Online resources for NAIDOC week

Indigenous Australians

National Tree Day is on Sunday 2 August with Schools Tree Day to be held on Friday 31 July Planet Ark is currently seeking individuals to register and run local tree planting and bush regeneration sites.

The Planet Earth in Our Hands online project aims to promote student voice and empower students to recognize and engage in responsible use of the earth's resources. Project activities and resources include a link to an interactive activity (Trees are Terrific) suitable for early years and primary years students and a forum encouraging students to write about their favourite tree and upload a photo.

Video showing techniques to support students with dyslexia

An excellent PD video showing techniques to assist students with dyslexia.

Primary TAs - Dyslexia Support | Teachers TV - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

We are living in a digital world.....

This musical parody shows some of the many ways an American class integrate technology into their third grade classroom. from ISTEvision

Teaching notes for books K-12

If you are searching for teaching notes for books from Kinder to year 12 try here
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools.



If you are looking for books to support certain topics, such as Cooking, Animals, Planet Earth, try here.

INFORMATION LITERATE STUDENTS

To develop information literate students:

"There are 2 effective ways to teach these skills.

The first is for the teacher librarian to talk to a class before they begin their research and then to be involved during the period.

The second is for the teacher librarian to design worksheets and assignment booklets with information literacy skills embedded into them.

Both methods require collaboration between the classroom teacher and the teacher librarian."

Victor Davidson

Ken Robinson shares his ideas.

KEN ROBINSON, EDUCATION & CREATIVITY EXPERT

"an awful lot of people who did well after school didn't do well in school."

"The people achieve their best when they firstly tune into their natural aptitudes."

"The second thing is that they love it.

"We all think and learn differently."

"Every one of us - all our children - have great natural abilities and talents and they're all unique. And that education clearly has to cover some common ground for everybody. You know, we all need to learn to read and write."


"There are several big bits to education. One of them is the curriculum, which is what it is we want people to learn; then there's teaching, which is how we help them to do it; and assessment, which is how we make some judgments about how they're getting on. ... And the bit they leave is the only bit that will ever make a difference which is the quality of teaching."

Check out these videos:

'Education systems too narrow': Sir Ken Robinson

Windows Media	Broadband

Extended interview with Sir Ken Robinson

Windows Media

Spelling-rules? do they rule?

Schools to rethink 'i before e'
The spelling mantra "i before e except after c" is no longer worth teaching, according to the UK government.

Advice sent to teachers says there are too few words which follow the rule and recommends using more modern methods to teach spelling to schoolchildren.

RHYME IN FULL
I before E except after C when the sound is EE
and sometimes followed by:
or when the sound is A as in neighbour and weigh

Judy Parkinson, author of the best-selling book I Before E (Except After C), told the Daily Telegraph it was a phrase that struck a chord.

"There are words that it doesn't fit, but I think teachers could always get a discussion going about the 'i before e' rule and the peculiarities of the English language, and have fun with it. That's the best way to learn.".

"There are so few words where the ei spelling for the ee sounds follows the letter c that it is easier to learn the specific words." These include receive, ceiling, perceive and deceit.


Jack Bovill, chairman of the Spelling Society, said "it would be helpful if spelling were allowed to evolve."

Read the comments and hints of spellers of the past:

Rhythm Has Your Two Hips Moving
Christine, Belfast

'George Eliot's old grandmother rode a pig home yesterday' was how we were taught to remember the spelling of geography. It conjures up an amusing mental picture that children are unlikely to forget.
Eva Hayes, Canvey Island, England

I use "practISe" (is = verb) and "practICE" (ice = noun). In a slightly abstract way, this works for "license" (verb) and "licence" (noun) as well - i.e. You cross-reference the practise/practice trick to remember which one uses the S or the C!
Dan, Manchester

The one that did the rounds at my primary school, probably because it was a bit disgusting, was 'Do in a rush. Run home, or expect accident'. Diarrhoea.
Dan Meyers, Lancaster, UK

And there's "a rat" in "separate"
Beth, Virginia, USA

Old Elephants Usually manOEUvre poorly.
Danny, Aberdeenshire Scotland

'They shouted Hey'. That one was taught to me at age 5 or 6 when I kept writing 'thay'(which was how it sounded to me).
Mallory, Amersham, Bucks

I always had awful trouble spelling 'friend', until my teacher pointed out that 'friend ends in end'!
Andy Parsons, Sheffield, UK

StationERy is for things like papER.

StationARy is for something that isn't moving, like a pARked cAR.
Dawn, County Durham

NECESSARY = Never Eat Cress Eat Salad Sandwiches And Remain Youthful!
Samantha, Leuchars, Fife

TeqSmart has loads of great SMARTresources.

Latest from: TequipmentSMART Learning for Educators

06/25/2009
Songs on the SMART Board
In elementary school classrooms students are often found singing and doing finger plays and rhymes. Teachers know that music encourages learning and has been linked with a child’s language development. Music stimulates the brain, and is correlated with children building vocabulary, gaining listening skills, and understanding basic mathematical concepts. Not only does music arouse the [...]

06/24/2009
SMART Notebook Math Beta is Released
SMART Technologies has released the beta version of SMART Notebook Math Software 2009. It’s a great leap forward in how Notebook works in the Math classroom, and it provides some incredible tools for interactive learning. Among the new features in SMART Notebook Math are: • Handwriting Recognition for Mathematical Equations • Equation Solving • Advanced Shape Creation and Manipulation • Improved Measurement Tools • Graphs

Image via CrunchBase

There are many other great resources including:

• Castle Tour in Google Earth 5.0
  Download this .kmz file for a tour of Castles from around the world. This .kmz file automatically installs itself in the latest version of Google Earth.

• Downloads are available here including Learning Objects and resources across each KLA area.

YouTube now available

from: InPrincipal
Use of YouTube by staff

Dear Colleagues,
I'm pleased to announce that after careful consideration from today the website YouTube will be available within the department for all staff.

YouTube is full of excellent teaching resources in many curriculum areas. And with YouTube now part of Google it has much stronger safe search features which we have been able to enable within the department. I'm sure staff will use the YouTube resources in an appropriate manner consistent with our acceptable usage policy. This is the first step in making other internet resources available to you and your students in a safe manner.

With my best regards, Michael Coutts-Trotter
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TAFE
NSW
26 June 2009

Annual School Report out today

Don't miss out on reading The Sandy Beach Public School 2008 Annual School Report- now available!!

The eldest child in every family was handed one with the school newsletter this week.

Teacher Requested Video Tutorial Library

Welcome to the teacher-requested video tutorial library. These short video tutorials provide subscribers with a quick way to learn or review various features of Smart Notebook.

Timez Attack Ready for use.

The base package of Timez Attack is available to schools for free.

Check out this video

It is now ready to go at school.
Come and see me or email me if interested.

Need to reinforce the teaching of fractions?

Go to Primary Resources Maths then access

Miscellaneous Resources:Maths then scroll down to

Chocolate bar maths ideas!!

Or try:

Dirt Bike Proportions
An exciting way to practice creating equivalent fractions. You compete against your mates, the computer or other fraction-maniacs around the world to find equivalent fractions quickly and accurately.

or plenty of other stimulating games and activities for fraction concepts at Interactive Maths.

Maths Extension Activities

Fortnightly problems for Stages 2 & 3 from CAP NSW

Problems

Brainwaves


Button Beach Challenge- problem solving

How can we celebrate NAIDOC week?

For some great ideas to celebrate NAIDOC week this July open this webpage.

Science and Technology on a shoestring budget

So easy and yet so much fun!!!
Toys from Trash

Test balance, astronomy, pumps and air pressure, light, electricity and magnetism........

SMARTboard resources

Looking for resources for your SMARTboard?

Try these:

Art and Design
Cross-Curricular
English and Language Arts
Food and Nutrition
Geography
History and Social Studies
Mathematics
Music
Science

Do you students have trouble using apostrophes?

Try these sites to reinforce the correct usage:

What are apostrophes? Find out all you need to know about apostrophes in this factsheet.

Are you ready to test your apostrophe knowledge?

Game
	Will you 'Beat The Clock' or find out 'Who Owns What'? Two games to help you practise apostrophes.

Worksheets
	Print out the newspaper exercises for practising apostrophes.

Create your own worksheets in seconds

From this site you can create your own customised maths worksheets in seconds-FANTASTIC for IWB use.

Jollybops are coming!!

Sandy Beach Public School will be hosting Jollybops on August 3rd.

K-2 Balloon -Science Concepts covered include Hot and Cold, Forces, Energy, Introductions to Solids, Liquids and Gases and Scientific Terminology.

YEARS 3-6 The children will be introduced to a series of scientific concepts including properties of gases, force, air pressure, gravity and its relationship to properties of materials, temperature and energy.

Digital Learning

Marco Torres, a technology and innovation educator to Barack Obama, has recently been visiting Australia talking to Julia Gillard.

He says: "Smartboards and laptops might be all the buzz in Australian schools, but both teachers and governments get too hung up on these tools of technology, and sometimes overlook their purpose. Click here to listen to him.

Online Story Maker for kids

My StoryMaker lets you control characters and objects - and creates sentences for you! Once you are done with your story, save it online or print it out in the Library.

Looking for images for your students to use?

Try: DK's free clip art!
This mini site will help support class and homework activities with downloads of DK's famous photographs that can be included in students' school projects.


"None of the Content may be downloaded, copied, reproduced, republished, posted, transmitted, stored, sold or distributed without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. This excludes the downloading of one copy of extracts from the Site on any single computer for personal, non-commercial home use only, provided that all copyright and proprietary notices are kept intact."

OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

New data on conditions affecting teaching in schools

A new OECD report out 16 June 2009 will provide the first internationally comparable data on conditions affecting teachers in schools based on the findings of the OECD’s survey in 23 participating countries.

The findings of the survey will be made public at press conferences in Mexico, with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, and Brussels, with OECD Deputy Secretary-General Aart De Geus, on Tuesday 16 June.


"Never before have we had the opportunity to gain such an understanding of the teaching and learning environment inside schools and how these contrast between and within countries."
Barbara Ischinger OECD Director of Education

Reports by country-Australia

Something to ponder

"A person hears only what they understand."
Goethe

Curriculum development timelines

Stage	Activity	Timelines K – 10	Timelines Senior years (11/12)
Curriculum Framing	Confirmation of the broad outline of the curriculum English, mathematics, the sciences and history	April 2009	April 2009
Curriculum Development	process for development of curriculum documents · Step 1 – development of scope and sequence · Step 2 – completion of 'detail' of curriculum	May – December 2009	June 2009 – January 2010
Consultation	National consultation on curriculum documents	January – April 2010	March – June 2010
Publication	Publication of national curriculum documents in digital and print format	June – July 2010	July – September 2010

Introducing ACARA

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is responsible for:

• A national curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12 in specified learning areas.

• A national assessment program aligned to the national curriculum that measures students’ progress.

• A national data collection and reporting program that supports:

  • analysis, evaluation, research and resource allocation; and

  • accountability and reporting on schools and broader national achievement.

The Hon Julia Gillard MP

Minister for Education. Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations

Minister for Social Inclusion

Deputy Prime Minister

8 June, 2009

Media release

Australia takes lead on bringing students into the 21st Century

The Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today announced that Australia will become a founding member for a new international multi-sector research project, the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) project.

The Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills project is a not for profit collaboration between Cisco, Intel, Microsoft and five founding member countries: Australia, Finland, Portugal, Singapore and the UK.

The international project, to be led by Professor Barry McGaw of the University of Melbourne, will develop new assessment tools for measuring key skills needed for the modern economy and society.

Research suggests that education systems have not kept pace with the changing global economy and advances in information and communications technology (ICT).

The findings of the project have the potential to inform the development of the new national curriculum. The development of new methodologies and assessment tools will also enhance our innovative national assessment program.

The Australian Government will work alongside other country representatives to explore the gap between the skills students are being provided with and what they require to participate fully in the modern world of work.

The Rudd Government is determined to strengthen Australia’s reputation as a world leader in education and build on its commitment to make sure all Australian students have the right skills to participate effectively in the global economy.

As part of the project a computer-based assessment system will be developed to test students’ abilities in cross-disciplinary analytical, creative, adaptive and problem solving skills, as well as their ability to work co-operatively.

Further information is available at www.atc21s.org

free e-security resources to help students to stay smart online.

School students stay smart online

Australian schools are being offered free e-security resources to help students to stay smart online.

"To help kids to be aware of how to be smart and secure online, we've launched new interactive learning modules, available free for all Australian schools."

"These tools are targeted specifically at Year 3 and Year 9 students and highlight the simple steps they can take to be smart online."

"Being more secure online can be as simple as getting a better, stronger password and updating it twice a year. Students should understand that their personal information is valuable and be careful about what they give away online."

The Budd:e E-security Education Modules feature e-security tips, games and video content. They have been developed specifically to provide an enjoyable and informative experience for students.

The Budd:e E-security Education Modules are available for download and order on CD-ROM from the Australian Government's e-security website www.staysmartonline.gov.au

Date: 5 June 2009
Contact: Tim Marshall 0408 258 457

from:

Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy

Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

DEPUTY LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE

Upcoming dates

14 June, World Refugee Week

21 June, Simply Sharing Week

26 June, Red Nose Day

World Music Day

Launched in 1982 by the French Ministry for culture, World Music Day on 21 June is celebrated in more than a hundred countries.

edna has compiled a theme page providing links to music education resources.

Email-changing default from student address to corporate address

Instructions to ensure corporate address comes up as the default list instead of student address.

Select the "Options" icon from the top right hand corner of your screen.
Click on "Messaging" from the left hand list, scroll the page until you get to "Address books".
Click on the "Order Address Book Category" button.
Click on whichever category you want to move (it will be highlighted once you select it) and then use the blue arrow buttons to move the selected category either up or down.
Click on "OK" to save your selection.

Connections-Connected Classrooms

Distance and Rural Technologies

See what is available for this month.

Digital Storytelling site from ISTE

Check out the featured stories and
create your own account to upload your work.
http://www.istevision.org/index.php

Mr. Skinny- Kindergarten and Digital Kindergartens

One Kindergarten class recites their ABCs using the digital tools that they use in their classroom or lab.

National Curriculum from A-Z!!

At this site you will find all you might want to know about the National Curriculum

A national curriculum is not necessarily an excellent curriculum
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8892
Jenny Allum, Head of SCEGGS in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, has expressed her reservations about the forthcoming National Curriculum. See her article in Online Opinion 12 May 2009.from:http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/schooled/school_theme_pages/curriculum

What do you think?

Reflecting on the fete day 2009 at Sandy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36701820@N02/show/

Great resources for Creative Arts

Creative Arts resources lead to great resources in dance, drama, music and

visual arts

Each section provides a selection of visual arts units of work for each stage.

Early Stage 1

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Looking for help with digital exhibition? Try this:

What is a digital exhibition? one section from :Integrating ICT in teaching and learning

A digital exhibition is an exhibition of student artworks which have been saved in a digital format.

In participating in exhibitions, students model the practices of artists in the art world and begin to view themselves as artists.

A digital exhibition has the potential to showcase students’ works which may otherwise be inaccessible for the larger community.

The consideration of audience is one of the ways in which students are asked to examine both their own artworks and the works of others in the K-6 Creative Arts Syllabus.

SMART Notebook Two-Minute Tutorials

Two-Minute Tutorials
Simply follow the links link on the website to watch a selection of Two-Minute Tutorials.

The links below updates you on all the new tools available On Notebook 10:
Notebook 10 video tutorial