Spring Term One
English - Friend or Foe
Whilst studying Friend or Foe, the children explore the feelings of the main characters and infer what they may be thinking and feeling during their evacuation from London. Children find evidence and detail in the text to justify their views. They consider and explore what the theme ‘friend or foe’ really means, using evidence in the text to justify their answers. They compare this text with other, similar texts in the genre and explore standard and non-standard English by looking at different conversations between the characters. They go on to explore figurative language while looking at the author’s vocabulary choices. For the main composition task, they write a new scene for the novel, paying attention to the features of dialogue, and prepare a presentation about the author for sharing with another primary school or class.
Maths
Science - Dangers to Living Things
This ‘Living Things and Their Habitats’ unit will teach the children about the process of reproduction and the life cycles of plants, mammals, amphibians, insects and birds. The children will explore reproduction in different plants, including different methods of pollination and asexual reproduction. They will recap their work in Year 3 by playing a game to name the parts of a flower. The children will have the opportunity to take cuttings from plants, creating clones of the parent plant. They will learn about different types of mammals and their different life cycles, making life cycle wheels to present their learning. Furthermore, the children will find out about Jane Goodall and her work with the now-endangered chimpanzees in Africa. They will explore metamorphosis in insects and amphibians, comparing their life cycles. Finally, the children will explore the life cycles of birds, and will write and star in their own wildlife documentary comparing the life cycles of different living things.
History - Ancient Rome
In this unit about the Romans, children will learn about the spread of the Roman Empire out of Italy and across large parts of Europe, parts of North Africa and West Asia. They will learn how Britain changed after the invasion and conquest by the Roman army in AD 43 and about the impact on daily life. Children will learn about the Roman legacy and will explore key historical terms such as 'empire', 'invasion' and 'conquest'. At the beginning of the unit, children will learn about the origins of the city of Rome and about its growth and position at the heart of the Roman Empire. Children will have the opportunity to study written primary sources and to explore why the Romans invaded Britain.
When learning about life in a Roman villa, children will undertake their own independent research. Studying the Romans will assist children in identifying similarities and differences, in using historical sources of evidence and will help them to develop the skills to ask and answer historical questions. Finally, this unit will help the children to understand how the Roman Empire influenced and shaped the world and that the Romans left a lasting legacy on the 'Britain' that we know today.
