Year 4

An Easter Egg Hunt

Today in our final Forest School session we had an Easter Egg hunt! At first count we had found 31 out of 50, so we had to go back to look for 19 more. We played our favourite game '123 where are you?' and practiced balancing as a Heron trying to protect the easter eggs. We got lots of time to play and explore today and enjoyed testing body co-ordination on the rope bridges!

Toasting 'Marchmallows'

This week at Forest School Maureen from Ulster Wildlife helped us to make our own campfire! We experimented with making a spark using fire flints, and learned about what materials help a fire to catch and burn. Our popcorn experiment didn't work out, but we made our own very tasty 'stick bread' and toasted marchmallows. When we were waiting for our food to cook, we listened to the story of 'How Rabbit stole fire form the Sky People.'

1-2-3 Where are you? - 1-2-3 I'm here!

This week at Forest School we learned all about the properties of Willow as well as how to spot it. We explored the Japanese Gardens by playing a version of Hide and seek called '123 Where are you?". Some people were very clever with their hiding places, great teamwork in working together to find everyone! We listened to the story of the dreamcatcher and tested our motor skills by making our own to take home. After all that we have some time to play and explore - in the swing, hammock and by investigating dens and whipping the ground with the willow. What great fun! Check out the pictures from this week below.

1,2,3,4 - I declare a mud war!

A very wet day today at Forest School - but we still managed to have fun! We found shelter in the trees where we learned some new songs such as 'I walk into the forest ....' and 'Ay -oh - Ay - Oh'. We had a competition to see who could run back and forth between our two shelter trees the most times in three minutes - The two winners were the captains of our mud war teams!

We were very out of breath after singing, marching and running so we cooled down with another blindfolded brain challenge. In two teams we had to find our number partner - without talking! We spun around and walked with our arms out until we found someone. We communicated our number to them through either clapping our number, or letting them feel how many fingers we were holding up. It took a long time for some of us to find our number partners, but in the meantime the fast finishers were busy looking at things through a microscope! We investigated the texture of a glove, a leaf and the bark of our shelter tree. 

Then it was time for the mud fight! In teams we had to work to make a mud concoction that was the right consistency using the natural materials around and some extra water. We had 10 minutes to make as many mud balls as possible before the ten minute battle. There were some interesting tactics! It got a bit slippy in the end but we had a great time. Have a look at some more of our pictures below. 

It's March!

We had a great second session at Forest School! We were surprised to see our 'Snack Table' being cut down when we arrived, it took a lot of work to remove that big tree!

We began with a game of 'Fox and Rabbit'. This is a great way to warm up if you're cold outside. We said Hello to our favourite tree and noticed some new leaves waving at us. 

We went on a very exciting sensory 'caterpillar walk' to a new secret location. We were blindfolded and relied on holding on to our friend in front and the sound of Miss Crean's claps to guide us in the right direction. We made it through the Japanese gardens and up some steps without peeking!

We were great at working as a team when challenged to recreate the alphabet using sticks found on the ground. It took some time but we got there in the end!

We finished with some free time to play and explore. We tested our balance and motor skills on the Hammock and rope swing and everyone was great at taking turns. Some of us experimented with creating sparks using fire flints or used a magnifying glass to investigate the bugs that were around. Some of the boys had a great time making a 'potion' at the little pond using and mixing materials they found around, and found a new type of bug that was swimming in the water!

Forest Schools At Botanic

This week we began taking part in 'Forest Schools' at Botanic. We will take it in turns to complete a 6 week block of outdoor learning with Miss Crean following the 6 Forest School Principles. Forest School takes place no matter the weather so it's important to dress for the weather conditions that day!

Some of the things we did in our first session included;

• Choosing our own boundaries and playing games to help us recognise them
• Blindfold games where we had to rely on other senses such as sound - just like bats do! We also played 'Find my Tree' with a partner where we had to use our other senses to get to know a tree, then find it again once the blindfolds were off!
• Time to run and play with our friends - a great way to warm up when outside in cold weather
• We listened to the story of Persephone, who rules over Springtime and causes the flowers to grow.
• We completed a meditative 'sit spot' and talked about what we could hear and see from our spot. It can be tricky to sit quietly and still for a few minutes but we notice a lot of interesting things when we do!
• We had our snack outside and remembered to care for the environment by clearing up all rubbish, including natural waste. 
• We climbed trees and helped each other carry logs from one side of our Forest School Site to the other.

We look forward to getting to know Botanic Park better in the coming weeks! Check out the pictures below to see the fun we were having outside.

More information about Forest Schools in Northern Ireland can be found on the Northern Ireland Forest School Association Website.

Fun with Park Life!!

Today we visited Botanic Park and investigated some of the trees in our local environment. We looked at which ones had leaves and learned the difference between moss and lichen. We collected beautiful Autumn leaves so that we could make squirrel collages and tested how well sycamore seeds flew as 'Helicopters'. What great fun!

Wow! Primary 4 were so lucky to be asked to be some of the first children to see the Dippy the Dinosaur skeleton being unveiled at the Ulster Museum, Belfast. We felt like superstars when we were surrounded by radio hosts and TV cameras asking us what we thought of Dippy!

Do you know where Dippy came from?

"As part of a road trip across the UK, Dippy is venturing out of London for the first time since 1905. He will visit the Ulster Museum from 28 September 2018 to 6 January 2019.  And he’s on a mission …to inspire five million natural history adventures, encouraging families to explore nature on their doorstep.   

Since his unveiling in the Natural History Museum in 1905, Dippy the Diplodocus became a star, and has featured in newspaper cartoons, news reports and even played starring roles in film and television. Dippy is cast from the type specimen found in America."

As part of the 'Dippy on Tour' programme the museum is hosting lots of free and fun family events. You can find out more about these events and book tickets by clicking this link!

We have been very lucky in Primary 4 this year to be able to take part in the Shared Education Project with Holy Rosary Primary School, which means we had the opportunity to visit Carrickfergus Castle! We had a great time with our new friends, exploring, learning about castles and collecting lots of interesting vocabulary for our poems.

We had excellent guides who told us all about the features of the castle; such as the portcullis, the keep and the grisly ‘murder hole!’.

We had fantastic fun dressing up in the education room. The chainmail was so heavy! We learned how a princess would cover her mouth and walk behind the prince at all times. We also learned that at times when the King of Prince was away fighting, his wife was in charge of running the castle!

We even had some time to relax and play with our new friends afterwards!

We visited the banquet hall and learned about the food and festivities at a castle banquet.

Did you know that salt was served in huge golden boats like this one?

What a great day out! Make sure to check out some other pictures from our trip in the slideshow below!

Primary Four Athletics

After our success in our dance module we have moved onto studying athletics and are beginning to prepare for Sports Day on the 8th June. We are very excited! In order to ensure we have the best chance of success on Sport's day we have been studying how different techniques can improve our running times and have been striving to beat our own personal best. We have really enjoyed timing each other on the ipads and working out our best time. The table below shows the times for our sprinting up and down the hall four times. Can you spot who has the fastest time in our class? Look below the table for some sprinting techniques and you might be able to beat our sprinting times!

How do we improve our sprinting times?

In Primary 4 we have been learning how to use the shape of our body to help us run faster. We began by learning the 'sprint start'. We place one foot behind the other, touch the start line with our fingers and look ahead at where we are going. We have also been learning how to speed up by improving our sprinting technique. Top Tips are;

1. Looking ahead at where we're going, not at our feet
2. Pumping our arms
3. High knees
4. Large strides
5. Powerful steps
6. Running on our toes
7. Keeping our chest up
8. Keeping our head up and steady.

Let's keep practicing to see if we can get any faster before sports day!

Primary 4 visit Parklife at Botanic Gardens!

Lucky us! Not only do we have the Danceathon today, we also got to take part in another great session with Parklife at Botanic Gardens! We got to feel a taxidermied badger and fox to find out which was softer. The badger had very sharp claws! We went on a twig search looking for thin, thick, smooth, knobbly, curved, straight and leafy twigs. We used these to make little mini-beast homes which we hung in the park when we were leaving. We even got to meet the Lord Mayor of Belfast and she was very impressed with all we knew about the park and wildlife! We looked at old pictures of important wildlife areas and used our senses to write about our favourite sights, sounds, smells and textures in the park. Today it was very wet and windy but we didn't let that spoil our fun. Check out some pictures from today below!

Pancake Tuesday in Primary 4!

Today we learned how to make pancakes! Follow our recipe to make your own at home.

You Will Need

• 225g plain flour
• 200ml milk
• 100g sugar
• a pinch of salt
• some cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 large eggs

Equipment

• Mixing Bowl
• Frying Pan
• Whisk
• Jug
• Measuring Scales

First crack two eggs into the mixing bowl. Be careful not to drop any little bits of shell in with it!

Measure out 100g of sugar and whisk it together with the eggs. Measure 200ml of milk and whisk this into the egg and sugar mixture.

Measure out 225g of plain flour into a separate bowl. To this add a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of baking powder. Little by little, add some of the dry mixture to the wet mixture, whisking all the time.

After that add some oil to the frying pan and let it heat up. Be very careful not to get too close to the hot oil, it's very dangerous! Once the oil is hot, use a spoon to pour four little circles of batter into the pan.

Watch the pancakes carefully. After a while you will notice lots of little bubbles appearing on the surface. This means the pancake is ready to flip! Flip the pancake and let it cook for a few minutes on the other side before lifting it onto a plate with a spatula.

Finally decorate the pancakes whatever way you like! We tried butter, sugar, honey and lemon juice. You could also try chocolate spread and other types of fruit. Enjoy!

Gymnastics in Primary 4

In our last term we have been learning gymnastic skills during P.E. We put together our own gymnastics routines and performed our routines to the class. We learned how to judge each other’s routines fairly and how to give and receive constructive criticism. Miss Crean was especially impressed with the children who thought about their whole body during the routine – not just their feet. For example, Arwa always made sure her toes were pointed, back was straight and arms were making beautiful flowing movements that complimented her routine. During our routines we focussed on travelling along wide and narrow benches, jumping in a wide shape, performing a safe landing, travelling by rolling and wowing the audience with a headstand, handstand or cartwheel. The children were asked to take their time, think about their poise and remain focused on their routine between moves. We have some great gymnasts in our class!

We continued our gymnastics at the beginning of this term using the large equipment. We learned a lot about how to keep safe using climbing equipment by staying below a certain height and making sure we had a spotter to watch out for us. We thought about different ways to climb and travel using benches and bars. We tested our upper body strength by learning how to climb a rope – it’s harder than it looks! On the floor we thought about how different animals travelled – bears, monkeys, crabs. We certainly got to know our bodies and our capabilities a lot better this term!

Check out some pictures from our Gymnastics sessions below!

Welcome to Primary 4!

Happy Half Term!

We hope you had a great time at the Half Term Disco this afternoon. We loved seeing all your costumes! You can check out some pictures of the costumes below. Have a great time off this Half term. Remember to stay safe and keep learning!

Mrs Thornhill, Mrs Harte and Miss Crean

Primary 4 Tree Investigation in Botanic Gardens.

We were lucky enough to enjoy a special session with Maureen from Ulster Wildlife. We learned how to measure the girth of a tree and use this to work out how old the tree was. We were very excited when we spotted a squirrel gathering nuts, a ladybird and a frog climbing one of the trees! We investigated different textures and living things we can find on tress such as the bark, tree sap, mushrooms, moss, lichen and leaves! We know how to tell if a sycamore tree is healthy by looking at the tar spots on the leaves and we had a great time flying 'helicopters' in a competition. What a fun afternoon, check out some photos below!

  Harvest Assembly

 P4 worked hard to present our harvest assembly. We learnt a song, some of us wrote our own poems to read to the school, some of explained the customs we have at harvest. We enjoyed  painting the fruit that we have collected. Some children in the school brought in non perishable food that was sent to a food bank. 

All of our photos are included in a power point to accompany the song Cauliflowers fluffy