Year 4 - Jungle Book & Northern Lights

Northern Lights & Jungle Books

Year 4 Autumn 1

Reading:

We will be exploring a significant literary text: ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ - a fantasy adventure novel by Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a curious girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a strange and magical world filled with unusual creatures, talking animals, and exciting adventures.

The book is full of imagination, humour and unexpected events. The pupils will meet memorable characters such as the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. The story is packed with riddles, nonsense and magical situations that make readers laugh and wonder what will happen next.

The novel encourages creativity and curiosity as Alice explores a world where the ordinary rules do not apply. Young readers enjoy the exciting journey, the colourful characters, and the sense of adventure throughout the story.

In addition, a ‘Whole class Reading’ focus links to our geography topic of Europe and non-fiction writing outcome. We will explore the history of Paris, learning about the French Monarchy, the French Revolution and major landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Arc De Triomphe. Pupils will learn key reading skills relating to vocabulary, inference, prediction, explanation, retrieval and summarising.

Key Vocabulary: wonderland, adventure, curious (curiosity), magical, mysterious, peculiar, extraordinary, impossible, amazement, confusion, surprise, bravery, fear, delight, happiness.

Writing:

Fiction writing:

Pupils will answer the Big Question: What did Alice see when she fell down the rabbit hole? They will write a descriptive retelling of a scene from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, using a range of key writing skills. This includes:

• The five senses to describe what Alice could see, hear, feel, smell and taste.
• Expanded noun phrases to add detail and create vivid images.
• Abstract nouns to show Alice’s thoughts and feelings, such as curiosity, excitement and wonder.
• Commas in a list to describe the different objects and creatures Alice noticed.
• Prepositional phrases to explain where things were located.
• Fronted adverbials to vary sentence openings and add interest to their writing.
• Ambitious vocabulary to create an engaging and imaginative description.

By combining these features, pupils will create an exciting piece of descriptive writing that helps the reader imagine Alice’s incredible journey down the rabbit hole.

Non-fiction writing:

Within Geography, pupils will embark on a journey across Europe, locating countries and capital cities, comparing different European nations, and exploring the similarities and differences between cultures, landscapes and ways of life. They will also consider the question: Would you rather live in London or Paris?

To bring their learning together, pupils will write a non-chronological report answering this question. They will use geographical facts and comparisons to support their opinions while applying key writing skills such as using subheadings, expanded noun phrases, subject-specific vocabulary, and a clear conclusion.

Maths:

We will explore place value within three-digit numbers, the important use of zero as a placeholder, partitioning and flexible partitioning, knowing the midpoint to help you place the number on the number line, ascending and descending order, Roman Numerals, rounding to the nearest 10, 100 and 1,000 and rounding. Pupils will also explore formal written column methods of addition and subtraction, using exchanging. Additionally, pupils will develop fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills, whilst using estimation to check the accuracy of their calculations.

Key Vocabulary: represent, placeholder, partition, interval, flexible, exchange, intervals, estimate, midpoint, column, compare, ascending, descending, rounding, nearest, multiple, mentally, column, exchange, efficient, estimate, inverse 

Science:

We will be exploring animals, including humans. Pupils get ready to become a young zoologist, dentist and body detective! This term, we will explore the amazing world of animals and discover how our bodies work. We will investigate different animal diets, follow food chains, learn about the important job of our teeth, and uncover the fascinating journey food takes through the digestive system.

Through investigations, discussions and exciting discoveries, pupils will learn how animals survive, how our bodies process food, and how to look after their own health.

Questions we will answer:

• What animals are carnivore, herbivore and omnivores?
• What is a food chain?
• What teeth do humans have and what are their functions?
• How do you keep teeth healthy?
• How does the digestive system work?
• What are the functions of organs in the digestive system?

Key Vocabulary: herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, producer, predator, prey, incisor, canine, molar, premolar, mouth, teeth, saliva, digestive system, digestion, oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, anus

Topic (Geography):

This term, we will become explorers, travelling across countries, visiting famous cities, and discovering what makes each place unique. From the bustling streets of London to the romantic landmarks of Paris, we'll uncover the wonders of our neighbouring countries.

Questions we will answer:

• Where is Europe, and where does it fit in the world?
• Which countries make up Europe?
• What are the capital cities of Europe?
• How are European countries similar and different?
• Would you rather live in London or Paris? Why?

Through maps, research, comparisons and debates, we will learn about Europe's people, places, cultures and landmarks, helping us to understand the diverse continent we live in.

Key Vocabulary: continent, European Union, Euro, currency, language, government, landmark, tourist.

Art:

This term, pupils will step into the magical world of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland through art. They will explore the imaginative work of famous artists and illustrators, including Leonard Weisgard and Salvador Dalí, discovering how different artists bring the same story to life in unique and creative ways.

Using Wonderland as their inspiration, pupils will develop their sketching skills, learning how to use shape, line, pattern and detail to create expressive drawings. They will experiment with a range of sketching techniques, explore different artistic styles, and practise observing and recording ideas in sketchbooks.

By the end of the unit, pupils will be able to use their growing artistic skills to create their own Wonderland-inspired artwork, showing creativity, imagination and an understanding of how artists interpret stories through visual art.

Key Vocabulary: Surrealism, illustrator, sketch, line, shape, detail, interpretation, imagination, composition

Home Learning:

Spelling

In Year 4, pupils will be given a list of 10 spellings from the statutory spelling list each week, which they are expected to learn in preparation for a spelling test every Friday. Pupils are expected to demonstrate learning using Ed-Shed or, if this cannot be accessed at home, by asking their class teacher for an alternative.

Reading

Pupils are expected to read at home as much as possible and write (independently) three entries per week within their Reading Record book. Questions have been provided within the front cover to help form responses that comment on the text, for example: Do you like/not like the main character? Explain why.

Please continue to read regularly with your child at home, as reading regularly will help your child’s vocabulary knowledge, spelling and writing skills.

Times tables

Furthermore, we ask that you encourage your child to learn their multiplication tables up to 12. This is an ongoing expectation until your child can confidently recall them in a mixed order and using inverse operations. Times Tables Rock Stars should be accessed to help them.

Homework

We shall also send Mathematics, English, Science or Topic homework home on a Friday.  This must be completed and returned by Thursday (the latest) the following week.