From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, with illustrations by John Tenniel. Macmillan and Co, London, 1898.

The roll call is impressive – Lewis Carroll, Kenneth Grahame, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, William Horwood, Mary Hoffman, Philip Pullman, all writers who have lived (or are living) in Oxford and all of whom have brought us great literary treasure.

So it’s fitting then that Oxford is to become the home to a new museum of story and storytelling, to open in 2014.

The virtual Story Museum is to become tangible, thanks to an anonymous benefactor and £2.5 million. Pullman, along with Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson, will become patron of the new Museum:

The Story Museum will be a wonderful gift from Oxford, where so many stories have begun, to the whole world,” Pullman said. “The whole atmosphere of the city is rich with fantasy. Indeed, the very idea of having a museum devoted to story is itself such a fantastical notion than no other city in the world could have given birth to it.

More here.

Image used under Creative Commons licence

April 2nd is the commemoration of Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday.   The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), chose this day as International Children’s Book Day. All over the world people will be celebrating with books.

International Children’s Book Day (ICBD) is a celebration designed to inspire a love of reading and to call attention to children’s books.

A wide selection of titles suitable for use in the classroom can be found in the CMIS Resource Bank

Less able learners, hampered by their difficulties with reading and writing, can surprise both teachers and classmates when involved in an oral activity. Gaining a love of language this way is an important step to reading and writing.

Storytelling is also a great for promoting cross-curricular activities. Every country has its own tales which highlight its history, geography and culture.

To help promote storytelling why not celebrate World Storytelling Day on March 20th. It is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling which started in Sweden in 2003. World Storytelling Day’s goal is to get everyone, everywhere to tell and listen to stories and to share their experiences.

This now truly global celebration has over 25 participating countries from 5 different continents and the theme for this year’s World Storytelling Day is “NEIGHBOURS”.

To celebrate World Storytelling Day in your school, you can

• have a discussion on the value of storytelling. Why do we enjoy stories? What place do they have in our lives?
• have class teachers going from room to room to tell a story before moving on to the next class.
• invite seniors and grandparents to share own personal stories at the school
• have a school-wide storytelling competition

Here are some tips and activities to help you make the most of celebrating this ageless pastime on World Storytelling Day and in the classroom as well.

A well-developed and presented story can hold the interest of an entire audience so knowing and applying the few simple basics of storytelling will help strengthen your stories.

You can also explore storytelling and reading aloud with these dip-in activities. And as a a follow-up to World Storytelling Day, invite the children to express their thoughts through a piece of writing like a poem. Or students can write an original story and tell or perform it to their classmates.

© Image used with permission

Your school can now register for the National Simultaneous Storytime on May 27th to coincide with ALIA’S Library and Information Week.  A great activity for the whole school or section of a school.

More information can be found at the CMIS Evaluation blog

WIth thanks to Ruth B @ http://skerricks.blogspot.com/2009/02/valentine.html

Popular illustrator, Dee Huxley, has brought to life the C.J. Dennis poem, A bush Christmas.

For very young students, there is a new Kilmeny Niland title, An Aussie day before Christmas, based on the rhythms of Clement Moore’s poem, The night before Christmas. A Tenth Anniversary Edition of this famous poem illustrated by Jan Brett is also just out.

If your students enjoy the books of Jackie French and Bruce Whatley, they have created an engaging Christmas story about a gloomy Bunyip in Emily and the BIG BAD Bunyip. Glenda Millard and Stephen Michael King have also combined to produce a gentle Australian nativity story, Applesauce and the Christmas miracle. And, for a fun read for those who know their fairytales, Mark Burgess and Russell Ayto have given us Where teddy bears come from.

For more titles that may be already in your school library, check out the Christmas list in the CMIS Resource Bank. There is also a CMIS Christmas theme page with its rationale for discussing Christmas with students and links to some of the most useful of the Christmas websites on the Internet.

To help you get started with planning your own Roald Dahl party, here are some ideas:

• Wear something yellow – it was Dahl’s favourite colour and wear one of them backwards. Or come in a costume from a character in his books and have a parade through the school.
• Have storytelling sessions and read Dahl stories. His books are for all ages and great fun to read aloud.
• Show a film adaptation of one of his books, like Charlie and the chocolate factory
• Have a tea party with lots of scrumdiddllyumptious food like Mrs Twit’s eyeball cakes, Hot Choc Swudge Drinks or Wormy Spaghetti.
• Ask children to keep a little notebook and write lists of things for example their 5 most favourite food or 5 things they would like to do now. They could also write revolting rhymes, short jokes and riddles in it. The children can then tell a funny joke, riddle or read out their lists to their friends.
• Make up an Oompa Loompa dance and get everyone to join in.
• Have Roald Dahl quizzes and competitions and give away prizes of Willy Wonka chocolate and all kinds of Dahl-inspired sweets.

For more ideas and other activities go to the official Roald Dahl website. On this page you will find all you need to help organise your own Wondercrump Roald Dahl Day event or party on September 13. And at the end you can also download a special Roald Dahl Challenge certificate and send in your photographs of your celebrations of this special day. ]]> http://cmisevalpf.edublogs.org/2008/09/05/13-september-is-roald-dahl-day/feed/ 1 http://cmisevalpf.edublogs.org/2008/08/29/society-and-the-environment-resource-strand/ http://cmisevalpf.edublogs.org/2008/08/29/society-and-the-environment-resource-strand/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:48:27 +0000 catherina http://cmisevalpf.edublogs.org/?p=86 Available through Heinemann, the recently published The global village series is an excellent addition to the Resources strand of Society and the Environment for upper primary and early secondary students.  This series of six books investigates and debates the effects of globalisation on the individual, governments, companies and the environment around the issues of natural resources, trade, food and farming, migrations and refugees, aid and development, and travel and tourism.  It addresses the loss of traditional skills, cultures and systems, examines the possibility of balance being restored and looks at what action is being taken to address these issues.  Each chapter features “Eyewitness”, “Focus on…” and “Have your say” boxes: The former quotes people with direct experience of the issue under discussion; the next focuses on specific questions or events; and the latter suggests topics for reflection, discussion and debate.  Each book concludes with a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the issue, and graphs of pertinent facts and figures.

Natural Resources introduces the complexities of the mining, harvesting, use and trade of the world’s natural resources. It explains what natural resources are, where they are found in the world, the mechanism of supply and demand, the concepts of exploitation and sustainability, and the contrasting opinions around this issue.

Food and Farming discusses the concept of, and the arguments for and against globalisation; the fairness of free trade in relation to food; plantation agriculture; multinational companies and their impact; biotechnology and organic farming.

Aid and Development argues that unequal distribution of wealth and exploitation of poorer or less developed peoples and countries have created dysfunction and alienation which governments and non-government agencies attempt to manipulate, or genuinely help, through disaster and humanitarian aid for development and relief.  It examines types of aid and development, examples of projects, and consequent positive and negative outcomes.

Migration and Refugees focuses on the reasons for migration, its economic and social effects and issues such as multiculturalism.

Trade first defines the concept of trade and gives a brief history of it, then  goes on to discuss issues surrounding global trade such as government subsidies, free trade, consumer power, privatisation, the WTO (World Trading Organisation),  the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, multinational companies (or transnational corporations), competition and fair trade.

Travel and Tourism examines tourism as an industry and its effects on local communities and culture, economies, working conditions, natural resources and the environment. It also discusses the preservation of significant sites, sustainable tourism and eco-tourism.

Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins’ My Place has been republished to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of this special title which encompasses so much that is innately Australian.

Covering a wide range of topics for use in the classroom, such as Place and Space, Social Justice, Culture and identity this much-loved book has been updated with a timeline that carries the history through to 2008. It can be used across the curriculum in all phases of development.

To complement the book Walker books has produced the Classroom Ideas PDF available from their website.

DET teachers could use this book in conjunction with the resources available through the K-10 Syllabus – The Northbridge History Project and Time Lines and Pathways to the Past: Find Yourself in History