Year 4

Writing for Different Audiences

In this unit children learn that ICT can be used to organise, reorganise, develop and explore ideas, and that working with information in this way can aid understanding. It also gives children opportunities to discuss their experiences of using ICT and how it is used in the wider world.

Children will be able to apply what they have learnt in this unit when identifying key points in a story or account, writing accounts in which details of character and action are used to interest the reader and using evidence and examples to support key points.

They will also be able to use their skills when writing narrative and non-narrative texts, producing accounts which draw on sources in history, clarifying ideas, developing criteria and suggesting ways forward in design and technology.

Developing images using repeated patterns

In this unit children learn to develop visual ideas and to realise these ideas using ICT. Children will need to use a computer graphics package to explore and experiment with ideas and will amend and modify their work to meet specific outcomes. They also learn to save their work as they go along.

Children learn to use ICT tools appropriately and will select areas of an image to cut, copy and change. They learn to export their work to other packages and import images from sources such as clip art, scanner or digital camera.

Branching Databases

In this unit children learn to use and create branching databases to sort and classify information.

Children will be introduced to 'yes/no' questions which separate a set of objects into two sub-sets. They are shown how to search and create branching databases.

Children will apply what they have learnt in this unit when classifying plants and animals in science.

Collecting and presenting information

In this unit children learn how to use a data handling package to create bar charts, pie charts and line graphs, and how to use this information to support an argument.

Children learn to collect information in a way that it can be easily processed; enter data correctly; select and create an appropriate graph for their purpose; consider how to frame questions. They also learn to compare the effectiveness of different charts and use their charts to test hypotheses.

Children will be able to apply what they have learnt in this unit when collecting information and producing graphs and charts in mathematics, geography and science.

Modelling effects on screen

In this unit children learn to enter instructions to control a screen turtle and will compare the operation of the screen turtle with a floor turtle.

They learn how to write a procedure that 'teaches' the computer a new word and will be asked to write short sequences to produce particular shapes on screen. They understand that screen steps are smaller than floor turtle steps and will be asked to repeat procedures to produce 'crystal flowers' by rotating the screen turtle through 360 degrees.