In recent weeks, Year 4’s writing curriculum has taken pupils on a winding journey through a raft of genres and a variety of different writing disciplines, starting with October’s connection to Black History Month and a chance to research and construct their own biography on the inspiring and influential Rosa Parks. Children discovered and absorbed the key facts relating to Rosa’s upbringing and background prior to her historic defiance on 1st December 1955, which kick-started the Montgomery Bus Boycott and accelerated the American Civil Rights Movement.
As we headed into November, Year 4 pupils were transported to the Viking era, closely linked to our Topic focus for the term, where they immersed themselves in the legend of the mighty Beowulf, a warrior of the bravest calibre who travelled from Denmark to the kingdom ruled by King Hrothgar, where a fearsome beast by the name of Grendel was roaming freely into the great hall of Heorot each night and slaying the helpless villagers. Beowulf would be their saviour and Year 4 pupils took us through the keyhole of the towering Heorot doors and inside the great hall where they described the setting that greeted brave Beowulf, building upon their use of fronted adverbials through prepositional phrases, utilising ambitious vocabulary to fabricate expanded noun phrases and weaving examples of figurative language within their descriptions to personify objects, while incorporating similes and alliteration to paint the clear imagery needed for a successful setting description.
