Wonderful writing

A selection of Lion King recounts from our 'Wonderful Writing Wall'.

Making a Roman oil lamp

As part of our history topic on the Romans the Year Four children have learned this week how to make roman oil lamps from clay. We saw two thousand year old oil lamps on our visit to Verulamium last week and now the children have designed and made their own.  Next week we will be asking the children to be the teachers when we open Year Four to parents after school and the children share their new skills by teaching mum, dad or their grandparents how to make an oil lamp of their own.

Year Four visit the Lyceum Theatre in London to see the Lion King

What a busy time Year Four are having at the moment. This week we have been to London's Lyceum Theatre to see the Lion King. The children really enjoyed the spectacular show from our amazing seats in the Grand Circle. The music, costumes, dancing and ever changing sets were all spoken of as favourites when we spoke to the children after the performance. Recounts of the visit will be written by the children later this week and they will be displayed on our 'Wonderful Writing Wall' in Year Four. Thank you so much to our fantastic parent helpers and to the Parent Teacher Association who generously contributed to the cost of the trip.

Verulamium

Verulamium Museum was a fantastic setting to learn all about how the Romans lived in Britain. The four Year Four classes attended workshops where they could handle objects that the Romans left behind over 2000 years ago. In the museum galleries we looked at real roman mosaics from the villas of Roman St Albans so that we can later make our own at school. Visiting the roman hypocaust in the afternoon gave all of the children a great glimpse at one of the oldest surviving central heating systems in this country.

#HomeForChristmas: Coming Home by Michael Morpurgo

We've begun some work linked to 'Coming Home' by Michael Morpurgo.

Here's what 4CY did on their first day studying the book:

Words to describe what 'home' is like. These were written before we read the book.

After the book had been read, the children chose words to describe the robin's journey.
 

In less than 140 characters, the children wrote a review of the story.

The book was good because it has a happy ending. Also, I like animals. It is well written and good to listen to. It was good. Mattis

The book was amazing. I really liked it because it was full of action and was very exciting. You did not know what was going to happen next! Adam

The book was great because I liked the ending, but I didn’t like the scary bits.

I like the book because the author used a lot of detail and punctuation. It is a joy to read. Freddie

The book was amazing because it describes well. The author did the book well and it made sense. Lucy

The book was amazing because it had a bird in it. It could be better if it had rhyme in it. Good detail. Isla

The book was excellent because the ending was happy. But, in the middle and start it was sad because the bird was not at home. Sophie

The book was good. I liked it because it had adventure. The best bit was when the robin got home. Romarn

The book was nice and amazing, but I didn’t like the part with the hands because they are like sausages popping out. I only like the nice bits. Nicola

The book was good because the author has put a lot of effort into it. I bet other people would like this book too. James

The book was good because I like the part at the end where the robin found a family and lived happily. Zak

I like this book because I can understand it. I like birds. I don’t think the author could add any more detail. Ben

The book was very good because it is all about what a bird has to go through. The author did a good job. Matthew

The author did a good job because he related it to real life nature and described everything about every moment and setting. The book is good. Emily

I liked the book because it is at Christmas time and Christmas time is my favourite time of the year. There is a lot of happy ever after at the end. Mia

I enjoyed the book because it was a scary book and I like scary books. One reason I don’t like the book is that it is a bit short. Natasha

The book is really good because it has lots of pictures and good understandable words. Also, it is a reasonable amount of writing. Luke

I liked the book because I liked how he put lots of detail and I liked it because I like animals. I liked how the bird travelled all that way. Jessica

The book was one of the best I have read and I loved it. Tobias

The book was good because it had great pictures. I care for animals so I loved it. Nia

The book was interesting. It was excellent to read. Cameron

The author added a lot of detail and you can tell he cares about animals because the book is based on an animal. Florence

The book was good because it’s about a robin finding his way. I like robins and it is my favourite animal. This story is great. Amelia

This book was fun because the author has done a good job. I enjoyed that the robin got back safe. The author could have added more similes.

The part I liked was when the robin found his female. The part I did not like was the bit on the boat. This was a fun and scary story. Nika

I liked the book because I love birds and I did the RSPB bird watch in January. The author did a really good job with the book including adjectives. Natalie

The bird wanted to fly on its own. So, it was frightened when the man tried to pick it up. The book is about something true. Reena

I think the book was exciting because it was good to see what the bird had gone through. Lewis

The book is very good because it is very nice and a bit sad sometimes. It was scary because of when the man picked the bird up.

Life as a Celt Day

On Thursday 10th November Year Four sampled 'Life as a Celt'. They learnt the skills of dyeing cloth with natural dyes, making celtic jewellery, weaving and designing shields.

Debate 'This House thinks that Pokemon cards should be banned from Crosshall Junior School'

As part of our module on discussion texts we decided to hold a debate in Year Four. The classes prepared arguments for and against the motion that 'Pokemon cards should be banned from Crosshall Junior School'. Needless to say there were strong viewpoints on each side of the argument and the children articulated their views very clearly in a debate hosted by our invited Chair Mr Ainscow. We certainly have some future orators in our midst.
The motion was defeated by a small margin.