Quote for November

"A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron."
Horace Mann

Plagiarism

I recently had a request to find worksheets on plagiarism.There are plenty on the web if you type in Plagiarism worksheets: some for free and some you have to buy. However, I did manage to find a site designed by Vaughan Memorial Library that has an interactive programme explaining the concept of plagiarism clearly with fun graphics and sound.

Click on http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/ The presentation takes about ten minutes. Use this to teach the concept and follow up with a few exercises.

A bit of fun

I have always loved this Charlie Brown strip and thought I would share it with you. Hopefully not too many learners think this way.....

Soil Composition

I found this really sweet powerpoint presentation on soil composition that explains the composition of soil in a simplistic but fun way. Click on www.school-portal.co.uk/GroupDownloadFile.asp?GroupID=38264&ResourceID=95544

The programme can be frozen at any stage by clicking on the button with the two vertical bars (II). This allows the teacher to explain the process step-by-step.

Area and Perimeter

Area and Perimeter are concepts that many children find extremely difficult. http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/perimeter_and_area/index.html

explains these concepts clearly in a step by step way that is easily understood by children.

Click on the shape of the concept, namely area or perimeter. Click on the shape that appears next and the programme will explain how to calculate the area or perimeter. Click on next and choose from 3 levels.

When you have completed the level you can go back to the menu page by clicking on the Menu page button.

Because this programme has three levels it guides the children from simple examples to those that are quite tricky, including compound shapes.

Electric circuits

One of my previous inserts in September 2007 also deals with simple circuits. However, I have found another fantastic site on this topic and wanted to share this with you. Click on http://www.mystery-productions.info/hyper/Hypermedia_2003/Thelwell/Site/ and discover a well structured interactive website developed be Andy Thelwell that is Unbelievable!! It will require a flash 6 browser. If you do not have one installed, go to 'about this site' and you will be able to download one from there.
It allows from one to five users. Type in a name to get started. At the bottom of the next page are 5 buttons which indicate the five sections covered by this site.
The first section is 'What makes circuits work?'. The second section deals with 'Conductors and insulators'. Section three is 'All about switches', section four about 'Changing circuits', and finally a section on 'Circuit Diagrams'.
Each section has an activity linked to that section (click on the arrow), as well as a quiz (click on the ?) that tests their knowledge. For useful information, simply click on the i.

If you teach children about circuits, this site is a must!

Audio Books from Books2You

Books2You, a South African company have several audio books on CD. These make for easy and peaceful travelling on your way to your holiday destination, or are a great way to get those unwilling readers to listen to a book, and maybe get hooked!

Anthony Horowitz is very popular with children and parents alike.There are six books in this series about a teenage M16 agent called Alex Rider. Try the audio CD of 'Skeleton Key' , the first in the series, read by Englishman Paul Panting or 'Arc Angel'.

Alexander MacCall Smith, author of the 'No. 1 Detective Agency', has released several of his books on CD. 'The girl who married a Lion' is read with an African flavour.

Audio cassettes are ideal for little ones as they are hardier than CD's. Books2You has some UK produced tapes with stories and songs that are perfect to put the family in a festive mood.

To get hold of these CDs and tapes, contact Paula or Shaun at books2you@telkomsa.net . They are expecting many more Audio books in the new year, so keep in touch.

Food Chains

Click on http://ecokids.earthday.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/assets/flash/chain_reaction.swf for a useful website on food chains. Aimed at primary school learners, it teaches them about Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores. Learners can attempt to create one of two food chains, the forest or northern food chain. Once the food chain has been completed, it can be tested to see if it is correct. A lot of fun, with gorgeous pictures.

Art and Craft ideas for Primary School

If you visit http://crayola.com/ there are some lovely art and craft ideas, like a delightful butterfly which you can find if you click on craft ideas, then select 'animals and insects' under 'themes', and finally click on 'amazing butterfly'.

All the supplies needed are listed as well as a step-by-step guide on how to make the item. There are many other themes to choose from, so spend some time and look at the other fantastic ideas.

Guess the Angle

Learner's often find it difficult to estimate obtuse and acute angles. This interactive website http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=angle gives the learners the opportunity to guess angles. You can decide on the type of angle you want the computer to display. The learners then estimate the angle. With a simple click of a button, the protractor is displayed so that the learner can see how accurate they were.

http://www.analyzemath.com/Geometry/angles.html is another site that you might find useful. This site has the definitions and properties of angles in geometry.

Ancient Egypt

There are so many fantasic books that you can use to illustrate this subject with, but you'll have the children eating out of the palm of your hand with this fantastic interactive site:- http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/menu.html

The site covers many topics such as Egyptian life, Egypt's Geography with several interesting maps, gods and goddesses, mummification, the pharoahs, pyramids, temples and several others. Each section is divided into three sections:

The first one is a story that is linked to the section concerned, and gives additional information about egyptian life. Learners can manipulate the direction of the story, as choices are given.

The second section is called explore and usually takes you on a visit to a well known site or individual linked to the topic. Most of the pictures are interactive, and when clicked on, will provide additional information e.g. exploring the inside of a pyramid and it's chambers.

The third section is a challenge in which the pupils need to complete a task related to the topic e.g. keeping tally of food contributions in a store using ancient egyptian methods of recording numbers.

If you click on the staff room button at any time, it explains what is covered in each of the sections and is designed to assist the teacher.

This site is written for learners at a primary school level. The material is extensive, easy to follow and understand, with excellent illustrations. Definitely worth a visit.

VOLCANOES

When children are asked to choose something to do for a Science Fair, invariably someone chooses to build a volcano. Children are fascinated by them, and after visiting this site, http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/pompeii/interactive/interactive.html it is easy to see why.

Click on the 'enter' button and a rotating earth will appear that shows the plate bounderies and active volcanoes. To the left of the screen is a menu with three sections covered in the 'Overview': Global perspective, the 3 different volcano types, and lastly the inside of a volcano.

However, the most exciting section of this site is obviously the 'Virtual Volcano'. It allows the children to set up their own conditions to create a volcano, which then erupts. If you click on any of the labels, further information is given. WOW!

The Aztecs

I found two lovely sites that are suitable for primary school level. The first, http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/ has interesting information and pictures that are easy to follow if children are doing their own research. It has a Timeline, info on rulers, religious beliefs,Aztec life, technology and their culture.

The second website, http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/time.html is such fun, and can either be used by the children for their own research, or used as an interactive lesson using a whiteboard. As well as the Aztecs, this site also covers the Romans, the Victorians, the Vikings, World War II, and the Tudors. Just select the Aztecs button and it gives you a choice of information covering the People, Events, Art and Craft, Daily life, Fun and Games as well as two other web links. The pictures are bright and colourful and the information is simplified so that children can easily understand the content.

Prime Time!

When I see the recources available today, I get so..o.. excited with the possibilities. I know there are many schools who don't yet have whiteboards, but I really see these as the way of teaching in the future. Maybe a time will come when they will become more affordable so that more children can benefit from this technology.

In the meantime, for those of you that are lucky enough to have this technology at your disposal, please go and look at this site for teaching 'TIME' to primary school learners.

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/ClassClock/clockres.html

This is another interactive site, developed by Mark Cogan ,that shows you an analogue clock with the 'real' time. With a simple click on the right hand side you can then see what this time looks like on a digital clock. There are arrows that allow you to change the time up or down by one minute, five minutes, ten minutes,fifteen minutes, half an hour and one hour. To go back to 'real' time, just click on the 'now' button.

SIZZLING SPACE SITE

Those of you that have visited the site about cavemen will be equally impressed with http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/. Also hosted by BBC,it has a vast amount of information, including blackholes, wormholes, stars, space exploration and so much more.

BUT, the most fantastic section can be found by clicking on Playspace, then Games and Quizzes, and then finally on Solar System Jigsaw. This is interactive teaching at it's best!

It has a 3D view of the planets and their orbits. Planets are dragged into place. If you do it correctly, the planet sticks. If you are wrong, it goes back to the box. Test the knowledge of your learners and have fun at the same time.

Quote for October

"A room without books is like a body without a soul."

Marcus T Cicero