Tuesday 28 November 2017

Equalities week: Body Image

Body image is the way you view other people, but also yourself, based on the way they look. Some people are unkind to others because they think they don’t look right. Some people don’t like their own bodies, and can be unkind to themselves.

We wanted to celebrate our differences in our bodies because they make us who we are!

We watched Monsters University and were introduced to characters who all looked a little strange, but each one was good at something different because of how they looked. Mike didn’t look scary and so everyone was mean to him, but he was very clever and knew the strategies to scaring every child.

We drew our favourite monsters and labelled them with what was AMAZING about them.


Equalities week: Disability

On Wednesday we learnt about different disabilities. Lots of us didn’t know that you can have disabilities that you can’t see, such as learning disabilities or health problems inside. We all knew about physical disabilities and the Paralympics.

We read a story about someone in a wheelchair who went to a Special School. They couldn’t play competitions with other schools because the games weren’t suitable. So the teacher found a game called Botcha, which they were all great at. They even started a local league and then went through to the Nationals in London.

We learnt that it’s important to empathise with someone with a disability, and to help when necessary, but that disabled people want to be as independent as possible too.

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Scratch: developing a game - backgrounds and characters

Today we made our background and character for our game. We had to edit and paint the Stage which is the background and include the parts our character has to avoid in our game. Some of us had to add in the bits the character would need to collect. We then made our character, either by importing a premise one and editing or drawing it ourself.


Equalities week: Race

Today we talked about how sometimes people are treated differently, and often not nicely, because of the colour of their skin or where they or their family comes from.

We celebrated all of our heritages in class, and used www.cartoonify.de to create digital self portraits which let us accurately choose or create the colour of our skin.

We noticed that ALL OF US have different skin colours and shades, but we’re all fantastic too!




Monday 20 November 2017

Equalities week: Gender

This afternoon we spoke about what we expect boys/men and girls/women to be like. It was interesting to see that some people think that women can’t do certain jobs, but also that men can’t do things like design clothes or do make up.

We looked at the plots from Disney films and noticed that most of the heroes are men, but also that even if the hero is a heroine then she usually has to give something up, like Rapunzel in Tangled who saved Finn but has to giver up her magical hair. However it’s not just the woman who aren’t portrayed fairly. The men in Disney films tend to be huge and so much larger than the female characters.

We watched Brave, which is a Disney film about a Scottish princess called Merida. She isn’t your usual princess, and has messy hair and loves to fight. Then we designed our own Disney hero.



Friday 17 November 2017

Scratch: developing a game

This term in computing we are going to make our own computer game using Scratch. Scratch is a free programming website and software that you can use to build games, quizzes, stories and animations.

In our first lesson we looked at an example code and followed the instructions to build the code for the program. You have to choose the correct blocks to build the instructions for the Sprite or character on screen. The blocks are split into different categories like motion, sound, looks and events. You can also design or import a background, so your Sprite can move around a castle or avoid blocks in a maze.

We designed our game this week, and had to think about the overall aim. Was it to avoid things or collect objects? We had a mixture of both. Some of us were really challenging ourselves and want to introduce levels to our game, which the Sprite will have to work through.

We can’t wait to build our game and play it!


Tuesday 14 November 2017

Cats Protection talk

Today, we were lucky to have Louisa from Cats Protection come and talk to us all about how to look after cats, or keep stray cats safe. This linked with our book from last term, Varjak Paw, which is all about a cat who has to save his family, and in turn saves the city’s cats.

We learnt when we can, and when we shouldn’t, approach a cat in the street, and also when visiting friends or family. We know that if you have a cat at home then you know what it will like and not like, but a cat that you have never met before might not be as friendly.

We know that cats should:

  • Clean themselves
  • Eat healthily
  • Have playtime
  • Have collar and a microchip
  • Belong to a vet
  • Have their vaccinations
  • Be given flea treatments
  • Eat meat based food
  • Have their food and water away from each other, and away from their litter tray

We would like to say a very big thank you to Louisa and Cats Protection for coming to speak to us.


🐱



Friday 3 November 2017

A new term

This term we are thinking reflectively about our learning. We want to be able to self assess our learning, edit where necessary and celebrate our success and perseverance. As part of this, we completed an online survey and so used out keyboard and mouse skills to navigate it. Some of our laptops were running a little slowly, but we knew what to do!

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Viking Work

As half term approaches I was wondering what everyone thought of our topic work? The vicious Vikings have given us lots of exciting lessons and some amazing homework. During the half term holiday, try and complete another 1 or 2 pieces of homework. Tasting your Viking oatmeal cakes is a particular favourite of mine!!! Well done everyone

Mr Bevan

Monday 9 October 2017

E-safety Computing Lesson Tuesday 10th October

Problem 4:


E-safety Computing Lesson Tuesday 10th October

Problem 3:


E-safety Computing Lesson Tuesday 10th October

Problem 2:


E-safety Computing Lesson Tuesday 10th October

We will be posting some problems, which you may well encounter yourself.
Your challenge is to comment on the posts; explaining what the person should do and why.

Use your SMART knowledge!

Don't forget to log in carefully, using your screen name and password - SECRET PASSWORD! When we comment online, we have to remember to be as thoughtful and sensible as we would be in real life. Words online can be seen by anyone, and your words are your responsibility.

Mrs Lasenby and Mr Bevan

Problem 1:


Varjak Paw

We are close to the end of our amazing book 'Varjak Paw'. Our hero has left his family, been involved in countless fights and learnt the 7 skills from Jalal and Elder Paw. He has now returned home to his family of Mesopotamian Blues and rescued all the 'vanished' cats. Varjak has even made friends with a huge dog and has been made the ruler of his family! Have you enjoyed the story as much as I have? What has been your favourite part of the book? Did your predict how the story was going to end and what activity have you enjoyed doing in Literacy, linked to Varjak?
Our instruction writing will soon be complete then we will pretend to be Cludge! I look forward to hearing your comments about the heroic cat, Varjak Paw!!!

Are you SMART?

This term we always recap and extend our e-safety knowledge. We have spent a lot of time talking about games, friend requests and messaging apps, because these are the main things we use.

Safe - keep all your personal information safe! This includes your real and full name, your age, your address, your school and so on.
Meet - never agree to meet anyone online in real life! If someone asks you then you need to tell an adult. They might not be who they say they are.
Accepting - don't click on any links or friend requests from people you don't know! It could be a virus, or the person might not be very nice.
Reliable - not all information online is true! Some websites post incorrect information about things, places and people. You need to check a variety of sources and compare what you find.
Tell - tell an adult if you get that funny feeling in your belly! Something might be wrong so you can get advice from an adult.


Class McCartney

Lights, camera, ACTION!

We have been incredibly lucky this term to use the brand new filming equipment.  There was a camera, two big, bright lights, a microphone and a green screen.  A green screen is something you put behind you so that you can edit and change the background.  They use them a lot in fantasy films like Star Wars.

Mrs Lasenby played a song and we all danced our war across the stage.  You'll have to wait and see how it will be edited :)

Class McCartney

Friday 7 July 2017

When I heard that you could do a power point about your favourite animal, i was very exited and knew exactly what to do.I first started off by searching up for unicorn pictures and got a bit carried away as i filled my document with loads of unicorn pictures
 there was loads of unicorn pictures in my documents.When i first started off ,i only done pictures of unicorns but then I realized that i can do art slides and show what unicorn things i have.I started to get more and more ideas and I even got to the point of giving my dog Bella a photo shoot.

When i was looking at the different icons,I saw that you could do animations for the slides and ended out looking really cool
 I found most of my pictures off of tumblr and i loved the effect of the pictures either sparkling or changing. When i first done the power point, i wanted it to be more interesting by making a hyperlink or a video but sadly the hyperlink didn't work and the video only worked twice.So i added some music which was already in my documents.Then, i downloaded some apps to make collages and to change up the original pictures. 

I have really enjoyed doing this PowerPoint and i am very pleased as for how it turned out and i have learnt knew things from doing this slide show that i can now use when ever i like.I love to use my 
knowledge with the computer to make things and any decoration.





Thursday 6 July 2017

In outdoor week we have been doing some activities
like making flat bread , rock climbing , canoeing  and bug hotel. When we made the flat bread we remembered from last year that we shouldn't add to much salt. We worked in partners one held the bag whilst the other squeezed it. When the dough was a yellow sort of color we got it out and squished it. Then we split it into two parts and flatted it out. She said that the thinner you make it the quicker it will cook.

 The rock climbing was amazing. You had to get to the top and when you did you had to press a buzzer which mad a beep sound. This would let people know that they had got to the top and they were coming down. The man said that we had to face the wall when we came down. Everyone was helping each other in different ways.

 The canoeing was brilliant!! We were in mixed groups of 8. All of us had to paddle. Forward we had to paddle forward. Backwards we had to paddle backwards. To turn one side had to go forwards and the other has to go backwards. Opposite way is to turn the opposite way.

 Finally, the bug hotel was really good. So we found fallen of twigs . When we had found them we put them in a wooden pallet. The women told us that they like it very dark so they don`t get burnt. We found big twigs that were big and she told us to put them at the side.

Thursday 25 May 2017

Be impressed by our advert about South America.

25.5.17



In topic over the last two days, we have been preparing a movie about South America on Imovie.
I have learnt how to create a movie and put music to it and writing in order to enhance it.The hard thing I found, was typing on the movie and to try making it interesting,  however it all worked out.I loved finding the pictures for the movie.We made the movie by finding pictures from the internet and then saving them onto Imovie. After that,we made the pictures into a movie.
It has been really fun and I have really enjoyed doing it.


By Seren Mckenzie

Wednesday 26 April 2017

Coordinate your coordinates

In Maths, we are learning about coordinates and translation.

Here is a game you might want to play sometimes. It focuses on reasoning when solving a problem.

You need to find the lost giraffe using your knowledge of coordinates.

Enjoy! Please comment on how many tries it took you to find it!

Friday 24 March 2017

Information about wolves





This presentation is about these intelligent creatures called wolves in this presentation it tells you about how they live in this world.Also, it tells you the different breeds[arctic wolf,grey wolf ect].These creatures are very easy to learn about.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

Can you fix me??

This is my problem... How can I make the boy walk evenly?

How come the dragon keeps on turning rather than chasing the boy?

Please let me know what should I do, how to fix it.


Friday 17 March 2017

Iron Man overload

In Year 4, we are all about the Iron Man....

From our Literacy work, to our science project with electricity to art work of a robot and finally in our ICT work with making an Iron Man move.

This week we had to debug a program. We are still working on it... it is so hard... all we do is keep testing it.

I realised, whilst working on my science project, that I also have to keep testing it. It is quite impressive how it is the same even if one is on the computer and the other one is hands on.




Monday 6 March 2017

Scratch challenges

In ICT this week we had 2 challenges to complete whilst using scratch.

Here are two of the best ones from Mars class.

Ava did a nice making the Iron Man move up and down the cliff (just like in the book!!)
Isabella as well used scratch to make her Iron Man move. It looks so real!!!


In Venus, we had a second challenge which was to have the Iron Man eat tractors. It is still in progress, mainly because we have to keep testing our work in order to make sure our program does what we want.

Here you have where Younes is at. Could you help him in order to which action should he choose next in order for the tractor to get eaten.




Monday 27 February 2017

Programming an Iron Man

As part of our ICT lesson, on Monday 27th February, Venus class started using the programming tool called Scratch

You can use it online at home, but we have the software at school. 

Chloe started her work quickly and made an Iron Man, which is belly looks like a smiley face. There was no worksheet given, we had to figure out how to make it move and mainly which tools to use in order to create our program. 
Look at the belly.... hi hi hi
 













Whilst I was drawing the stage, I struggled to make it all work out. I started with when space key pressed, forever, if on edge bounce and move 10 steps but that didn't work because as soon as the iron man touched the edge he started walking on his head.

I tried to fix it by chucking the turn 15 degrees in their. That did not work the reason is he started doing cartwheels without moving weird. So last i took the forever out and that sort of worked he was still walking on his head but at least he was moving the right way and  not doing non moving cartwheels.

Hopefully next week I will be able to make it work. 



Tuesday 21 February 2017

All the colours of the rainbow make me feel dizzy

On Monday, as part of our literacy work, still working on the Story Machine, we have used a website in order to create a shape with our poems. 

We wrote poems associating colours and emotions in our literacy lessons. Afterwards, we had to make the poem come to life, just like Elliott in the book the Story Machine who once he started typing on his machine, there were pictures appearing. 

Using the website http://tholman.com/texter/ we used our colour for our poem as the background and then created shapes with the words. 

It is a very fun website, but once you make a mistake you cannot erase it, you have to start over. Some children in the class had to start again 5 times!!!

When creating our shape, we learned that it was important to keep in mind who it was presented to. In order to make it interesting, I did a slushie with blueberries coming out of it. 

As a class, we decided to share as many as possible of our work on the blog since it is a safe place to promote our work. As a challenge, we have to try to make some pictures at home and publish it in the comments. 

Can you notice the blueberries around my Slushie?


Roxana made a cool flower

It is original how Joseph made a mouth

Thursday 9 February 2017

#SID

On February 7th 2017, we promoted a safer way of using internet.

The whole school worked together to discuss about how to make internet a safer place. Our aim in year 4, was to use emojis in order to pass on our message.

It was fun to use pictures in order to talk about something important, I think it will make it more interesting to students.


Mars class #SID2017


Venus class #SID2017

 

Monday 6 February 2017

Creating images using pictures

As part of literacy class, we have been reading the book The story machine. In the book, the little boy called Elliott find a typewriter. Once he starts using it, he gets all the letters jumbled up, so he realises that it creates pictures.


In our ICT lesson, we used our keyboard skills to practice creating images using letters. It was a great opportunity to use our skills in a different way. We will now be able to change the aspect of our text in order to make it more interesting to our reader.


Here are some examples of our work.

Joe in Venus class                                                                       Frankie in Venus class




                                                                           Lois in Venus class



Monday 30 January 2017

Heroes apply within

In ICT on Monday, class Mars has been working on their job advert where as Venus continued typing their letter of application.

The past two lessons, have been aimed at using and applying all our skills of editing in order to make our text more interesting.

Image result for Grendel beowulf
In order to do so, we have learned to change the font and the colour of the font, to add an image in the background, to make bullet points to list and to use relevant images (free of rights obviously)

Those who were done before the end of the lesson were allowed to add a hyperlink and even make a QRcode. We used a website which is free, but tries to sell you product when you generate the code. Miss Goulet taught us that you have to wait and not press Sign me up and wait because the code is actually downloading. It is a way websites use to sell you things. You think you have to do it, but in fact no.

You will have the chance to see our work since it will be displayed in the hallway.