How has your week started?  Thank you to all of you who have already sent in work this week, well done for having such a strong start to the week. 

How did you get on creating a timeline of events for your story yesterday?

Today you are going to expand each of these events by writing 3 or 4 bullet points under each one detailing exactly what is going to happen in that part of your story. 

For example, if the problem in your story is that your characters have got lost in a museum, you will need to add more detail. 

• Tom and Eva turn around to have a look at a Roman soldier's helmet
• When they turn around they see that the rest of their class has left
• Tom thinks he knows where they have gone so they go to the next room
• In the next room they can't find their class and realise they are lost

You should do bullet points like this for all 5 parts of your story. 

In Chapter 17 the Royal Guard are given a simple choice, keep up with the lie or stand up against Spittleworth. Which way will they choose?

https://www.theickabog.com/goodfellow-makes-a-stand/

What do you think of Captain Goodfellow's behaviour? Do you think he did the right thing?

How did you get on breaking down your day into different activities yesterday? Thank you to all of you who have shared your work. 

Today we're going to recap some of the basics of telling the time, just to remind ourselves. We're going to imagine that a clock only has one hand - the hour hand. 

Work through the questions below. 

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Yesterday, we looked at the artwork of Georgie Fay. Lots of her art is based around the theme of nature and landscapes. 

Your task today is to create your own piece of art based around nature. You can do this in lots of different ways.
You could:

• Take photos of things from nature that you see around you. 
• Use the drawing features on Purple Mash to create a landscape picture.
• Paint a landscape.
• Use pencils to draw and shade a landscape.
• Use collage.
• Think of another way all of your own. 

Don't forget to share your art with us. We can't wait to see it. 

• Send in your work so we can see all the amazing things you're doing. 
• Ask for help if you need it. (We're both at school on Tuesdays so sometimes we can't reply as quickly but we will answer you when we can.)
• Keep smiling.

Work hard, stay safe and be kind. 

​Ruth and Emily

How was your weekend? What activities did you do? Let us know on Purple Mash, maybe you could even share a photo of something you did or made. 

We have spent the past two weeks building up the characters and setting of our stories. 

This week, we are moving onto planning our stories. Remember, planning is not writing. Planning is the skeleton of the story, it's really important to have the structure before you can add all the final touches when you come to do the writing. 

Today we're going to think about the timeline of events that happens in your story.
Break it down:

1. What the first thing that happens?
   
2. What happens after that?
   
3. What is the problem that's going to happen in your story?
   
4. How is that problem going to be solved?
   
5. How is your story going to end?

Think about each of these questions and put them on a timeline plan like the one below. 

Poor Mrs Beamish is so desperately sad at the death of her husband. Lord Spittleworth is cooking up a plan and Nobby Buttons is to blame. Click the link below to read Chapter 16. 

https://www.theickabog.com/bert-says-goodbye/

Today, your task is to draw an illustration of a very sad Bert and Mrs Beamish. 

This week, we are starting a new topic in maths. We are going to spend the next two weeks learning about time. 

Time is a tricky topic, it is something that you need to practise regularly. Today, we're going to think about how we spend our time each day. 

Below is a circle split into 24 segments, because there are 24 hours in a day. 

Ruth has coloured in one of the diagrams to show how she will use each of those hours today. Your task today is to record what you do for each of the 24 hours in the day. You can use a circle like this or you can create a table for each hour. 

This week is the first of three Children's Art Weeks. This week's theme is the Natural World. Over the next three weeks, we are going to have a look at the art work of three different artists and answer questions about their work. This week the artist we are looking at is Georgie Fay, just like us she is from London. 

Follow this link: https://www.halfmoon.org.uk/whats-on/gallery/past-exhibitions/georgie-fay/ and go to the bottom of the page to see lots of Georgie's work. 

Now think about these questions. 

• Look at ‘Halfway Home’ (Picture 17). How many birds can you see? Can you draw a flock of birds flying? 
  
• Look at ‘Bird in Flight’ (Picture 26). This picture is made up of lots of different photographs. Describe what you can see.
  
• Look at all the pictures and decide which is your favourite. Complete these sentences: 
  
  • I like picture number ... which is called ...  .
    
  • I like it because ... .   
    
  • It makes me feel ... .
    
• The pictures in the exhibition show lots of different places and journeys. Which picture would you like to jump into and go on that journey, and why? 
  

• Keep sending in and sharing the work you're doing. 
• Ask for help on Purple Mash if you need it, last week lots of you did this and it was great. 
• Remind your parents to check the school newsletter regularly. 

Work hard, stay safe and be kind.

Ruth and Emily

And we're at the end of another week. We are now over halfway through this final half term of Year 4, there are only 3 weeks left of what has been a very strange year at school!

This week we have another (and potentially final) mystery to solve. 

This week, the mystery you are tasked with solving is all about toy in a party bag. You will need to read through the short explanation at the beginning before trying to solve each of the five clues. Once you have solved the clues you should be able to work out who has stolen the gifts.

When you have worked out who stole the gifts, create a piece of dialogue between Freddie and the culprit. What might Freddie say? How might the culprit respond? Will they have a believable excuse? Don't forget, you can decide what happens. 

​In Chapter 15 the King returns to Chouxville.

https://www.theickabog.com/the-king-returns/

The chapter is packed full of people feeling different emotions. How did you feel reading this chapter? Were you scared? Were you sad? Were you worried for any of the characters?
Choose three characters from the following: 

• Fred the Fearless
• Lord Spittleworth
• Daisy Dovetail
• Mrs Beamish
• Bert Beamish

In the chapter how do you think they are feeling?
Come up with three words that show their emotions during this chapter. 

If lockdown was a colour, what colour would it be? Why?
Share your thoughts on Purple Mash, we'd love to hear what you think. 

• Find time to relax over the weekend. 
• Spend some time doing something you really enjoy. 
• Let us know what you get up to on Purple Mash. 

Have fun, stay safe and enjoy yourselves. 

​Ruth and Emily

And so we come towards the end of another week and what a week it has been. How have you survived in the hot weather?

We have been so impressed with the work we've received from you this week and it's been great to see more of you getting involved in the home learning. Keep it up!

Zakiya has created a lovely picture to show the setting of her story. 

Zahraa worked really hard to think of the setting of her story and come up with lots of adjectives to describe it. 

Yousif has continued to work hard this week and keeps sharing his work each day. 

Yasin has been hard at work this week, he also celebrated his birthday. Lots of people shared their birthday greetings with him on Purple Mash. 

Usama popped in to see us at the book swap on Monday, it was great to see him. Here is some of the work he's done this week. 

Teo has continued to impress us with his maths work. Keep it up!

Sabine has shown a great growth mind set with her work this week. She has revisited questions to give them another go as well as asking for help when she's found it challenging. 

Maya has done a great job of trying to work independently and showing resilience. 

Khadijah has worked really hard on her subtraction work this week as well as creating lots of similes to describe her setting. 

Hannah also attended the book swap this week and has continued to share her amazing work with us. 

Asma has shared some of her maths learning on Purple Mash.

Angelina has done a very detailed drawing of the setting of her story.  

Amal has been uploading her work more regularly this week, it's been great to see what she's got up to. 

It's been great seeing all Alfred's work this week and hearing more from him on Purple Mash too. 

Usama and Hannah for coming to the book swap. 

Khadijah for working really hard over the past few days, keep it up!

Zainab, Khadijah, Maya, Asma and Sabine for using Purple Mash to ask for help when they need it. 

Keep up the good work Year 4, let's see if we can get even more people in the hall of fame next week. 

Thank you to all of you who have sent in work. Come back later to have a look at all the good learning and see if you get a special mention. 

Similes and metaphors are a great way of building imagery into our writing. We have looked at them before. 

This video explains a bit about them to remind you of what the difference is. (The video is made to teaching you about poems, some of the types of imagery it talks about aren't needed for our fictional story.)

Create 3 similes and 3 metaphors related to the scene that you drew on Monday. 

In Chapter 14 the men return from the Marshlands after the terrible accident. Fred wants to keep everything quiet, but Lord Spittleworth has other ideas. 

https://www.theickabog.com/lord-spittleworths-plan/

Lord Spittleworth is hoping that the news of the Ickabog spreads quickly and makes the beast sound as fearsome as possible. 
​"His entire plan rested on a king who not only believed in an Ickabog, but who was scared it might leave the marsh to chase him."
Your job is to help Lord Spittleworth with the most outrageous description of the Ickabog you can manage. In your description use words to describe it's size, how it made you feel, the smell and the sounds. Imagine you are telling everyone in Jeraboam all about this beast. Make it sound as scary as you can! 

We're continuing with yesterday's theme and doing some more problem solving involving addition and subtraction today. 

A few things to remember:

• You must use 10 numbers. 
• The numbers must total 37. 

If you're finding it impossible, come up with an explanation for why it isn't possible. 

What is the closest number you can make to 37 instead?

We're continuing with our work trying to understand how computers and the internet really work. Today we're going to be thinking about the question: How do the internet and search engines work?

Follow this link to watch the two videos: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zn6vgwx

Once you've watched the videos, head here https://studio.code.org/s/hero/stage/1/puzzle/1 to continue using your coding skills. 

• Check back later to see this week's Good Learning and Special Mentions blog.
• Continue to use Purple Mash to ask for help if you are stuck, more and more of you are doing it and it's the quickest and easiest way for us to clarify things for you. 
• Send in or upload your work so we can see what you've been getting up to. 

We miss you lots!

Ruth and Emily

We're already at the middle of the week. All the weeks seem to be going very quickly at the moment. 

Keep uploading and sending in your work, especially if you want to be including in tomorrow's Hall of Fame. 

How did you find yesterday's task, collecting lots of nouns and adjectives? 

Today, we are returning to one of the key grammatical features that we focus on in Year 4, expanded noun phrases. 

Remember, an expanded noun phrase comes in a sentence and adds description. It has adjectives to describe the noun, a noun, and a prespostional phrase. An expanded noun phrase is not a sentence on its own because it does not have a verb in it. 

For example:

large, oak table in the middle of the kitchen
​
wide murky river with no bridge across it

These two videos might help remind you about expanded noun phrases and prepositional phrases.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn/articles/z3nfw6f

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zwwp8mn/articles/zw38srd

In Chapter 13 there is a terrible accident. We won't spoil it for you so read on to find out what happens. 

https://www.theickabog.com/the-accident/

"Boulders loomed suddenly out of nowhere like ghostly elephants, and the rustling reeds sounded just like snakes. Though Spittleworth and Flapoon knew perfectly well that there was no such thing as an Ickabog, their insides didn’t seem quite so sure."

There is some wonderful imagery in this paragraph...

• boulders like ghostly elephants
• rustling reeds sounded like snakes 

What image do they place in your mind?

Today, we are going to use our subtraction and addition skills to see if we can identify patterns in a number sequence. 

You need to choose any four consecutive numbers (numbers that come after each other) and place them in a row with a bit of a space between them, like this:

4     5     6     7

Once you've chosen your consecutive numbers, stick with those same ones for quite a while.
Now place + and − signs in between them, something like this :

4 + 5 - 6 + 7

4 - 5 + 6 + 7

and so on until you have found all the possibilities.

Are you sure you've got them all?  You should include one using all "+"s and one that includes all "−"s.

Now work out the answers to all your calculations (for example 4 - 5 + 6 + 7 = 12 ).

Now try another set of four consecutive numbers and look carefully at the answers you get each time.

Are you surprised by anything you notice? Are there any similarities to the answers you got for your first set of numbers?

CHALLENGE: It is good to ask the question "I wonder what would happen if I ... ?"
 Here are some examples:

• What would happen if I took the consecutive numbers in an order going down, instead of up?
• What would happen if I only used sets of three consecutive numbers?
• What would happen if I used more consecutive numbers?

Pick a question to investigate further.

It's Wednesday, so our topic learning this afternoon is Spanish. 

Head over to the Spanish blog to see today's task, the new learning today is all about places you might find in a town or city. 

​https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/spanish-blog

• If you haven't already done so, have a look at some of the illuminated letters up on Twitter. 
• Upload or send in your work for us to see, will you make it to the hall of fame this week?
• You can always use Purple Mash to ask us for help, sometimes we are at school and so can't answer immediately but when we see you've written a question we will always find time to answer it. (You might just need to be a bit patient!)

Work hard, stay safe and be kind. 

Ruth and Emily

How has your week started? Thank you to all of you who have already sent in some of your work or uploaded it to Purple Mash. It's great to see what you're getting up to. Will we have even more people on this week's hall of fame?

What do you think of the different Weekly Wellbeing activity yesterday? You can find today's below. 

Yesterday, you drew a detailed picture of the setting for your story. Today, your task is to think of adjectives and nouns that you could use to describe the scene. 

Firstly, pick out things in the picture that you think are important. For example, it might be a table, a river or a swing.

Secondly, think of one (or two) adjectives you could use to describe this thing. For example you might have a large, oak table, a wide, murky river or a rusty, slightly broken swing. 

Try to collect at least 10 groups of adjectives and nouns based on yesterday's picture. The more you collect now, the easier it will be to write some detailed description later.

Yesterday, we looked at jigsaw numbers, these are really important when we are developing our mental subtraction strategies. 

Let's have a look at the steps below. 

Remember, with these methods the aim is to move from using the full method, to being able to solve the entire subtraction in your brain. The steps are the same we just need to be able to hold more numbers in our head. 

Complete your illuminated letter alphabet that you started yesterday. Don't forget to share photos of your work when you are finished. 

• Keep checking the assemblies blog, it's updated each week.   https://www.virginia.towerhamlets.sch.uk/assemblies-blog
• Upload your work to Purple Mash, or if you can't do that, email it to Joan so that we can share your work on Thursday's blog. 
• Find time to read, rest and relax too. 

​Stay kind, stay safe, stay in touch.

Ruth and Emily

How was your weekend? What did you get up to? Why not share your weekend adventures with us on Purple Mash, we'd love to hear what you did. 

Ruth has just read a book called The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, it was full of lots of thought provoking  pictures and quotes which we are going to use for our Weekly Wellbeing tasks this week. Have a look at the picture and think about the question. 

Last week, we thought about the two main characters we are going to have in our stories. This week we are going to think about the setting of our story. Perhaps you have decided your story is going to take place in a school, maybe it's in a jungle or it might be in someone's house. 

Your task today is to draw a detailed picture of the setting for your story. Remember to include any bit that you think might be useful to mention when you write your story. 

How are you finding the story? It's been great to see some of your interactions with the story so far. 

In Chapter 11 we follow Fred the Fearless on his adventure to the north. We hear about where he stays and how Spittleworth and Flapoon cope along the way.

https://www.theickabog.com/the-journey-north/

Imagine you are a guest in the finest inn of Kurdsburg, how do you feel about being thrown out onto the street to make way for King Fred?

Last week, we looked at addition, this week we are moving onto subtraction. 

When we are developing quick and accurate ways to mentally solve subtraction problems it is important to feel confident with our knowledge of jigsaw numbers to 100. 

Today's questions are all about developing that efficiency with jigsaw numbers. 


1. Rearrange the digits 8, 3, 0, 0, 2, 6, 1 into a jigsaw number addition.

2. ?? + 7 = 100

3. Fill in the missing digits: 100 = _5 + 4_

4. Pom thinks that 100 - 35 must be 75 because 100 - 70 = 30 and 10 - 5 = 5. Can you persuade him that he is wrong?

5. Complete 100 - ?? = ?? so that the sum of the digits in all the numbers is less than 20. (Remember: Sum means when you add them all together, so the sum of the digits in 34 and 28 is 17 because 3+4+2+8 = 17.)

6. What is the greatest number of odd digits you can use to complete 100 - ?? = ?  ?     

Last week, we looked at illuminated letters. This week we are going to make our own! 

Sometimes, illuminated letters have a picture or a pattern than links to words beginning with that letter. Have a look at the letters below to see what you can see beginning with each letter. 

• Book swap this afternoon from 2pm-3pm, it would be great to see as many of you as possible. 
• Upload your work to Purple Mash, of if you can't do that email it to Joan. We want to see even more of you sending in your work this week. 
• If you have any questions about your work let us know on Purple Mash and we will try and help. 

Stay safe, work hard and be kind.

Ruth and Emily

It's the end of another week. Well done for all your continued hard word and effort.

If you haven't read it already, take a look at yesterday's good learning blog, there are some amazing pieces of work there. 

Here is your Feelings Friday activity.

This week's challenge is help the police work out who has stolen the trophy from a football competition. 

You will need to use lots of different mathematical skills including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, dividing by 10 and 100 and rounding decimals. Good luck!

When you have solved the mystery, write a diary entry as the chairman of the football organisation. How did you feel when you realised you weren't holding the real cup? What did you decide to do when it broke? Who do you think committed the crime and why?

In Chapter Ten King Fred heads out towards the Marshlands to fight the Ickabog. But, how will everyone in the City-Within-The-City walls react when they hear the news? 

https://www.theickabog.com/king-freds-quest/

Can you find all the evidence that shows Fred is proud of his appearance?

We are all unique and special in our own ways.
But what makes you, you?
Create a jar (or if you have a jar at home, you could use a real one) and put in the jar all the things that make you, you.
Ask a family member to do the same – how are they different?
Are there any things that are the same?

Share photos of your jars and what makes you you on Purple Mash. 

• Keep sending your work in via Joan or uploading it to Purple Mash.
• Find time to rest and relax over the weekend. 
• If you are able to, come along to the book swap on Monday afternoon from 2pm - 3pm. 

Have fun, be kind and enjoy your weekend. 

Ruth and Emily

Good morning Year 4, how has your day started?

This morning there is a special national assembly with the Duchess of Cambridge, it is live at 11am and you can find it here: ​https://classroom.thenational.academy/assemblies/

Here is today's Thinking Thursday task. 

How did you get on creating your second character yesterday? 
How is their personality different to the personality of the first character you created?

Some of you might have guessed what today's task is. Your job today is to decide on the appearance of your second character. Remember, you might want to make links between their personality and their looks. Draw a picture of this character and label it with the important information. 

Have you given either of your characters a name yet? If not, now might be a good time to do that. It will be helpful next week if you already have a name for them. 

We're going to apply our addition skills in a different way today. This task requires you to be able to add two or three numbers to make 100 and so you will need to be using your knowledge of jigsaw numbers to help you. 

Each circle in the pattern has a total of 100, you need to work out what the missing numbers in the circle are. 

CHALLENGE: Using the same numbers in the circles above, can you work out which new numbers would be needed if the circle total became 150 and not 100?

This week, we are continuing to learn about computer systems. 

Today's task is based around answering the question, how do we get computers to do what we want them to do?

Follow this link to BBC Bitesize: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zht4kmn and work through the activities. 

There are some videos to explain new concepts as well as some activities to help you embed your new knowledge. 

• Check back later for today's good learning and special mentions. 
• Book swap is next Monday from 2pm-3pm, last time 4 of you came, let's see if we can have at least double that this time!
• Keep sending in your work, we love seeing what you're getting up to and it's helpful to see how we can help you. 

Keep working hard, we miss all your smiling faces!

Ruth and Emily