Resources of the week

Three subject teachers recommend a high-quality resource, available on the TES website, that they have tried and tested in their own classrooms
9th January 2015, 12:00am
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Resources of the week

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/resources-week-12

Maths

Rotations: catch the thief

What is it? Rotations are tricky for students to master. This is because of the number of skills the process requires: knowing coordinates, understanding angles, having the patience to rotate each point and the spatial awareness to know if you are right or not. This activity by andy_gillen is perfect for developing those crucial techniques, as pupils must carry out a series of tricky rotations of various shapes in order to stop an imaginary thief.

How can it be used? My Year 8 students were really engaged with this activity and enjoyed the self-checking element at the end. As is often the case, extra depth and challenge can be found by flipping the resource on its head. Can your pupils design a “catch the thief” activity? Better still, can they include some of the other types of transformation? Let their imaginations run wild and watch their confidence with transformations increase.

Craig Barton is an advanced skills teacher at Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton and a TES secondary maths adviser. Find him on Twitter at @TESMaths

English

Writing your first script

What is it? This script extract, uploaded by diamond_raindrops, is based on C S Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - a text that lots of students are already familiar with from their own reading. The resource has been designed to introduce pupils to the conventions of scriptwriting and comes with a series of prompts that focus on features such as stage directions and placement of characters.

How can it be used? I initially used this resource to reintroduce Year 11 students to the concept of drama for their GCSE in literature. I have also used it at key stage 3 and during enrichment activities. The beauty of this resource is its versatility - the supporting questions and activities make it brilliant for use in conjunction with any tasks that ask pupils to read for inference or write to imply.

Jon Sellick is an English teacher and head of sixth form at Range High School in Formby, Merseyside

Science

Extended writing

What is it? This week’s science resource, created by Martin Wilkinson, consists of clear marking sheets for extended writing and an accompanying poster. The sheets, which can be inserted into students’ workbooks for reference, are perfect for helping to incorporate literacy into science lessons.

How can it be used? This resource is highly adaptable, so it could be employed to great effect across all age and ability groups. However, science teachers may find that coordination with English departments will increase its usefulness even further. I used this with a Year 10 class, who found the sheets very helpful when answering an extended writing question.

Aimee Mckeon is head of key stage 3 science at Shirley High School in Croydon, South London

To offer suggestions, please email helen.amass@tesglobal.com

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Resources of the week

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/resources-week-12

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