sits outside our central idea but is within our transdisciplinary theme ‘How we express ourselves’. As part of our investigation, we will look at how and why pitch and volume increase and decrease, as well as how sound travels. This will also involve looking into the anatomy of the human ear, discussing how the shape of the inner and outer ear help us to hear sounds of varying pitch and tone.
In maths we will be continuing to develop our knowledge of multiplication and division, recalling and using multiplication facts up to the 12 times table. We will use place value and known and derived facts to multiply and divide, both mentally and written. In the later stage of the term we will be beginning to work with fractions, recognising and illustrating families of common equivalent fractions and using fractions to calculate and divide quantities.
