​As with every week, there has been some fantastic learning over the past week. It’s great to see that despite the fact we’re not at school, you are trying your hardest in your learning and continuing to show a growth mindset. Well done Year 4!

It has been really lovely to get some more postcards from you this week. Asma, Zakiya​, Khadijah, Yousif, Cailey, Maya and Zainab it has been great to hear what you’re getting up to and thanks for telling us how you’re feeling. 

A few of you have started to write us some letters telling us to what exercise activities you have been getting up to this week. Thanks to ​Zakiya​, Sabine, Teo and Yousif for letting us know what you’ve been doing, it sounds like you are doing lots of different types of exercise. Keep it up!

Yasin has been doing lots of work at home including making cookie dough and  a poster of the solar system He’s also been catching up on some of his maths learning from before the Easter break. 

​There have been some great pictures and work sent in about How to Train a Dragon. Have a look at Teo, Sabine, and Johnny's pictures and character profiles. 

Our Zepper 2016 project has really caught your imaginations. Johnny has drawn a brilliant persuasive poster, Khalil has shared his thoughts on the Zepper while also trying to persuade us why it is a good form of transport, and Sabine used great alliteration to describe the Zepper. 

Khalil and Uzayr have shared their new forms of transport. 

In addition to your English learning there has also been some really good learning about quadrilaterals and lines. Khalil and Teo, you have presented your work really clearly. 

Teo and Yosef have both sent in some of their science work. 

Yousif and Sabine have both done some brilliant research into Tim Berners-Lee and Ada Lovelace. 

It's been great seeing some of the creative things you're getting up to at home. Here is some art from Johnny, Marihah and Yousif. 

As always, you all deserve a big pat on the back for surviving another week of home learning. You are all super stars. 

There are, however, a few children who we would like to give an extra special mention to. 

Angelina for writing a lovely poem on Purple Mash. 

Anwar, Zakiya and Zahraa for engaging more on Purple Mash, it's been great to hear more from you. 

Khalil for working hard and emailing in your work for us to see. 

Well done Year 4, keep up the good work!!

How is the week going for you? Why not let us know on Purple Mash?

There's a new post from Ruth and the challenge is to see if everyone from Year 4 can write a comment on it!

So far this week we’ve thought lots about the Zepler 2016.

Today’s task is to create your own new mode of transport.

You can draw a diagram of it or write a description of it. 

Here are a few things to think about before you start.

• How is your form of transport going to move?
  
• Will it use road,  water, air or rails?
• Is it a form of transport for one person (like a bike), a few people (like a car) or lots of people (like a train, bus or aeroplane)?
• How is different to current types of transport? 
  

How are you getting on with our new story? Today we are going to read (listen to) Chapter 4. 

When you have finished, draw a picture of your favourite scene from the chapter. 

Now that you've learnt about the properties of all six different quadrilaterals, your task is to guess which shape is being described from the clues below. 

• I have 4 right angles but my sides are not all equal. What am I?
• I have 1 pair of parallel lines. What am I?
• All of my sides are equal and I have 2 acute angles. What am I?
• My adjacent sides are of equal length and I have 1 pair of equal angles. What am I?
• All of my sides and angles are equal. What am I?

CHALLENGE: Which shape didn’t have a clue? Can you create a clue for it?

CHILLI CHALLENGE: Can you fill in the table with the correct quadrilateral in each box? You can only use each quadrilateral once.  Which quadrilateral doesn’t fit in any box? Why?

How did you get on with the coding last week. You should have now learnt a bit about some of the most famous coders in history. Maybe you could be the next Tim Berners-Lee or Ada Lovelace.

We’re going to continue with our coding on Purple Mash today.

Remember, it is important to have a good growth mindset. It was great to get questions from some of you last week to help you understand what to do. Don't forget that you can always use Purple Mash to get in contact with us. 

• Write us a letter to tell us what you have been doing to keep active.
• Check back here later on to see this week's special mention and good learning. There are lots of amazing things to share. 
• Keep in contact with us on Purple Mash. 

Keep working hard, doing your best and being helpful. 

​Ruth and Emily

We've reached the middle of the week already! 

As always, it has been great to hear from you, there have been some lovely postcard messages this week that we have really enjoyed reading. 

How did you get on with your amazing alliteration yesterday?

Today, you’re going to use your alliterative words from yesterday to help you create a persuasive poster advertising the Zepper 2016.

Remember in a piece of persuasive writing we use alliteration, rule of three and if you want to challenge yourself you could even include some rhetorical questions. A list of features of a persuasive text are below to remind you of all the things you could include. 
​
We look forward to seeing your posters!

There are also some spelling tasks for you this week on Purple Mash. Head over there to have a look at them. 

Before you read (listen to) today's chapter, write down a list of 3 things you expect to happen. When you've finished, go back and see whether you were correct. 

Today we are going to learn about two new quadrilaterals.

Have a look at the diagrams below to learn about their properties.

I like to think of a rhombus as a wonky square (because all of its sides are the same length but it doesn’t always have right angles) and a parallelogram as a wonky rectangle (because its opposite sides are equal lengths but it doesn’t have four right angles). ​

Today, we'd like you to write us a letter telling us what exercise you've done today.

Remember what we said yesterday, most of you should be going outside for a walk or cycle each day, it is important to keep physically active at the moment and as long as you and your adults stay at least 2m away from anyone else you should be fine. We know that some of you can't go outside, if that's the case - write us a letter about what exercise you have been doing at home, maybe it's Joe Wicks or Oti Mabuse or something else. 

 You can either write your letter in your home learning book or on the 2 do that has been set on Purple Mash.

How did you get on with the Spanish last week?

This week we have another video from Miss Harrison, check it out on the Spanish blog. 
https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/spanish-blog

Don't forget there is also a Spanish blog on Purple Mash, it has been great to see some of you commenting on there. 

• In addition to How to Train a Dragon, you should also be reading for 20 minutes a day. 
• Keep sending in pictures of what you're getting up to. 
• Check in regularly with Emily's ELSA blog, there are lots of good suggestions of what you could be doing as a family to help at the moment. 

Keep working hard, we miss you!

​Ruth and Emily

How was yesterday's work?
It's often hard to get back into a work routine after a few days off, if you did find it difficult yesterday, hopefully it will be a it easier today. 

Thanks for all your emails with photos of your work over the weekend and as ever it's been great to read your comments on Purple Mash!

What do you think of the Zepper 2016 – is it a realistic form of transport for the world today?

We learnt about alliteration in December. It’s when two or more words begin with the same letter for example, terrific transport.

Today’s task is to come up with 6 pieces of alliteration linked to the Zepper 2016 flying machine. 

If you've done that and you want to CHALLENGE yourself, you can also think of some examples of rule of three that could be used to describe the machine. 

​Listen to Chapter 2 of How to Train a Dragon (it’s in two parts) and then answer the questions below. You might want to read the questions before you start listening so you know what to keep an ear out for.

Answer these questions:
•How did Fishlegs put everyone in danger?
•Gronkle has ‘fangs like kitchen knives’. What does this tell us about the dragon?
•What do dragons smell like?

Research the about the life of one of the following two inventors: Tim Berners-Lee or Ada Lovelace. You could use https://kids.britannica.com/ or https://www.kiddle.co/ to help you with your research. 

Can you answer the following questions about one or both of these people?

​•When were they born?
•If they are no longer alive, when did they die?
•Where were they born?
•What did they invent?
•What makes them an inspiring person?
​
Once you have done the research,  publish it either on Purple Mash or by making a poster. 

• Barbara created an assemblies blog, check it out at https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/assemblies-blog/welcome-to-the-assemblies-blog

​Keep working hard, sending in your work for us to see and washing your hands. 

​Ruth and Emily

Welcome back. 

How was your weekend? Did you manage to go outside for a walk?

We hope you are feeling ready for another week of learning. 

Continuing on our theme of technology, have a look at the picture and read the text below.
When you have read the text, have a think about and answer these questions. 

•What do you think about the Zepper 2016? Could you see something like this being used in our skies?
•Is the Zepper 2016 better or worse than the transport we already have?
•What do you think the positives and negatives of the Zepper 2016 are?

READ ALL ABOUT IT: Genius Inventor Discovers New Way To Travel!

A new and innovative way to travel has this very week been invented by London based inventor, Samuel Diggle. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No – it’s the magnificent eco-friendly flying machine ‘Zepper 2016’!

For years, scientists and inventors have been striving to ‘scratch’ the current global ‘itch’ that is sustainable and eco-friendly energy. This could finally be it! Diggle’s new creation is not only cheap to construct, but relies solely upon natural energy sources! When interviewed yesterday morning on national television, Diggle delightedly spoke of his invention: “I believe I really am the most extraordinary man on the planet! My invention will change the way people travel, and change the way the world works. Sustainable energy, reduced carbon emissions and cleaner travel! I’m very proud of myself, and certainly can’t wait to see people using the Zepper 2016 in their everyday lives!”

Time will tell whether Diggle’s self-proclaimed brilliance is indeed brilliant, or whether it is, in fact, a load of ‘hot air’!

Did you like the ending of The Wyrmstooth Crown?

This week we're going to read another book about dragons. The author Cressida Cowell has filmed herself reading her book How to Train a Dragon. Some of you may have read the book before but sometimes it's enjoyable to read a book again, especially if someone else reads it to us! 

Each day there'll be a link to a video of her reading the next chapter as well as a task related to the book. 

​Today there are two videos, one where Cressida introduces herself and then her reading Chapter 1. 

Create a character profile of Hiccup, from today’s reading.

​What do you know about his appearance and his personality? You could draw your own picture of him if you want to. 

CHALLENGE: Draw a picture of a house which has at least three pairs of parallel lines and three pairs of perpendicular ​lines. 

We're going to learn about pitch today. Pitch is when a sound is high or low. It is very important to remember that pitch is different to volume. 

Have a look at this page to better understand what pitch means. 
​https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zgffr82/articles/z3j3jty

Think about the different sounds you can find around your house. Put them in a table like the one below. 

To help you think about where the sounds go have a think about these questions. 

Are they loud or quiet? Are they high pitched (like a mouse or a violin) or low pitched (like the deep sound of an elephant or a cello)?

• Barbara has posted a new newsletter on the school website. You can find it here:  https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/newsletters.html
• There is now an assembly page on the school website, why not sit down with your family and watch the assembly all together? https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/assemblies-blog
• Keep posting your work on Purple Mash so we can see all the amazing stuff you're getting up to. 

We miss you all and hope you're doing well. 

​Ruth and Emily

And just like that we're at the end of the first week back! 

Well done for all your hard work this week, it has been great catching up with lots of you on the phone this week. We'll be making more calls again next week so keep an ear out for them. 

How did you got on with designing your robot yesterday?  We'd love to see your designs.

Today's task is the final one related to The Girl and the Robot, your challenge for today is to write a set of instructions for how to make your robot.

Before you start you instructions have a think about these questions. 

• How is it put together?
  
• What is the first part of it that needs to be made?
  
• What is the last part that needs to be done?
  
• What equipment will be needed?
  
• Which order will you do everything in?
  

Remember when you are writing instructions you need to have a list of equipment, numbered points, adverbials of time and imperative verbs (bossy words like put, go, take). 

We're almost there with the story. How have you found it?
Today's task (you can continue it over the weekend if you like) is to finish the story and write a review of it. You can either write the review on Purple Mash or in your home learning book. 

Hopefully, you are now feeling more confident with the properties of different triangles. Here are a few reasoning questions for you to try. 

1. Tick the statements that are true:·        

• A scalene triangle never has equal length sides.
• An isosceles triangle can never have a right angle.
• An isosceles triangle has three equal angles.
• An equilateral triangle has three equal length sides.

Choose one of your true statements and prove it!

2. The length of longest side of a triangle must be less than the lengths of the other two sides added together. Investigate if this is always true. 

CHALLENGE:​

Have a discussion with your family about the following question and then, if you can, post your thoughts on Purple Mash.
 
What’s the difference between grown-ups and children?
 
Some things to think about:

• Do grown-ups have all the answers?
• Do children sometimes know stuff too?
• Children are inquisitive, always checking how things work and how they come apart and children know how to muck about and be silly, a very important part of life. Some grown-ups forget how to do that. Ask yourself what grown-ups can learn from children and vice versa.

​There has been so much good work this week and over the Easter break. Hopefully I don’t miss anyone out but I apologise now if you have sent something in via email and I haven’t posted it. There have been lots of emails over the past few weeks!

​Hannah wrote a fantastic story about trying to save the world in a hot air balloon during this coronavirus crisis. She even created a model to match her story!

​Usama, Hannah, Amal, Kayden, Sam, Sabine and Yosef have all worked hard to create their own stop motion animations. You should go and check them out on Purple Mash. 

Emily and I have loved getting postcards from you over the past few weeks. Thanks to Yosef, Sabine, Amal, Hannah and Usama for sending us your postcards and letting us know what you've been getting up to. 

​There has been some brilliant work based around our English with The Girl and the Robot. Here is a selection of what I've seen so far. 

It has also been great to see you all working hard at our new topic in maths and learning about the properties of triangles. I have particularly enjoyed trying to find all the right angles in your pictures. 

I would like to give a special mention to Hannah for taking part in so many of the Purple Mash activities with such enthusiasm. 

Yousif continues to be encouraging on the Purple Mash blog and I really enjoy his posts about what he has been getting up to, especially his gardening. 

Teo has started off this term with such a positive attitude towards his learning. It's been great to see all his work and how much effort he's putting into it. 

I was really pleased to see Maya and Sam use the blog to ask questions when they weren't sure about something. 

You all deserve a massive pat on the back this week for settling back into your work so well, it has been great to see so much of your work and to hear how you have been getting on. 

Well done Year 4, keep up the good work!!

We're over half way through the week!

We've been so impressed with all the work you've emailed in or posted on Purple Mash. There were some great questions about the film as well as some really thoughtful diary entries. 

I read this article yesterday and thought I would share it with you. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52376090 It's all about the scientists who are trying to find Shackleton's ship Endurance that sank in 1915. Those of you who were in school for the final week will know all about the impressive journey Shackleton and his crew took. If you give it a read, you might need to use a dictionary or ask an adult about some of the words. 

Today, your task is to design your own robot!

Draw a diagram of it and label the different parts. Before you draw it, you might want to think about these questions.  

• How does the robot move?
• Where does the robot live or work?
• What are is the robot's job?
• What can the robot do?
• How does it work?

When you've finished your design, why not share it with us?

​Continue with the class story and read Chapter 4 before answering these questions.

1. What was Miranda wearing that reminded Guster of his ma?
2. What did Guster do which made Miranda laugh?
3. List the things that had Guster learnt about humans?
4. CHALLENGE: Who do you think was the most confident character in this chapter? Explain your answer.
5. CHILLI CHALLENGE: What similarities are there between Miranda and Guster?

How confident are you feeling about all the new names for triangles we learnt yesterday? Some of the words are quite tricky to say and spell so you can practise both of these things over the next few days. 

Today's task is to use your knowledge of the properties of triangles from yesterday to work out what the name is of each triangle below. There is also a task on Purple Mash where you can describe each type of triangle. 

This term we will be learning about the history of coding.
The first coding was done long before computers as we now know them existed.
Today’s task is to go on Purple Mash and try the 2do coding task there. It is different to the programmes we have used in class so you will need to be patient and willing to have a growth mindset while you’re doing it. 
Good luck!

• Keep reading. Your reading today could be the BBC article I posted. 
• Have a look at the Spanish blog and try the activities. Keep practising the new words and sounds you have learnt. 
• There is a new music blog too from Mercedes, check it out and try some of the activities. https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/music-blog

You're all coping so well with this strange situation and we are really proud of all the work you are doing. 

​Keep working hard, being helpful and washing your hands. 

Ruth and Emily

How are you getting on with this week's work?

Yesterday, we started ringing each of your families. It was great to be able to speak to some of you and hear how you are doing. We will be ringing more of you today and as the week continues so keep your ears out for a phone call. 

What do you think of the film? It's odd isn't it because it doesn't have any words. But it's amazing what the girl's actions and expressions can tell us about how she is feeling. 

Today's task is to write a diary entry.  Imagine you are the girl, if you want you can give her a name.

How would you feel at the different points in the story? Use the vocabulary you collected yesterday to help you describe what has happened and how you are feeling.

We would love to read your diaries and see what you think the girl’s thoughts would have been. 

Now we are feeling more confident with different types of angles, we can apply this knowledge to help us learn the names of different triangles. 

There is a 4th type of triangle called a right angle triangle. This has a right angle as one of its corners. 

It can either be an isosceles right angle triangle like the triangle on the left or a scalene right angle triangle like the one on the right. Can you see how they are different?

The triangle on the left has one right angle and then the other two angles are the same size (45 degrees) so it fits the criteria for an isosceles triangle but the triangle on the right has a right angle and then the other two angles are different (30 degrees and 60 degrees) so it is a scalene triangle. 

Today's task is to label the triangles below. 

CHALLENGE:  For the right angle triangles can you decide if they are an isosceles right angle triangle or a scalene right angle triangle? It is difficult when you can't measure the angles but you can give it a try!

CHILLI CHALLENGE: (For those of you who really want to push yourselves.)

1. I have 3 sides, two of my angles are the same. One of my sides is a different length to the other two. Which triangle am I?
2. All of my angles are the same size.  Which triangle am I?​​

​

Each Wednesday we will now be doing a Spanish task. 

I have made a special blog for Spanish: https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/spanish-blog so if you head there you will see what today's task is as well as some funny videos and songs to help you practise what we have already been doing at school. 

Why not try learning Spanish with everyone else in your house?

When you have finished your Spanish you can also head to the Purple Mash Spanish Blog where you can practise answering different questions and building on your vocabulary. 

• Read for at least 20 minutes a day. Check out Serial Mash if you have finished your books. 
• Keep sending in your work, Emily is putting some examples of work on Twitter. Maybe yours might be the next thing she posts!
• Wash your hands regularly, it's really important.

Hasta luego,

​Ruth and Emily

How did you get on with yesterday’s tasks?
​
Keep sharing your work on Purple Mash and by email, we loving seeing and sharing what you are getting up to. 

Did you enjoy the film yesterday?

Today, your task is to create a list of all the different vocabulary you can link to the story.
Try to arrange your words into nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs, just like we did with our adventure story. I've started to collect some vocabulary below.

Yesterday, we recapped our understanding of right angles. Today we’re going to learn about two other types of angles.

Below is a picture of an acute angle (less than 90 degrees), a right angle (90 degrees) and obtuse angle (bigger than 90s but smaller than a straight line). There are also some examples of different angles. Can you label each angle correctly?

Listen to the two pieces of music below and answer these questions about it.

• How did it make you feel?
• What did you enjoy? Why?
• What didn’t you enjoy? Why?
• Which instruments can you hear?