CMIS Evaluation Primary Focus

Traditional history textbooks take a back seat to this highly creative presentation of the facts in DK’s Take Me Back.  Read Captain Cook’s Blog or Napoleon’s social networking site, not to mention the myriad other formats you will discover in this book, which is thoroughly satisfying in its visual appeal and imagination.  Wonderfully inspiring for graphic arts.  Definitely one for the school library and for the coffee table at home.

Books for children receive little enough attention in the media, so when the national broadcaster features the Indigenous series Sharing Our Stories it’s worth paying attention.

Here’s an interview about ‘The Frog and the Brolga’, from ABC Radio National Life Matters, and if you follow the links you can view some dreaming stories:

• Turtle Dreaming from Maningrida
• Devil Devil from Jilkminggan in the Central Desert
• Sunbird, a Ngaanyatjarra dreaming from Warburton

‘The Frog and the Brolga’ comes from the Purnululu Aboriginal Community in the East Kimberley.

Mem Fox’s Whoever You Are, an anthem for peace and understanding, has been translated into Tetum and will be distributed to infant and primary schools throughout Timor Leste.

A joint project between the Alola Foundation, headed by Ms Sword Gusmao, and the National Education and Employment Foundation, the book is designed to encourage a love of reading in East Timor, where about 60 per cent of adults are illiterate.

“Books are often kept away in cupboards because teachers don’t know how to use them, ” Ms Sword Gusmao said. “It’s not enough to put books in their hands, there must be a concerted effort to ensure that books cease to be something foreign, but instead to be used, enjoyed.”

The story Simpson and his Donkey is an iconic Australian Gallipoli Legend.

Two new captivating titles will be highly useful for ANZAC Day commemorative studies this year.

 They are: Jackie French’s The donkey who carried the wounded and Mark Wilson’s My mother’s eyes : the story of a boy soldier.  Both stories centre on world War I – one at Gallipoli and the other on the battlefields of France.

Jackie French is well known for her ability to add detail and little colourful extras to enhance tales of historical nature. This book is no exception. In this well researched tale, the author takes us beyond the time of Simpson’s death to follow what may have happened to the donkey after his master was shot and killed.  The book introduces us to Richard Henderson, the New Zealander who is reported to have carried on Simpson’s work after he was killed.

Mark Wilson’s evocatively illustrated story tells a poignant tale of a young Australian farm boy lured to the Great War adventure who puts up his age to enlist in the AIF. As the story unfolds, readers are exposed to the true horror of the war as this young boy is forced to grow up a long way from home. The blend of narrative and letters make this a very readable volume. Teacher’s notes are available.

In time for ANZAC day these delightful stories will make a very worthwhile addition to the school library collection and give new scope for the well trodden ANZAC Day path. Both stories could be well used in Middle Childhood and Early Adolesence classrooms.

For other ANZAC Day information visit the CMIS ANZAC theme pages.

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.

Good Mathematics resources are few and far between but one that has recently come to our attention is the Heinemann series, Real World Data.  It takes popular Science, Health and Society & Environment topics and demonstrates how central data collection and presentation are in providing information on these topics.  It shows how textual information can be conveniently shown in graph, chart and table form and thus provide information “at a glance”.

The twelve books in the series provide all sorts of possibilities for use in the classroom, for integrating Maths in other learning areas and for acting as a springboard for local investigations and collection of data for later presentation in graphs, charts and tables.