Drumlins

INTEGRATED PRIMARY SCHOOL

Primary 4

 

 

Mrs Beswick is the teacher in Primary 4, as well as being the Vice Principal, and the classroom assistants are Mrs McKinney and Mrs Nugent. Every day is an action packed day of learning fun in P4 with so many new and interesting concepts in Literacy and Numeracy to take in! Our afternoons are that bit longer than they were in P1-P3 with the later finish time of 3pm, but we ensure the afternoon lessons are more relaxed with practical and informal lessons such as PE, ICT, Activity Based Learning and Art for example. 

Please read on if you wish to find out a little bit more of the learning areas covered in P4!

 

 

LITERACY

READING - We are delighted to use and support the Accelerated Reader Programme in our school which is effectively improving reading ability as a whole school. We take part in all types of reading within the classroom from guided reading to class novel, shared texts to paired topic reading and silent reading using the Accelerated Reading books in the school library.

Phonics and Word Work - Spelling, spelling and more spelling!!!! We love to learn how to sound out and spell more and more words in P4. We use the Readwrite Spelling scheme and complete sentence building activities related to our spelling lists every week.

GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION - We work hard to understand and identify the parts of grammar in the English language (nouns, adjectives, verbs etc) in sentences and texts. We also complete weekly proof-reading and editing tasks where we read and correct a short text which has lots of spelling and punctuation mistakes. This really helps to improve our own punctuation and spelling skills.

WRITING - We explore a range of writing genres in P4 and have the opportunity to experience writing an independent piece after a number of weeks spent studying the genre (procedural, narrative, recount, report, persuasive). We are always very proud of our completed writing pieces and enjoy reading them to the class/a partner and receiving positive feedback.

TALKING AND LISTENING - Every week in P4 there are opportunities to listen to, respond and take part in discussions on selected topics and texts. Circle Time is another time in the week where children have the opportunity to share news and experience sharing their thoughts and feelings on an issue and listening to others.

NUMERACY

We focus all year on times tables with weekly number fact learning taking place at home. P4 work very hard to master their 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 times tables so that they enter P5 with a quick recall of these times tables facts. Some P4s get awarded 'times tables wizz kids' as the year progresses when they know their times tables off by heart!

We use the New Heinemann Maths resource for all areas of Numeracy teaching. In Number we read, explore, identify and use mental and written strategies for adding and subtracting 2 3-digit numbers. Other areas in Numeracy including Data Handling, Measures, Shape and Space and Money are taught effectively using this resource. Problem solving activities take place every week where we have to identify a strategy to solve a mathematical problem. At times we get to work with a partner to solve a mathematical investigation. As the saying goes...'sometimes two heads are better than one!!'

 

WOLRD AROUND US

We explore a range of topics in P4 through the year:

Ourselves

Terrific Trees

World War 2

Australia

Birds, Bugs and Beasts

We make great use of the topic books, iPads and the computer suite in our school to find out as much as we can about the topic. We enjoy completing our topic activity booklets and creating fact posters, but the most enjoyable and very valuable part of topic time are the trips!! We love topic trips in P4 and visit some great places throughout the year including Castlewellan Forest Park and the Belfast War Memorial. These trips support and extend our learning of the topic being studied in school.   

ACTIVITY BASED LEARNING (ABL)

Each week P4 participate in activity based learning and the activities are associated with the particular topic being studied in class. The children work in small groups which helps to develop their co-operative and collaborative skills. They rotate around a variety of stations linked to art, drama, ICT, music, construction, Literacy and Numeracy. P4 love their ABL time!