Tuesday 7th July

Are you still working your way through the Scratch cards?

I thought it may be a nice idea if you find any good and free games or sites to let me know and I can post them and share with everyone else.

You are spending so much time using computers at the moment that it would probably be a good idea to take a little break. You are doing so much of your daily learning from a scree-based devise that your eyes will welcome the rest.

Tuesday 30th June

Hello again Y4 

How are you all getting on with your coding and Scratch activities?

Continue to look on this website to find more ideas that you think look like fun! 

There so many projects with instructions here, so you can do as many as you like!

  *** Remember, you have a few weeks to complete them so do not rush. *** 

Tuesday 23rd June

Good morning Year 4!

If you have powered through the projects from the past two weeks and are ready for some more ideas to do on Scratch, you can have a look on this website to see if any of these ideas look good to you. There are lots and lots of projects with instructions here, so you can have a go at as many as you like!

Have fun!

Tuesday 9th June & Tuesday 16th June

Hello Year 4!

Since we have finished our internet safety module, I thought it would be a perfect time to do a recap on coding!

Please work at your own pace to play 2code games on Purple Mash, or to complete Scratch tasks. This may take you a few weeks, there is no need to rush!

I have copied the link for Scratch in to this webpage plus there are PDF documents saved for various coding activities.

Have fun!!! 

Tuesday 2nd June

Good morning Year 4!

Today is our final lesson of our internet safety module, and it is to do with screen time.

Screen time is just what the name says - the amount of time you spend in front of a screen! Computers, phones, tablets and TVs are all included in 'screen time'. 

Think about how much time you spend in front of a screen... I bet it's quite a lot, especially at the moment with all of your Home Learning being done on computers and zoom calls to keep in touch with people! I know I am spending a lot of time in front of screens at the moment. 

Let's think about some good things about spending time in front of screens.

• We can learn new information.
• We can keep in touch with friends and family.
• We can play games.
• We can watch interesting videos, programmes and films.

Can you think of any more?

Now let's think about some bad things about spending time in front of screens.

• We might not be getting enough exercise.
• We might be staying up too late and not getting enough sleep.
• We could get sore eyes and headaches.

Can you think of any more?

Use this table to help you think of some of the positives and negatives for having a lot of screen time, and think about what the main reasons are for you. For me, the best positive of screens is I get to set work for all of you lovely lot, and the negative is I get sore eyes if I look at a screen too long. 

If like me you have decided you would like to have a break from screens for a little bit today, here are some ideas of 'non-screen' activities you might like to do!

Have fun! 

Tuesday 19th May

Hello Year 4, today we are going to be learning about computer viruses and malware and how we can protect our computers from them!

You may have heard of computer viruses, or maybe anti-virus software. 

Software is a program that is on the 'inside' of a computer. Hardware is the bits of the computer you can see and touch, like the mouse, keyboard and screen.

A computer virus is something that makes your computer software poorly and stop working like it should. Some might make it go slower, some might make it stop working altogether! Anti-virus software acts like medicine for your computer and blocks the programs. 

Luckily there are clues that tell you if a website or email might be suspicious. I have had a few 'dodgy' emails lately that I haven't opened...one of them told me I had won £234.08 and to visit 'myclaim241.com'! It didn't sound very realistic to me! 

This powerpoint explains more.

Tuesday 12th May

Today we will be continuing with our internet safety topic! Your task today is to design some kind of visual (e.g. poster, picture, video) that could be displayed around school or sent out to your classmates' houses telling them how to stay safe online. 

There are some ideas on the powerpoint and poster below - you might want to use the SMART template to make sure you don't miss anything out! 

To make your visual, you could do it: by creating a poster by hand, making a collage, using Purple Mash (I have set a 'to do' in case you choose this option), using a computer to combine your ideas, filming a video like an advert - you could even do it in 'meme' format to make it really memorable! It is your choice. 

Have fun spreading the word about how to stay safe online!

Tuesday 5th May

Good morning Year 4!

Today we will be starting our new unit - Online Safety. This will be especially useful during this time when we are all using the internet a lot more than we usually do!

We will be using pages 5-9 in the scheme of work - ask an adult to help you. All of the activities related to today's learning have been set as 'to dos' on Purple Mash.

You will learn about how to protect yourself from identity theft (by never giving your personal details away to 'scam' emails) and how everything you do online leaves a 'digital footprint'. This is nothing to be scared of, your digital footprint can be a good thing, but you need to be careful to not leave a bad footprint behind you!

Tuesday 28th April

Welcome back Year 4, today is when we finish off our animation topic! 

You have your Cracking Contraption that you designed last week that does a job for you, e.g. tying shoe laces or buttering toast.

Your task is to use 2Animate on Purple Mash to show a quick film of how your machine works - or doesn't work if it is anything like the ones Wallace and Gromit make! Maybe your machine works perfectly, or maybe it accidentally blows up... 

The trick is to just change each picture by a small amount so it looks like the film is flowing. Using the onion skin tool, you can trace your previous picture to make it look nearly the same.

I'm looking forward to seeing how your machines perform!

Tuesday 21st April

It's time to carry on with our animation topic! You can find the first two sessions below to build up your skills and knowledge before moving on to today's learning. You may want to have another practise on 2Animate to make sure you remember how to use it (I have set it as a to do in case you do!) 

We are working on lesson 3 in the Scheme of Work today, but we will be doing this over a few lessons as it will take time to build up our ideas. 

We are aiming to eventually create a 'Cracking Contraption' in the style of Wallace and Gromit! But first, we need to know who Wallace and Gromit are and what a 'Cracking Contraption' is. Watch some of the videos on this website to find out!

Today you are going to design your own 'Cracking Contraption'! Your task is just to design it, we are not animating it today.

Think of something you need to do most days that is really annoying that you would like a machine to do for you. Maybe it would be tidying away clothes, or buttering your toast, or even opening doors for you around the house! 

You can design your machine however you like - by drawing on paper, creating it on Purple Mash or another program on your computer, or even building it yourself out of some old cardboard or materials you have in your house! You decide. 

Have fun inventing your design!

Tuesday 31st March

We will be continuing with our animation unit this week! (If you haven't completed the first task yet, do that first before moving on to this one. You can find it below.)

Your task will be using 2Animate on Purple Mash again which has been set on your 'to do' list. Today we are using the 'onion skinning' tool.

We will be working on 'lesson 2' in the scheme of work, which is pages 7-9. Look on there for instructions on what to do.

Good luck!

Tuesday 24th March

We are starting our new unit of 'Animation' on Purple Mash!

We will be using the 2Animate tool which has been set in your 'to do' list on the Purple Mash website. You can also find it in the 'Tools' section under 'Art and Design'.

Guidance and instructions for Lesson 1 can be found on pages 4-6 of the scheme of work.

(Note: on our medium term plan we were due to be starting spreadsheets, but animation was a more 'user friendly' unit to be done at home!)

User guide for extra information on how to use the 2Animate tool.