CMIS Evaluation Primary Focus

A book that is sure to have you itching to get into the classroom to try it out and to innovate on it, is How big is big? This is a gem of a book that will have the classroom abuzz with thinking, making, measuring, discussing – with all the children enthusiastically focussed on mathematical concepts and vocabulary.  The crux of this enthusiasm is that the children will be involved in doing Maths in the real world, encompassing all learning areas.

Judging from the students’ artwork and text in the book, the Year 1/2W classroom of Curl Curl North Public School must have been vibrant with colour, creativity and activity as their teacher inspired them to investigate “How big is big?” by planning and experiencing an imaginary excursion to see the Big Banana.  Hats off to Gretel Watson for her teaching, to her students for their work, and to the parent (Robyn Latimer) who saw its potential for sharing with the wider world.

A record of the work of these Year 1/2 students, this book’s use extends beyond the Junior Primary classroom and can be replicated or adapted in all Primary classes.  So get hold of it, use it, experiment in all the directions it’s bound to send your students.  Share the fun learning this book triggers in your classroom. Let us know what you think of the book by placing a comment on this blog.

Recently available in Australia is the new edition of Quentin Blake’s delightful book, Ten Frogs: Dix Grenouilles, whose simple text is written in both English and French.  This will see another generation of Junior Primary children delighting in Blake’s distinctive illustrations and experimenting with the French language in simple counting and naming animals. To do the text justice, it is recommended that non-French speaking teachers go the extra yard and find out how to pronounce the French words correctly.  Attempting the French “r” is fun and will have the little ones sparkling and feeling so “clever”!

For those who are always on the lookout for locally written and produced books by West Australian writers. Here are two recent publications. One is a book of poems - Please say me, I’m a poem and the other is Alphabet surf : the surfing A to Z.

Alphabet surf : the surfing A to Z has a website where children can enjoy the Flip – book version on-line.

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Copies of the 2009 Primary Focus booklets are on their way to all public primary and district high schools in Western Australia. They are designed to help with selection of resources for school libraries and include the best of the fiction and nonfiction resources that we have seen in the past 12 months.

The covers this year are really bright, so look out for them in your school.

The two displays are starting their trip around the state, so check the Itinerary and go to look at the resources when they are in a school or District Office near you.

… and there are new books to share with your students.

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.

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.

Ann and Johnny Baker’s Natural Maths Strategies series which were published last year, have recently had some supporting components added.  Each level of Stategic Maths: Number consists of a book and double CD package.  The book includes lesson plans, photocopiable activity sheets, hands-on strategy games, assessment rubrics and resource cards to support its targeted number concepts.  The Teacher Disc includes animated, interactive slides and problems for use with interactive whiteboards, mental routines, games, posters, parent information, print resources and links to supporting pages on the internet.  The interactive activities are replicated on the Student Disc and may be copied on to students’ USB sticks for use at home.  The purchasing school is also licensed to network the discs for access by any teacher/student in the school.  Levels currently available are Beginning, Lower Primary Books 1 and 2, and Middle Primary Book 1.

Students will be motivated by the engaging activities that cater for the different learning styles, and teachers will be confident that they are establishing good understanding and positive attitudes towards Maths through this developmental, strategic approach.  Those teachers, who do not feel confident teaching Maths, will feel supported and enthused.

Folktales began as an attempt to explain and understand the natural and spiritual world. Most of these stories convey a message or moral to the reader, or explain something in a creative way.

Folktales are often passed down and retold from generation to generation and remain among children’s favourite forms of literature mainly because the themes are universal and they appeal to a child’s sense of justice–good is rewarded and evil is punished. Children often enjoy the humour in such stories; and the rhyme and repetition of many folktales attract them. They also like the predictable form and content of the stories – characters are generally stereotyped; the stories are usually short and with a definite conclusion.

Its diverse forms include:

* Legends and traditions for example a story about a historic or pseudohistoric character, such as Robin Hood
* Fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White.
* Animal tales – stories about animals who act and behave like humans, such as Puss in Boots and The three little pigs
* Fables – animal tales with a moral
* Myths – which are about the creation or origin of the world, exploits of gods, demigods and heroes.

Folktales are useful in the classroom as they can be used for various purposes. They

· allow the practice of all English language skills and are perfect material for an integrated skills style of teaching. They can engage students in a variety of ways from art and drama to creative writing.

· can be used in LOTE as a rich source of authentic and varied content material that is highly motivating to students and allows for all kinds of creative activities in the classroom and beyond.

· develop critical thinking skills and values as folktales deal with fundamental themes. They are relevant to contemporary audiences as they deal with all kinds of human emotions, strengths and weaknesses.

· explore the cultural contexts of a society and give insight into customs, traditions and problems faced by communities. Learning folktales from our own culture (and from other cultures) and sharing them with students from other countries may teach tolerance towards one another.
A good way to start before getting students to write a folktale is to read or listen to a range of folktales There are many collections of folktales available, for example Around the world in 80 tales by Saviour Pirotta. Online electronic texts of folktales also offer a ready resource for students and teachers.
By reading as many folktales as they can, students will begin to learn the style and feeling of one and to get ideas for creating a story. Students can learn about this genre through a range of activities like interviewing accomplished writers and storytellers, using interactive technology to research background information about different cultures, taking part in various online writing activities and finally presenting or publishing their work.
There are a number of websites which offer online activities with tips and guidelines for writing a folk tale or for planning a unit of work on this topic with suggestions for the teaching of folktales in the classroom.

The Reading Bug (Revised Edition) by Paul Jennings is an accessible and humorous book aimed directly at parents wanting to help their children learn to read. It explains the role parents or carers can play in developing a love of reading in their children because according to Jennings, parental involvement is the one single factor that indicates how well a child will do with reading.

In writing this book, Paul Jennings drew extensively on his personal experience as a parent and on his professional experience as a teacher, an academic and a writer. Every bit as readable as his stories, The Reading Bug is full of amusing anecdotes and cartoon illustrations.

Jennings covers a range of issues, such as the importance of choosing the right book for your child, the use of picture clues, phonics, and the value of rhyming stories.The book also includes an insightful chapter on reluctant readers and a new chapter on boys and reading, plus an extended and updated reading list for the different stages of development.

This book contains clear and practical information about the writing process and has some great ideas for writing activities which parents and teachers will find useful for teaching reading.

Composing poetry [DET teachers only] can be one of the most exciting and personally rewarding forms of creative writing. By writing poems [DET teachers only], students learn how to tap into their feelings, as well as their five senses. But learning to write poetry can be a daunting task for most children as students often mistakenly equate poetry with rhyme. The studying of poetry should be one of exploration and initial poetry study should focus on meaning and playing with words. Focusing on poetry in this way allow students to express themselves and delve deeply into their own creativity.  

How to write poems by Wes Magee is a useful resource for teachers for teaching young writers to express themselves creatively and explore poetry craft elements. Designed to assist children write poems, this book contains basic tips on getting started and gives examples of types of poems and their special features. 

One common approach when challenging young people to write poetry is to focus on themes such as colours, seasons, the weather or the natural elements and introduce poetry forms as students write on these themes. The Elements in poetry series of four books comprising of Air, Earth, Fire and Water brings together a mix of poetical works related to each of the elements. The poems in these books are short and contain a variety of different forms, styles and structures.

By reading a variety of poems by a range of writers including their peers in read alouds, independent reading and group sharing, students will begin to play with poetic ideas and forms.

Students also enjoy seeing their by-line, and publishing their work brings out their best efforts. Teachers can create a class anthology that includes at least one poem by each student and is available for borrowing at the school library. Other teachers may publish poems in less traditional ways, such as on classroom bulletin boards or in common spaces around the school. There are also web sites that provide opportunities for electronic forms of publishing young poets’ works.