Saturday, 28 June 2008

KS3 & 4 Mathematics

Today it's maths links I have been researching:
Welsh grid: www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc-home, then select the key stage + Maths
Homework High (Channel 4): www.channel4learning.net/apps/homeworkhigh/maths including games
S-Cool!: www.s-cool.co.uk/topic_index.asp?subject_id=15&d=0 comprehensive GCSE help

Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Sky Learning Explorer


Even if you don't have access to Sky TV, this link will help you find relevant content, over the next 7 days, for a range of GCSE courses including Art, English, Geography, History, RE and Science. The recommendations are based on Sky programmes, but non-Sky content is also included.
See http://explorer.jointhebiggerpicture.com for details of the service, plus general study and revision help.

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Revision Time (It's now or never!)

Although some of Year 11 don't seem to realise it yet, it's GCSE time again. Here is a collection of suitable revision sites, and between these you should cover everything:

BBC Bitesize - the mother of all revision sites, with tests, clear facts and glossaries for all subjects www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize
S-Cool - Science, Eng, Geog and Maths covered at two different depths
www.s-cool.co.uk/subject_index.asp?stage=G
Greenfield Revision Links - Durham school links (Art, BS, Eng, Geog, Hist, Maths, RE & Science). Fantastic summary www.greenfield.durham.sch.uk/acGCSE_Revision.htm
BBC - general guide to revision www.bbc.co.uk/schools/studentlife/revisionandskills
SparkNotes Romeo & Juliet - quiz, facts, plot, quotations, character and other summaries
www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet
Know it all - good general and specific (Eng, Geog, ICT, Maths, Hist & Science) revision tips, but some subject links dead www.nwlg.org/pages/resources/knowitall/revision/revision.htm

Good range of resources (General, Eng, Geog, Hist, ICT, Maths, RE & Science) www.revisionworld.co.uk/gcse
Kapili (USA)- was a paysite but now free (We like free!). Covers Geog, Maths & Science www.kapili.com

What other sites should I include?

Thursday, 13 March 2008

English (especially Shakespeare) Resources

WebEnglishTeacher appears to be an excellent Site for English. See www.webenglishteacher.com/tempest.html for The Tempest links, and www.webenglishteacher.com/romeoandjuliet.html for Romeo & Juliet.
An 'interactive portfolio' version of R & J is at www.canadianshakespeares.ca/folio/folio.html, and includes relevant videos, a full lexicon, audio and images by page and scene.

Geoknows Geography

An excellent geography source designed specifically for secondary students is at http://homepage.mac.com/luxborealis/geoknow/.


Monday, 10 March 2008

School Zone resources


Schoolzone UK provides a link to nearly 50,000 websites reviewed by individual teachers. You can search by keyword, subject, keystage or a combination, and sites are star rated with their reviews. You must register before searching the site and browsing the resources, and I found I needed to use F11 to cancel the full screen browse and scroll down pages. It looks well worth the effort.

By Teachers for Teachers

The Association of Teachers' Websites (ATW) set up a what it calls a virtual school at www.byteachers.org.uk/school.htm, although judging by the number of broken links for some subjects it may not have been updated for some time.
You may have more luck with the member sites page for secondary resources on www.byteachers.org.uk/sites.htm#secondary. Nearly all subjects are covered, but you may have to search for changed addresses where the links fail to work.

Tuesday, 4 March 2008

Teacher Express is not just quick

Teacher Express includes a superb collection of links, organised by subject & keystage. But what makes it unique is that after registering (it's simple & free) you can remove categories you don't need, change the background colours and, best of all, include your own favourite sites under My Links. It has real potential as a site which everyone could use instead of a regular search engine when looking for resources, regardless of subject.



See www.teacherxpress.com and be impressed.

Friday, 15 February 2008

RE Links

Time to include RE in the blog. I have mainly used links recommended by schools, so they should be relevant:

www.islamawareness.net - Not just about Islam, as covers Buddhism, Christianity, and Hinduism in summary as well
www.world-faiths.com - Site for pupils with teacher version
http://ks3.reonline.org.uk/teens_topicheads.php - Comprehensive KS3 section, with beliefs, festivals, history, symbolism etc links
http://gcse.reonline.org.uk/ - KS4 version of the above, with pupil and teacher versions
http://betterre.reonline.org.uk/ - Teacher advice site
http://re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/ - Lots of information and many links for further info
www.rsrevision.com/schemesofwork - KS3 plans
www.rsrevision.com/GCSE - KS4 ideas

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

Look at the World in a new way

Worldmapper is a new mapping tool that draws the world according to variables such as education, drought and HIV. The results are clearly shown visually on a map of the globe.

Try www.worldmapper.org

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

Monday, 4 February 2008

PowerPoint Tips 1 - PowerPoint and Sound

A good general guide to PowerPoint, led by Sue Special and Jim Jingle, is at www.actden.com/pp2003. If you can take the American whimsy, it’s a well written trip through the basics, with screendumps to clarify things.
(note - It’s for PP2003: we have 2002, but differences are slight)



To insert and play sound files automatically:
1. Save your sound with a filename you know
2. Insert > Movies & Sound > Sound from File
3. Find and select the file on the system & OK







4. Click Yes - the sound plays as soon as the slide displays.

Click No – you control the sound

To insert and play sound files when you want:
1-3 As above
4. Click No
5. Then decide when it will play. Click Slide Show > Custom Animation, then Right click the sound listed > Click Effect Options





6. Click Timing > Select Animate as part of click sequence & OK







To hide the sound icon:
Just drag the speaker that indicates the sound file off the slide, so it is not seen when the slide is shown

Audio play options
1. Click Slide Show > Custom Animation, then Right click the sound listed > Click Effect Options
2. Click Effect. If the sound needs to continue after this slide, set the Stop playing setting to the number of slides you want to display before the sound stops
3. To Set the sound volume, Click the speaker icon and use the slider
4. To play the sound more than once, Click Timing tab, use Repeat setting & OK

Wednesday, 30 January 2008

Topmarks Education

This site has collected links for many sites at KS3 and 4, for all curriculum subjects, from Art to Science. There are also whiteboard resources, but these are designated for KS1 & 2 - some may be Newhavened with a little effort

See www.topmarks.co.uk for details

Thursday, 20 December 2007

Teachers TV English Links

The Teachers TV site has links for every subject at both KS3 and KS4, but today the focus is on English and Shakespeare.

The Tempest

15 minute video using roleplay to aid understanding
www.teachers.tv/video/23577
Recommended book
www.teachers.tv/system/files/10688.doc
Programme script
www.teachers.tv/system/files/10752.doc
Suffolk Council resources
www.slamnet.org.uk/english/docs/TempestTeachingMaterials
SEN lesson plans
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/secondary/keystage3/downloads/en_sh_sen_tmpst_unit_0003707.pdf
Comic book versions in various formats
www.classicalcomics.com/education/freedownloads.html
Teacher's resources for the play
www.classicalcomics.com/education/TempestNotes.pdf
Rap and break dancing video version
www.teachers.tv/video/23598
RSC resources
www.rsc.org.uk/content/3125.aspx


Romeo & Juliet
Analysis of important scenes
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/secondary/keystage3/downloads/en_sh_ict_yr8.zip

Shakespeare in general
Further research & resources
www.touchstone.bham.ac.uk/links.html