Wednesday, September 12, 2012
This is my second attempt at 
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Thing Link
ThingLink
ThingLink is a wonderful tool where a single image can be used as storage for stimulus links. For example:
English:
A creative writing piece on penguins could include links to YouTube with footage of penguins, to research websites dealing with the topic such as national geographic, to examples of poems and short stories, to an image bank etc...
History:
An image of London in the 16th century could include links of important buildings which when clicked on would go to visuals of that building. Important events could be linked to YouTube explanations etc...
Geography:
Students studying a particular country, say China - could add links to images and interesting facts and details concerning that country.
The important thing is to make the 'grabs' of information brief and of high interest particular where middle school students are the target audience.
Multiple Intelligence apps
Here is one example of what can be achieved. For more examples got to the ThingLink gallery
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The Crucible Online Resources
Researching the Crucible
Background
McCarthyism - part 1/5 The Hollywood Ten (1950) Miller Interview, Part 1 Miller Interview, Part 2 Miller Interview, Part 3 The Atheism Tapes - Arthur Miller - Part 1 and 2Aurthur Miller, Salem, MA (1991): Crucible & Trials
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Lit2Go
Lit2Go is a fabulous website that offers 'classic' (for want of a better term) audio books for free. The books can be downloaded chapter by chapter - a chapter download only takes around 30 seconds or so. The books are organised via author, book titles, genres, collections and readability. The site would make an excellent differentiated addition to your wide reading programs OR if you happen to choose a text that is a 'classic', for example a text by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Mark Twain etc..., then students who need audio support can download the text on their netbooks as pdf or as an audio file.
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/authors/index/s/
Monday, June 18, 2012
Registrations now Open for Booksellers & Libraries
Registrations are now open for booksellers and libraries to participate in the September 2012 "50 Books You Can't Put Down" campaign, Australia's largest celebration of books and reading.
This year there is loads to celebrate as we release the first ever ALL AUSTRALIAN 50 Books You Can't Put Down Guide.
To get onboard this year's campaign, booksellers and libraries can email getreading@trustandc.com.au
for a password, then head to www.getreading.com.au to register online. Registrations close 31 July.
Get ready for the party to start on 1 September this year!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Hugo 'Metro' Online Study Guide
Metro has created a film study guide for 'Hugo'. The film is based on the novel/graphic novel by Brian Selznick titled 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret', a beautifully drawn and scripted novel well worth oncluding in your collection (if you have not already done so).
During our recent Year 8 'Book in a Bag' wide reading presentations, one of our students delivered a truly engaging review of the novel. As a result and of course, helped by the film's release we are finding it hard to keep up with demand.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Shakespeare and Prezi
This last week I have been working on three Prezis for one of our senior English teachers who wanted to introduce Shakespeare (Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet). I found three Prezis which had been uploaded by previous English teachers and which were effective and included most of the information this teacher wanted to include. I then downloaded them into my files and began to tinker. I probably altered and added about 40 - 50% of the material. It was fun and the end result was engaging. I can highly recommend Prezi as the place to look for resources as well as the presentation tool to use for a variety of mediums.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Plus7 T.V. - shows online for free
Browse and view shows from 38 days to an entire year after screening on T.V. A great way to show extracts or view the entire show with a class after the event. Terrific for those times when you weren't expecting worthwhile viewing.
Monday, April 30, 2012
2012 CBC Short List!
The 2012 CBC Short List has been announced! Scan the QR codes below to be taken to teachers' notes (if available) and/or reviews - enjoy.
The Golden Door
Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sites2See - Online Stories for Interactive Whiteboards
is a great website with wonderful links to resources - well worth bookmarking.
Beantime Stories looks very useful and includes parents' instructions.
Roy: Tale of a Singing Zebra - the second link unfortunately is blocked for GGS at present but could be unblocked shortly (fingers crossed).
Seussville looks particularly colourful and fun but the interactive books are not free.
Sebastian Swan has a parents' page and so could be set for homework or advised as a site for parents to explore with their children.
Literactive is free but you need to join and use a password. It also includes some excellent hard copy resources but they need to be purchased.
old picture books is fabulous!
Storybooks at Magickeys is also a fabulous resource.
But check out the site yourself:http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/8005/
Monday, April 23, 2012
A blog well worth following
I recently stumbled across this blog (Teach with Picture Books) whilst surfing for attractive sites that featured instruction on persuasive writing. Check out the links in this article, in particular, I have them bookmarked and will be adding them to my Junior English blog (when I find time, lol).
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Question Generator
Having good questions is the key to any successful research task.
Do you want a fun an easy way to create questions for your inquiry?
Have fun creating your own questions as you spin the Question Generator.
Spin as many times as you like and create lots of different questions.
Now choose the best one for your inquiry!
It will help you to create both closed and open-ended questions.
Before starting, watch the video. It will clearly explain how to use the Generator in any research task.
Do you want a fun an easy way to create questions for your inquiry?
Well here it is, the Question Generator.
Have fun creating your own questions as you spin the Question Generator.
Spin as many times as you like and create lots of different questions.
Now choose the best one for your inquiry!
It will help you to create both closed and open-ended questions.
Before starting, watch the video. It will clearly explain how to use the Generator in any research task.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Kids' Book Club
2012 being the National Year of Reading, this would be the perfect time to revisit the idea of a Kids' Book Club.
Who can join?
Any GGS senior student.
When and where will book club members meet?
Members will meet twice a term in Discussion Room A in the ISC on a Thursday at 3.45 - 4.30 pm.
What will we do during book club meetings?
We'll discuss a book that has been set for that month's reading.
Who chooses which book is read?
Book club members will take turns choosing a book for the group. The person whose turn it is that month will be asked to bring some discussion questions to the next session and to kick start the session.
Will there be criteria for choosing the books?
Not exactly but there will be suggestions and guidelines. There will be a lot of different tastes amongst members, I imagine and therefore books should be chosen that have wide appeal.
Will we be allowed to talk about other things besides books?
You need to realise that this is a book club, so... although it will be fine for people to chat in the first few minutes while we wait for everyone to arrive, the whole point of the club is to discuss books so that's the focus. It is also a voluntary club, so if you're not interested in talking about books, you probably should join another club.
What happens if I can't keep up with the reading?
Everyone has busy periods when they can't get reading done but if you consistently come to our meetings without having read the book, you may be asked to look for a club more suited to you.
If you have any more queries or questions, come and talk to me in the ISC. If you'd like to join Book Club, email me.
Book Club will begin officially in Term 2.
Who can join?
Any GGS senior student.
When and where will book club members meet?
Members will meet twice a term in Discussion Room A in the ISC on a Thursday at 3.45 - 4.30 pm.
What will we do during book club meetings?
We'll discuss a book that has been set for that month's reading.
Who chooses which book is read?
Book club members will take turns choosing a book for the group. The person whose turn it is that month will be asked to bring some discussion questions to the next session and to kick start the session.
Will there be criteria for choosing the books?
Not exactly but there will be suggestions and guidelines. There will be a lot of different tastes amongst members, I imagine and therefore books should be chosen that have wide appeal.
Will we be allowed to talk about other things besides books?
You need to realise that this is a book club, so... although it will be fine for people to chat in the first few minutes while we wait for everyone to arrive, the whole point of the club is to discuss books so that's the focus. It is also a voluntary club, so if you're not interested in talking about books, you probably should join another club.
What happens if I can't keep up with the reading?
Everyone has busy periods when they can't get reading done but if you consistently come to our meetings without having read the book, you may be asked to look for a club more suited to you.
If you have any more queries or questions, come and talk to me in the ISC. If you'd like to join Book Club, email me.
Book Club will begin officially in Term 2.
Monday, February 27, 2012
QR codes - easier than you think
Having used myself this morning to create a QR for BookCloud in only a few seconds (see above), I can vouch for its ease of use. If you're interested in experimenting with new FREE apps, especially those with smartphones or the new iPad 2 and netbooks, visit the e-Support wiki link to the left of this blog.Thursday, February 23, 2012
Greatest Reading Super Hero
As already mentioned in a previous post, 2012 is the National Year of Reading! A number of competitions and activities are already beginning to crop up to celebrate this worthwhile event - why not take advantage of them? At the same time, you'll be enriching your own life or helping to enrich the lives of others. I will be posting information concerning competitions and activities on this blog as well as the blogs and wikis that I run. I will also creat a link list exclusively dedicated to the 2012 National Year of Reading. So stay tuned and happy reading. Super Hero Sunday, February 5, 2012
The 2012 Creative Reading Prize
Entries will run from March 1 – May 31 and may include a range of traditional and multi-media activities, such as fan fiction, poetry, craft, mashups, and book trailers.
The collective prize pool is $40 000 !!!!
The website: readthis2012.com.au is not yet up and running but... stay tuned to learn more about this amazing opportunity.
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