Category Archives: Literacy

Early Years Matters Magazine

Following its launch at the Scottish Learning Festival, copies of Early Years Matters were sent out to centres across Scotland.

If you haven’t seen a paper copy, or would just like to have one of your own, you can always read the articles on line, or download the whole magazine to your computer, e-reader or phone.

Missed an edition? You can always catch up with our online archive here.

Remember our survey about Early Years Matters closes on 30 November 2012. Make sure you have your say and help us plan for the future!

Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy resource

This professional learning resource provides both an overview and further detail on children and young people’s strengths and areas for improvement in numeracy within measurement, and fractions, decimal fractions and percentages (including ratio and proportion).

It also provides guidance and advice to help inform leaning and teaching practice in line with the SSLN survey’s main objectives.

You can download the PDF entitled SSLN 2011 for all the following information from the Education Scotland website – Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy resource

The findings set out within this resource are based on an in-depth analysis of children and young people’s responses to tasks in the SSLN survey Section 1.

For each area of numeracy covered, survey-type questions are provided for illustrative purposes. This analysis provides all practitioners with an opportunity to reflect on, and explore planning for effective learning and teaching as set out in Section 2.

Explore aspects of performance at the following levels:

First level P4 – MeasurementFractions, decimal fractions and percentages

Second level P7 – MeasurementFractions, decimal fractions and percentages

Third level S2 – MeasurementFractions, decimal fractions and percentages

Section 3 includes guidance and advice to support the delivery of ideas of chance and uncertainty.

Links to sections in the resource

Overview of strengths and areas for improvement in:

* Measurement and
* Fractions, decimal fractions and percentages (including ratio and proportion).

Online learning and teaching resources

Additional resources are available for fractions, decimal fractions and percentages, measurement, and ideas of chance and uncertainty are available at:

* First Level P4
* Second Level P7
* Third Level S2

You can find out more about SSLN on the Education Scotland website.

Sound context on STEM Central

This week we’ve launched our  Sound context which includes learning journeys from early to fourth level. The context builds the storyline through our ability to make sound, sound as a tool of communication, for example through talk or by using music to convey a message. It progresses on to sound as a tool of communication at a distance and our ability to manipulate sound.

The progression begins with What’s that sound? for early level, an exploration of sound sciences and technologies through constructive play. Make the Sound provides further opportunity for enquiry-based learning, and hands-on sciences and technologies in  the context of sound.

How animals use soundsound applications and communicating through sound are three learning journeys for second level, to illustrate breadth and application, and the basis for progression to Engineering Sound at fourth level, developed in conjunction with SSERC.

Space Junk

This Space Junk clip from the BBC could be used to support and enrich learning ideas found in, Passeport pour la Francophonie ,a new website from Education Scotland. This website was developed to support the teaching and learning of French at 2nd Level. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14762620

Testimony (RME)

Testimony is Education Scotland’s new high quality resource to support learning and teaching in religious and moral education. It has been designed for use by both staff and senior phase pupils.

 

Testimony illustrates how faith, belief and values can influence how a person acts. It includes examples of religious and non-religious standpoints to show how people from around the world and in Scotland have been influenced by faith. The material includes the personal testimonies of some well-known individuals alongside the stories of ordinary members of faith communities.

 

It can be used to support learning within the new SQA award in Religion, Belief and Values and also supports the development of skills for learning, life and work.

 

Scott Duncan, Education Scotland’s RME Development Officer, was interviewed at this year’s Scottish Learning Festival about the Testimony resource – listen to a recording of the interview.

 

Find out more by visiting the Testimony web resource.

I Speak for Myself

At Amina MWRC we are passionate about empowering and inspiring women, spreading knowledge of women’s rights and promoting positive images of Muslim women.  Last year 19 secondary schools across Scotland were visited to allow young people the opportunity to discuss Islam and Muslims.  Staggeringly over 70% of secondary school young people associated words such as “Terrorist”, “Foreign”, “Oppressed” and “Uneducated” to Muslim women. 

Responding to this, ‘I Speak for Myself’ was born.
 
From November 2011 until February 2012 we have engaged with over 300 Muslim women from Dumfries and Galloway to Elgin and all the major cities and towns in between.  For more information about our Roadshow click here.
 
September 2012  will see the launch of our national campaign ‘I Speak for Myself’ at the Scottish Parliament.  The campaign will exhibit over a hundred of the messages captured during our roadshow and aims to tackle misconceptions and common stereotypes about Muslim women, thus reducing inequality and sexual discrimination not only within the Muslim community but also in the wider society.

http://www.ispeakformyself.co.uk/

Wise Up Wednesday – National Poetry Day

This year National Poetry day is on Thursday 4 October 2012. During National Poetry Day, people all over the UK take part in a celebration of great poetry. 

Poetry helps us to remember stories, from Jack and Jill all the way to the Odyssey. Children love rhymes and rhythms, but poetry also helps to improve literacy skills.

You can download poetry posters and practitioners’ notes from the Scottish Poetry Library website. This year’s theme is Stars and the resources include “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in both English and Scots.

To keep up to date with what’s happening at the Scottish Poetry Library and find out about their resources, training and freebies, you can sign up to their monthly e-newsletter here. As well as support for practitioners, their website also has a useful section for families.

Further resources to support National Poetry day are also available in the resources section of the Education Scotland website.

Please come back and tell us in the comments what you have planned to celebrate National Poetry day in your establishment!

Edinburgh International Book Festival – Watch Again!

Did you miss the Glow TV coverage live from the Edinburgh International Book Festival? Well don’t worry you haven’t missed out as all the events were recorded and are available in our Watch Again section in Glow TV.

During the festival Glow TV was filming at the following:

Twists, Turns and Thrillers with Ally Kennen an event suitable for S1-3. Find out more and Watch Again.

Steve Barlow & Steve Skidmore present Action Dogs! an event suitable for P4 – 7. Find out more and Watch Again.

International Rescue with Sally Grindley an event suitable for P4 – 7. Find out more and Watch Again.

Rhyme, Rhythm and Rap with Brian Moses an event suitable for P3-P6. Find out more and Watch Again.

Ghosts and Ghouls with Andrew Hammond an event suitable for P7- S3. Find out more and Watch Again.

Drawing Inspiration with Tony Ross an vent suitable for P1- P4. Find out more and Watch Again.

Each event was accompanied with for Curriculum for Excellence teaching ideas on the Edinburgh International Book Festival website Education section.

Don’t miss out make sure you check out Glow TV’s Watch Again section for this and many more exciting events.

Dennis the Menace becomes a global citizen

Who’d have thought it? Dennis the Menace becoming a global citizen and the Bash Street Kids growing their own vegetables and getting their 5-a-day!

In the forthcoming special edition of the Beano, primary school pupils will get to see a very different side of their favourite characters. Scottish Business in the Community, a charity that actively encourages businesses from all sectors to improve their impacts on the economy, environment and society, has teamed up with one of its members, DC Thomson, to support the creation of a special edition Beano designed to engage young people in environmental and societal issues in a positive and fun way.

Sent to every primary school pupil in Scotland, the free special edition Beano will incorporate the key themes core to SBC and central to creating a sustainable future for Scotland including: 

  • Environment / visioning the future
  • Health & wellbeing / growing your own veg
  • Employability and soft skills
  • Responsible citizenship and community

 This special edition Beano is supported by a teachers information pack linking to Curriculum for Excellence.

 Dr Alasdair Allan, Minister for Leaning, Science and Scotland’s Languages, is very supportive of the initiative saying, ‘I welcome the opportunity afforded to schools to use resources such as this to engage the children in positive and more importantly, fun learning experiences.’

 Comics will start arriving in schools towards the end of August.

Advice and Guidance to support National Qualifications in Sciences

Yesterday, we published new advice and guidance associated with National 5 Biology associated with Inheritance.

There are a number of areas in this advice and guidance which would lend themselves to discussion in the classroom. What does this look like? What is the difference between learners talking, and discussing? Arguing and debating? What tools and approaches can be used to ensure learners are developing their skills in discussion, argumentation, and debate?

The teacher’s handbook from the English-Speaking Union (ESU) Scotland may be of use in planning for learning and teaching for the senior phase. 2012 is the year of the ESU’s Speak up Scotland! Science Debating project. Within the easily digestible, practical teacher’s handbook are a range of techniques and approaches which can be used to structure debate within the science classroom, and include all learners within the class. It explains how to plan and structure a formal debate, if that is what you are looking for, including how to structure a speech, a format for judging the content and skills of the participants – useful for teacher observation or peer evaluation. Other approaches described include balloon and role play debates. Exemplification is given for role playdebates in bio-prospecting and badger culling.

The booklet also contains starters for debates such as:

“this house would ban research on embryonic stem cells” – ties in with the National 4/5 qualifications in Biology and our published advice and guidance on Health and Disease.

Each section includes “fast facts”, and suggested questions to ask – does an embryo have human rights? how do we know how old the universe is? how do we control nanoparticles in our environment; or artificial organisms we create?

All of this is also available on the project website where you can find out how schools are using the debates and the feedback from learners.

If your learners need support in building confidence to speak in front of others, why not look back to our Debating in Schools resources published in 2007 which include Building Speaking Confidence: Guidance for first-time speakers.

SLF 2012: Forensic Rookies, Transition and the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust: Scottish Islands and Mainland ICT and Science project

We’ve been keeping you up to date with this inquiry based science project since last December. Don’t forget that you can find out more by joining us at session N1A at SLF 2012, presented by Professor Susan Rodrigues and Neil Taylor. A vodcast overview of the project can be found on the scienceedresearch channel on YouTube.

The workshop will share the findings of a recent project involving 3 pairs of primary & secondary schools from several different local authorities, and the sustained impact in those local authorities where this project is being rolled out further. Learners and practitioners views and feedback will be shared. This project was supported by funding from AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust and led by Professor Susan Rodrigues and Neil Taylor as part of the suite of ‘Partnerships in Primary Science’ (PIPS) CPD projects.

The workshop will include an opportunity for delegates to have hands on experience of the six investigative tasks, using the kit provided to schools, funded by AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust. There have been a series of videos made using learners and practitioners which will be used within the session, and these will are also available via the ScienceEdResearch channel YouTube.

The individual vodcasts for each school:

Brae HighBlairgowrie; Coupar AngusInveralmond Community HighUrafirth; Westfield

Visitor registration for SLF 2012 is now open!

Early Years case study published – Family literacy project: Brucehill tots speak Scots

Using the Scots language as a context for learning, this project aimed to help parents/carers to support their child’s literacy development with particular emphasis on talking and listening skills.

Find out more here.

A national celebration of reading: Culture Secretary announces Book Week Scotland 2012

Scotland will host its first ever national week-long celebration of reading in 2012 – The Year of Creative Scotland.

The Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs joined author Ian Rankin and Scots Makar Liz Lochhead at the Writer’s Museum in Edinburgh to announce that Book Week Scotland will be held from Monday November 26 until Sunday 2 December 2012.

People the length and breadth of Scotland will be encouraged to engage in the first ever week-long national celebration of reading, and to participate in a range of free events to be held throughout the week.

Initiated by the Scottish Government, Book Week Scotland will be delivered on behalf of Creative Scotland by Scottish Book Trust, the leading agency for the promotion of literature, reading and writing in Scotland.

STEM Central: Have you heard about our new Sound context?

By the time the new school year starts in August, you’ll find our newest STEM Central context “Sound” available!

Helping practitioners to understanding learning around the science of sound as it progresses through early to fourth level, these learning journeys incorporate sciences and technologies, with everything from listening walks to the X-factor! So if you’re looking for materials to inspire you, or help you to understand the levels and progression within the broad general education (BGE) check back here, or on the STEM Central website for publication info.

Don’t forget that the Glow Science videos and fantastic mind map tool can provide inspiration and CPD.

SLF 2012: Forensic Rookies, Transition and the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust: Scottish Islands and Mainland ICT and Science project

We’ve been keeping you up to date with this inquiry based science project since last December and we are delighted to confirm that you can find out more by joining us at session N1A at SLF 2012, presented by Professor Susan Rodrigues and Neil Taylor.

The workshop will share the findings of a recent project involving 3 pairs of primary & secondary schools from several different local authorities, and the sustained impact in those local authorities where this project is being rolled out further. Learners and practitioners views and feedback will be shared. This project was supported by funding from AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust and led by Professor Susan Rodrigues and Neil Taylor as part of the suite of ‘Partnerships in Primary Science’ (PIPS) CPD projects.

The workshop will include an opportunity for delegates to have hands on experience of the six investigative tasks, using the kit provided to schools, funded by AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust. There have been a series of videos made using learners and practitioners which will be used within the session, and these will also be available via YouTube after the session for delegates to follow up.

Visitor registration for SLF 2012 is now open!

Learning for the new NQs: Will Bioenergy play a part in our secure energy future?

Exploring Bioenergy could feature within your plans for learning and teaching for the new NQs in Environmental Science, Physics or Science. What is it? Could it form part of our strategy for energy security in Scotland and the UK?

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published the UK Bioenergy Strategy with  handy “key facts” on the front page. In addition the Frequently Asked Questions highlights issues such as ‘Shouldn’t land used for food production rather than energy crops?’ which could form the basis of debate and investigative work with learners.

This DECC website has, under the “Meeting Energy Demand” tab, information on everything from hydrogen fuel cells to nuclear power, along with easily accessible useful links to relevant websites. This could provide a rich source of background material for your planning associated with our recently published advice and guidance on energy security.

Learning for the new NQs: Speak up Scotland! A Year of Science Debating

Within our recently published advice and guidance associated with the new NQs in science, there are a number of areas which would lend themselves to discussion in the classroom. What does this look like? What is the difference between learners talking, and discussing? Arguing and debating? What tools and approaches can be used to ensure learners are developing their skills in discussion, argumentation, and debate?

A teacher’s handbook from the English-Speaking Union (ESU) Scotland came across my desk this week. 2012 is  the year of the ESU’s Speak up Scotland! Science Debating project. Within this easily digestible, practical handbook are a range of techniques and approaches which can be used to structure debate within the science classroom, and include all learners within the class. It explains how to plan and structure a formal debate, if that is what you are looking for, including how to structure a speech, a format for judging the content and skills of the participants – useful for teacher observation or peer evaluation. Other approaches described include balloon and role play debates. Exemplification is given for role playdebates in bio-prospecting and badger culling.

The booklet also contains starters for debates such as:

 ”this house believes the government should fund research on planet earth rather than the cosmos” – ties in with the new National 4/5 qualifications in Physics

“this house would give up non essential flying to help curb dangerous climate change” – ties in with the sustainability elements across a number of the new NQs including Environmental Science

“this house would ban research on embryonic stem cells” – ties in with the National 4/5 qualifications in Biology and our published advice and guidance on Health and Disease.

Each section includes “fast facts”, and suggested questions to ask – does an embryo have human rights? how do we know how old the universe is? how do we control nanoparticles in our environment; or artificial organisms we create?

All of this is also available on the project website where you can  find out how schools are using the debates and the feedback from learners.

If your learners need support in building confidence to speak in front of others, why not look back to our Debating in Schools resources published in 2007 which include Building Speaking Confidence: Guidance for first-time speakers.

Learning for the new NQs in Sciences

Have you had an opportunity to explore the advice and guidance published to support practitioners in planning for learning and teaching for the new National Qualifications? Education Scotland has published a suite of advice and guidance exemplifying skills, teaching approaches, challenge, the use of context and incorporation of literacy, numeracy and ICT in learning and teaching in sciences.

The published advice and guidance is intended for use by practitioners and is non-mandatory. It is intended that practitioners will use it in a reflective and selective manner.

Throughout, reflective questions for learners are provided to aid practitioners in planning learning and teaching to meet the needs of learners. In many cases, investigative work and inquiry-based practical learning will supplement the learning and teaching described.

The Daily What News – iPads for all?

The Daily What News is an online news service provided by Education Scotland for Scottish schools. Its main purpose is to help the development of literacy and language (English and Gaelic) in young people aged nine to 16 as well as support their needs for news and information. At the same time, its functions facilitate interdisciplinary learning and critical thinking skills. The service empowers teachers and learners to develop trusted learning resources and classroom activities using community-created content and group interactivity.

Hi-tech future for Scottish classrooms

 The government wants young people to be able to use more mobile devices and handheld computers in schools.

Hundreds of pupils at almost 20 schools in Scotland are already using cutting-edge technology in their classrooms. P7 children at Sciennes Primary School in Edinburgh, for example, each have an Apple iPad, while students at Morgan Academy in Dundee use Android technology.

To read the rest of this news article click here.

For suggestions on how to use this article with your learners click here.

Your learners can take part in the debate Do you think schools should use more moibile technology? in the Glow Forum. (Glow log in required)

Take One Action Film Festival

Are you aged between 15 and 21 years? Interested in great films that make a difference in the world? Would you like to organise inspiring film screening events in your local community? If so, here is your chance to take action!

Take One Action – Scotland’s global action cinema project – is organising it’s second Young Action Heroes Project for young people and their educators/youth workers at the Macrobert Centre in Stirling in late August 2012. We are keen to hear from schools and youth groups who want to take part in the residential and then screen a film to inspire action in others!

Application information is available to download from www.takeoneaction.org.uk/youth 

THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY 25TH MAY, but if you have questions before then email youth@takeoneaction.org.uk or phone Andy at 0131 5536335.

Literacy across Learning (Un)conference

 

The Literacy across Learning (Un)conference will be held at Stirling Management Centre on 25th May. This free event will build a community of educators who want to develop 21st century learning and literacy skills. Come prepared to share experiences, practice and resources and to contribute to the learning. More information and sign up details below.

Literacy Event Flyer

School Open Day – Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk Council

School open day – using international education to develop a whole school approach to global citizenship

Venue: Bo’ness Academy, Falkirk

9:30am – 3.00pm

Thursday 17th May 2012

Note: this event was due to place at an earlier date in the year but has now been rescheduled for the date above.

Theme:  International Education

This CPD event offers practitioners and school leaders an exciting opportunity to visit Bo’ness Academy and attend Falkirk Council’s Global Citizenship Showcase Event.

Bo’ness Academy is an inspiring example of a school that has used international education as a vehicle to engage the whole school in global citizenship activities. Through the Comenius Programme and other well established links the school has developed a rich international programme connecting it to countries across the world including: The Gambia, The Netherlands, China, France, Germany and The Czech Republic.

A focus of the event will be to identify and share the practical lessons and ideas that have helped the school move forward on its journey including: 

  • Making global citizenship a key priority in the school and a focus for the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence
  • Using international links to explore important issues in a global context and to create engaging, meaningful and challenging learning experiences
  • Developing strong international partnerships which can be sustained and which have made an impact on every learner.

Participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Head Teacher, International Coordinator, staff and learners and also tour the classrooms and school. Time will also be set aside for participants to reflect and share their own experiences.

Download Programme for Bo’ness Academy Open Day 17May12

How to book

To book, please contact Megan Farr, Policy Officer, Falkirk Council. Email: megan.farr@falkirk.gov.uk or Tel. 01324 506671.

Places for the open day section of the event are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. This is a free event!

Archaeology – An Introduction

Do you have an interest in archaeology and want to learn more? Why not join us for a Glow TV session on Thursday 22nd March at 4pm which introduces participants to archaeology and takes a step by step exploration of the work of an archaeologist.

The session will demonstrate how archaeology can support teaching of the curriculum, especially with regard to multi-disciplinary study and cross-curricular themes, such as numeracy, literacy, Health and Wellbeing and Outdoor Learning. It will finish with practical examples of archaeological activities which can be used in the classroom and resources which are available, including ways in which Archaeology Scotland can provide support.

On completion of the course, participants will:

• Be aware of the resources and support available to them by Archaeology Scotland
• Have gained information and ideas on how to use archaeology across the curriculum
• Have gained information and ideas on how to use archaeology to support outdoor learning in and around school
• Have gained practical examples of archaeological activities which can be used in the classroom.

So why not sign up and join us on the day in Glow TV – Archaeology – An Introduction

Literacy in Action

Literacy in Action: Supporting Colleges to Influence Early Years Practice

 The Literacy in Action: Supporting Colleges to Influence Early Years Practice Conference took place at Stirling Management Centre on Saturday 25 February 2012. This event was organised by Education Scotland to give Further Education lecturers an opportunity to hear about the Scottish Government’s Literacy Action Plan.

 View video of the keynote speakers here.

Enjoy!

Guitar Hero

The ICT development team from Aberdeenshire Council was one of the first to engage with the Consolarium and as a result of this a number of games-based learning projects were identified. The idea of using the context of Guitar Hero as the main driving focus in a collaborative story that would enable cross-curricular work was one of the ideas that we wanted to explore.

A Sony PS2, the game and the guitars were placed with a willing teacher in a P7 class after the Easter break. This was the last term for the class so the teacher decided to use this as the main driver for the remainder of the term. Having teenage sons who played the game the teacher quickly became familiar with how it worked and devised a series of tasks that she believed would enable ‘connected learning’ to take place.

We then left the class teacher and the class with the resource and returned in the last week of term to discover a rich seam of creativity, learning and engagement from a class who had lost themselves in the world of rock and roll …

Click here to read the case study.

Wise up Wednesday – see our exciting new early years resources!

Every Day’s a Learning Day 

Two new books have been published by Education Scotland to help parents and carers of young children to make the most of the learning experiences that exist in everyday life.

 Every Day’s a Learning Day (Birth to 3 years)’ and ‘Every Day’s a Learning Day (3 to 6 years)’ aim to help parents support their child’s development in the crucial areas of health and wellbeing, literacy and numeracy.

 Both books are available in English and Gaelic language versions.

 www.educationscotland.gov.uk/everydaylearning  

There will be a copy of each of the books with the next issue of Education Scotland’s Early Years Matters.

The books will be distributed in the Scottish Booktrust’s Bookbug bags. The Birth to 3 book will go to parents when they visit their health visitor for their child’s first vaccination from March onwards. The 3-6 book will be in Bookbug bags for children when they turn 3 and join nursery.

Learning connections with game based learning

Nintendogs game for the Nintendo DS, has been used to create a rich, dynamic and inclusive educational context for learners as part of a game-based learning initiative run by Learning and Teaching Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council.

The initiative looks at how the challenging, demanding and appealing world of Nintendogs can help support effective teaching and learning in Curriculum for Excellence.

The initiative provided content for learning in a P2 class. The teachers involved in the initial project and subsequent teachers that have used Nintendogs, made the game the central focus for projects that created connections across learning.

Caring for and nurturing your virtual pet was central to this game. Teachers created purposeful and relevant activities that involved learning in Art & Design. The videos showcase in more detail accounts of what the teachers and the children did and how the game impacted on their learning.

To read this case study click here.

Fabulous new Fair Trade materials – French

Many thanks to Linda Stormonth at St Machar Academy, Aberdeen City who has very kindly been willing to share her Fair trade materials with the rest of us across the nation!  they are well worth a look as they “raise the bar” in terms of the kind of language they exploit and exemplify ways of incorporating literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing into our lessons.  A very motivating and grown up topic – these materials could easily be used as an interdisciplinary project. 

To access the materials click here ( You will need your Glow password)

Resources to support the teaching of Judaism in schools

The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities website provides a wealth of information that can be used to support the teaching of Judaism in schools. The Resources section of the website has many useful documents including “Scotland Jews”. Their quarterly magazine “Four Corners” contains many useful articles and sources from people around the country that well help bring alive the message of what it means to be Jewish in Scotland today.

Many of the articles on the consultations pages will show you how Judaism in Scotland has reacted to many current moral and ethical issues that the Scottish Parliament has been discussing.

Please visit the website and browse this useful and engaging website full or articles and resources.

www.scojec.org.

Scottish Network for Able Pupils event 21 March 2012

Literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing: making the experiences and outcomes work for able pupils

The Scottish Network for Able Pupils is running a one day session for managers and teachers interested in looking at what the experiences and outcomes in numeracy, literacy and health and wellbeing might look like in practice for highly able pupils particularly in P4-P7 years of primary school.
The day will draw on findings from a recent research project undertaken by SNAP. Participants will have the opportunity to work alongside experienced SNAP staff to develop activities linked to the experiences and outcomes. They will hear about current developments in education and what this means for children who are working ahead of their age peers. Participants will leave with ideas and activities that can be put into practice in the classroom. These ideas and activities will not only support pupils who are highly able but will support the learning of all.

Date: Wednesday 21st March 2012
Time: 9.15-3.15pm
Venue: St Andrew’s Building, University of Glasgow, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow G3 6NH
Cost: £80 for SNAP members and for schools and Nurseries from Associate Tutor Authorities. £90 for non-SNAP Members
The day includes: all materials, tea/coffee on arrival, tea/coffee mid-morning, lunch.

To book a place please contact
Education-SNAP@glasgow.ac.uk
Our address is
SNAP
School of Education
St Andrew’s Building
University of Glasgow
11 Eldon Street
Glasgow
G3 6NH

Or fax :
0141 330 3476

World Book Day – 1st March

Talk with the author of ‘Horrid Henry’ through Glow TV and find other online resources to help celebrate World Book Day.

World Book Day is held on March 1 and was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.

Speak with Francesca Simon, the author of the phenomenally successful Horrid Henry books, on Glow TV at 11am or at 1.15pm on Thursday March 1. The event is suitable for P1-P7 learners (age 5-12) and fans of the Horrid Henry series.

The event has been organised by the Scottish Book Trust. You can watch videos of previous author events – including Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Charlie Higson, Michael Morpurgo and many more – in the Scottish Book Trust Glow Group (Requires Glow login).

Find more resources for World Book Day on the Education Scotland website.

Church of Scotland Leaflets on Moral and Ethical Issues

The Church of Scotland has published a series of leaflets about current moral and ethical issues. These leaflets link to the teachings of the church and the position that the Church takes on these issues. There are also reflective questions to help in your thinking about these issues.

These leaflets would be an ideal source of information for those teaching Senior pupils and in particular for NQ courses looking at moral issues.

Climate Change leaflet (1)

Synthetic Biology leaflet

Poverty leaflet

Stem Cells leaflet

Nuclear Weapons leaflet

Mental Health leaflet

Internet leaflet

Human Cloning Ethical Issues leaflet

Fair Trade Leaflet

End of Life Issues leaflet

Cloned Embryo Research leaflet

Community Café

On Wednesday (02/02/12) I had the opportunity to visit Kate O’Regan a Primary 7 teacher at Livingston Village Primary in West Lothian. The Primary 7 pupils were preparing for the opening of their Café the following day. They described the processes they went through to set up the Café and also explained the skills they developed.

To find out more about my visit view the video of Primary 7 on the Chalkface Blog.

To find out about  the opening of the Café visit their blog.

The Daily What Newsround

24/02/12 – 11am
The first of a whole series of ‘Daily What Newsrounds’ which we are all very excited about…

Every two weeks, on a Friday morning, Louise and Melisaa from our schools’ news service (The Daily What News- http://www.dailywhat.org.uk/) will introduce a fun-filled twenty minutes of news-related features.

This is the launch show, which will give Glow users a chance to meet Melissa and Louise and hear details of an amazing new competition they are launching. They will also give a tour of the site and discuss some of the most interesting stories from the past few weeks.

The show will continue on a fortnightly basis after that, with quiz features, special guests and lots of truly great learning opportunities.  Teachers will be pleased to be reminded that every news story has a related blog post of teaching and earning suggestions, so there’s lots of ideas to take forward with classes.

You will grow to really like Louise and Melissa and what a great chance for Glow users to find out more about the news in general and certain stories in particular.

The Daily What in Mind Reading shock!

At the start of February I was blogging about the amazing breakthrough in brain computer interfacing, reported widely in the press, which links to our forthcoming Bioengineering context on STEM Central.

Turns out those clever folks at The Daily What read my mind to come up with this article and interesting lesson ideas and suggestions. The Brain Quiz (mind reading not required, just click the mouse) can be used to introduce or refresh prior learning on the brain and nervous system, with ideas for discussion topics and links to information and animations to support learning and teaching.

STEM Central and Brain Computer Interfacing

As we approach publication of the new STEM Central context on Bioengineering which includes a learning journey on Brain Computer Interfacing, interesting scientific research featuring in the news today.

Does this raise the possibility of a prosthetic which allows communication for those with motor neurone disease, or stroke sufferers?

Mind-reading program translates brain activity into words

Science decodes ‘internal voices’

Scottish Education Awards

The Scottish Education Awards celebrate the hard work and success which takes place in Scottish education. They recognise the achievements of people who dedicate their lives to children and young people and showcase the valuable work and innovation in Scottish classrooms. Nominations close on Friday 2 March 2012. Visit the Scottish Education Awards website for more information.

Hand of the Future

Last night I was lucky enough to win tickets to the Tells They Tell presentation at the 26 Treasures Exhibition at the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh.

For this exhibition, the museum selected 26 objects from their Scotland galleries, which together trace Scotland’s history from its ancient geological roots to its technological future. Some are iconic, others less well-known, but all have a story to tell. The 26 writers from poets and novelists to screenwriters, journalists and academics. The writers were paired up with objects at random, and set the intriguing challenge of responding to their object in exactly 62 words.

Object number 26 was a Bionic Hand which relates to our up and coming STEM Context of Bioengineering. (Watch this space for more information on this context being released).

To read the poem Hand of the Future click here.

Remember to visit STEM Central in Motion to find out how practitioners are using STEM in the classroom.

Panda Competition Winners Announced!

Dual post from the Glow Scotland Blog.

Firstly, we would like to thank all schools who took part in our Panda leaflet competition. We were overwhelmed by the response we received, both in the sheer number of entries (which is why it has taken us so long to judge!) and in the standard of those entries.

We took into account how well the entries had met the competition’s requirements (a leaflet giving information about visiting them at the zoo) and the standard of information provided, as well as the overall design quality.

We really were most impressed with the entries and only wish we had more prizes to give out. Congratulations to everyone involved. We have also been very impressed with the number of comments on the blog and just how much interest has been shown in the topic. It clearly shows that pupils have been as excited about the arrival of Tian Tian and Yang Guang as we have. Well done! And Happy Chinese New Year to you all as well!

And now for the big news. Here are the winners:

Name Class School Prize
Ellis Stables P3 Kirkcowan Primary 1st– Panda and GTV T-shirt
Rory Crombie P6b St Joseph’s Primary 2nd– Panda and GTV T-shirt
Liam Eccleston P5 Caerlaverock School 3rd – Panda hat and GTV T-shirt
Ashley Leggat P4 Drumblade Primary 1st runner-up
Faye Jackson P7 Caerlaverock School 1st runner-up
Carine Bissett P6 Caerlaverock School 1st runner-up
Morgan Murray + Emma Barclay      P5 Goldenhill Primary 1st runner-up
Greig Sinclair   St Joseph’s Primary Runner-up
Dylan Bell Drummond   St Joseph’s Primary Runner-up
Eilidh Skinner   Whitdale Primary Runner-up
Amy Begbie   Whitdale Primary Runner-up
Ryan Conroy P5 St Joseph’s Primary Runner-up
Aoife Mclaughlin P6 St Joseph’s Primary Runner-up
Abbie Ribbens P4 Kirkcowan Runner-up
Amy Smith P3 Kirkcowan Runner-up
Archie Mortiboy P4 Kirkcowan Runner-up
Jy Guthrie P4 Barrshare Primary Runner-up
Zak Service P3 Kirkcowan Runner-up
Freya Coyle   Balbardie Primary Runner-up
       

*Please allow until next week to receive prizes. We will try to post some more of the entries here as time allows, but here is the winning entry, submitted by Ellis Stables of Kirkcowan Primary School. Ellis will receive the larger of the two pandas we picked up as well as a Glow TV T shirt and some sweeties. Well done, Ellis! We picked your entry because it was very informative, with just the kind of information we were looking for. We also choose Ellis as the overall winner because of the fact that it was a P3 entry and of such a high standard.

Rory PandasThe second prize goes to Rory Crombie from P6b at St Joseph’s Primary. Rory’s entry can be viewed by clicking the link here. Very high standard from Rory, with lots of information and quite a high degree of IT skills in preparing his document. Great work!

Runners up will receive a Glow TV T shirt from us and 1st runners up will receive a Glow TV T shirt as well as a small panda gift from the Edinburgh zoo gift shop.

Digitalising Burns Poetry

Today I had the pleasure of visiting Wellwood Primary School in Fife. The pupils were looking at Burns’ Poetry in a range of ways to develop their ICT skills. First of all the pupils researched Burns’ poetry and selected a poem they wanted to read. They read their poems to a talk partner, ensuring they followed the Success Criteria that they had set them themselves. Pupils used the software Audacity to record their poem and then used their creative skills to create an avatar using Voki. The Voki was then added to their individual blogs.

To find out about other Burns activities visit our resource calendar.

Click here to find out about Burns Day on Glow on 25/01/11 at 9:45 am.

Glow Meet: King of Masks – Part of Chinese New Year Celebrations

The King of Masks is a brilliant street performer who practices the change-mask opera art of bian lian. He laments that he has no grandchild to pass on his magical skills, so he adopts an orphan boy to become his apprentice. But the boy turns out not to be what he seems… A special film from China full of colour, fireworks and adventures!

On the day of the screening of the King of Masks live in Glasgow Glow TV be broadcasting the introduction to the event which lasts approximately 10 minutes. You are able to request a free DVD to watch along in the classroom during the live screening in Glasgow. To request your free DVD please contact matt@eightandahalf.org.

At 11.55am we will return live to Glasgow to take part in the live interactive workshop with Chinese opera singer and Ricefield workshop leader Fong Liu from St. Ninian’s High School who will be dressed in full Chinese costume. This workshop will last approximately 15-20 mins.

THIS EVENT IS RECOMMENDED FOR PRIMARY 4 AND ABOVE.

Why not sign up and join us on the day Don’t forget to request your free DVD! http://bit.ly/kingofmasksevent

Date and time: 06/02/2012 – 10:15am

Find out more on the Glasgow Film Festival Website

Tell us what you think of ‘On the Money’

Education Scotland, in partnership with Scottish Book Trust and Standard Life, is carrying out an evaluation of the ‘On the Money’ resource.

‘On the Money’ is a book of four stories by Theresa Breslin, Jonathan Meres, Nicola Morgan and Alison Prince, exploring issues of financial responsibility for children. It was distributed free to schools throughout Scotland and was also published as an online resource.

The main purpose of this evaluation is to help us decide how we take the project forward. Therefore we are looking for the views of practitioners who have used the resource with learners in educational establishments to provide us with evidence on which we can base our decision.

Please take 10 minutes to complete our online survey.

Your help is greatly appreciated, and in recognition of your support one lucky school will be picked at random from the respondents to receive a free visit from an author, organised by the Scottish Book Trust.

The deadline for responses is the end of this term.

(Please note, the online survey website contains adverts).

New Literacy across learning materials

New reading support materials for first and second levels and new Literacy across learning materials to support the third and fourth levels are now available on Glow.

First and second level materials

‘Reading to Learn; Learning to Read’ are new reading support materials to support first and second levels. They are now available in Glow: (Glow log-in required).

These materials include practical ideas to develop and support reading at first and second level, active learning strategies for teaching reading and a wide variety of approaches to support reading.

Specific areas covered include:

  • reciprocal reading.
  • hot-seating.
  • before, during and after reading activities.
  • the Thinking Reader.

Third and fourth level materials

New Literacy across learning materials to support the third and fourth levels are now available in Glow. (Glow log-in required).

These materials include information on:

  • practical strategies and ideas to develop literacy across learning
  • listening and talking strategies
  • writing across the curriculum
  • recording literacy across the curriculum
  • analysing moving image texts
  • reciprocal reading strategies
  • information literacy
  • Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
  • links to additional resources.

South Ayrshire cook off

Councillor Hywel Davies, Lifelong Learning Portfolio Holder said: “These young people showed exceptional talent in the kitchen when they took part in the competition.

“South Ayrshire is known for great hospitality and wonderful places for residents and tourists to eat. Tourism plays a huge part in sustaining our local economy and ensuring we have outstanding people who can create new dishes, put a modern twist on traditional ones and cater for all tastes in future years is very important.

“The competition called for the students to use literacy and numeracy skills combined with their flair and talent for culinary creation.

“Cooking is a skill that will stay with these young people for life, whether they become professional caterers or enter another profession, the knowledge they have gained will be of great use to them.”

To read more click here.

ESOL Workshops January – March 2012

Education Scotland will provide opportunities to run ESOL Workshops to cover training around the national ESOL Initial Assessment Guide and to raise awareness of the Adult ESOL Curriculum Framework. If you are an ESOL provider and are interested in running a workshop for practitioners, please contact Mandy Watts.

New Video Resources for Scottish Theatre

Visit the national drama teachers glow group

https://portal.glowscotland.org.uk/establishments/nationalsite/Staffroom/Drama%20Teachers/default.aspx

and you will notice new tabs at the top of the glow group entitled ‘Video resources’.  Joe Gallacher from Replico Theatre has kindly offered to share these videos with practitioners who are interested in Scottish theatre.  The documentaries feature a variety of Scottish plays first produced at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty first and include interviews with some of Scotland’s leading playwrights, such as Nicola McCartney, Ann Marie Di Mambro, Sue Glover, Liz Lochhead, Stephen Greenhorn, David Harrower and David Greig.

Driving Learning with Mario Kart

Cross post from Consolarium Blog.

Derek Robertson (Consolarium Team) was contacted by Wilma Leaburn, a QIO from Renfrewshire and invited to a Mario Kart CPD evening at a school in Paisley. A number of teachers had taken this practice forward and a CPD session to share their experiences had been organised. The evening itself was a fantastic example of how creative teachers can be and how, when give the chance, their own idiosyncrasies can lead to wonderful learning experiences that meet the needs of their learners. At this event he met a teacher called Julie Paterson who invited me to Mario Kart open afternoon for parents and carers at her school, Bargarran PS in Erskine.

This series of posts will feature Derek’s observations at this event:

1/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: What’s in the box?

2/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: The buzz of learning

3/4 Driving learning with Mario Kart: The parents’ perspective

4/4 Driving Learning with Mario Kart: Healthy Eating and Grannie changes her mind

Mario Kart Leaderboards

Using Technologies for Learning

Today I had the opportunity to visit Bridgend Primary School in West Lothian to find out how they had used Technologies for Learning during  their Interdisciplinary Topic of Orkney.

To find out how the teacher used Technologies for Learning during their topic click here.

To listen to how the class used a blog to communicate with a school in Orkney click here.

Karlie and her pupils presented on this project at the Scottish Learning Festival 2011, to find out more click here.

Storying Telling in French in Kilmodan Primary School

I was lucky enough to visit teacher Gwen McCrossan in Kilmodan Primary school, Argyll and Bute so I could see how she uses story telling to teach French to learners in her P2-4 and her P5-7 classes.  Gwen made fantastic use of the target language and even learners as young as P2 use and understand classroom instructions in French.  She was using “La Surprise de Handa” and “Homme de Couleur” with the younger class and the film” Kirikou et la Sorcière” with the older learners.  Her pupils seemed to love learning a foreign language and enjoyed singing, dancing and acting out the stories.  One girl in P5 told me she loved learning French because “it’s just like playing, but you’re learning too!”  She went on to explain that they didn’t just do French at “Frenchtime”, they regularly used French in their numeracy lessons and in literacy too.  ” We watched video clips of French fables that were in French”, she explained, ” and then we wrote our own ones in English”. 

If you would like to hear Gwen talking about her approaches to teaching French then please visit my post on the Chalkface Blog by clicking here

If you would like find out more about Gwen’s lessons then click here to see her reading La Surprise de Handa”

If you would like to see her S2-4 pupils acting out the story then click here

Gwen has also very kindly shared her materials for the animated children’s film Kirikou et la Sorcière.  They are posted in the Modern Languages National Glow group in the resources for sharing section.  To find Kirikou please click here.  (You will need your Glow password)

There is still time to enter the Glovember competition

Now that our amazing Glovember Author Events have finished, Education Scotland is giving you two more weeks to enter your stories, poems and illustrations for the Glovember competition.

All you have to do is go to the Glovember Glow Group within Glow, click on the competition page tab and upload your story, poem or illustration. Be sure to do this before the closing date of Friday 16th December.

Winners will be announced in January, after some of our authors have helped us with the judging.

Winning entries will be published in our eBook and read by one of the Glovember Authors.

Pandamonium!

I am delighted to hear that the pandas are arriving in Scotland on Sunday. This is a mark of the growing friendship between Scotland and China. The pandas offer another exciting opportunity for schools, teachers and pupils to engage with China, its language and culture. The arrival also offers opportunities to stimulate learning right across Curriculum for Excellence, e.g. environment and cultural heritage, science, literacy and creativity. The Panda Blog provides ideas related to these examples. We have already had schools indicating their interest in finding out more about the pandas and Glow offers an excellent way to share information, resources and ideas for practice. The Panda Blog is a starting point and will lead to the further development of resources. We are looking forward to working with colleagues in the zoo to provide news and updates about the pandas to local authorities and schools.

Professor Kay Livingston, Education Scotland.

To visit the Panda Blog click here.

Click below to sign up for the Glow TV Events (glow log in required):

06/12/2001 – 2:30pm: Pandaphernalia

07/12/2011 – 10am: Panda facts with DWN Eds and Competition details

08/12/2011 – 02:00 pm: Pandamentary

Click below to view The Daily What News articles:

Giant Pandas Come to Scotland

Panda – monium

Forensic Rookies, Transition and the Astrazenica Science Teaching Trust (AZSTT)

Lauren Boath, Development Officer for Sciences, was excited to attend a meeting of the practitioners participating in the AZSTT funded “Forensic Rookies” project. This was the initial briefing by Professor Susan Rodrigues of the University of Northumbria, whose main research interests are in the language of science, teacher professional development and the use of ICT to  transform teaching, learning and assessment in science. Neil Taylor, Programme Director of PGDE Secondary programme at the University of Dundee has worked with Susan and the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee to put together a series of lesson ideas to engage learners in dialogue around science and the nature of evidence.

Working in conjunction with the University of Dundee’s Xanthe Mallet, whom many of you will recognise as one of the stars of BBC’s History Cold Case, primary and secondary classes will share information via Glow Wikis, with input from Xanthe, to solve a crime. The participating learners from schools in West Lothian, Shetland and Perth & Kinross will have the chance to share their conclusions via a Glow meet in February. Will they succeed in solving the crime?

Cheers for credit unions!

This resource illustrates the development of financial capability using pupil-run credit unions. The activities address experiences and outcomes within Curriculum for Excellence and help schools and early years’ establishments make connections across learning.

This 3-18 resource will support staff in embedding financial education in the curriculum, supporting family learning and promoting partnership working within the community.

To find out more click here.